Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Duck Race a Huge Success


After two pandemic years of virtual (2020) and indoor lazy-river races (2021), The Estes Park Rotary Duck Race was back in Fall River. It was a huge success with brilliant weather, a record-setting number of ducks in the water (9,643), and $161,709 returned to participating organizations — the highest amount in the festival’s history.
 
Wayne and I spent several hours sitting on the bank of the Fall River at the finish line, recording the winning numbers from the bottoms of the little racing ducks as they finished their two-mile swim. We were so busy that I didn't have time to take many photos, but here are a few from our latest duck race adventure.

The day before the race, we prepared the prize boards at The Wheel Bar.


9,643 little yellow ducks begin their two-mile race


Photos from the Finish Line


The wood and wire fence stretches across the river to help
prevent little ducks from escaping downriver. 

Each large duck is decorated to represent a contributing sponsor.



The tiny yellow dot in the river is the $8000 first-prize-winning duck!

Monday, May 2, 2022

Narrowly Averting a Tragedy

My daughter frequently sends me a good morning text. Often, it's a picture of a recent bird sighting. Today, her text included these appalling photos. We are so grateful that no one was injured and the damage was confined to their Ranger Utility Vehicle. While the guys were dealing with the burning Ranger, Jenny was on the phone with the 911 operator.

This is our grandson spraying water on the burning Ranger. Undoubtedly, a 
big surge of adrenaline helped Virgil push the vehicle out before the shed
could catch fire.


The firefighters were fast to respond and had the fire extinguished quickly.






There isn't much left of the Ranger. It was parked in the shed and not
running when it caught fire.