From rustic to Artistic

Continuing on

From rustic to Artistic

8th September 

I then took a shuttle to Manitou Springs, a small historic town in the Rocky Mountains. 

Check out the room. It was called the Dot Matrix room. It was full of leopard print, a room one of my very good friends would feel very much at home.

The entrance.

The detail

I matched the room.

Mike the owner. Loved a chat. I certainly welcomed the conversation .

Look what they sell in the shops for medicinal purposes.

The town

I stayed 2 nights .I sussed out the town and visited " Garden of the Gods". I could have stayed longer.

Garden of the Gods: 

Amazing beauty and my feet firmly on the ground. I enjoyed a 4 hr hike.

Boulder canyon: The challenges of a solo traveller.

I rented a car and drove 3 hours via Denver, to my next destination ,high up in the Rocky Mountains. This day was challenging for me as a solo traveller and a bit of a reality check. I'm not sure how I stayed on the road ,when I swerved sharply to avoid a full tire in my lane ,travelling at 90 km/hr ,on the freeway. ????

My GPS died and I then got badly lost looking for the house I booked via air BNB. The owner was not going to be around and I should have realised how remote this place was when he questioned:
Do you have a four wheel drive?,
I'll send you a map?
The house is open .
Text me when you arrive. 

The road was horrible. Narrow, steep, rocky, and sheer drop off one side and no one around to ask directions. I stopped and waited for 20mins to finally stop a car and get instructions. This beautiful log house was remote, miles from any neighbour, very high up in these amazing mountains. Not a great choice to stay at this stage of my trip, as I was keen for social interaction. None the less , this place was breathe taking.

The Rocky Mountains:

THE NEXT MORNING: The challenge continued.

In hind side, I should have treated these big rocks like a road block and not tried to go over them. The rock I ran over, lifted the front of the car in the air and I was stuck. Bill was around to help me with ,what he called his magic weapon. He was there ,because he caused the rocks to fall on to the road, in the first place.

I eventually found Benjamin loop: A 4 hour hiking track. I then had a wonderful day.

A day in Boulder: 

This university town was alive. Bikers, hikers, protesters. Heap of very fit, healthy people. Great place to eat and watch the people. 

DKD

Continuing on

30th August

Flew from Cleveland ( Ohio) to Colorado spring (Colorado) via Chicago. Loved the airport.

Chicago airport.

Retreat no 2: 

Silent retreat at DKD, which is situated on the slope of Greenhorn Mountain, at  (8200 f). Gardener, Colorado.

The retreat has 9 cabins, at least 15mins apart from each other,on a 400 acre  property. Sheila, the director, took me to get my groceries for the 8 days, gave me some tips and then introduced to my cabin. 

My intention was to follow a daily schedule with at least 6-8hrs of meditation/day. This was an exercise in disciple, as there is no one checking.?????

This experience, like in Michigan, was  boot camp of the mind. It was hard work. No coffee, chocolates and pain killers this time.

A very special lady. She did visit me Day 2 to check I was doing OK.

My only concern during  my stay, as well as boredom, was when I read the instructions on what to do if confronted with a grissley bear. Low voice, no eye contact and retreat slowly. 

The entrance to DKD

I was very excited when I saw my rustic abode, named Ziji

My kitchen and dining

Dinner for 1

Did i fall over or just searching for ground???

I walked 

Still smiling at the end. I endured 8 days of me!

The view from the cabin.

September 13th

I'm now 1 month into my holiday and have done so much since my last post. I'm writing this in the Rocky mountains Colorado.

Going back to Michigan first.

My first retreat , "Mindfulness in action" (15-23 August)

This course was an huge challenge and felt like mind boot camp. The retreat went from 9am-9pm, 8 of those hours were either sitting or walking meditation. We had lovely meals with "functional talking" only. A determined mind, pain killers, chocolate and coffee got me through.

I sat and sat and sat some more and after 9 days I had a smile and my abdominal muscles still worked.

I met some wonderful people.

We ate great food and we did laugh.

This 9 days was a wonderful experience, the aim for me was to learn meditation. I certainly threw myself in there with very little sitting endurance. Now the challenge will be to keep practising.

24th August:

Visit a hockey centre at  Kent state University.

I flew from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Cleveland, Ohio and stayed 15mins from the university. 

Firstly, I did a hike through Virginia Kendall Park. 

I now know what a "overlook" is!!!

Kent state University hockey program has a budget of $600,000/Annam. 

Three full time quality hockey  coaches, part time strength and conditioning coach, psychologist and nutritionist. This 1 team gets 15-20 hours of coaching /week for 6 months of the year. Interesting answer by 1 of the coaches when I asked what he would like to add to the program. "Have the psychologist be full time" Inferring that lack of confidence in the athletes, is a big limiting factor to their performance.

Strength and conditioning session started the session.

Warm up. Love the facilities.

On the turf for 2 hours.

Smiling faces after.