Leaving Loveland

Probasco’s

May 3, 2017 — Leave a comment

Day 31 in my “Leaving Loveland” challenge.

Now here’s something you don’t see every day:

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But I do. Every school day on my walk to pick up Silas. This may be the only store of its kind. I’ve never been inside but when our friends came to visit and went on a little downtown exploration, they visited and bought a Bible for their son. The staff even engraved it with his name while they waited.

I love that downtown Loveland is home not only to hip brewpubs and fancy restaurants and art galleries, but quirky places like this too.

Here’s a look at the front of the store. Yes, that is a wall of mannequin heads sporting wigs in the window!

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Faces Bridge

May 2, 2017 — Leave a comment

Day 30 in my “Leaving Loveland” challenge.

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Loveland has an extensive recreation trail that loops the city, with only a few incomplete segments and plans to connect them. Unfortunately, repairing the trail had to take priority over extending the trail after the 2013 flood. And finally, today, one of my favorite sections was open again.

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I only saw Faces Bridge once or twice before today. We moved here in late June 2013, and I explored the trail and discovered these sculptures under the bridge that summer. Then in September came the flood, and this section of the trail including the pedestrian bridge over the river was destroyed.

So it was a pleasant surprise when I went running this morning and discovered it was open again at last.IMG_3634

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A closeup of two faces on the outside of the bridge (yeah I think that’s an alien on the left!):

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I also love seeing these swallow nests under bridges along the trail.

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Here’s a closer view of some:

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And an over-the-shoulder look from the sidewalk on Wilson Avenue, where I got off the trail to loop back home.

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The Foundry

May 1, 2017 — Leave a comment

Day 29 in my “Leaving Loveland” challenge.

One thing that’s been exciting about living in Loveland for the past four years is the amount of growth and revitalization that has happened, especially downtown where we live. This is still a smallish town (about 70,000 people), but downtown doesn’t shut down evenings and weekends like other small towns I’ve known.

And a good number of those restaurants and breweries and artist studios that make downtown an after-hours destination have opened since we’ve moved here.

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But The Foundry (construction site pictured above, one block from our house) is definitely the biggest new thing happening downtown since we’ve lived here, and we won’t be around to see it completed. New housing and retail, including a movie theater, are planned for this space; which we were excited to hear because the only movie theater in town is a twenty-minute drive to the eastern edge at the fancy-schmancy Centerra shopping center, and we were looking forward to being able to walk to the movies. Oh well, not that we go to movies that often anyway.

 

Makin’ It Through

April 29, 2017 — Leave a comment

Day 28 in my “Leaving Loveland” challenge.

No place is perfect, not even places I dub paradise. Gray days aren’t a habit here so they don’t always get me down, but today has simply been an exercise in getting through it. We had planned to go camping at Great Sand Dunes National Park this weekend. Instead we got snow and cold and turned the furnace back on.

It’s been a good useful day for laundry, cleaning, baking (by Nathan who made banana bread), and online house-hunting. And now Nathan and the kids are off to the climbing gym and I’m thinking of a cup of tea and a good book.

Here’s the view out my living room window this afternoon:

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At least the snow isn’t sticking around, and tomorrow’s forecast includes sunshine.

Tortilleria La Autentica

April 28, 2017 — Leave a comment

Day 27 in my “Leaving Loveland” challenge.

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This place is just across the street from our house. In the mornings you can hear the tortilla-making machinery squeaking, and smell breakfast cooking. Probably about once a week I buy a couple dozen tortillas for tacos. That’s what we’re having tonight! We will very much miss our tortilleria.