Life After Death

On our Jeep ride we went through an area that had experienced a serious fire. The first life returning is the beautiful grasses. It makes for a memorable contrast.

The ATV's Of Texas Are Upon Us.

Colorado has had a thing with Texas for many years. The flatlanders of The Lone Star State long ago adopted the close by and lovely mountain state. There has been friction over the years. I remember in the 70's being in ski lift lines and watching the Colorado backs stiffen as a thick Texas accent in line called out loud to a ski buddy. The locals did not like the feel of another state taking over theirs. Texans were doing a lot of investing in and developing of Colorado back then. It was a sensitive time. Here, today in Creede, we see that the good old boys and girls of Texas by no means have stopped their enjoyment of Colorful Colorado. Our RV park here is overwhelmed by ATV traffic. Most all with TX plates. It is a play area for these vehicles. The reason? The multitude of off-road type old dirt trails that exist as a carryover of old mining  and lumber access roads in this area. Trail maps look like the tentacles of a tumor, which these vehicles may be to the well being of the landscape. That said, what do Cathy and I do? We rented a Jeep and traveled a few of these pot holed, rocky, 10 mile per hour roads. Our reward was some amazing and isolated view spots of high country and deep valleys. It was great fun but nothing we would pursue on an ongoing basis. We happened upon a safari of about 18 units of our park neighbors up in the hills all bumping along in a row in their little buggies. They seem to go for about 8 hours per day everyday, based on when we have seen them fire up in the AM and then return in the afternoon. They are all our age group. That is a lot of kidney jarring for me at this age...bunch of cowboys used to riding the trails back home, I guess. We are glad to have had the experience. I'd rather rent a boat again at Lake Powell then an ATV anywhere.

Creede, Colorado And The Wild West

Creede was the last of Colorado’s silver towns.  With silver discovery the place grew to a population of 10,000 living in and doing business out of tents and ramshackle wood structures that were put up in one day. Bat Masterson hung out here and Robert Ford also. Ford’s claim to fame was killing Jesse James, shooting him in the back. From the old folk song about Jesse, “That dirty little coward who shot old Doc Howard has gone and laid poor Jesse in his grave.”

Hey Bartender, do you feel a draft?

This is where the Rio Grande River’s headwaters are. Locally claimed as our country’s third longest river, Britannica says it is number five. Local pride, I guess. Our campground is on the banks of a section of it. It is a clear running beauty at this part of its journey. It grows in flow quickly thanks to tributaries from the mountains that encircle this area. We saw The Rio Grande down in Texas when we were at Big Bend. There, it is a silt laden border with Mexico and a less impressive river. Unlike many parks that use the terminology, our aptly named Mountain Views At Rivers Edge RV park actually does offer a mountain resort lodge type of feel. Some sites here are privately owned, with folks using them as a “summer cabin” location for their rigs. Here’s a pic of the back of a few riverside spots.

 With the gun toting days long gone, today's Creede, Colorado has taken on a gentler approach to life with a notable repertory theatre company and many local artist galleries. This street corner in town is in harmony with that.

The Wagon Wheel Gap

There is a formation of the earth here in Creede, Colorado, where we now are, called the Wagon Wheel Gap. Before they found the easier way, this was the way into town back in the mining era. Now about 400 folks, Creede was the last of Colorado's silver loads and once had a population of 10,000. It is a fine part of the Rockies and our last stand before we head into Kansas and on to places east in a couple of weeks.
Here is the top of the gap.

Pikes Peak

Don't think they have painted the sign since 1976 !!!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park for a week...just can never get enough of the Colorado Mountains.....stayed at nice campground right by the entrance to the park....always lovely to be close!

More friends in Denver

Same words for other friends too....Here with Peter, Terry, Quinn and Janet

Denver Friends

The following are Bob's words from our blog....Well said Robert!!! The guy can wax poetic..pics of our times in Denver

Denver is a place we once thought, felt, and were convinced, would be the place where we would spend the rest of our lives. We came out here after graduating from the Univ of Connecticut in 1972. Cathy came to attend Denver University for grad school in speech and language. I followed because I had spent a college summer in Aspen in 1969, had really liked Colorado and liked her more. Marriage followed only months later. In Colorado, we set roots and made a family with both our kids being born here. We experienced a full and rich young married life making many friends, with many of those friends becoming the lifelong type. While we ended up moving on in 1984 thanks to my career and promotion/transfers, we still hold on to our roots in Colorado. We are back here now and it still feels like home. We have had with nonstop visits with many of these close friends. These are folks with whom time between visits disappears when we get together. That time evaporates and we are right back to where we were the last time we socialized. That is a beautiful part of that special relationship we all form with dear friends. We have spent our time with a full calendar of meals, bike rides, golf, more meals and endless conversations catching up with the lives of each other and reminiscing, ok...rehashing yet again, many of the moments, mostly hilarious, that we have shared. .Have I stated this?...I love Colorado. We can and have come home again.

Pics with Bill, Barbara, Judy and Bob

Angry Evening Sky

So typical of Colorado this time of year are clear skies in the morning and thunderous evenings.  The mountains with their drafts of air up and down encourage the clouds to form. They did that last evening.
Here is a sunset shot from inside our rig that got me up and outdoors for the show.

And the western sky to the southwest.

Then there was the pastel rain to the west.

And imposing rain on the mountain to the northwest,

Then, this morning, all calm, bright and pretty.

Dunes At Dawn

Here is a progression of the day's start from our campsite view at Great Sand Dunes National Park.
It is a landscape of light fantastic.

The Great Sand Dunes National Park

We arrived yesterday to the vast San Luis Valley in Colorado and this interesting National Park. Formed over ages of windblown sand, these are the tallest sand dunes in North America. We are in a very basic campground that is situated with a view of the dunes. Here is a pic from our site last evening.

We will visit the dunes today. Also, last evening, we were treated to a fine evening sky with a rain shower happening across the Valley.

Lovely Thermal Creek in Thermopolis

Lovely thermal creek that runs thru the town park....interesting vegetation that grows in 120 degree water...

Thermopolis, Wyoming

We went through here in 1980 on a trip and thought it a cute little town.....took 36 years to get back...it is a land of thermal hot springs....our campground had one and the town park is built around others....very charming....loved the natural hot water....lovely river runs thru town.....