Marble, Claire, and Isaac

This weekend Jessica and I packed up the car and pointed it west towards New Castle to visit Harry and Danielle, and head out to the MarbleFest music festival. Of course MarbleFest takes it's name from the tiny little town of Marble, named for... you guessed it... the exceptionally high-quality marble that is quarried there. Check out the "left-over" marble that has been set aside at the mouth of the mine. And for scale of these blocks, check out the truck and office-trailer visible on the right!

Marble Colorado is located in the Upper Crystal River Valley, and it's a downright gorgeous area!

Looking back down the valley, from up near the mine that we didn't trespass into.

Unfortunately, the forecast called for a pretty good chance of rain. And on the ground... it definitely looked like a very good chance for rain.

We settled down for some good local music. Fortunately, Danielle had scored a great deal on some camp chairs, since we forgot to bring ours. Unfortunately, mine apparently shrunk in the rainfall! At least it still had a cup-holder for my Fat Tire, which is now available in cans - making it "no glass containers event" friendly!

This gal pulled up her blanket, and grabbed a seat directly in front of us... Judging from her shirt, I'm guessing she's "popular with the boys".

Oh! Is it going to clear up!?

No sir... it wasn't going to clear up. So we made the bummer-decision to bail, and head back down to New Castle, and a bit more sunshine. But it was too late... apparently my head had gotten water-logged from all the rain, and I spurred on the decision for Jessica and I to adopt a new family member. Everyone, meet Claire!

Claire is about a 3 month old alley-cat/kitten just down the street from the Berger's. She came right out to see me the couple times we walked past this weekend. From the looks of her home and family members, she wasn't getting the care and food that she really needed. Even her little white ears were sun-burnt to the point that no fur was growing on them and the edges were curling up. We did some inquiring and the "owners" were more than happy for us to take her home with us, so we did. It's a bit stressful adding another creature to our herd, and getting them to all play nice together, but hopefully everyone will settle down soon. And Claire, well, she's a crazy little explorer cat, that is mostly happy when you pick her up, or just thrash her around for some play time. -More updates on her to come, I'm sure!

Man... crushing news just in... Isaac Hayes found dead next to his still-running treadmill. Hayes was a true pioneer in the world of music. So many artists have been influenced by his style and unmistakable voice. Even if you don't know his music, you know his voice as Chef in SouthPark. Running is downright dangerous, I'm never going close to a treadmill again!