MOVING ALONG

Before leaving the Colorado area, we had the opportunity to spend time with my nephew, Ryan, for the Easter weekend.  It makes me happy to see how he has grown into an independent, articulate young man with a good head on his shoulders.

Last time we got together we talked about going to a shooting range and didn't have the chance.  But this time we found a local outdoor shooting range and spent hours shooting our rifles and handguns. We were starving when we finally got back to the park and thankfully I had lots of leftover pasta and meatballs to warm up with a big salad.  Sure did hit the spot.

After a great visit with Ryan, the next day we packed up and drove a full day to Kearney, Nebraska. Denis found a coast-to-coast campground in Elm Creek and our window is overlooking a herd of Black Angus grazing.  I love drinking my morning coffee looking out the front window and watching the small calves running and playing.

Yesterday, we went to the Archway attraction.  The state-of-the-art audio tour museum covers 170 years of history.  We were immersed in the stories of the millions of Americans and immigrants that travelled along the Great Platte River Road.  Well worth the $11 admission.

I didn't think we'd see much of anything in Nebraska, except cows, but I was wrong.  This area has a lot to offer.  I'm just sorry we missed the Sandhill Crane migration.  Each spring in late February to early April more than 600,000 cranes converge on Nebraska's Platte River.  Did you know they are among the oldest living birds on the planet?  They stand about 3-4 feet, weigh 6-12 pounds with a wingspan of 6-7 feet and a lifespan of 20-40 years.  They fly between 25-35 mph and typically fly 200-300 miles in a day.  They nest from early April to late May with nests in low mounds of vegetation wetlands.  They lay 2 eggs that incubate for 29-32 days.  So interesting.

That all for today, thanks for stopping in to say hi

MONUMENT, COLORADO - SPRING CLEANING

We found a nice level, high ground site at Colorado Heights in Monument.  The park isn't fully operational for the season and they have limited sites with full hookups.  We found this site with 30 amp service and sewer but no water.  That's ok though because we can run a hose to a site with water, problem solved.

We've been on an organization and cleaning rampage the last two days.  I've been wanting to replace the shelf liner with something more substantial and discovered that yoga mats work great.  We picked up four mats for $7 each.  They're 6 feet long and cover a lot of shelf with just one simple cut for the width.  The left over mat fit perfectly in a couple of kitchen drawers.  I'm very happy with the results.

We went through our clothes closets and gave a big bag to the Goodwill.  My rule of thumb has been buy something and throw/give away something away.  What a good feeling and sense of accomplishment to have everything clean and organized.

The days have been sunny and warm enough to sit outside for a bit.  But when that sun goes down it's pretty chilly.

We're looking forward to exploring the area and finding some good hiking trails.

Thanks for stopping in to say hi.

ANASAZI HERITAGE CENTER - CANYONS OF THE ANCIENTS NATIONAL MONUMENT

First stop for the day was the Anasazi Heritage Center & Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Headquarters.  The Heritage Center, located in Dolores, Colorado, is an archaeological museum of Native American pueblo and hunter-gatherer cultures.  Two 12th-century sites, the Escalante and Dominguez Pueblos, are named for the Spanish Franciscan friars who recorded the ancient sites in 1776.  The exhibits were some of the best we've seen and it's only a small percentage of the 3 million artifacts they have collected.

Heritage Center

Pottery artifacts were beautiful

Photo of the first discoverer's

After our visit to the museum, we drove to Telluride Ski Resort located in Mountain Village, Colorado.  The resort is in the San Juan and Rocky Mountains and is home to the highest concentration of 13,000 and 14,000 foot peaks in North America.  It's bizarre to go from green ranches up the mountain to snow covered mountains and a bit of snow flurries.

We stopped at Steamies Burger Bar and talked to a local ski bum.  We wanted to know why the mountain was closed and he explained it just closed a couple of day ago because the elk migrate at this time of the year and they go across the ski trails.  It was my first taste of a Steamies Burger and it was hot, juicy and delicious.

We haven't seen snow in a long time

Another full day for us and we're glad to be all tucked in at the campground.  Wind is picking up again and the fireplace in keeping us toasty warm.  Thanks for stopping in to say hi.

MONUMENT VALLEY NAVAJO TRIBAL PARK

Pretty chilly here at Monument Valley, Utah so we put our thermal underwear, hats, coats and gloves on to brave the elements.  However, the sun kept peeping out and made for a wonderful day to drive the scenic loop and take photos.  The area is entirely within the Navajo Indian Reservation.

The size of these rock formations, sandstone buttes, mesas and spires are massive in diameter and some reach as high as 1,000 feet.  Hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed taking them.

Morning view

They call this one the Three Sisters

Panorama view

Distant view

They call this one Mitten

We drove a couple of hours to our campground in Cortez, Colorado.  It a cute little cowboy town and a good central location to drive to Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument and Ute Mountain Tribal Park .

Thanks for stopping in to say hi

AAAACHOO

Had planned on staying a few more days with our friends Kurt and Diane but caught a cold and decided it wouldn't be nice to share.  Enjoyed our short time with you guys and we'll see you soon.

Had to take a picture of this

Clowning around

This is a convenient park to stay at if you want to visit Pike's Peak

Got that sneezing feeling coming on so I'm going to keep it short.  Thanks for stopping in.

GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK

This is our first visit

Spent a night at Pinon Flats Campground in the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  We squeezed into one of their 88 sites made for 35' vehicles with our 38' motor coach with car in tow and had a wonderful view of the sunset. The dunes are nestled against the rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountains and are the focal point of a wild natural system of high mountain peaks, sparkling streams, forceful winds and billions of sand grains.  It was beautiful.

