A lovely, narrow, twisting road took us from wealthy Aspen over Independence Pass to not-so-wealthy Leadville. On the way, we got to frolic in the high alpine scenery, like so:
By "frolic," of course, I mean "walk slowly down a level footpath, gasping desperately for oxygen." 12,000 feet of altitude is pretty brutal for those of us who live at 180 feet.
So, that yielded me Lake County, for 47 out of the 64 Colorado counties. Now 73.4% complete, Colorado remains behind only Utah (75%) and the five finished states (Oregon, Washington, Kansas, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts) in its "completeness." Not too exciting, if not that it's the first new county in almost exactly two years. The whole county collection business has kind of been on hold. But there will be another trip into uncharted lands before the end of the year, so stay tuned for more such excitement! Yeah!
7 comments:
Pushing aside seashells, rocks, books, blue-and-white bibelots, and heaps of fabric.....thinking, "Collecting COUNTIES?"
This is a novel idea. You may be the only person ever to make a collection of counties.
Possibly because it's just a teensy bit...No, I won't say it.
BTW, with your Leadville connection: did you like Stegner's _Angle of Repose?_
Rhode Island...how many counties is that?
@Elaine: The only person? Hell, there's a whole national association of people who collect counties. A surprising number of whom have completed the collection of all 3033 or whatever it is. And there are specialists, people who, like, want a picture of every county courthouse. Or people who try to get to the highest point of elevation in every county -- my brother-in-law is one of those, actually. So freakiness is relative. DON'T JUDGE ME, ELAINE!
Or do. Whatevs.
@fingers: Five. I polished them off in an afternoon. Then I polished them off again in another afternoon two years later, so Mrs.5000 could claim Rhode Island too. That was the day after the two of us and our friends [occasional L&TM5K commenter] Dug and Mrs. Dug all finished Massachusetts on the same weekend. It was awesome. We got our picture in the association newsletter, if memory serves.
Oh, and in answer to your follow-up question, no. Delaware has only three.
Any other questions?
Okay, I am amazed. I do know that there are vast undergrounds of people with uncommon interests in common...(e.g., my husband belongs to Antique Phonograph societies in MI and CA, an Assn of Recorded Sound, and an Assn of Jazz Collectors.) Some obsessions are easier to comprehend, eh?
Now I feel like a piker, because I can't be bothered to record a Life List re birding.
You should look up CoCoRaHS. Just up your alley.
Nice photo.
And you are the King of Strange and Pretty Useless Hobbies. ... but it is what makes you so endearing.
i started 'collecting' the highest point in every state i visit back when i was about 22. but so far, the only state i've completed is kansas, so it's been a slow start.
i'm glad you had a good time in my home state, but it's kind of hard not to with all of those pesky mountains around.
@Jenners: Well, ALL hobbies are "pretty useless" -- that's what makes them HOBBIES, as opposed to "responsibilities" or "critical functions" or "jobs."
And I actually think that the county thing is one of my least strange hobbies. Lots of people like travelling and driving around; keeping track of it in an organized way is just a quirky detail.
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