It’s always stimulating to travel to a place you’ve gone lots of times and see new stuff.  Recently I had this opportunity  when I visited a friend who spends her summers in Basalt, Colorado.  

I’ve gone on ski trips over the years to this part of the world and enjoyed fall visits when the Aspen trees shimmer.  Both are great, but  I loved my opportunity to visit this part o the Rocky Mountains in the summer.  Absolutely glorious.   The flowers were especially wonderful.  

It’s a different experience.  I’d like to share one of the highlights.  

I love Basalt where my friend lives.  I did a blog post about this cute town years ago.  Here’s a link.Basalt:Half the price and no Attitude.   

But here are some new scenes.   A repurposed church,  a lobster stand, funny window scenes and our shadows in the beautiful river.  

I got a kick out of the stuff hanging outside on a garage and a fence made from old skis.  

A recent fire roared very close to the town earlier in the summer.  I noticed signs like these posted on trees and fences all over the town.  Must have been very scary.

 We enjoyed a Western Art show opening at the Ann Korologos Gallery. Here’s a piece ready to be hung that caught my eye.  

Nearby is the Roaring Fork Club.  It is a great place for dinner, lunch by the river and hang out.   Behind the club is a good view of a small mountain revealing the red clay soil typical of the area.   

 Aspen, often in the news for skiing, is chock-o-block full of great stuff to do off season including an  excellent summer theater.  How interesting to take a walk down memory lane to watch a shortened version of Godspell.  The actors were great—Broadway bound I’m sure.  I enjoyed taking a few pictures before and after the performance.  

Aspen has a new Art Museum which interestingly has generated a fair amount of controversy over the architecture.  It’s a big box surrounded with lattice design in a warm wood.  Personally I liked it, but I did talk with some folks who called it “an incredibly ugly building.”  

The exhibits, especially Cheryl Donegan: GRLZ + VEILS captured my attention.  It was a mixed media exhibit of painting, printing and textiles.  How creative to show fashion on a ski jacket.  Appropriate for the area.  

We also did a history tour of Aspen learning about mining, ranching, skiing, the Aspen Institute and the development of the town.  Visiting the old mining museum was a hoot.  I recommend it especially for families.  There’s a working steam engine and all kinds of artifacts  from the silver mining days in the late 1880s.  

The historical museum featured an exhibit about a controversial election when the hippies tried to take control of Aspen in 1970.   Apparently there were strong feelings about the candidates on both sides.   

I could almost hear an old favorite—John Denver—strumming his guitar and singing in the garden devoted to remembering him.  Haunting. 

I will end this post with the rubber duck scene. Evidently they do a big deal Rubber Duck Race.  I can only imagine how hilarious that is.