Fort Collins Brewery, USA

Next is an official I received in 2014, and a very very cool card, even though I don't drink beer...

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This card is like an ad for the Fort Collins Brewery in Colorado and as can be seen from this card, they even have beer with bicycles on it....now even though I don't like beer, I may actually give this one a try....just cos of the bike :)

from the back of the card:

Saddle Up. Fat Tire Amber Ale delivers a happy balance of distinctive nutty malt flavours and fresh hoppiness. As a consumer once wrote, "this beer just makes you smile."

and at first I thought 'hoppiness' was some spelling mistake, since it got underlined with red as well, but turns out that is something about the level of the bitterness of the beer or something...

Well if you are ever nearby, you can visit it, they seem to have a nice taverna as well...and later, well just let me know how it was :)

a few stamps here, mostly well-known ones...starting from the bottom with the American Toleware from 2007, then above it, the American Clock from 2003..and then the Navajo Jewelry from 2004 - the other two I dont see that frequently - first is a Christmas stamp from 2007, and then a flower one issued in 2013, showing a Poinsettia.

thanks a bunch to Louise for this super-cool card!

Denver & Rio Grande Western, USA

Lately I've been under a huge-train-cards attack...need I mention the striker? I dont think so :P

It is such a fantastic series of cards!! Absolutely love them!
And so much text on the backside...makes all the research so easier...since I do not really have to do any in the first place :D

So here is what it says:

Denver & Rio Grande Western

Passenger service between Denver and Salt Lake City, to say nothing of Chicago-Pacific Coast passenger traffic on Rio Grande rails, was not one of the Denver & Rio Grande's early corporate objectives, Its organizers were thinking more of building a narrow-gauge railroad from Denver to Mexico City, and enhancing their fortunes by selling land in new communities adjacent to the track. However, a series of unexpected events turned their attentions to the west. The Santa Fe railway had blocked southward expansion into New Mexico, and the mineral wealth of Colorado's southwest corner and Leadville provided impetus to construct trackage in those directions. Midway between the two lines, D&RG track crossed the Cintinental Divide at Marshall Pass, terminating at Grand Junction. Meanwhile, in Utah, the D&RG people had been busy buying up short lines and connecting them with short lengths of new track, eventually extending that little system eastward and joining D&RG trackage in Colorado in 1883.

This narrow-gauge route between Denver-Salt Lake City was 735 miles long, and the journey required almost 34 hours. The Pacific Express departed Denver at 7:30 am, crossed Marshall Pass at dusk, and took the entire next day to traverse Utah. Short stops for meals were made at South Pueblo, Sargentis, Green River and Provo, supper being had at Salt Lake City following a 5:10 pm arrival. The accommodations were hardly luxurious by modern standards; Pullman buffet-sleeping cars and (new) attractive emigrant sleeping cars, plus ordinary coaches formed the train's equipment. Open-top observation cars were added for that part of the trip though the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas River and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River. It wasn't fast, but the journey must have been interesting and restful.

By 1890 this narrow-gauge routing had been replaced by one of standard gauge. The California Fast Mail left Denver daily at 9 am and ran over three rail tracks to Leadville, thence on standard-gauge (converted from narrow-gauge) as far as Rifle. New standard-gauge track was then used into Grand Junction, beyond which was a short stretch of converted narrow-gauge line. More new standard-gauge track, replacing a long segment of unsuitable narrow-gauge, was used to reach White House, while the remainder across most of Utah was converted narrow-gauge line. Meal-stops were made at Palmer Lake, Pueblo, Salida, Green River and Provo, with Salt Lake City arrival scheduled at 4:35 pm (of the following day) in time for dinner. Pullman buffet-sleeping cars and tourist-sleepers, destined for Los Angeles and San Francisco, were included in the train's consist.

The route remained unchanged for almost half-a-century, but the overall time had been reduced to less than a day. And, the equipment had been vastly improved (including the addition of dining cars, in 1899). But all this was to change drastically in 1934. The Rio Grande built a short connection between the Denver & Salt Lake railroad and its own rails, shortening the Denver-Salt Lake City run to 750 miles. Over this line ran the Panoramic on a  15, 5 hour schedule, with Chicago-San Francisco sleeping cars included. The Panoramic became the Exposition Flyer in 1939, and a decade later it was superseded by the California Zephyr.

The picture on the card shows the California Zephyr during its 11:46 am stop for a crew change at Grand Junction, Colorado. The diesel-electronic locomotive in charge of No 18 is a 6000 horsepower three-unit set of PA1/PB1 models built by Alco-GE in 1947.

