Things to do in Denver....

CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
edited January 7, 2007 in Journeys
When you're snowed in and you're not going anywhere. :huh
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Ok, so this thread isn't exactly a journey but I figured since we couldn't take a journey I'd show you all what we did instead. :D

1st order of business
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Shoveling sucks!!!

But the dogs sure had some fun.
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Now don't think you're dirtbike is useless just because the dirt is covered with 30" of snow!
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There's a little bike in the somewhere!
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Oops!
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Yep, that's me. Only crashed about 3 times within 500 feet!
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4 wheels is a little easier to handle.
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Joe wanted to make sure his truck was good and stuck.
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Oh yeah, can't forget to chill my tequila!
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Because I'm jonesing for a fresh "frozen" margarita :lust
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Joe really likes margaritas.
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After a few sips you'll volunteer for anything. Even standing under a huge overhang of snow while your "friend" works to knock it down.
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Joe thought he was clear. Maybe his judgement was a little impaired??? :scratch
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I'm OK!
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Now can't forget to do some sledding.
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Or throw some snowballs. I had to duck and cover after this one!
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Hope you enjoyed our coverage of the Chrismas Blizzard of 2006! We actually managed to dig my car out so I'll be heading off to work tomorrow :cry Man I was really hoping for a five day weekend!
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Comments

  • Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited December 22, 2006
    Saw your title and heard Warren Zevon singing "Things to do in Denver when your dead". So took a peak......

    Looks so COOOL......wish we had a little of that here...I said a little not what you got......

    Your pics are a definite reminder of what I love about snow........
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  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 22, 2006
    Art Scott wrote:
    Saw your title and heard Warren Zevon singing "Things to do in Denver when your dead". So took a peak......

    Looks so COOOL......wish we had a little of that here...I said a little not what you got......

    Your pics are a definite reminder of what I love about snow........

    We definitely had a fun day. I did feel some remorse about all the thousands of stranded travelers out at DIA, but there wasn't anything we could do to help them. We concentrated on helping our neighbors and making the best of it :D

    Thanks for looking and commenting!
  • JeffroJeffro Registered Users Posts: 1,941 Major grins
    edited December 22, 2006
    Looks like a blast, and I'm sure it beats the hell out of the three days of rain we've had here in northern Illinois....sucks.
    Always lurking, sometimes participating. :D
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,904 moderator
    edited December 22, 2006
    Nice!
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited December 22, 2006
    What interesting photos., i cant imagine what its like. You guys must have strong roof timbers to support all the snow or doesnt it weigh very much ?
  • davidryandavidryan Registered Users Posts: 306 Major grins
    edited December 22, 2006
    Wow you guys got hit hard up there in Denver. Here in the Springs we got about 18 inches of snow but the drifts are over 7 feet in some places (ie, my driveway!). We've been house-bound for three days now as they never plowed our street until tonight.

    I don't mean to muscle in on your photo thread but here is a pic of the inside of a snow drift-- how you wonder? Well, it piled up next to my house and covered one of our windows. Very interesting how the snow appears in bands-- guess the eskimos were right-- there are a lot of different kinds of snow!

    118123998-M.jpg

    Enjoy your snow and your White Christmas, for tomorrow we get more...and the next day....and...yep...the next. Laughing.gif Only light snow this time, though.

    Has DIA opened to full capacity yet? The Springs Airport is itching to get rid of the 1500 hundred folks stranded here.
  • ShimaShima Registered Users Posts: 2,547 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2006
    Lovely set, I can't wait for some nice and heavy snow out here to get some new winter pics.
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2006
    Jeffro wrote:
    Looks like a blast, and I'm sure it beats the hell out of the three days of rain we've had here in northern Illinois....sucks.

    You're right. I'd much rather have snow than continuous rain. At least you can brush off the snow instead of having the rain soak you right through! Hope your weather clears up soon. :D
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2006
    ian408 wrote:
    Nice!

    Thanks Ian!
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2006
    gus wrote:
    What interesting photos., i cant imagine what its like. You guys must have strong roof timbers to support all the snow or doesnt it weigh very much ?

    The winds were actually blowing hard enough that the snow didn't accumulate very much on the rooftops, and this was what we would consider a "dry" snow or snow with low moisture content so it was pretty light thankfully. Autumn and Spring snows tend to have much more moisture and is heavier, so that causes a lot of problems. Wet snow will bring down trees which bring down power lines and then all sorts of bad things happen from there. I've only heard of one roof collapse from this storm and that was in an older retail center with a flat roof, but I don't believe there were any major injuries sustained in that accident.

