Monday September 28, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

We went on a drive up Hillside Drive this morning. This view is across the river from our trailer and shows two of the cabins with the gold hills above them.

Here is Dick, one of our new friends that we made here at Priest Gulch, all bundled up with Stella getting ready to go on our drive this morning. The temperature was down in the upper 30's this morning but it warmed up quickly.

Just one of the beautiful views across the hills. The colors are beautiful and we wish you had been here with us to experience them with us.

More beauty. It is interesting to note the green pine trees in among the gold aspens. They make a beautiful contrast that must be experienced to believe.

The entire road was gold. When we rounded a curve in the road, all we could see was gold!

More tall, golden trees with the brilliant blue skies in the background.

Here is our little group: Gene, Linda, me, Stella, Peggy, Len, Eugena and Dick. We had stopped for a break from driving in a little clearing, high in the mountains.

When we returned from our trip, we rested for a short while then met at Gene and Linda's site for a potluck dinner. We had a pretty good feast of steaks, sausage, potatoes, salad and other assorted goodies. The final goody was a chocolate pie that Linda made and a peach cobbler that Stella made. It was a wonderful way to end the afternoon. We went back home for awhile and met back at their site for a campfire. Everyone but us and Gene and Linda are leaving in the morning, so a lot of goodbyes were said tonight.

So long.

Sunday September 27, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

Today, being Sunday, was a day of rest for us. Here you see Cassie trying to stay warm on my blanket. It is cold again, about 36 degrees outside.

Our neighbors Bob and Hellene, left early this morning. Bob works for one of the railroads and intends to retire in January. I gave him one of my cards so that hopefully we can stay in touch. He is also interested in buying a new trailer since his Open Roads trailer manufacturer has gone out of business and I steered him to a Heartland. Hopefully he will consider one when the time comes for him to make his purchase.

Stella and I ate a late breakfast of biscuits and sausage. I went for my daily walk around the park and met a nice couple that have a Sunnybrook trailer that is similar to our old Mobile Scout. We had a nice chat and they told me about the layout of the park on the other side of the river from where we are now. It is interesting to know the improvements that have been made to the park since Ernie has owned it.

Later in the afternoon, we met Ernie, the owner of the park and his wife Freda. Ernie is the retired Chief of Police for Pomona California. There are several ex or retired Police Officers here in the park, and it was nice visiting with Ernie. I'm sure we'll return to this park.

Stella fixed us a pork roast with rice and corn for supper. It was a very tasty meal and we enjoyed it. Linda and Gene had another nice fire at their trailer, so we went down there for awhile. Some friends of theirs, George and Shirley had also come by and we all enjoyed the fire and the company. We stayed over there until about 9 o'clock and came home.

So long.

Saturday September 26, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

We woke this morning and e=were supposed to go for a mountain ride with Gene and Linda. Stella wasn't feeling well so we decided not to go with them. We ate some breakfast and decided to ride up to Telluride and to eat lunch at Ridgeway. As you can see from this picture, the leaves are beginning to change here in the park. This shot was taken from the back of our trailer looking upriver at the cabins.

Here we are going down Hwy. 145 toward Rico. This is where we stopped on our first day here to call back to our friends and family after we found out that we didn't have any phone service. You can see some of the trees that are changing. Just hold on, it gets better.....

Another shot of the snow-covered peaks, towering over us. We just can't get enough of these views, and again the photos do not do the mountains justice.

The sheer rocks are a very nice background to the yellow and gold trees.

Now we're talking.....beauty is everywhere up here. Stella took about 150 pictures out the window and through the windshield glass while we were on our drive today.

Another shot with the gorgeous trees on both sides of the road. If we stopped to take a photo of everything that is pretty up here, we would never get anywhere and traffic would be backed up forever.

Another shot of the yellow/golden trees with towering, snow-covered mountains behind them.

This is just outside Ridgeway CO. which is the home of the late actor Dennis Weaver and where he had a dinner club for many years. We attended some of the dinners and enjoyed the play after when we came to Blue Spruce a few years ago. Since Weaver's death in 2006 from cancer, the club has been turned into a Christian center.

