September 2 — SW of Nelson and Fordham

North of Clover Basin, west of Fordham St., south of Nelson Rd., east of Airport Rd.

Total for today:   24,670 steps and  4:26 time.

A lot of fairly new sub-divisions here , which have grown up around rural areas.  Still a few farms are within today’s walk, along with homes that not that long ago were ‘out in the country’.

WILLOW FARM PARK

I have never been to this park before, so wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  I was surprised to see the big red barn as part of the development.  I’m not sure if it’s a ‘real’ barn from an original farm that was converted to be part of the park, or if it’s a new structure that was built in the shape of a barn to fit the ‘farm’ theme of the park.  It has restrooms in it, but I don’t know what the rest of the structure is used for.

There were art pieces of a cow, and pig dancing, and a turkey driving a tractor.  At the other end of the park, there was also a big letter ‘L’, with what appears to be a telescope embedded into it.  As I walked up to it, it appeared to be facing toward Long’s Peak.  I thought that was a pretty cool idea, having a telescope for the kids to look through that was always aimed at the top of Long’s Peak.

But I was kind of disappointed.  When I knelt down to look through it, I found that it is just a hollow pipe, with no magnifying capabilities.  And… it may have been facing Long’s Peak, but if so, there was a tree in the way, so all you saw through it was leaves.

Front side of barn

Front side of barn

back side of barn

back side of barn

Longmont (or Long's Peak?) 'telescope'

Longmont (or Long’s Peak?) ‘telescope’

cow

cow

dancing pig

dancing pig

turkey driving tractor

turkey driving tractor

Willow Farm Park hollow stone

Willow Farm Park hollow stone

 

BLUEGRASS

I enjoy bluegrass music in small doses at a time.  After four or five straight songs, though, I need a break.  I think the fast-paced banjo playing tires me out after a while

Steve Martin, better known for his many years as a comedian and actor, is actually a very good banjo  player, and released an album a few years ago with his music.

Just a few miles down (up?) the road from Longmont is the internationally-renowned annual bluegrass festival in Lyons…  Rockygrass, held at the Planet Bluegrass Ranch.

Rockygrass website

Here are three well-known bluegrass songs that I like…

Rocky Top by The Osborne Brothers youtube

Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Steve Martin & Earl Scruggs, etc. youtube

Orange Blossom Special by Annie Staninec, etc. youtube

SWofNelsonFordham 004

 

I’m kind of proud of this photograph.  I encountered an unusually high number of swarms of gnats on today’s walk.  I zoomed in my camera to take a picture of one of them, and I like the way the gnats show up in the sun…. tiny streaks of white.

hundreds of gnats

hundreds of gnats

 

For the second time this year, I had to have my wife Jennifer come give me a ride home.  My back bike tire was flat when I finished my walk.   I now have two new tires, so I hope I’m okay through the rest of the year.

AND THE BEST OF THE REST of the photos…

Nelson Park neighborhood

Nelson Park neighborhood

 

Fish swallowing mailbox

Fish swallowing mailbox

 

I'm proud to say my college room mate is head of the Astronomy Dept. at Penn State

I’m proud to say my college room mate is head of the Astronomy Dept. at Penn State

 

wooden mailbox

wooden mailbox

 

awesome flower

awesome flower

 

grumpy toad and cheerful frog

grumpy toad and cheerful frog

 

neighborhood electrical box painting

unofficial electrical box painting

 

official electrical box paint (work-in-progress... the artist is painting as I walk by)

official electrical box painting (work-in-progress… the artist is painting as I walk by)

I like the sentiment (but I think 'everyday' should be 'every day')

I like the sentiment (but I think ‘Everyday’ should be ‘Every day’)

somebody got TP'ed

somebody got TP’ed

 

back yard wheel?

back yard wheel?

 

impressive back porch

impressive back porch

 

former country road (89th St.)

former country road (89th St.)

 

Is Creg a boy's name (like Greg and Craig combined?)

Is Creg a boy’s name (like Greg and Craig combined?)

 

Bricks and wheel

Bricks and wheel

 

These looked like mini-horses to me

These looked like mini-horses to me

 

Eggs 4 Sale

Eggs 4 Sale

 

horse grazing

horse grazing

 

Cactus on Quail Road

Cactus on Quail Road

 

goat?

goat?

 

more goats?

more goats?

 

basketball on the farm

basketball on the farm

 

farm overview

farm overview

 

Quail Road Racing

Quail Road Racing

 

bike path under Airport Road

bike path under Airport Road

 

back deck clock

back deck clock

 

backyard barbecue? or smoker?

backyard barbecue? or smoker?

 

cattails

cattails

 

 

Colorful backyard art

Colorful backyard art

 

rusting metal

rusting metal

 

rural mailbox 1

rural mailbox 1

 

rural mailbox 2

rural mailbox 2

 

I've seen this same grumpy angel elsewhere on my walks

I’ve seen this same grumpy angel elsewhere on my walks

 

Business sign 1

Business sign 1

 

Business sign 2

Business sign 2

Business sign 2 (other side)

Business sign 2 (other side)

 

Pizza

Pizza

 

Spa

Spa

 

had dozens of pictures with a 'Jack' theme inside (maybe be closed now, though)

had dozens of pictures with an amusing ‘Jack’ theme inside (I believe out of business now, though)

 

cat watch

good cat

 

bad dog!

bad dog

 

interesting front yard rock

interesting front yard rock

 

I didn't know Longmont had a horseshoeing business!

I didn’t know Longmont had a horseshoeing business!

 

my mom used to make chokecherry jam (it was a little bitter, I seem to recall)

my mom used to make chokecherry jam (it was a little bitter, I seem to recall)

 

what's left of the wagon

what’s left of the wagon

 

livestock chute

livestock chute

 

dog mailbox

dog mailbox

 

country lane

country lane

 

unusual street names

unusual street names

 

angel whispering a secret

fairy whispering a secret

 

same yard

same yard

 

bird art

bird art

 

Willow Creek

Willow Creek

 

going fishing

going fishing

 

unusual vegetation

unusual vegetation

 

one nice portal

one nice portal

 

another nice portal

another nice portal

 

nice back-door portal

nice back-door portal

 

maybe I should have taken this picture from another angle...

maybe I should have taken this picture from another angle…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 thoughts on “September 2 — SW of Nelson and Fordham

    • Thanks for the comment! I finished the walking as of the end of 2013, so have
      not been walking, at least not in an ‘organized’ manner. If you go to the home
      page of my web site, it shows my wrap-up and totals for walking all of Longmont.
      I do think I would like to start a similar project in a year or so, maybe walk
      some of the smaller towns nearby to Longmont.

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