    This Blizzard made it to #4 for most snowfall in Denver's recorded history.

    Thanks for looking Gus!
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2006
    davidryan wrote:
    Wow you guys got hit hard up there in Denver. Here in the Springs we got about 18 inches of snow but the drifts are over 7 feet in some places (ie, my driveway!). We've been house-bound for three days now as they never plowed our street until tonight.

    I don't mean to muscle in on your photo thread but here is a pic of the inside of a snow drift-- how you wonder? Well, it piled up next to my house and covered one of our windows. Very interesting how the snow appears in bands-- guess the eskimos were right-- there are a lot of different kinds of snow!

    118123998-M.jpg

    Enjoy your snow and your White Christmas, for tomorrow we get more...and the next day....and...yep...the next. Laughing.gif Only light snow this time, though.

    Has DIA opened to full capacity yet? The Springs Airport is itching to get rid of the 1500 hundred folks stranded here.

    Cool shot David! I don't mind at all that you posted it. Share some more if you have 'em :D

    We have some pretty big drifts I would guess around 5'. My dogs have a drift in the back yard packed down up to the fence and now my smaller dog is just hopping right over the 2' (out of 5') of my fence that is still showing. My big dog has a little more sense and is staying in the yard. Oh man do they love the snow!

    DIA started getting flights out at around noon yesterday but I'm not sure if they are up to full capacity yet. It'll take days still to get all those poor people out of there. My husband and I have learned to not make any travel plans during the winter because you never know when something like this will happen.

    Hope you are able to get back about your business soon! I have to go to work today for a few hours since we got so behind the last few days.
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2006
    Shima wrote:
    Lovely set, I can't wait for some nice and heavy snow out here to get some new winter pics.

    Thanks for looking Shima, be careful what you wish for! :D
  • photogmommaphotogmomma Registered Users Posts: 1,644 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2006
    How awesome! I was in Conifer for the storm of '03 (very mediocre photos!) and I was 6 months pregnant! My silly hubby was making up some really awesome drinks (like the Blizzartini) and I couldn't imbibe. :cry Being snowed in for a week was pretty crazy.

    But it looks like you had an awesome time!

    Great shots! You really captured it! Thanks for sharing....
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2006
    How awesome! I was in Conifer for the storm of '03 (very mediocre photos!) and I was 6 months pregnant! My silly hubby was making up some really awesome drinks (like the Blizzartini) and I couldn't imbibe. :cry Being snowed in for a week was pretty crazy.

    But it looks like you had an awesome time!

    Great shots! You really captured it! Thanks for sharing....

    Man there's nothing like a frozen margarita made with fresh powdery snow!

    The storm of '03 was a fun one too. I actually got a week off of work for that one because the roof in my office building was possibly unsafe. That was sweet! I liked your gallery shots of that storm, tons of snow up there in the hills :D Sorry you had to miss out on the mixed drinks!
  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2006
    How is a blizzard defined ? I mean is it just a heavy snow fall with high winds ?
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 24, 2006
    gus wrote:
    How is a blizzard defined ? I mean is it just a heavy snow fall with high winds ?

    Gus,
    I didn't know the exact answer to that one so I looked it up as I'm sure you probably already have by now but here's a link anyway :D
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard
    Basically it's very heavy snowfall combined with windspeeds of 35mph or more which causes extremely reduced visibility. This was the first time in history that all the interstate freeways were closed North, South, East, & West of Denver. Thousands of travelers were stranded and Red Cross shelters were setup all over the city. It took some people in the city over 8 hours just to get home from work on the first day of the storm. There were so many cars stuck on the roads, many adandoned, the cars that were still mobile had no where to go. Things got pretty crazy.
  • smhs.imagessmhs.images Registered Users Posts: 137 Major grins
    edited December 29, 2006
    that was cute... you got more snow on the way huh?
    Shawna
    www.shawnaseto.com

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  • SitterSSitterS Registered Users Posts: 586 Major grins
    edited December 29, 2006
    Hey Charla looks like you guys are having alot of fun. Secretly wished I was at your house when I saw the pic of the tequila bottle. :booze :booze I am in Southeast Aurora and man do we have alot of snow over here. Where are you guys? They haven't plowed our street from the first load that fell. I came home last week from shopping to find a hole in our ceiling in the living area. Evidently snow blew through the vent on the roof and when it started to melt the drywall got saturated. My husband cut into it and had to pull out the wet insulation. When he pullled it out a huge hunk of snow fell down. Well I guess it could have been worse. Don't know if you remember from the '03 snowstorm but we had some friends that just bought an old house in Wash Park. The snow was so heavy on the roof that it brought down the entire house. Feature story on the news.