This is the True Grit cafe in Ridgeway. Parts of the John Wayne movie True Grit was actually filmed in this restaurant and in and around Ridgeway. There are numerous pictures of "The Duke" as Wayne was known and also an entire wall of Dennis Weaver photos from his long career in Hollywood. When we got there, there was a waiting list but we soon got a table. There was another couple that just walked in, so we invited them to sit with us for lunch, since we had not ordered yet. Bill and Bert were a very nice couple from Kansas who have been traveling for awhile. they are a very nice couple and we had a very enjoyable time with them over lunch.

This is the old Ridgeway Fire Dept. that is just down the street from the cafe.

This sculpture was done by a local artist and is between the row of buildings where the cafe is located and the Fire Dept.

Still more golden trees on the mountainside.

Just one more beautiful trees on the road back toward Telluride.

This pine tree is hanging on with just a few of it's roots. It is on the side of the road between Telluride and Rico. I'll bet it won't be there for much longer.

We were gone until late in the afternoon, and when we got back, we sat outside at a campfire at Gene and Linda's until about 9 o'clock.

We had a very nice day and plan to do one more drive over the mountains next week.

So long.

FridaySeptember 25, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

I slept until about 6 o'clock this morning. I had planned to get up early to see Tommy and Susan off, so I was right on time. I did my morning routine of reading the newspapers and the blogs that I follow, and went in about 6:45 to take a shower and get dressed. Stella also got up and we went outside about 7:30 and lo and behold, they were already gone! Stella said she had heard something outside about 7, so we figured that was them pulling out.

I took a walk around the park and caught up with Dick, the birthday boy from the other day. We walked together around the park and had a nice visit. He lives in Deer Park near Tommy and Susan and I hope we can stay in touch when we leave here.

We came back inside and ate some breakfast and hung out for awhile before deciding to go over to Cortez to buy some groceries and to have the batteries in the truck checked. I knew the batteries were getting pretty old, so I wanted to get them checked. When we got to the Auto Zone, where I had bought the batteries, I asked one of the clerks to check the batteries for me, which he did. he said the battery was putting out the correct amount of power but the cranking power was very low, about 260 cranking amps when it should have been 800. He went inside and researched his computer for the purchase date and it was just a month over the free exchange. He then prorated the price and I got both batteries replaced for $57.00. What a deal! I told him to change them out, which he did. Wow, how lucky was that? We're out here in the mountains with no cell service. How would I have called someone to come help me if the batteries had failed?

We got our groceries bought and came on back home. I guess the Service Engine Soon light that had been on since we have been here was related to the battery because it went off and has not come back on since changing the batteries.

We came back home and Stella went to the washateria to do our laundry. Since its been so cold, I have been wearing my jeans and sweats every day and was running out of clean long pants, so it was time to wash. I went down later and got her and we came back here and ate our leftover smothered steaks which were better tonight than last night when they were fresh. We relaxed in the trailer until time for bed.

So long.

Thursday September 24, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

Another freezing morning greeted us today, 32 degrees. The weather is supposed to be good until Tuesday next week. Of course, I'm sure that it will be raining or worse yet, snowing on Thursday when we leave for Albuquerque. If that is forecast, we may leave early and if our site isn't ready at High Desert, we'll boondock in the parking lot until it is. We did it in April and we can do it again now.

Stella fixed us another good breakfast of eggs and toast and we just hung out here around our end of the park, enjoying the sunshine. We visited with our friends Gene and Linda and of course Tommy and Susan. The big news of the morning was the catching of a very large rat in the trap in Tommy's motorhome. I think they heard the trap when it caught the monster (13") rat. He was put out on display for everyone to come by and see before he was put in the dumpster. We're all glad to be rid of this thing. So far, we haven't seen any signs of mice in our trailer and I feel bad for Susan. She has worked so hard cleaning up after finding the rat and mice droppings in her kitchen drawers. Hope they don't return!

I walked up the mountain again and enjoyed the scenery. I will miss these times for exercise and being in the cool outdoors. We didn't do too much in the afternoon, and invited Tommy and Susan over for a smothered steak tonight for supper. Its their last night here, and Stella didn't want them to have to cook so she made it for them. We had a nice fire after eating and several friends came over to sit with us. We broke up pretty early tonight and everyone had a nice time. We'll miss Tommy and Susan!

So long.

Wednesday September 23, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

Another 30 degree morning today. Our neighbors a couple of doors down have recorded temperatures that are colder by a couple of degrees but then they ARE further north than us.....

