Sunday August 26, 2012-Mountain View RV Park

We made a drive over to a small settlement where there is a general store that sells some of the best burgers in the entire area. There is also a gallery that also sells yarn, looms and everything to produce everything from place settings to beautiful shawls and jackets as well as many exhibit-quality sculptures, photos and other pieces of art.

Here is the gallery, facing the Rio Grande. What a view!!

There were many more low clouds, but unfortunately the photos don't do this justice, but I still like them and hope you do too.

The claims about the hamburgers were true, as we learned. They were cooked to order and juicy and very tasty. The drive both to and from the gallery wasn't too shabby either with the Rio Grande river running beside the road and mountains on both sides. If you're ever in the area, take this drive, it's absolutely worth it!

So long.



Friday August 24, 2012-Mountain View RV Park

We had some serious storms up here while we've been here, and when it storms, it STORMS!

Here you can see the storm clouds coming up over the mountains. It soon began to rain hard-it was raining on me when I took this photo- but it really came down after I went back inside.

As you can see by Pat's flagpole, there was no wind at all, at least right now there wasn't. He lost another flagpole in a storm soon after we arrived, but he repaired it and so far, it's working.

We make up for the storms with the sunrises. This is some of the decorations around the park and the elk is the first thing guests see when they arrive. It is even more beautiful in the morning light.

We are at 8800 feet above sea level, and the clouds are frequently below the mountains. They normally hug the mountains until around mid morning.

I think I've told you about Cassie and her fear of thunder. She runs around, looking for someone to protect her when she hears the extra loud claps here in the mountain, but I found out that she also hates the sound of the smoke detector. The battery began to run down and she ran to me to keep her safe. I was sitting in my chair when she came and jumped up beside me. When it chirped again, she crawled up onto my chest, so when I tried to put her down to go change out the battery, she scratched my arm. I didn't realize how much I bled until I started to remove the detector and saw blood running down my arm. It was really only a couple of scratches, but I'm a good bleeder-I take aspirin- but it looked much worse than it really was.

I think I've figured out how to get photos downloaded now, so please check back.

So long.

Wednesday August 22, 2012-Mountain View RV Park

Another very slow and rainy week up here in Creede. I am expecting much cooler temperatures soon and that will also cause the Aspen trees to begin their color change. I will take plenty of photos and hope I can add them to show them to you.

We have started to see the seasonal people start to leave. A couple of times, the sites on our street have been mostly empty, but right now there are two rallies in the park, an expensive motorhome group and an Excel 5th wheel group. Neither group is particularly friendly but they seem to be having a good time. I'm certain that after Labor Day, we will see an outflow of trailers but we're sticking it out until the 27th or 28th of Sept.

I intended to show you some photos and figures poking fun at the Chick-Fil-A controversy that was recently in the news but the system won't let me copy and paste from the email. I can quote from them:

So, you stopped eating at Chick-Fil-A because the owner of the company thinks that homosexuality is wrong.
Tell me when you're going to stop buying gasoline because the owners of OPEC put homosexuals to death.

And you won't eat there because their owner is a Christian?
...Tell me more about your tolerance and their bigotry.

I also like the photo of a McDonalds sign with the golden arches. The marquee says:
We support Chick-Fil-A
Now try to boycott us...

That's all I got for now.

So long.

Friday August 17, 2013-Mountain View RV Park

We had another quiet week here with the usual weather, cool in the morning and nice in the afternoon. It has only rained a little bit this week, and that is a nice change.

Pat and Lori went home on Monday and we will miss them this weekend. They are staying in Los Alamos for Pat to get a big job done but will return next week, staying for the Labor Day weekend. Our other new friends, Darwyn and Becky left on Wednesday but we may see them again later this year or possibly in the valley in January.