Yep, that's quite some history to get to the actual moment on the card, but to me it was a great read...I mean, it is trains we are talking about after all ;-)

and quite some recent stamps here...all issued in 2014...at the very left you have an Abraham Lincoln stamp, that is said to show his statue, composed of 28 blocks of white Georgia marble.
The other two stamps come from a set of 10 songbirds' stamps....I think that by now I have received all those 10 stamps on different cards sent by Bryon :) On this one you can see the Scarlet Tanager (on the left) and the Mountain Bluebird (on the right). So lovely!

And a huge huge huge thanks to Bryon (again)!! :)

Durango and Silverton, USA

well, finally for today we have a number of cards in one post, since somehow, in a rather short time (all during this year), I had managed to acquire all these Durango and Silverton cards...I have a feeling that another one has remained in some pile, but I just couldnt keep on looking...well, 4 for now would be more than enough :)

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the first one comes as an official...just as a short intro...The Durango and Silverton Railroad (D&SNG) is a narrow gauge heritage railroad that operates 45 miles (72 km) of 3 ft (914 mm) track between Durango and Silverton, in the US state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and is also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. No wonder they have so many postcards with it :)

here we have a number of not so orderly glued stamps (I guess this would be comforting for people who somewhat miss the straight line for just a bit ;-)) the stamp on the very right is a Forever stamp issued this year as a part of the Year of the Dragon series. The one in the middle is another Forever stamp issued this year, called heart-health (with the U.S. Postal Service hopes to raise public awareness about the importance of maintaining a healthy heart). The three small stamps show the American toleware...a stamp issued in 2004.

the second Durango card comes from dear Andrea, who sent me this lovely surprise for the WOTM lottery earlier this year. The back of the card says: Locomotive 482 leaves Silverton on its trek back to Durango. Without a doubt, the most spectacular 45 mile ride in the world.
Ok people, this is NOT fair! Do you know how many SPECTACULAR rides there are? Ill never get to go on all of them =/

well, the third and the fourth Durango cards came for the Dec-May RR, the first one from Angee and the second one from Naomi.
On the back of this one it is written: One of the formidable engines of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad puffs a cloud smoke as it makes its way to the Colorado wilderness.

three stamps on this card...the right one is a Forever stamp issued in 2011, featuring Gregory Peck. the middle one is also a Forever stamp issued in 2011, celebrating Hanukkah, while the third stamp on the left represents George Washington and was issued in 2011 as well.

the back of this card says: Narrow Gauge Railroad offers spectacular views of the San Juan mountains of Colorado.
The route was originally built between 1881 and 1882, by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, in order to carry supplies and people to and silver and gold ore from mines in the San Juan Mountains. The line from Durango to Silverton has run continuously since 1881, although it is now a tourist and heritage line hauling passengers, and is one of the few places in the United States which has seen continuous use of steam locomotives

and a bunch of stamps here too...starting from the top right, we again have the Year of the Dragon stamp and below it is the well-known Tiffany lamp. As for the other three stamps, they did give me a hard time, but I am glad to have this variety here and to see some different US stamps. the top left stamp was issued in a set of two 'special delivery' stamps in 1954 (the other stamp is blue). The stamp below it, to the left, is an airmail definitive issued in 1968...and the stamp btw the airmail one and the Tiffany lamp is from a set of 10 stamps issued in 1973, representing the US postal service.

Thanks a lot to Priscilla, Andrea, Angee and Naomi for such great choices!

And thanks a lot to you for reading! Have a great week ahead!

Denver, USA

My last card for today comes as a surprise from a friend who visited USA earlier this year. He tries to send me a postcard whenever he travels somewhere, but for some reason, just two have made their way to my mailbox so far.....

And he picked such a great one! A train station!!!!
Denver's first train station was constructed in 1868 to serve the new Denver Pacific Railway, which connected Denver to the main transcontinental line at Cheyenne, Wyoming. By 1875, there were four different railroad stations, making passenger transfers between different railroad lines inconvenient. To remedy this issue, the Union Pacific Railroad proposed creating one central "Union Station" to combine the various operations. In February 1880, the owners of the four lines agreed to build a station at 17th and Wynkoop Streets and the station opened in May 1881.
During its heyday, the station was served by 80 daily trains operated by six different railroads; however, most of this was terminated at the time of the formation of Amtrak, which has since operated only one train daily between Chicago and the Bay Area, routed through Denver.
Current passenger services include:
- Amtrak's California Zephyr
- C Line and E Line light rail routes.
The station also serves the once a year Cheyenne Frontier Days Train, usually pulled by Union Pacific's steam locomotive 844, the last steam locomotive built for the UP. The train runs between Union Station and Cheyenne, Wyoming for the Frontier Days Rodeo event.

and a rather different US stamp compared to the ones I usually see on my postcards/letters. It was issued in 2010 and is part of 4 Holiday Evergreens (Forever) special stamps.