We didn't leave the park again today. I took another walk up the mountain and around the park this morning and Stella took care of her clients' books.

Tommy intended to go for a ride up into the mountain again today to take some more photos but decided not to go because Tess was still not feeling well and he didn't want her to be confined in the car for that long. Susan was busy with cleaning up the motorhome after the rat was seen again in the storage compartment. There was evidence that a rat or mice had been inside their house in some drawers, so she wasn't taking any chances and thoroughly cleaned everything.

Susan came over and told us about a birthday party for one of our new friends, Dick. He is 86 years old and lives in Deer Park where Tommy and Susan live. It was to be a potluck meal, so Stella said she would make some potatoes to bring. We all met at the gazebo on the other side of the river for the party. It was a very nice time and I know that Dick appreciated everything.

I got the news this afternoon that my Aunt Frat had passed away. She was my favorite great-aunt and we spent a lot of time at her house when I was a kid. I regret that we are so far away and can't make it to her funeral but I sent my love by Janie, and will do my best to get to Center and visit with them as soon as we can.

We came back home and relaxed until around 6:30 when Tommy came by and said that there was another campfire at Linda and Gene's place. They have been coming here to the park for 12 years, so there was a lot of talk about what had gone on around her in the past. The main topic was the rats and mice that have been in the park and the one that had run around the fire the other night. We didn't see any more tonight but Gene showed us a very large rat trap that he was using in his woodpile to try to catch the rat. We all went home around 8:30.

So long.

Tuesday September 22, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

We woke to 31 degree temperatures again this morning, brrrrr. It was cozy in the trailer so we didn't go outside until it warmed up a bit. I took Cassie out this morning to take her morning walk, and since she seems to want to go up the side of the mountain on the road, this morning we went. She sniffs out on the side of the road and seem interested in going further up in the woods, but comes back down when she only goes a few feet. I haven't seen any signs of wildlife like tracks or scat, so I can't tell what she is smelling.

Stella worked on some of her client's books most of the day today and I stayed out of her way. I was having trouble getting on the Internet all day, so I spent a lot of time outside. It was cold and cloudy most of the day but I took a walk around the park and visited with some of the friends I had made all over the park. Most of the folks up here are very nice and we will likely come back to this park.

About 3:30, we decided to go back down to the Dolores Brewery to have more pizza and beer. We met Gene and Bonnie there, but Tommy decided not to go since Tess was still a little sick and he didn't want to risk leaving her alone, so we brought him some pizza. When we got back sat outside at the fire that had been laid last night. Our new neighbors, Bob and Hellene came over and sat out with us. We stayed out until about nine o'clock when it began getting colder.

So long.

Monday September 21, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

Here are Cassie and I, hard at work. How about that view out the back window? Thanks Tommy for recording my work area.....

We stayed in the campground today because we were all tired from yesterday's drive. We learned that it is supposed to be getting much colder tonight, and that the park has shut off the red faucets, which is wash water that is not for drinking. They normally shut down the campsites on this side of the river starting in September, but they have been so busy this year they had to leave it open. I read online that it is supposed to be 19 degrees in Rico tonight, the nearest town to us. Rico is several hundred feet higher in elevation than we are here in the park, so it shouldn't get that cold here. Snow is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday, brrrrr.......

This park is pretty amazing in their booking. They don't use a computer to book sites, but every time someone moves out in the morning, someone else moves in in the afternoon. It's a busy place. Even the tent spaces are booked up.

Stella rode into Cortez with Susan this afternoon. Their dog, Tess, got sick last night and Susan had to go in to see the vet to get a prescription refilled and they went to the Wal Mart to pick up a few things. It saved us a trip into town, so it all worked out well. While they were gone, Tommy was working on my photos and I was watching him when we heard a noise. We discovered that a large rat had tripped one of the mousetraps that Susan had set. They had found evidence of mouse or rat inside one of the kitchen drawers, so she had set out several traps. Before we could catch the rat, he ran away and hid from us. Stella and Susan later saw him again in one of the slide out drawers in the storage area of the motorhome but he ran. He left a mess of rat droppings which was cleaned up.

