What a trip! Flew into Vegas to meet Nicko and 'Nuala. Then we cruised (in a convertible, of course) down past the Hoover Dam to the Grand Canyon. After a little walkabout there, we skirted Monument Valley and drove through the night past Shiprock, NM (definitely past Shiprock) to Cortez "the Killer", CO. After a quick stop at Mesa Verde, we rolled into Telluride for four or five days (and nights) of bluegrass, beer, bluegrass, beer, some more beer, and mandolins. Somehow still clinging life, we then "took the highway to the Great Divide" through Rocky Mountain National Park (over that f*!#in' road!), and stopped in Boulder (for the Mork & Mindy connection) before scattering to the three or four winds at Denver International Airport. What a trip!

Three Amigos & One Mule



Me, Fionnuala, and Nicko ... and friend ( a gen-yoo-wine gov't mule). There's some kinda ditch or something behind us. (Picture by Nicko's cunning digital camera.)

Grand Canyon



It's hard to take a picture of something that's as all-fired big as the Grand Canyon. Here's a small section. (Picture by Nicko.)

On the Trail



Nicko and Fionnuala part way down the Grand Canyon's Bright Angel Trail. I brought up the rear out of a sense of responsibility -- not because I was lagging or anything :)

Three Mighty Monuments



Me, Nicko, and some lesser piece of geography. The sun's goin' down and we're somewhere near Monument Valley. It's a long, looong way to Cortez, Colorado from here -- but we got malteds on the way. (Picture by Fionnuala.)

Ansazi Cliff Dwellings, Mesa Verde



Anasazi cliff dwellings from the 12th century AD, I think. We didn't go down because there was a huge crowd (and they were going to charge us money that we would need for beer later!), but we took bunches of pictures from the overlook, of which this is one. Here's a website on Mesa Verde's archaeology.

My Kinda Town



This is the main drag in Telluride, pointed straight at Bridal Veil Falls and the end of the box canyon in which the town sits. How cool is this?! Damn cool. I need an excuse to live in a place like this. Fionnuala strolls casually into shot at right.

My Kinda Festival



And what a place for a festival Telluride is! Even when you're not jammin' to the bands, you've got Ma Nature's own eye-candy all around you. (Picture by Nicko.)

Babbling Brook



This is the river that cut the canyon in which Telluride nestles. It flowed past the our condo, and we walked out to the festival along it every morning … and staggered back along it every night -- never (intentionally) falling in! I lost count of the number of times we said this shot would make a great postcard, and I think I took a picture from this spot just about every day. Since it was too tedious to erase the cables, I chose a version that actually had cable cars in it (though they're basically invisible at this resolution).

Railroad Earth



When we walked into the festival on Thursday morning (no mean feat, considering the quantity of celebratory beverages that we'd been taking down 'til about 3 or so) we heard this completely amazing band, who turned out to be Railroad Earth. OK, they're pretty much invisible in this shot, but you can visit their website, and buy their album. (Picture by Nicko.)

Peter Rowan & Crucial Reggae with Jerry Douglas



The immortal Peter Rowan was backed by a bunch of reggae musicians and -- well, I dunno if it was bluegrass, but it was some kind of grass :) They played a 25-minute version of "Land of the Navaho" that was more like "Jammin' Planet of the Jah-vaho". Everyone who was anyone had to come out to play with Peter; dobro-man Jerry Douglas is laying down some licks here. Fionnuala and I had to worm our way to the front and boogie like crazy people. It was obligatory.

"Take the Highway to the Great Divide"



Nicko, Fionnuala, and me trying to choose: Atlantic or Pacific? (Atlantic turned out to be in everyone's more immediate future). We had just had a very excellent snowball fight and are doing an excellent job here of disguising the near terminal frostbite on our toes. (Picture by two random Russian chicks who were too polite to tell three scruffy freaks to get lost.)

Mountain Men



You know, after breakfast we like to wrestle grizzlies (not shown), but we're pretty cool about it. (Picture by Fionnuala)

Wooded Valley



You cannot imagine how many pictures I took of mountain, trees, mountains and trees, lakes, lakes and trees, mountains and lakes, mountains and lakes and trees, rivers … Well, maybe you can. I love them all. Here's one of mountains and trees, I guess.

Another Wooded Valley



Another wooded valley! Mountains and trees and a stream! Isn't it awesome!?

Mountains, Trees, and a Lake



The bushes look a bit blurry, but I think I took this one leaning out the car as we zipped around the far end of the lake. Get me a boat or just an inner tube or something! Anything!

Fellscape



"Sitting on top of the world …" And I certainly wasn't worrying. I just wanted to start walking off over yonder :)

Carl, Mountain King



When you climb up to some mountain top, surrounded by alpine tundra and marmots, you may as well bust out poses like this. (Picture by Nicko.)

Paddy and Thor's Home on the Range



You can not make this stuff up. Some ways along the trendy main drag in Boulder we found this little street kitchen called -- well, if you can't see what it's called, check out the detail below …

Plinkin' in the Creek



Me and Fionnuala jammin' out with our shiny new mandolins in some random creek just east of the continental divide. It was that kind of holiday. (Picture by Nicko.)