August 1 - a notable date in the VaughanMiller family

 August 1 has brought both sadness and joy to our family.

August 1, 1996: on the way back from Michigan to Colorado in the first new car we had ever owned, we were hit by a car whose driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. Our car rolled, the car was totaled, Kendall and kids were pretty much o.k. (tho' the kids were put on backboards and rushed by ambulance to the hospital to be checked out with me riding anxiously along), the kids reported seeing our dog, Loki, sailing through the air as the car rolled but he was o.k., and it wasn't until we eventually got back to Boulder that I realized I wasn't o.k. - with a concussion and multiple back sprains (amazing what adrenaline will do to keep a person going). But we survived and eventually all was well.

Loki on the trail at Lake of the Clouds,
Porcupine Mountains, Michigan 1991

August 1, 1997: our dog, Loki, passed away. He was an extraordinary running buddy and that pup knew and empathized with my every mood. There will never be another Loki although we have since had two dogs that we have loved (Jester) and love (Taz) dearly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To turn the first day of August into a joyful date to remember, I was determined to finish my Boulder, Colorado to Petoskey, Michigan run on August 1, 2007. What a fantastic journey that was - and what a grand way to bring a monumental dose of happiness to August 1.

 

 

 

 

 

And this August 1 - 2022 - looking for another joyful memory to add to this date, Kendall and I cogitated on how to celebrate Colorado Day (also an August 1 event) and/or accomplish the 50th item on our 70 in 70 quest - and came up with a trip to Nederland and a ride on the Carousel of Happiness. A wonderful way to celebrate August 1!

In 1986, Scott Harrison, an ex-Marine who was calmed by a music box and the image of a carousel in a mountain meadow while serving in Vietnam, rescued a 1910 Loof carousel from a warehouse in Utah then spent the next 26 years carving 56 animals that would bring his vision of a mountain meadow carousel to life. 

So many choices of where to ride!

And so many things to look at while riding!

 

 

PLUS! all throughout the ride there is music from the restored 1913 Wurlitzer Band Organ which plays 101 instruments using compressed air generated by bellows. Magnificent!