Revisiting old friends in Colorado.

In just a titch, Ben and I will be stepping off our plane at Denver International Airport and spending several days in our Other Home (nad, hopefully, Future Home): the Greater Denver area.  My mother-in-law, who I call Jeanmom, will be celebrating her 70th birthday.  And, because she's not one to stop a celebration short, she's adding a recommitment ceremony to her husband of 30 years to the mix.  I'll be singing "Simple", a simply beautiful song by k.d. lang - and will try not to blubber through the lyrics.  It will be a sweet and simple gathering in their backyard.  I'm sure God will be smiling down on them that day; he's been shining down on them for over thirty years now.

Later in the week, we'll be visiting some other dear ones: the folks and reindeer and llamas and The Jolly Bearded One himself at Santa's North Pole Workshop near Pike's Peak.  I visited the park for my book back in 2009.  This summer, their future was in peril due to the tremendous wildfires that ravaged the area.  I promised myself - and well as made an on-line declaration -  that I would visit the area very soon.  I'm making good on that promise.

Plus, I really need to have a convo with St. Nick about Christmas gifts.  Not really the ones I want for me, but the ones I want for others.  Turns out, three out of my 6 numbers for Powerball came up, but that only nets me seven bucks.  I'm sure the Jolly Old Elf will figure out a way for a big win by Christmastime.  I have lots of people to help.  And that includes a number of vintage parks.

Ben and me at the North Pole Workshop in September, 2009

The Garden of the Gods, Pike's Peak's Cog Railway and Manitou Springs are also on the itinerary, as is a visit to Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore to drop off a copy of my book in hopes they'll approve it for inclusion on their shelves. And Ben's got a coaching lecture in the city as well.  All in all, a busy, bustling, exciting trip!  Can't wait to see our old friends again.

And that means you two!  I'm counting on you to remember me and looking forward to our heartfelt reunion!

A sad day for the Flying W Ranch

http://www.flyingw.com/

I recall my first family trip back in the 60s.  I'm talking all three of us piled into the car, along with a tiny porta-potty for yours truly, and ventured Westward across this great country.  I remember stopping for a Dairy Queen in Kansas, visiting the Bug Museum, Cave of the Winds, Santa's North Pole Workshop near Pike's Peak, Pike's Peak itself (via the nifty tramway), and eventually Disneyland.  I was three years old and still have fond memories of that long-ago trip (even the part when I accidentally left my crayons on the back window and they melted there, decorating my Dad's car with dots of rainbow - and giving my Skipper doll's hair some unwanted highlights and lowlights).  In fact, I recall these places in vivid sense memory.  And that's really saying something, especially since many trips made in more recent years don't have that hold on my heart - and aforementioned senses.

But if you asked me to recall one place we visited most clearly, in small details of sound, smell and (Ooh Lordy!) taste, it would be the Flying W Ranch Chuckwagon Show and Dinner.  The musical cowboys took the stage under an outdoor, open air structure.  They played songs like "Happy Trails" and the eerie "Ghost Riders in the Sky" (evocative both back then and now of whispy, transparent-gray cowpokes and their phantom horses).  We sat at a long, wooden table with throngs of other happy vacationers and were treated to a tasty cowboy supper of a BBQ beef brisket sandwich, baked beans (best ever, ever), buttery corn bread and tangy-sweet lemonade.  I can still remember plunking down my empty tin cup after draining it of the lemonade, wiping my mouth clean with the back of my sleeve, satisfied and full.  What more do you need while listening to cowboy crooners while a gentle, evening breeze licked up against your shins?

It's with the deepest sadness that I must report this wonderful tourist attraction is no more.  I visited Santa's North Pole Workshop's Facebook page this morning and learned that Flying W Ranch fell vicitm to the tremendously savage fires that are menacing Colorado as I write this.  I'm constructing this blog post in order to inform my readers to please pray for the families affected by this tragedy, and the business owners who've lost their beloved Ranch, which charmed folks for the past 60 years.  And, in addition, I'm urging everyone to keep prayers of protection going for Santa's North Pole Workshop, for nearby towns like Manitou Springs, for the glorious forests, and Garden of the Gods.

While writing this, I can't keep my eyes from tearing up for those ghostriders, now a sweet, disntant memory ...

A St. Nicholas Day Treat: visits to Santa-related vintage parks!

Thinking of St. Nick brings me to a couple of my Cotton Candy parks, winds me down the road to their entrances, and lets me recall their gingerbread goodness - even though some were visited in the deep, dark Summer.

Santa's North Pole Workshop, right at the foot of Pike's Peak in Colorado, is the quintessential Christmas park year 'round, 24/7, through and through...