When they got back, Susan invited us over for supper. We had sausage with rice and beans which was very tasty. We were going to have a campfire at their house and I laid it all out, but Gene and Linda had one, so we went over there. We had a nice visit with them and came home around 9 o'clock when it started getting too cold to enjoy the fire. While sitting around the fire, the rat came back out near the fire. When we saw him, he ran back into the firewood stack at Gene and Linda's place. Hopefully, he'll find another hiding place.

So long.

Sunday September 20, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

Today we went on or mountain trail ride on the Roaring Forks trail, accompanied by our friends Tommy and Susan in their Jeep and Gene and Linda who are from Austin in their pickup truck. This photo is just a preview to some of the beautiful scenery that we saw today. The leaves are beginning to change color but there will be much more to come before we leave.

This is a parking area with the snow-topped peaks in the background. Winter will be coming to this area soon, and we are already having low temperatures in the 30's now.

I'm sorry that this photo is out of sequence of the trip. This is Trout Lake, taken as we were returning to the park, where we spent some time with our fishing friends. As you can see, the Aspen trees are changing and there is more snow in the mountains, making the lake look different than what we saw when they were fishing here.

More snow-topped mountains that are shrouded in clouds. I am sure that this lake freezes over in the winter. I can only imagine what this looks like in the winter. I'm not sure whether this 'ol south Texas boy could take the temperatures and the amount of snow in this area so I'll probably never find out what it looks like.

Going down the road and seeing the golden leaves. I can't wait until we see even more of this before we leave.

Back to the mountains. These photos do not do justice to the beauty of this area. I urge anyone that is into the beauty of nature to come to the Priest Gulch campground or at least to southwest Colorado. There is plenty to do in the area and of course I can't get enough of the scenery.

The tall trees look like matchsticks with foliage at the top. Soon it will be gold at the tops, and I hope to be here at the peak of their beauty.

Here is a shot out over the treetops with mountains and blue skies in the background. You really have to be here to appreciate the breathtaking beauty!

Here is one lone Aspen tree that is exploding with color. The leaves will turn golden before falling, and I want to see them!

Here is a large group of Aspen trees in their color.

This illustrates the contrast of the evergreen pine trees with the changing colors of the aspens. The brilliant blue skies and white clouds only accentuates the colors of the trees.

More aspens that are beginning to change.

This is a ski lift near Purgatory. The lift is not open to the public now, but employees ride it to check out the system.

More treetops with snow covered mountains in the background.

One thing that happened on the trip that wasn't photographed was that we ran into a storm in the mountains. We stopped in Silverton for lunch at the Handlebars restaurant, and while there it began to rain with some sleet. We waited it out inside the warm restaurant and continued our drive up into the mountains. Traveling up the "million dollar highway" into Ouray Colorado, we ran into a storm that included sleet, high winds and the strangest looking clouds we have seen. The winds knocked a large tree trunk off into the road, halting traffic. Some men dragged the heavy trunk off the road and we were able to go on with our drive. Just ahead of us was a truck towing a fifth wheel trailer. I noticed the trailer swaying as the winds hit them, and I was glad that it wasn't us trying to drive in this weather.

We took two more trails, the Last Dollar trail and the Ilium trail which took us to Telluride CO where we got back on the highway back to the park.

When we got back to the park, we spent a little time cleaning up the trucks, which were covered with red dirt off the mountains. We were tired and ready for our recliners when we got through. Gene and Linda built a fire in their firepit but we didn't get to enjoy it for long because of more rain. We learned that it had rained for about two hours earlier in the day, so we chose a good day to go for our ride.

So long.

Saturday September 19, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

We woke and were outside around 7 o'clock this morning to see Ricky and Dee and Harry and Judy off. Sadly, they have to leave today. Ricky and Dee have to be back at work and Harry and Judy's time ran out in this campground. A weeklong stay is too short, but that's all they could get at the time of their reservation, and they had made plans to go elsewhere, including dropping their trailer off in Boerne at the dealer where they bought it for some work to be done.

They both left around 7:30, which was a good time to get away. Little traffic on the road and it is light enough to be able to see well. We are sorry to see our friends leave, but we'll continue to have a great time with Tommy and Susan.

We were supposed to have gone on an over-mountain trip with Tommy and Susan and several others from the park, but it was called off because of the weather. It is supposed to be rainy and cold all day-and that's exactly what happened-so we just stayed inside and huddled under our blankets. Around noon, I got up and went outside for a walk around the park and when I came back, Stella had discovered that one of the propane bottles had run out, so I went outside and took the empty one off and set it beside the road to be picked up and refilled. Later in the afternoon, it was returned and I reinstalled it.