The big news this week is the bear(s) in the park. I told you a couple of weeks ago about a bear that got into the trash dumpsters and made a big mess of that. Then the bear was seen on the resort side across and down the street from us, but we hadn't seen any damage on this side or signs of the bear. A couple of nights ago, Stella took the dogs out for their 9 o'clock potty break as usual. She only takes to the end of our block-about four sites down- but when they got there, the dogs were very skittish. She said that when she got to the corner, she heard a very low growl but she couldn't be sure that it wasn't one of the dogs, but when they got over into the grass, she definitely heard a growl and the dogs acted frightened. They hurried home and she said that Tramp-the big bad watch dog- whirled around, baring his teeth when they got to the trailer. I checked around the ground outside the fence for tracks the next morning but didn't see anything. The ground is pretty hard with loose gravel along the road and it would have been difficult to see tracks. I went out with them that next night but we didn't see or hear anything. I took one of the better flashlights and shined it across the street but didn't see anything. I went for my walk around the park this morning and met them coming home. Tramp wanted to stay out and walk with me a little further, so I took him down to the other end of the park, where there is a stone life-size bear with cub. When Tramp saw it, he immediately shyed away, and acted very scared when I tried to get him to walk close to it, so I'm sure that he has seen a bear sometime. I doubt that there were any bears in Mission where we got him from, and I know that he hasn't been exposed to one anyplace else, so I'm convinced that he saw one the other night. I'll be sure to go out with them at night from now on. I'll let you know if we see anything. Or you can read about it in the newspapers...

So long.

Saturday August 11, 2012-Mountain View RV Park

There hasn't been too much going on around here this week. It has been cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoon, so nothing new there. I know that if you're in Texas, you'd be raving about the cool mornings where I've got to wrap up in a blanket and still have to light up the fireplace to warm the house but when every day is like that, it gets to be old news.

We made a few drives around the area this week but didn't see any wildlife. There is still a bear in the park that has been seen about a half block from our site but I haven't seen any sign of him. I did find some deer tracks in the site but haven't actually seen any deer.My neighbor behind me has had his flowers eaten by the deer but he hasn't seen one either.

Speaking of wildlife, our friend Becky, whose dog ate the rat poison, seems to be doing a little better. They are feeding him a double dose of Vitamin K which will flush out an remaining poison, but I'm still worried about him. I took him out for a walk one day while they were fishing but he seemed okay.

We had something unusual happen one day while we were in town. We ran into one of the members of our Heartland club members from the Houston area that is in the area visiting. It is unusual because we have never run into someone that we knew while out of state. Of course, we see our friends while attending rallies and shows, but this was just someone we ran into, not knowing each other was in the area. Small world!

We went to the Antler Inn yesterday for a big birthday/anniversary celebration with a lot of our friends. There were 20 of us having supper together and it was a lot of fun. We didn't know many of the others, but made some new friends. It was a very nice night.

Today we rode into Creede and walked around the downtown area. There isn't much to the downtown, but we went into some of the shops and had a nice break at the historic hotel. While there, we saw Deb and Sue, some of our new friends from last night but they were in a hurry to get back home and didn't join us.

I finally got around to changing our television reception to receive the local channels. It took all afternoon and three telephone calls to Dish Network, but I got it done! What an ordeal... They are Denver stations, which is the best I could do. I could have used Pat and Lori's address in Los Alamos, but thats about the same distance away as Denver and at least I'm still getting reception from the same state!

So long.

Sunday August 5, 2012-Mountain View RV Park

Sunday we didn't have coffee because we all were going to church. We ended up with 10 people sitting at our table in the Elk Lodge this morning. We listened while Bill gave his very emotional and moving testimonial this morning. We all walked back home together and chatted along the way. Pat and Lori went out to eat breakfast with their friends Bob and Deb while we stayed home. When they came back, we took a ride with them over to the Antler's Inn and RV Park, which is about five miles away. We are planning a large group to go over there for a combination birthday and anniversary party there next weekend. Lori made the reservations while we had a look around. We were told that the RV park has a huge waiting list for their sites in August and September, so we didn't even inquire about moving over here. We took a nice ride before returning home for naps and relaxation.

Later in the afternoon we all met at Darwyn and Becky's place to eat the fish that had been caught yesterday. Everyone brought a dish and Bill and Jim did the fish cooking. About half way through the cooking it started to rain. We had all been afraid of this happening, but we couldn't get into the Bear Lodge because someone else had rented it. This is one of my big objections to this park. Guests must pay a $75 fee to use the lodge but it is returned if everything is cleaned up. The kitchen is off limits, and even the water fountain is turned off and cannot be used. There is no sink to clean up anything and if you want water to drink, it must be drawn in the bathroom sink.

