Tag Archives: Rocky Mountain National Park

"Not in front of the Klingons"

I heard one of my all time favorite questions again tonight and a cute line that I had forgotten.

The day began with dealing with some emails. Then a visit to the Centennial Village in Greeley, Colorado. An interesting place. The signage could be better. Or they could have folks stationed throughout the village to do interpretation. Of course, we could have gone on the tour, but we did not have a whole lot of time as we had picked up some additional responsibilities for the day. Still, even taking the village at our own, somewhat rapid pace, there was much to learn. And there were many great, great flowers.

Lunch followed. I was looking for something light like a turkey sub. We came across Cheba Sub Hut. Most excellent. A quirky environment; a manic person at the counter, and good food. I could get hooked.

A drive to the Denver airport followed. Tricia went to a retreat. I went to Estes Park. I did a bit of walking around – it was a cool, rainy evening so I neither walked as much as I had planned nor did I take as many pictures as I planned although there were a number taken for the pine cone collection. But I saw some of the city – amazing how much I remembered given that I had only been here once and that some ten years ago. I picked up a copy of Live Rhymin’ by Paul Simon.

After wandering around Estes Park for a while, I returned to the Rocky Mountain Park Inn where I had received a good deal on Hotwire.

Channel surfing, I came across Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country playing on the SyFy Channel. It has some interesting moments. Shakespeare contributes the title and gets quoted fairly frequently.

It was followed by Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. It definitely is not one of my favorite movies in the franchise. But it does have one of my favorite questions of all time. The plot involves a search for God led by Spock’s half-brother. He takes over the Enterprise and away they go. Adventures follow. There are some intriguing reflections on the pain we carry. I need to ponder that further. After additional adventures, they arrive at the planet where God supposedly lives. They encounter a being who claims divinity. However, Kirk and Spock and McCoy are surprised to learn that this being is overly interested in the Enterprise. The being suggests that the starship will be useful as he (at least he appears as a he) seeks to escape from the planet. Finally Kirk can take no more and poses the eternal question: “Why does God need a starship?” I will tell no more to avoid spoiling the film. But I love that question.

Of course the line, “Please Captain, not in front of the Klingons.” isn’t bad either.

Tomorrow: Rocky Mountain National Park.

See you along the Trail.

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Filed under Movie, National Park

What passes for vacation

The Trail led to Denver today – after some last meetings in Indianapolis.

We arrived about 8:30 Denver time tonight – in time to see a beautiful sliver moon hanging in an sky turning from blue to darkness while the clouds over the Rockies glowed red in the sunset. By the time we made it to the rental car lot, the moment had passed so it will remain a memory rather than an image preserved in pixels.

What passes for vacation in my life begins tomorrow. We drove from Denver to Colorado Springs. The next few days will see wandering in this area; then the Trail turns north – to see Sue, whose husband Steve just died. A couple days at Rocky Mountain National Park follow. The memorial service for Steve takes place on Saturday. Then we head south to Ghost Ranch, then back to Denver and to Manhattan.

General plans are in place. The specifics will be chosen each day – or maybe the day before – and at least some of them will be reported here in words and images.

See you along the Trail.

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Filed under Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Travel