Stella fixed us tacos for supper, which was ironic because Tommy and Susan came down later to visit and said they had had tacos today too. We had a nice little visit with them and I think all of us went to bed, or at least got ready for bed, really early tonight. I was in bed about 8:30 but was up again about 1. I went back to sleep in my chair at some point, so I had a good night's sleep anyway.

So long.

Friday September 18, 2009-Priest Gulch campground

We didn't do too much of anything today. Ricky and Dee went on a mountaintop cruise with Tommy and Susan in the morning. Ricky surprised everyone by going since hes afraid of heights, but he later said it wasn't too bad. He said on the way back across, he sat in the back seat and the roof was so low, he couldn't see out.

Harry and I walked around the park this morning. It was a very nice morning, about 48 degrees out, and we had a nice little walk. I pointed out some of the people in the park that I had met and we talked about our routes out of here. He is going to Boerne Texas to have some work done to his trailer there, and plans to go south through New Mexico to Roswell where he plans to spend the first night.

We all had decided to go out to eat tonight because they are leaving in the morning. We had a choice of going to Rico to the Argentine Grill or to Cortez to eat pizza and beer. Everyone chose pizza, so off we went about 4:30. We wanted to get an early seat in the restaurant because it is Friday evening and everyone in town will be eating out. There was already a pretty good crowd there but we got our table and food pretty soon after getting to the restaurant. Tommy and Susan had gone ahead to Cortez to get some new walkie-talkies for a trip up into the mountains, and they met us at the restaurant. We had a good meal that everyone enjoyed, with the only bad thing that happened was that the girls working there were overwhelmed and it took a long time to get checked out.

Harry and Judy learned that a friend of theirs had died yesterday when we got cell phone service back. They are going to change their plans and try to get to Boerne earlier than planned so that they can drive back to Texas City to go to the funeral services on Monday.

We came back to the park in the rain (again!) and went over to Tommy and Susan's motorhome for some cobbler and coffee. We sat around and visited until about nine when everyone went home.

Since there is so much mud in our end of the park, everyone had taken off their shoes when we got inside the motorhome. When we left, Harry put on the wrong shoes and walked almost all the way back to his trailer before we discovered it. He came back and exchanged shoes with Ricky and we all had a good laugh about it. I guess it was one of those things that you had to be there to see how funny it was......

So long.

Thursday September 17, 2009-Priest Gulch RV campground

Stella and I drove through Rico (Spanish for "rich") Colorado this morning when we went over to Trout Lake to visit with the others who were fishing. As we came into town, we decided to stop at the town museum. This photo is down Main street. As you can see, there is little in Rico, but at one time, about 80 years ago, it was a 3000 population silver mine town. When the mines closed down, so did much of the town.
This is the courthouse in Rico. At one time this building served as a County Courthouse for Dolores county but in 1956 the county turned the building over to the Town of Rico for use as the town office and the Rico branch of the Dolores county Library. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

This is the Rico Community Church. Founded in 1891, it has endured until now, and is now associated with the Presbertery of Western Colorado. The church is primarily a summer ministry but does offer occasional winter services.

This is an old mine head from Rico's heyday. We were told that there are still many claims in the area

We took a ride over to the lake to check on the fishermen and women and learned that they had just about limited out on their catch. We didn't stay there long and came back to Rico to the museum. We met up with Tommy and Susan there and walked around the downtown area near the museum before leaving. We took a ride around the town and came back home.

The rest of our group came back from the lake and we decided to have a fish fry tonight. Ricky cleaned the fish they caught today and the frying began. Tommy used his fryer to cook the french fried potatoes and Ricky cooked the fish. Judy made some green beans with new potatoes and Stella made some grillin' beans. It was a grand meal and we all had too much to eat. Just as we started to eat, the skies opened up (again) and it started to rain hard. We all gathered under Tommy's tent to eat. I'm sure we all looked funny to the others in the park, all gathered under a small tent and trying to avoid the cold rain down our back.

Later we all gathered inside Tommy's motorhome for coffee and a pie (sugar-free) that Stella had made. We all turned in early tonight because of the rain. Ricky and Harry will start getting ready to leave tomorrow and will pull out on Saturday morning. We'll be sorry to see them go, but we'll all be together again soon.

