John Mulaney Comic Show @ Red Rocks ~ Funny Then Chillin' With Sis' In Traffic Everywhere 15Apr26

Happy tax day. Letha and I went to hear John Mulaney's latest stuff @ Red Rocks last night. My ticket was really meant for Matt but he comped me his when work & taxes called ~ thx Matt. Mulaney was very funny, as he often is, especially in the 2nd half of his set. Openers Mando and Asian woman (her words) were OK, not great. I picked Letha up at 4pm in Windsor and we headed west straight to Morrison; we arrived 90min early for gates at the bottom of the venue, 1st in line. We just hung out there till gates, getting a little peckish. I forgot we queued at the bottom and not on the ramp at RR. It was fine but the queue didn't fill till 30 min prior and being early didn't help Letha trundle up the ramps and steps slowly (from hip issue) in the rush, so we were not first at the ticket takers up-stadium. NP. I went ahead up the steps and found spots for us in the 1st row of GA in the center. And we had stadium seats! I usually pay the premium for reserved seats and closer viewing/listening but it's Matt & Letha so again NP. We still watched the big monitors mostly and the sound was great for voice, but we could see he was there. There are queues and wait-times all over Red Rocks; I went to get our dinner at the burger places and it took 30 min! I was back at my seat in time for. 7:30pm showtime but the openers started 20 min late ~ kindof bad form IMO. Nonetheless Mulaney was good from analysis of devil films, to Vietnamese families, to hating his dryer. You'll probably see it soon on NetFlix. The only downside to the show itself was a wild and loud cackling guy right behind us who laughed at everything, even brief non-funny lines. It got chilly this night ~ we had our layers and I even double-hatted with a stocking cap and put on gloves. Traffic was especially horrible toward Morison at rush hour and worse leaving RR ~ arriving early penalizes you on departure. FINO, first in - never out.

John was on his 143rd show of this tour; he travels with his family, which is nice. He's a big deal and one of the biggest comedians around. Imagine 150 dates, $120/seat gate, 5000 seats/date for gross tour gate of $90M. The $ are broken out somewhat like this:

Fishing The Pueblo Tailwater ~ Good CutBows & Suckers On The Mayfly Hatch 14Apr26

It was a windy forecast and flows are only 85cfs below Pueblo Rez on the Ark. Still, I headed down to fish and at 9am the mayflies began to hatch. It was an ok one as it was partly cloudy, the spawn was over with the cutbows hungry, and the wind wasn't too strong. My #18 MHFBPT worked great and even scored a 20"er, others were 18", and one small one. Most took the PT on the PT, heh heh, but #22 Destiny's Child fooled 'em too. I'm seeing 2 sizes of BWOs on this section right now, along with midges. I was only there for the AM and fishing was decent and the weather great. I did run into a pod of suckers too and landed too many; one was fat 19"; they seemed to like the Perdigon most.

Safety On Stairways In Summit ~ Bona Traffic HD Anti-Slip 12Apr26

We've long sought a solution to our slippery staircases at the Nest; Kala found it! Bona Traffic HD Anti-Slip was widely and well reviewed so we thought we'd try it. We needed something that 'fixed' the slips but still looked great ~ septuagenarians want it all. This weekend we installed the 2-part material and both objectives were well met. We followed this process:

• Prepped the area by masking off.
• Hand-sanded each tread with 400 grit paper.
• Wiped dust and cleaned with alcohol.
• Touched up with walnut stain and wiped off again.
• Mixed the material carefully 11.3oz:1oz and waited 5 min as instructed.
• Applied material to treads and their fronts with a wide foam brush; I cut in at the ends and pulled to the center of the tread, avoiding flipping the brush, and then feathered the middle together.
• Waited 8 hrs for the drying/curing (we slept in the lower level last night)
• Tested and unmasked the stairways in the AM... amazing! This stuff really works as anti-slip and looks great in satin finish.

We'll now observe how long it lasts. I did buy a gallon bottle for $180 from AMZ, and only used ~10% on each stair set so there's plenty left for a reapplication. Just don't mix too much initially as the mixed material is waste after just 4 hrs. This material is low VoC, easy to mix and apply, sticks well atop existing finishes (if abraded), and most importantly looks and works great. I was dubious it'd be sufficient non-slip but it is! Highly recommended. 

Visiting Wilkes In Boulder ~ Celebrating Leslie's 76th @ Stella's Cucina 10Apr26

Kala and I headed to Boulder to see Tom & Les and celebrate Leslie's 76th bday. We pre-gamed with tastes of wine and opened Leslie's gift, a bottle of serialized CO bourbon:New Rift single cask. We then headed downtown to a fancy Italian place called Stella's; you'd not know it was a restaurant from the facade & door, you just need to be in-th-know. The spot was more Manhattan than Boulder and the food was good ~ but it's the old gang of four vibes that bring us in. Good time with great friends. Kala and I are headed to Summit tomorrow to check on things and feel the "ahhh and wonder."