After the rain started we picked up everything and went inside their motorhome to eat. Surprisingly, all 12 of us had a place to sit and we all had a good time together. Of course, by the time we finished eating it had stopped raining, which made it easy to walk home but it sure interfered with our supper. We sat outside for a little while with Pat and Lori before turning in. It had been a good day but we were all full from the delicious fish.

So long.

Saturday August 4, 2012-Mountain View RV Park

Saturday morning was cold again but not as damp as yesterday, so it was better sitting outside, drinking our coffee. Everyone but us decided to go fishing. Darwyn and Becky hadn't been fishing up here yet, so it was a treat for them. Jim and Bill are great teachers and they all had fun.

Later in the afternoon, when all but Darwyn and Becky and Jim and Alice had returned from the fishin' hole, we decided to go to the Cottonwood Inn for supper. It's just a short drive over there, but the food there is great. We all had a good time together and shared many laughs before returning home. It was a very nice day, but we were all stuffed when we got home.

Bill and Mary stopped off at a natural spring along the way home. Bill has been using this water to make coffee for them since they've been here. I don't know if I'd trust the water, but he doesn't seem to be suffering from it. He says it's good tasting water, but I think I'll just take his word for it.

So long.

Friday August 3, 2012-Mountain View RV Park

Friday morning began with another cold morning here. The temperature was not all that cold but it was DAMP!! There were low clouds that held the moisture, and it was like a cold day in Houston in January.

Pat went over to a local restaurant, MJ's, and picked up some breakfast burritos that were very tasty. We had coffee at their place before he left, and we had some of the neighbors drop by for coffee with us. It was a very enjoyable way to begin our day.

In the afternoon, Stella, Lori and Mary went to Bristol's, a store that sells handmade goods from scarves to brass and copper sculptures. Mary had gotten a beautiful shawl last week when she and Bill went there, but nothing was bought today. Lori and Mary are going to a class next week here but Stella decided not to go. They will be using looms to make some things and will probably buy small looms so they can continue to produce various items.

Tonight our friends Darwyn and Becky made supper for us. We were supposed to eat at their motorhome but it looked like rain, so we moved the party to the Bear Lodge, where our other friends Bill and Mary and Jim and Alice were fixing some burgers. They let us use a couple of tables to have our meal, and we all had a good time together.

We stayed down there and played a short game of Mexican Train dominoes. We didn't want to play too late because we all had doggies that needed us to come let them out but we had fun. Of course I didn't win...AGAIN!

So long.

Thursday August 2, 2012-Mountain View RV Park

I skipped over Wednesday because nothing happened except more rain in the afternoon. Stella washed our clothes while the dogs and I stayed home and kept things around here in order. We didn't do much of anything most of the day, so there is nothing to report.

Thursday was a better day. We went for a ride up into the mountains over Creede, up the Bachelor Loop road. This is a very long and steep grade up to about 10,000 feet with a spectacular view of Creede down in the valley. It was kind of a spur of the moment trip and I didn't bring my camera with me when we left. Tramp had a very sad look, so I took him with us but he didn't last very long before he crawled over into the back seat and took a nap. He wasn't too impressed with the views that we saw, but when we got to the top, there was a large mule deer, about an eight-pointer just standing in the yard of a house at the summit. He wasn't worried about us in the least and just stood there munching on grass. I drove on past him and continued down the road, but it soon narrowed down to one lane so I decided (with some urging from Stella) to go back down the way we had come up. I couldn't turn around, so I backed down the road about a quarter of a  mile until I got to a side road and could get turned around. Earlier in the week we had heard a story of three ladies that are staying here in this park that had gone exploring up into the mountains and had tried to back down when they met oncoming traffic. The driver had become confused and tan off the road and the car overturned several times, injuring all three of them. I had thoughts of this accident as I backed down, and believe me, I was VERY careful! We made it back down into Creede without incident. We drove around some of the neighborhoods above the town and saw the gravesite of Bob Ford, the man that killed Jesse James but it was "under construction" so we didn't stop.

We went through downtown Creede, which was packed with people today before we returned home. Pat and Lori were returning to the park today, so Stella made them some supper so they wouldn't have to cook when they got in. We had a nice visit with them, but they didn't stay too long.

It had started to rain again and the clouds had knocked out our television reception, but it soon came back and we had TV again. When it rains here in the mountains, it really rains! And it usually knocks out the TV but it doesn't last very long. I'm sure that we'll have more to tell about this weekend.

So long.