So long.

Wednesday September 16, 2009-Priest Gulch RV Resort

Today's entry will document events from yesterday (Tuesday) as well as today (Wednesday). Tuesday we went on another ride with Susan to Dunton, which is an old ghost town that has been restored and is now a high dollar resort/retreat.
This photo shows Hwy. 145 at the turn off to the Dunton road on the north side of the park.

This photo is of a meadow with a large herd of goats that are grazing in this area. This land is owned and controlled by the San Juan National forest and must be leased out to the animal owners.

This is a close-up of the goat herd. I was not able to pick out a dog that runs with and protects the herd, but we believe we saw it.

This shot is of a river or stream running under the Dunton road. It looks like it would be a great place to fish and likely has not been fished at all in some time. We did not see anyone fishing in the area but we did see a lot of hunters camping in the area. We suggested this stream to the others that were fishing.

This is the town/resort of Dunton. There is a keypad controlled gate into the property. We did not see anyone around the town but there were several fireplaces that were smoking, so someone must have been there.

Dunton road circles around over the mountains and comes out south of our RV park on Hwy. 145.

We also rode down Taylor Drive, which is south of this location. This road is much more wooded and there are many hunters that are camped along the road. I did not take any photographs of this area, but we did see one deer running in the woods. We also saw many small trees that were bent over toward the road. It was really strange the way they were bent over with no apparent cause. We first believed that it had been caused by a tornado, but then we noticed that they were bent in toward the road, which didn't make any sense. I guess if we had been in New Mexico in Area 51 I could have understood but here in Colorado, we didn't know what caused it.

We returned to the park, planning to have supper with our other friends but they had not returned. They had been supposed to have returned by noon, but we didn't leave until after that time and since we didn't know what they had done, we decided to go into Cortez to eat pizza at the Main Street Brewery which was very good. We returned to the park and went to Ricky and Dee's trailer while they ate their supper. A rain shower (daily) made us go inside. Harry and Judy had fixed a delicious cherry cobbler from cherries they had bought in Washington state. We all retired to our trailers about 9:30 or so.

On Wednesday, we all wanted to stay home. Susan and Dee decided to go on a backcountry ride in the Jeep, but returned about 3 o'clock. They had a very nice time. We had planned on a fish fry tonight but heavy rains that started in the afternoon made us change our plans. We decided to go into Cortez to the brewery again. While on our way to Cortez, we saw what first looked like snow on the ground but we later decided it was sleet that had fallen earlier in the afternoon. It had gotten cooler, about 50 degrees and it felt as if it were going to get much colder tonight but we will see. Everyone enjoyed their meal and we had a nice ride home. We had seen some cattle loose on the highway on the way over but they were gone when we came back home. It was still raining, so we didn't have a fire tonight and just went home.

So long.

Tuesday September 15, 2009-Priest Gulch RV Resort

Susan took us on a drive up Hillside Drive on Monday. Here we are going up into the mountains onto the beginning of the drive, which will come out over the top of the park where we are staying.

Here you can see the park including the office and some of the RV's here. We are probably 700-800 feet higher than the park here.

This is one of the meadows along the road. There were several, covering many acres and likely supporting many species of wildlife.

Apparently there was a settlement or ranch at one time. You can see the remnants of an old wooden fence down in the meadow.

The mountains off in the distance are very pretty.

More pictures of the meadow in the foreground with heavy woods behind and the mountains in the background.

More beautiful mountain scenery here.

Another shot in the same direction showing the clouds and more of the mountains in the background.

Here are some tracks of a large deer that was found near the top of the mountain. Although we didn't see any wildlife, many hunters in the area were seen.

Ricky& Dee and Harry & Judy went fishing at Trout Lake, so we stayed here and just piddled around. We went to lunch with Tommy and Susan at the Rico Hotel. It was a very enjoyable lunch. We came back to the park and decided to take a drive up into the mountains with Susan.

We traveled almost 35 miles up the mountain. Susan said she has been up this drive before but has always turned around before reaching the end of the road. Today we got all the way up and found several people camping at the top, so we turned around and came back down the mountain. It was a very nice day of riding around in the mountains, looking at the scenery.

So long.