Fishing The Ark In BHSC ~ Greg Met Me Half Way For Decent Fishing Among CoWWs 08Apr26

BHSC... Greg & I hatched a plan to meet in Big Horn Sheep Canyon (BHSC) for a fishing day on our classic freestone section. BHSC has recovered since the Hayden fire years ago but sports many more rainbows than prior to the fire, when it was almost exclusively a brown trout fishery... both co-exist now (and of course both are exotics as the Ark should hold cutthroats in CO) and that's fine, 'cause humans disrupt ecosystems all the time. We arrived at Pinnacle Rock (thx GL) about 9am and quickly donned our gear and weapons ~ we went to the east end of the section to make a full run. Greg had his custom built rod and I presented with the RF Diamond Blaze 4wt.

I dropped in immediately and GL wandered downstream to his 'special spots' on the Ark. His home water is this fine freestone river. My 3rd cast yielded a small brown on the oil can Perdigon ~ it's kind of a mayfly but more like a FOMO (fear of missing out) fly tossed in faster moving water; it sinks like a demon and is regularly my weight now. Landing the tiny was netless; yeah, I'd forgotten it... trudged back to the car and back downstream.

North Bank Pass @ PRock... I headed across the river to fish the north bank... I prefer it on this stretch as fewer folks dare the cross. It was fine at 250cfs today. I had a good morning with a number of good browns and rainbows behind structure. I didn't even try the mid-stream structure as most of the fish in my experience (IME) are <6' from the bank on the Ark in spring. The Perdigon, a #18 MHFBPT, and a #20 Purple May Reign took the fish this AM. Got some 'bows as expected but thankfully scored mostly browns (flashback). Nobody hit the caddis despite my seeing plenty along the bank timber and rocks and on my clothes as I trodded past. The 'bows were bigger, like 14"-15" and the browns were thinner.

Fine Dining On The Ark... I completely lost my rig 5/6 of my pass at PRock and signed to GL I'll be heading over to the south bank near our cars for lunch. That was directly after scoring a sucker ~ he 'threw' the rig and was tail caught. GL & I communicated. I enjoyed my home built turkey sammy and a Red Leg hazy from an ethereal picnic spot ~ I noted too that mine was one of few tables to have already been deployed this season by CPW. I really like being out in BHSC.

Moving Ahead... We didn't go far upstream but hit a favored curve and river split a mile ahead of PRock. It's not named but we all know it. I often cross and encounter longhorns but left that for the return ~ I fished the left bank up to the split and watched Gregger again head downstream to secret spots. I was warm at heart after a good 7 fish in the AM, and started again with a decent brown soon along the left. Nice. Then I wandered across and through the 3 channels of this section without much take. Yet I settled in coming through the biggest water of the channels and scored another 4 fish for the PM! The fish are not generally large out here, but they are less discriminating and a blast. I was wandering in less trodden parts and came upon a mom goose on her nest, eyeing me intently as I backed away. And yeah, on the return to car, there were huge longhorns pooping in my way.

There's nothing to not like about SoCO on the Ark with a CoWWBoy and plenty of fish. We don't adhere to the "Madison Mantra" of "don't dare tie on a nymph" ~ heck, that's our jam in CO.

Spring On The Front Range ~ Hiking Blodgett And Fishing Cheeseman Canyon 05Apr26-06Apr26

Kala On Blodgett Open Space... Kala & I hiked around in Blodgett Open Space yesterday. We had a great outing on a nice day. It was an initial decent jaunt of '26 for Kala "Some Knees." We were pleased to be out and high above COS. The pines and firs are dropping mad amounts of cones/seeds this spring, as they do in drought conditions, "c'mon cones make more tiny trees, it's tough right now."

DC Fishing Cheesman Canyon... I headed out to Cheeseman solo today; it wasn't for lack of offering the CoWWs, it just happens that way. Cheeseman Canyon is a notoriously technical section of the S Platte river; it's the effluent of Cheeseman Rez, so a tailwater. I arrived 9:15am and was the 20th car at the Gill Trailhead leading into the canyon. More followed me so that's something. It's a strong 2.5mi hike in to the best fishing.

I fished lower in the canyon but did jack till ~2.2mi in where I could target feeding fish in spite of the flows increasing to 120cfs recently. Most productive was where DD first took me in this canyon years ago... ok, his guide took us. I caught several fish but the great cutbow got off at my net, shitty form DC ~ prob 18'-20" cutbow who then took off again 60 yds upstream and wrapped around a huge rock to break off. Else, 'bows and a brown of lesser stature on Barr's emerger & Cheeseman emerger (in the PM) and Awesome midge and JuJu midge in the late AM. OK outing but plenty of fish blew me off when hitting them on the nose... I used a #18 oil can Perdigon as weight and I sensed they saw me coming. Too, my hip flexors are blowing up this year ~ tire and get sore "quickly" ~ rue the day of the "bowling injury" and ER visit.

Any day catching fish on this tricky tailwater is a good day but they should'a been bigger in the pics.

Ripping Pine Valley & S Platte ~ Fun In The Sun With TK 04Apr26

Happy Easter weekend. Matt & I gathered with the folks of C&C to rip through a couple of canyons to the south. We stopped at Fat BBQ for lunch in Lk George. I headed back to COS while others headed to Tarryall then back to Denver. The team was filled with keen cars including a C8 Vette, a Jag, a Supra, a Lambo, a Pony GT, a Camaro, four 911s, a Defender, some Merecs and Beemers, and my Boxster GTS. I was among the lead cars this day so indeed 'let 'er rip' and felt I represented the 'gentlemen' well. We all grabbed rocks in our windshields. No one else had a top down - I just turn up the cabin heat a bit.