    Can't believe this stuff is suppose to continue until Sunday. I will have to say that it is beautiful and kind of peaceful.

    Shane
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  • davidryandavidryan Registered Users Posts: 306 Major grins
    edited December 29, 2006
    *thud* The sound of Colorado getting kicked in the gut while down. Laughing.gif

    Hey Charla-- how's the snow depth up in Den? The Springs got about 15 inches and is now blowing around in frozen tornados!

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    Lots snow this time around-- though no white-out conditions. Incidently, my wife and I are planning on moving north to Denver. We moved to the Springs after separating from the Air Force but we don't like it here-- Denver is so much better. thumb.gif

    For comparison-- this is my backyard (above and below). Above is yesterday, below is back in August. I like snow...but I love grass!

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  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2006
    that was cute... you got more snow on the way huh?

    Thanks for the comments. Thankfully round 2 didn't bring as much new snow to Denver as they had forecasted.
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2006
    SitterS wrote:
    Hey Charla looks like you guys are having alot of fun. Secretly wished I was at your house when I saw the pic of the tequila bottle. :booze :booze I am in Southeast Aurora and man do we have alot of snow over here. Where are you guys? They haven't plowed our street from the first load that fell. I came home last week from shopping to find a hole in our ceiling in the living area. Evidently snow blew through the vent on the roof and when it started to melt the drywall got saturated. My husband cut into it and had to pull out the wet insulation. When he pullled it out a huge hunk of snow fell down. Well I guess it could have been worse. Don't know if you remember from the '03 snowstorm but we had some friends that just bought an old house in Wash Park. The snow was so heavy on the roof that it brought down the entire house. Feature story on the news.

    Can't believe this stuff is suppose to continue until Sunday. I will have to say that it is beautiful and kind of peaceful.

    Shane

    Hey Shane - Thanks for commenting. Sorry to hear about the damage to your house. We had a similar problem during one of the Summer thunderstorms where the rain blew in through a side vent. Luckily is was minor and didn't require any repair, just a bucket under the leak eek7.gif Gotta love Colorado weather!

    My house is near the I-70 & I-225 interchange just a little bit north of where 225 ends.
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited December 30, 2006
    David - Do we live in the same neighborhood or what??? American cookie cutter houses are getting a bit ridiculous. I could get knocked out, abducted and moved across the country and I'd probably never know that I wasn't in Denver anymore!

    We only got about 8 new inches here in NE Denver but over on the west side of town was a lot worse upwards of 18 inches.

    Many of the people in Denver and the Denver Metro Cities (myself NOT included) were very unhappy with the snow removal systems that were in place for the first storm. Or more to the point the lack of snow removal on residential streets. Only the streets with painted lines were touched by snow plows and residential streets were left looking like this days after the storm passed.

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    There has been a huge stink all week with people complaining about not being able to get out of the neighborhoods. In my opinion these complaints came from people who are mostly unprepared to live in a city where heavy snow is possible but not all that common. Many rear wheel drive and low profile vehicles become useless in small amounts of snow (if you have a low profile rear wheel drive you're really screwed!) So you have a lot of people stuck in their homes and getting more ticked off everyday.

    I think it was Monday or Tuesday weather forecasters start talking about another storm on the way that could dump as much or even more snow than the first storm and people start to panic. Grocery store shevles are stripped of staple items like milk, bread, and paper products (i.e. toilet paper mwink.gif ) and everyone settles in for another storm.

    The cities redouble their efforts in snow removal and this morning (Saturday) this is what I wake up to in my neighborhood.

    A HUGE loader
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    A Scraper
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    3 Sidumprs, a Bobcat, and a whole crew of guys working to remove the snow from my street. It was really cool to watch.