And nowhere else, as far as I know, can one ride an actual reindeer-go-'round!  That's me and Rudolph.

You can sidle up to the actual North Pole...

And then there's the candy cane slide, the same one I slid down as a pipsqueak back in the late 60s...

still thrilling taller pipsqueaks in the present day.

More recently, Ben and I had the immense pleasure of visiting Storybook Land in Egg Harbor County, NJ.  This versatile playground of a park includes fairytale scenes, rides and a sugar plum fairyland of a Christmas section.  I also learned they have a holiday festival complete with the jolly old elf, reindeer, and thousands of twinkling lights.  But on this sweltering August day...

Wwwhat?  Another North Pole?  Will the real North Pole please stand up... oh, wait.  You ARE standing...

Like the Queen of England, I'm inspecting the troops.

But what delighted me the most was the display of holiday animated characters.  Could these little snowbabies be the same ones who adorned the Marshall Fields windows back in the day? 

Back home, Santa's Village has been resurrected as Santa's Village Azoosment Park; the classic structures still stand.

Check in with my post tomorrow and perhaps Santa will leave a few images you haven't seen since you were a tot, ready to pull apart your Christmas stocking with glee.

Minding the Snow.

As Chicago prepares itself for blizzards and blowing and "b-r-r-r-r-r"s, I'm reminded that at Santa's North Pole Workshop in Colorado, every day embraces the white stuff. Except for that time when an enormous amount of snowfall DID close the park. I mean, the elves can only shovel so much.

Here's a great image I found of a vintage postcard from the park. No snow on that day and the people look pretty happy.

Reindeer Games.

Zoinks, the past week's been brimming with activity (including cookie-making, the all-important cookie-making), so many apologies for not posting an update in a while. It's been a wild hodge podge of actual v.o. work (Ta-Ra!!) and rehearsing/performing our old time radio show, and cleaning and clearing the house and running around like the proverbial headless poultry. Ah... time to sit down with a gingerbread latte and focus on the season at hand.

We're having Ben's dad and step-mom over for Christmas Eve, so I spent more time today finding and buying last-minute things, especially foodstuffs for the happy event. I found some great cheeses and fig spread, kalamata olives and salty/savory/sweet nuts. Not to mention the Prosecco. Gotta have the Prosecco. And egg nog and cookies and then you just spin the wheel and start wherever it leaves you, cuz anything I've just listed is good eats.

The above photo is from Santa's North Pole Workshop just outside Pike's Peak. Their carousel has no horses, just reindeer. As it should be. Here's one of them. Can you tell who it is??

A very Merry Christmas to all, and to all a lot of nummy goodies. You deserve it.

Sunday on the Blog with Photos!

Here we are, photographed on top of "the world's tallest Ferris Wheel" at Santa's Northpole Workshop at the foot of Pike's Peak in Colorado. We felt like we were on top of the world, swooping up past the towering pines.

But the fact is, I always feel on top of the world with my baby Ben.

Happy 12th Anniversary, my love.

Hey God! Thanks for the big blue marble!

Taken from the top of the Ferris Wheel at Santa's North Pole Workshop in Colorado (it's dubbed "the tallest Ferris wheel in the world" as it's at the foot of Pike's Peak).

Just breathe in the fir trees and the gorgeous blue sky. What do YOU see in the clouds?

Happy Earth Day!

Is there such a thing as "Happy Tax Day"?

Feeling whipsawed over tax day? Blitzkreiged by anxiety? May I introduce a Moment of Zen (hope Jon Stewart won't sue): deer feeding at Santa's North Pole Workshop in Colorado.

Feel the breeze, your hand cradling the food pellets as the gentle deer has a little snack.

Aaaaahhhhhh... Doesn't that feel better?

(Now go use the hand sanitizer)

With visions of sugarplums...

Maybe it's the truckloads of snow that are being deposited all around our property that's making me think of this, but if I had one wish right now, it would be: to ride the world's highest Ferris wheel, swooping up among the tallest fir trees, taking in the snow-topped Rockies. What a rush. And bonus: the air is thinner up there, too. I overheard the woman who disembarked the ride before we hopped on. Her one-word summary: "majestic."

You have to visit it before the holidays, but it's worth keeping this in mind for the upcoming Christmas holiday in, yes, 11+ months. Santa's North Pole Workshop, at the foothills of Pike's Peak in Colorado, becomes a heavenly winter wonderland where the spirit of Christmas is quite palpable. When we were there back in September, many of the folks I interviewed touted the week leading up to Christmas, including Christmas Eve, as the most memorable time to visit (although I thoroughly enjoyed hearing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer being played at the carousel in the late summertime).

Don't forget to say "hello" to the Jolly Old Elf himself while you're there (I asked for Colorforms...).