Friday August 24, 2018-Mountain View RV Resort

Today we made a trip to the Big Meadow Campground that is operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This campground offers campsites with  fire ring and parking for an RV. No utilities are offered, but the meadow-like area is beautiful with a nice lake that is stocked with fish. A boat ramp is nearby as well as ample places to fish off the bank.

Our new friends Ronny and Nelda moved here after staying for some time parked beside us at Mountain View. They used to live in League City and we had several friends in common. 

I am fascinated by hummingbirds. I love to watch them flit around while they are feeding. I put out two feeders but so far, all I have attracted are bees and ants.

Here is a view of the lake below Ronny and Nelda's site. They have fished in the lake a few times since they've been here and caught a few fish.

Our other friends from Mountain View came up today to fish. Pam and Merle own a lot at Mountain View and are avid fishermen/woman. They have fished at several of the local lakes. Joe and Jan are also good at fishing but don't go as often. They all had a good day today, catching 10 fish together. They will have a nice fish fry.

Later tonight, we went with Pam and Merle to the Elks Lodge here in the park. This is the building where we have church services on Sunday, for a performance by Pauline Reese. She is a singer of some note, having been nominated for a Grammy award as was her accompanying guitar player. None of us were impressed with her "performance" and we left the show early. She was about 45 minutes late to begin with, and incessantly talked before each song that she sang. Three of the four songs that we heard were her own writing and her singing of "the Red River Valley" was nothing out of the ordinary.

There is a festival today in town that Ms. Reese is a part of, but we decided after last night not to go. I am writing this in the afternoon and it has been raining for about 30 minutes, so, unfortunately for the festival, they are getting rained out. Perhaps they will organize another one next year. We'll see...

So long.

August 8, 2018-Mountain Views at Rivers Edge Resort

Today we took a drive over to the Blue Spruce RV Park in Bayfield CO. We used to come to this park every summer for about 8-9 years and we last came here in 2000 with our friends Mike and Patrice. 

I suppose we didn't watch as much television then as we do now because the trees completely block out any television reception. The park does offer to rent Direct TV receivers and they have antennas placed in the park to receive this signal, but we don't want to pay for another service. Bummer, as I would have loved to come back here for a stay.

The park has not changed too much since we've been here, except for ownership. We were able to find the sites that we stayed in, the interior park roads haven't changed at all, and we both noted that with this larger trailer, we might have trouble getting in and set up.

This is Vallecito Lake, or what's left of it. At 7800 feet, it is the largest body of water at this elevation in Colorado. The lake is not even half full this year, probably due to a lack of snow in the mountains.

Pitiful

We did see an eagle nest in the area. I was able to zoom in (see below) to see an eaglet on the edge of the nest. While I was walking out to take photos, Stella said she saw the female eagle rise over the nest but I missed her.

This is the gated entrance to the Wits End Ranch, a once-thriving high dollar resort that featured individual cabins, most with fireplaces and beautiful grounds. They had a chef on staff to prepare gourmet food for guests and lots of activities at the park. One time, when we came up for a vacation, Land Rover, an auto manufacturer, rented the entire resort for their dealers to attend a sales conference. It was a huge deal for the area, with a large fleet of new-model Land Rovers that were loaned to the people at the conference. 

We also noted some other sorrowful sights in the area. The Missionary Ridge fire in June-July of 2002 burned over 70,000 acres, leaving huge areas without trees. It had to be terrifying to the residents in homes to see a huge fire literally across the street from their homes. I couldn't stop to take photos of the burned out areas due to traffic and a lack of a shoulder to pull over. I didn't see any burned-out houses although there were probably some that were destroyed.

This is really a beautiful area to visit, especially Durango with it's tourist attractions. It is near the four corners area, Mesa Verde Indian National Park and of course, the Durango-Silverton narrow-gauge train.

We'll continue to make some scenic drives and will be sure to take photos. Please stay tuned!

So long.

Tuesday July 17, 2018-Mountain Views at Rivers Edge Resort

Today we took a drive up Pool Table mountain, just outside of Creede with our neighbors Joe and Jan. This is a beautiful drive of about 10-15 miles up to a flat plateau that once houses the site of Hansom's Sawmill. Only a large pile of sawdust remains at the site of the mill.

I believe this is the pile of sawdust. I didn't walk out to check to see what it was. 

The building is a restroom furnished by the government. There was a crew there to clean it while we were there.

As you can see, primitive camping is allowed for up to 7 days. The three trails leading off from here are Jeep or ATV trails. Since we were in Joe's pickup truck, we didn't try them.