Thank you all for reading, for the postcards and see you soon hopefully :) 

Colorado, USA

And another fantastic train card today coming from Colorado!

The back of the card says:

Make way for the train! - Smoke billows into the stormy sky above, near Silverton in Colorado.

Here is one train-related song (no actual trains in the video though :))....coz I cant help but regret not having gone to this band's concert in Thessaloniki last week....better organization and planning next time Ana...and do act in time and not when it is too late

"Trains" - Porcupine Tree

And Dede, the sender of this card, made it all really special by using 3 fantastic train stamps!
They were all issued in 1999 in a set of 5 great train stamps. Here you can see 3 different locomotives, "Daylight", "Congressional" and "Super Chief"! Ahhhhhhhh......

Colorado, USA

One more map card for today.

What is said about Colorado: Highest state in the nation: 54 peaks over 14,000 feet above sea level. Major industries: tourism and recreation, agriculture (ranching and farming), natural resources (oil and gas and minerals mining), high technology manufacturing.

State:  August 1st, 1876 - the 38th state
Area: 104, 100 Sq. Mi.; 8th in size
Capital: Denver
Bird: Lark Bunting
Flower: Columbine
Tree: Blue Spruce
Animal: Bighorn sheep
Fossil: Stegosaurus
Slogan: "Centennial State"
Colorado: Spanish word for *red*

I dont know about things at your end, but here we are having unbearably hot days....someone take me to Greenland please!

Denver, USA

A card called, The Early Morning Splendour of Denver.

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Well to me it seems more like an afternoon on a hot summer's day but I guess thats only the impression the card gives due to its print....and it was printed way back in 1985....I dont know if these cards are actually still sold nowadays or some people just have some left overs and then send them...

Anyways, I was having this idea for a few days now, and Im pretty much sure Im gonna realize it...the only question is WHEN...and I need to work a bit on the details...but however, I plan that to happen.

Well, its nothing spectacular...I just wanted to start a new blog, presenting covers only. Coz apart from the postcards themselves, I receive often postcards inside envelopes, and I receive letters too, and I have sooo many letters from long long ago, that i thought its actually a pity not to show those since some of them have suuuch lovely stamps...and it would also make it easier for me to actually make a classification of all the stamps I have in my collection. 

I have the idea of showing lets say, one cover on daily basis....it shouldnt take much work since I dont plan to ramble about other stuff but stamps there...

If you have any suggestions or ideas, they would be more than welcome....

As for the stamps on the postcards, I plan to keep showing them here, since they do make a whole....but in the other-blog-to-be I will also probably show covers with stamps Ive already shown here, where the cards came inside that envelope....

well, i hope im not complicating it too much...its just that im making a decision to start doing this at the time i have WAAAY too much work to do....but well, I cant help it...I just love it :)

Lighthouse stamps!! Lovely!!
They were issued in 2009 in a set of 5 stamps. The lighthouse on the right is Biloxi in Mississippi, while the other one is Sand Island in Alabama.
the other 5c stamp is a bit confusing since it says it was issued in 2007 but in the catalogue I found it under both 2002 and 2004 but not 2007. It depicts an American Toleware and is under the "Art and Antique objects" classification

Colorado, USA

The picture on this card reminds me of a biscuit cake with whipped cream and chocolate and some chopped kiwi...you figure out which is which :)


This is on of those cards which captured me on the first sight...had put it in my wishlist...within a week or so i see it offered and of course go for it :))

Its called "Kissing Camels rock" and is situated in the Garden of the Gods, near Colorado Springs (Colorado).

The parks' outstanding geologic features are ancient sedimentary beds of red and white sandstones, conglomerates and limestone that were deposited horizontally, but have now been tilted vertically and faulted by the immense mountain building forces caused by the uplift of the Pikes Peak massif. The hogbacks, so named because they resemble the backs and spines of a pig, are ridges of sandstone whose layers are tilted. A notable rock feature on this hogback, Kissing Camels, appears to be two very large camels sitting face to face with their lips touching. The hump on the northern-most camel broke off from erosion and heavy climbing.

Hope you managed to spot the camels.