They rise to heights of 750 feet

Our view from the coach

Did you know that the Great Sand Dunes are North America's tallest and sits on a 330-square-mile deposit of sand?  The park was one of nicest National Parks we've visited.  Well maintained, clean, offered a dump station with fresh water and air for your tires.  The kiosk was lit by solar panels. One of the Rangers came around and asked if we wanted safety cones for our slides. The visitor center offered a movie which explained in detail how the dunes were formed and why they are forever changing.  Interesting.

The view coming into the Park

The next day we were heading to New Mexico and almost drove passed Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad in Chama, New Mexico which I had just read about in 1,000 Places To See Before You Die.

The sign caught my attention

Built in 1880, the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad was part of the Denver and Rio Grande extension into the silver-rich San Juan Mountains near Silverton, Colorado.  Service was discontinued in 1969, but the railroad, equipment and buildings, was saved by the states of New Mexico and Colorado.  It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012 and is the longest, highest and most complete example of late 19th and early 20th century narrow gauge railroading in the nation.  Unfortunately, we didn't get the opportunity to take the 64-mile adventure. Maybe next time, we'll board the narrow gauge train pulled by one or two powerful steam engines over trestle bridges, along steep canyons and past long-deserted pioneer homes.  

The train has first-class parlor service for adult's only, or deluxe tourist cafe seating or class coach cars with bench seating

The visitor center provided an opportunity to ham it up with this mountain lion

Hope you enjoyed our latest adventure and glad you took the time to stop in.

MY BIRTHDAY WAS SEPTEMBER 4TH

I forgot to share my birthday with you all.  So this post is a little late, but better late than never. Denis asked what I wanted to do for my birthday and we did just what I wanted.  It was a lovely day.

I wonder if he let me win because it was my birthday

This mini golf course was well maintained, fun and had three different 18-hole courses

We had a tasty Italian lunch.  I had a glass of wine, we shared dessert and I splurged and had an espresso

Spaghetti and meatballs got excellent reviews on Yelp and so did the chicken Parmesan

Thanks for stopping in.

PIKES PEAK COG RAILWAY

We got a call from friends saying they were in our neck of the woods and wanted to meet up.  We met Gene and Maria Wakefield in Alaska, they're home base is in Jojoba Hills, California.  We got together in Colorado Springs for lunch at the same Italian restaurant Denis and I went to for my birthday last week. It was fun catching up on what they've been doing.

They were planning on taking the Pikes Peak Cog Railway the next day and because we've never been, we decided to join them. The weather cooperated and we had fun.  The railway has been taking visitors on this unforgettable adventure for well over 100 years.  We climbed to 14,115 feet above sea level, traveled through four life zones and saw some wildlife along the way.  We learned that Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote the words to "America the Beautiful" was inspired by a trip to Pikes Peak in the late 1800's.

View from the top and our train all above the clouds

Saw a few Yellow-Bellied Marmots

Saw a few Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep - missed the shot of a very large buck (but we saw him)

One of the many views from the window of our train

Stopped at the visitors center to see if they had discount coupons for the railway, they didn't but they had coupons for  free high-altitude home-made donuts ...yum.

Gene, Maria and Denis at the depot waiting for the train to board

Glad I brought my coat, hat and gloves

One of the many things I love about this lifestyle are the friends we make along the way and how we keep bumping into each other in our travels.  Thank you Gene and Maria for sharing your Pikes Peak Cog Railway experience with us.  Until we meet again.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK WITH RYAN

We spent a week with my nephew, Ryan, at Rocky Mountain National Park.  The weather ranged from warm sunny days to sleet, rain, hail and thunderstorms (and that was all in one day).  We'd start our hike in the sunshine and end up getting soaked or pelted with hail.  It made the hikes an adventure and we laughed a lot.  One trail we took was a horse trail and it started off dry with dried horse droppings along the way.  Ryan made a comment that this trail would be horrible if it rained and he was right.  Actually, I think we were walking along a dry river bed because after just a few minutes of rain, the trail was a rushing stream of water, mud and horse droppings.  Yes, we laughed about it.

Ryan and me nice and refreshed at the beginning of our climb

Scrambled the rocks and were rewarded with a beautiful view

I'm glad I didn't quit before reaching the top

We strolled along beautiful Lilly Lake with the park ranger for a narrated tour and he pointed out things we would have missed. He showed us a hummingbird nest, a beaver lodge, a snake sunning itself with her babies nearby and how to identify pine from fir trees.  One of our more challenging hikes was an elevation climb of just under 1000 feet and near the top we had to scramble  rocks. Actually, I love rock scrambling and it was worth the panoramic view.  We slept well that night.

Waiting for the storm to pass - Found out that my jacket wasn't waterproof

Blessed with a rainbow

Got a good picture of this guy grazing along the side of the road

Denis and I are not big fans of campfires but Ryan was an expert fire building.  We actually enjoyed sitting outside under the stars and watching the flames.  Ryan hated to waste a good cooking fire and grilled a couple of burgers.   One night while he was watching the fire, three bucks came down for a visit and walked right passed him.  What an amazing sight.

Proof that we did have some sunny days

The park ranger explained that these are the most dangerous animals in the park.  Do you know why?
If you guessed that they carry fleas, rabies and bubonic plague, you guessed correctly

Looks larger than it really is

The ranger explained that these mallards have done their job and get to rest now

I thought this was a common grounds squirrel but the park ranger referred to them as a Chickaree or Pine Squirrel.  They love to eat the pine nuts and make quite a racket when another Chickaree invades their tree

I thought this was a Clark's Nutcracker (but not sure) - Two of them swooped down when we stopped for a snack

Wild turkeys along the roadside

Ryan loved making a campfire and enjoyed sleeping out in his tent

Spied two of these guys hiding the the grass

Thanks for stopping in.