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.