Aug. 14, 2007 - 20:14 MDT

BYWAY

A slight jog around Crown Hill Cemetery and then almost due west is my favorite way to Golden, Colorado.

Thirtysecond Avenue goes west between North and South Table Mountains, the two Mesas in our area.

It is a gentle wind between the greenery, sighting occasional deer, not a rapid transit, but pleasingly satisfying to me.

Most people encountered on the road are driving at a reasonable speed, not frantically hurried like most thoroughfares in our area. Even the trucks that come along seem to have drivers who enjoy the trip.

Glimpses of the "Tables" occur frequently from different aspects. South Table Mountian has an outcrop that is featured on Coors Beer labels if that means anything to anyone.

One thing I like about this route is the sight of Look Out Mountain ahead as we come into the town of Golden. It has been said that the mountain was used by the Indians to survey the plains for hostile entities -- fact or fiction ? I dont know, but it sounds exciting. The switchback road up the face of the mountain has been known to sicken flatland furriners on the way up. Prominent toward the top is the "M" made of rocks and maintained by the students of The Colorado School of Mines. So it reminds me I am truly at home when Lookout Mountain is in my sights.

Sometimes due to the demands of time we take 44th Avenue back home, it is a bit faster yet still rural in some aspects. It runs along Clear Creek and was paralleled by the Interurban Trolley years ago. When I was a kid we'd take the Interurban Trolley out that way to Golden, hike around, eat a bit and then take the Interurban Trolley back on the other route which somewhat paralleled Colfax Avenue (equivalent to 15th Avenue), It was refreshing to get up there and mill around the hills in the cool fresh air, usually spending the biggest part of a day and the trolley did go a lot faster on the interurban route than in Denver town. That too was a blast to us. Although we were not under the thumb of any grown up we did amazingly behave ourselves. Of course we had heard weird tales of the Golden Lockup and didn't want to tempt fate.

Heather and I have a funeral to go to tomorrow, of an old school friend of hers, we took flowers up to make sure we could find the place tomorrow, and it was a pleasant ride. Tomorrow we shall go to Commerce City to pick up another schoolmate of Heather's to take along and I expect we shall have a bite up there before we head back.

Today was a very good day, cool up there and sunny, going on my favorite BYWAY . . . . . . . . .

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