This is what we believe to have been one of the last buildings from the sawmill. There were no markings as to what was there.

It was a beautiful day for a drive but on the way down, we drove down a dirt road for a short distance when a rain shower that just blew up came in, so we turned around and went back to the main road. We didn't want to be caught in a storm on top of the mountain!

There will be more stories and photos of the mountains, so stick around.

So long.

Wednesday July 11, 2018-Mountain Views at Rivers Edge Resort

Today we made a drive over to Lake City with our neighbors Joe and Jan. It was a beautiful drive, as all drives in this area of Colorado are. The drive over was uneventful but it began to rain shortly before we got to town. We decided to eat at the Packer Saloon and Cannibal Grill in Lake City for lunch. The ran had slacked up and we decided to eat outside. The weather was nice, cool with little wind, but just as we finished our sandwiches it started to rain again.

We walked around the downtown area for awhile after the rains let up some. We stopped in the Russ Brown Gallery. He was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and now does paintings of military aircraft as well as nature, autos and portraits. He is very talented and worth a look the next time you are in town.

We drove back toward Creede but turned off near the top of the Slumgullion Pass (elevation 11,530) where we turned off toward Deer Lake in search of sighting some moose and other wildlife. We drove about 4 miles to the lake but the weather did not cooperate and it continued to rain. When we got to the lake, we walked a short distance to a viewing area where Stella and I have seen moose in the past, but they were apparently laying down someplace warm and dry and we didn't get to see any today. The rain and lightning made us leave after a very short time.

We did see a mule deer doe with her fawn as we drove out, but she didn't stay around long enough for me to get a picture of her. We did notice a solitary small trailer off to the side of the road as we came in. As we left we noticed some animals across a valley that were apparently grazing. There was a large group of them, so I took some photos. I assume that the trailer belongs to the sheep herder but we never saw anyone around the sheep or the trailer.

We couldn't tell what the black animal was, so I took  close-up and found that it was a black sheep. We thought it might have been a large dog, but we learned different.

We are planning more trips out into the mountains and I'll post more photos.

So long.

Wednesday July 4, 2018-Mountain Views at River's Edge Resort

Today is the 4th of July-Happy Birthday U.S.A.!-and we knew that there is a big parade in downtown Creede. We left at 9:15 for a 10 o'clock start of the parade and couldn't believe how many people were already there. The downtown area where the parade was to start was already blocked off and packed and parking was already spilling over onto the highway leading into town, so we gave up and went for a ride on our own.

We drove west out of town to the road leading to Middle Creek Rd. and Lime Creek Rd. for today's drive. 

My dirty truck parked beside the road with beautiful mountains in the background.

Those black specks are a cattle herd, grazing in the valley. If those cows only knew how much humans would pay to live in a valley with this view of the mountains!

Further down this creek were some anglers. It just looks so cool to see people fly fishing in the creeks. 

There was a lot of traffic on this road today. I guess others had the same thoughts as we did, getting out and seeing the sights of the area.

It is interesting to note that Lime Creek Rd. goes through a private ranch. We drove about 4-5 miles on it before the road narrows down to one lane and we turned around. 

More travels soon, so please return to check out more photos.

So long.

Monday July 2, 2018-Mountain Views at River's Edge Resort

Today our neighbors, Glenn and Lois invited us to ride along with them in their Jeep up the Bachelor's Loop and up the Rat Creek Trail. We have driven up the Bachelor's Loop before but never on the trail. The road is restricted to Jeeps or other off-road type vehicles. 

The road was very bumpy but their Jeep handled it very well. There are so many beautiful views on this drive, but these were taken on the highest point.

Notice the white patch of snow? Look below.

A group on some side-by-sides was also on the top at the time we were there. I've noticed that most of the riders in these type of vehicles wear masks or covers over their faces to avoid the dust. Luckily we didn't have to do that with the Jeep, just roll the windows up.

A side view of the Jeep and view in front of it. I'm not sure of the elevation on the top, but it's waaaay on up there! It is noticeably cooler up here too. If we'd stayed much longer, a jacket would have felt good. 

A closer view of the small snow patch that remains.

Look close and you'll see the moose on the right corner of the picture (brown spot). It was several hundred yards away and this was the best I could do with my little camera. It was awesome to see this magnificent animal. At one point it just stopped moving and blended in so well, if it hadn't been for her wiggling her ear, we would have missed her.

Please stay tuned for more beautiful photos of the Colorado mountains.

So long.