You guys might both enjoy this!
Itchy Boots
Cool video! This is the town of Nederland, Colorado - where I lived for 20 years before moving to the west side of the Rockies. The town of Nederland is at 8,300 feet above sea level (2,530 meters), but we actually lived a few miles from town at about 8,500 feet. For a long time I commuted down the canyon to Boulder, which is at 5,500 feet. This kind of a commute leads one to have different requirements for a daily driver that doubles as an off-roader. Many of the trails we drive are steep, so low-end torque is crucial. We also drive our off-road vehicles on highways over high-mountain passes (over 10,000 feet), where the speed limit is 65 miles per hour (on the passes) and 75-85 mph on the straight-aways. So decent horse power is crucial in order to drive with the traffic, and pass slow-moving semi-trucks. Summers are hot, and this increases the strain on a vehicle driving up big passes, and winters are cold. Its typical to get morning temps around -25 F (that's -32 C) in January and February (see our thermostat below). I think these conditions create challenges for a vehicle that maybe aren't present in all geographic locations.
In the video, the woman wonders about the "Panthers" - this is the mascot of the local high school - so all the athletic teams from the school are the "Panthers". This is common in the U.S. (my high school mascot was the lion), and small towns often identify with that mascot (hence the sign "Home of the Panthers").
Moose are common around there - there were often moose using the Nordic ski trails at the local ski area (easier to walk on than walking through deep snow).
There is no mail delivery direct to the home in most of rural America - you either get mail delivered to a mailbox that is grouped with other mailboxes (like in the video), or you have to go to the nearest post office, where you have a mailbox. Its always interesting to see what visitors find odd!
As an update to the video: mountain lions killed 15 dogs in a 30-day period at the end of December 2022 and into January 2023. Mountain lion sightings are quite common in Nederland, but this number of attacks on dogs is unusual.
In and around Nederland, residents questioned Colorado Parks and Wildlife's efforts to stop a rash of dog killings and were told their only recourse was adaptation and protecting their pets. Right as the killings started to slow, one lion was shot.
coloradosun.com
Nederland has been getting crowded compared to what it used to be, so we moved to the west side of the Rockies. We are still at around 8,500 feet, but its much colder here in the winter. Thankfully, I don't drive the same commute I used to, and can work mostly from home.
Thanks for posting the video - that was a bit nostalgic, and resulted in a long-winded post!
