Introduction

December 6, 2020

This was the spot where we were able to practice dancing over the past summer, since all other venues we attended in the past were closed. It is the 1908 historic pavilion located at Denver's Cheesman Park. Built of Colorado Yule marble in the neoclassical style, it was once referred to as the "Temple in the Sun". Originally it had a grand staircase that led down to 3 fountains in the front. The park and pavilion were named in honor of Walter S.Cheesman - a Colorado businessman. We were lucky to discover this beautiful structure with it's amazing views of the mountains and downtown Denver! We would bike there several days a week and practice our steps to music. It was interesting as it was outdoors and partially exposed to the weather, and you never knew who would be around - from the homeless to others enjoying walking in the park.

Sheesh, even the trees are wearing masks! Maybe it's time to get out of Dodge.

This is our tiny Covid escape pod - our Ascape trailer. Pictured is our new Seavo tandem - Garfield. You might notice that the bike is about the same length as the trailer!

As with most other cyclists who tour, the Covid pandemic put a screeching halt to that type of bicycling for this year. We resigned ourselves to riding around Denver which was fine in the summer and fall, but by winter, we knew that we would be dealing with snow, ice and cold weather which were not safe conditions for us to ride the tandem.

Our other winter exerise activity would normally be ballroom dancing, but with Covid, all of our classes and social dances had been cancelled for the forseeable future.

As my mom had passed away from Covid in June and we couldn't safely visit any family members, we decided that there was nothing to keep us home right now. We had ridden in southern Arizona in the winter and found that it could pretty nice, so we opted to head there for a few weeks.

We're going to be camping at several state parks in our new "Ascape" trailer. My sister calls it our "Covid escape pod"! It's made by the A-Liner company and has all types of ammenties: a dinette that coverts to a bed, a microwave, stove top, frig/freezer, sink, AC, TV, solar panel and even a cassette toilet which is not a flush toilet. More of a composting toilet but the waste drops into portable tank below.

Most importantly it has a propane furnace! No more cold nights camping in a tent! It's pretty tiny and has limited storage, but it's light enough to be towed by our van. Our bike and extra items will be stored in the van.

So we made our plans and got some reservations, and headed south.

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Comment on this entry	Comment	14

Kelly IniguezGreat journal title! I’m looking forward to reading more. Soon, I hope.
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3 years ago

Rachael AndersonWelcome to CycleBlaze! I like your COVID escape pod.
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3 years ago

Kathleen JonesYay! The Swetts are here! Missed being able to comment on your rides although still read your journals elsewhere.
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3 years ago

marilyn swettTo Kathleen JonesThanks Kathleen. We're happy to be on a new, more welcoming site and look forward to posting more journals!
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3 years ago

marilyn swettTo Rachael AndersonThanks Rachel! We like our tiny Ascape, but have decided it's a bit too small for us. But it worked well in keeping us away from others. We've since bought a much larger Airstream trailer!
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3 years ago

Kathleen JonesMarilyn, don't know if it's my browser or what but the photos in the introduction don't load.
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3 years ago

marilyn swettTo Kathleen JonesHmmmm - I've sent a message to Kelly to see if she is having the same problem.
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3 years ago

Scott AndersonTo marilyn swettThere is something odd here, I think. The first two photos load, but the third one is only partial when I view this page. None of the other pages in the journal are like this. I wonder if it got completely uploaded. You might try just delegating and reimporting it.
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3 years ago

marilyn swettTo Scott AndersonI reloaded the pictures. Can you see them now? And can you see a picture when this journal shows on the list of journal page on CycleBlaze?
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3 years ago

marilyn swettTo Kathleen JonesIs this better?
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3 years ago

Scott AndersonTo marilyn swettYes, the photos on this image are fine now. The image on the journal index page (the thumbnail photos for a collection of journals) is also fine; but there is no image on your title page (at the top of the table of contents). Let me know if you need help in loading that image.
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3 years ago

marilyn swettTo Scott AndersonYes, I could use your help with that Scott. We also haven't figured out how to imbed the pictures into our text like others do.
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3 years ago

Scott AndersonTo marilyn swettOK. Might as well take this offline though. I’ll send you an email, so I can imbed images as examples.
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3 years ago

Kathleen JonesTo marilyn swettYes! Thanks.
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3 years ago