    One of the Sidumpers got stuck and almost slide sideways into a car parked on the street. They tried to pull it out with the Loader but when that didn't work they had to push it out with the Scraper
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    It was nice to see my tax dollars at work but I shudder to think how much this sub-contracting crew cost. eek7.gif

    Thanks Mayor Hickenlooper :Dthumb.gif
  • SenecaSeneca Registered Users Posts: 1,661 Major grins
    edited January 2, 2007
    I can't say I feel your pain...it doesn't snow where I live. But looking at those pictures...made me shiver
  • rdegrordegro Registered Users Posts: 19 Big grins
    edited January 5, 2007
    WOW and now you're being hit again, hopefully this one won't be as bad.

    Looking forward to more pictures!


    snowballjugglingvl8.gif
    Rene

    To be heard you must be seen!
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2007
    rdegro wrote:
    WOW and now you're being hit again, hopefully this one won't be as bad.

    Looking forward to more pictures!

    Hey Rene! Welcome to Dgrin! wave.gif
    Glad you finally signed up :D

    Yep, third storm in 3 weeks and they're already predicting another storm next week. Man am I getting tired of seeing all this white stuff around!
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2007
    Seneca wrote:
    I can't say I feel your pain...it doesn't snow where I live. But looking at those pictures...made me shiver

    Thanks for commenting Seneca! The cold isn't so bad but walking and driving on solid ice can be pretty tricky. :cry
  • SitterSSitterS Registered Users Posts: 586 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2007
    Hey Charla I am with you on the cookie cutter houses. All the nieghborhoods around here look the same. I took a look at your pictures and said 'hey, that looks like my neighborhood. Snow and homes". Coming from the South it was quite a shock for us. I thought Denver...hurray...I'll have some land with my house. Boy was I wrong and also it was sticker shock for us coming from SC.

    Well the hole in the ceiling is still there along with snow blowing through it today. Just put a huge bucket under it.:cry Contacted a roofer and said this is very common and he had 4 other calls today about the same thing. Well I am glad to know that I at least have a commom problem and not an unusual one.

    I am about sick of this stuff. Our cul-de-sac still looked bad a few days ago as it has not been plowed yet and definitely much worse today. Didn't even try to get out let along take any pics.
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  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2007
    Charla wrote:

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    eek7.gif I had no idea it would get so bad to req this sort of equip...i keep thinking " why not just let it melt rolleyes1.gif " That pile would be gone in a few mins here atm.
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2007
    SitterS wrote:
    Hey Charla I am with you on the cookie cutter houses. All the nieghborhoods around here look the same. I took a look at your pictures and said 'hey, that looks like my neighborhood. Snow and homes". Coming from the South it was quite a shock for us. I thought Denver...hurray...I'll have some land with my house. Boy was I wrong and also it was sticker shock for us coming from SC.

    Well the hole in the ceiling is still there along with snow blowing through it today. Just put a huge bucket under it.:cry Contacted a roofer and said this is very common and he had 4 other calls today about the same thing. Well I am glad to know that I at least have a commom problem and not an unusual one.

    I am about sick of this stuff. Our cul-de-sac still looked bad a few days ago as it has not been plowed yet and definitely much worse today. Didn't even try to get out let along take any pics.

    Yeah, Denver is definitely not a cheap town to buy a home in. I'd love to get a house in one of the older neighborhoods but they are crazy expensive! $300k for 1000 sq feet!

    Did your roofer have any idea when they will be able to get you fixed up? Is there anything you can do to protect the vent to keep more snow from blowing in?

    The streets are getting really nasty. I don't mind so much driving on packed snow but the giant 6 inch deep holes that are forming in the icepack are horrible. I feel like I'm in a rock crawler just driving down my street, and that's after the snow removal crew came through. My babysitter's street is nearly impassable with one lane and those giant holes everywhere.
  • CharlaCharla Registered Users Posts: 238 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2007
    gus wrote:
    eek7.gif I had no idea it would get so bad to req this sort of equip...i keep thinking " why not just let it melt rolleyes1.gif " That pile would be gone in a few mins here atm.

    Yeah Gus, I'll have to run over and take some pictures of the lot where they dumped all that snow eek7.gif That particular picture made me laugh because my poor neighbor was out shoveling her sidewalk and all that snow keep falling out the other side of the dumptruck and covering up all her hard work!

    Usually in Denver it snows a few inches maybe 4-6 and then is sunny the next day so all the snow melts off after about 2 days. This has been a really unusual weather pattern for us.
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