Colorado Pictorial - awesome scenery

Just some extra pics to share!

Waterfalls along Beaver Lake area

Creede Bachelor Loop view

Creede Bachelor Loop view

Creede Bachelor Loop View

Creede Bachelor Loop View

As we parked in Creede, these 2 deer were just inside the town chowing down on grass.

Trying to capture the Aspen trees turning yellow, air was hazy that day, so not a great picture.

Aspen trees changing color .... spectacular views all around us!

   

Susan working on the mine

 Can't tell if Brad is trying to help me and his wife, Mickey mine -- or take us out???

Part of the mine transport -- Brad and Darrel goofing off, too!

You can't help but see the beauty!

Aspens mixed among the Blue Spruce, gorgeous!

OK, I think the pics are covered, probably lots more, but enough for now!  Hope you enjoyed!

S & D

Colorado Happenings...before we move on

Hello Readers,
Prepare yourself, this may be a long post as I have much to share, and today (9/23) we were just talking about our 2 months are almost over and we will be traveling to AZ... if I am lucky and don't run out of time sharing the last 2 weeks, I'll try to give you a sneak peek of what our AZ "spot" will look like for our next extended stay.

Here goes -- to capture in a nutshell (or a bullet list) here's what we've been up to:

1. Panning for gold (yes, still doing that)
2. Mushroom hunting and a hike to Lake Poage (Darrel thought he might have a heart attack)
3. Metal detecting for gold (yes, still learning that skill)
4. Visited Creede, CO car show and took a mine tour
5. Moved to a new campsite within the Ute Bluff RV park (more on that later)

Now for the picture sharing ----

Brad, Mickey, Susan & Darrel - Creede Car Show

Two Old Firefighters and an old firetruck -- Darrel & Brad

Darrel & Susan  and the owner -- standing in front of a circa 1966 T-Bird

Susan making new Chipmunk friends -- and they didn't bite me feeding them sunflower seeds.

The mine tour was really authentic and with a 30 min. self guided tour, we explored what working a mine would be like -- it was all in a "mine" simulated exhibit -- pretty awesome!

Equipment was used to make movies, too.

Susan running the sluice -- which is a better way to find gold without the "pans"

Truckin' the buckets of "material" to the sluice, you can see Darrel in the background running the sluice -- we were fighting the water flow through the sluice.

Aren't I the snappy dresser -- I am standing on my waders but with the chillier day time temps, I wear heavier socks, flannel shirt and jean capri's to warm up the skin!

After a morning of looking for mushrooms (we didn't find any again), we took a hike to Lake Poage.

Check out the background -- it was a beautiful lake and not a fisherman in sight!

Pretty chilly that day -- probably upper 50's at that elevation (10,000 +)

Lake Poage

Yes, I am bundled up and was glad for heat in the jeep

You might notice the "dead" looking trees to the left, Beetle kill is everywhere and I guess it is nature's way of clearing out the forests but it really intensifies with drought and windy conditions.

OK, now about the "move" to a new site -- we are planning to come back to Ute Bluff next year (probably late May or early June) -- we were trying to find a site along the Bluff so that our RV & back patio would have some shade throughout the day, so with blessings from the RV park owners, we cleared out some over growth on the bluff (had one big bonfire) and moved the playground equipment to the community area.... we like the change -- more shade and we can actually put our awnings out without worrying about winds blowing them off!

Darrel & Brad carting the playground equipment to new location.

Susan gets in the action to move the "tire" sandbox to new location.

So thanks for reading this longer than normal blog post -- seems like we are running out of time -- I have some other pics that I will post just as a pictorial blog -- extra stuff that we have experienced.

Head to Congress, Arizona on Monday, October 1 -- a little sad to be leaving Colorado but don't want to experience Colorado snowfalls in a RV so the time has come to travel on.

We miss you all, take care and be safe,

Love,

Susan & Darrel

Summitville, Elevation 11,500 ft

Hello Family & Friends,
We have been touring the area looking for places that you might want to hike, pan for gold or see the wonders of Colorado.  I wake up each morning and think how blessed I am to be able to take this journey and spend the time exploring our great US of A!!!

We have found Summitville, elevation 11,500 ft and what an awesome Ghost town (Boom town) it was in its day.  I added a link to a History Net website with more information about Summitville and hope it depicts the correct information.

I have some pics to share as you take this 18 mile trek to the summit (hence, Summitville), and it was a coolish day as we journeyed up and up our noon time temperature was 45 degrees!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!  This first batch are the buildings still left from the mining town.  The were signs posted that a historical restoration was in progress.  I sure do hope so because we are losing these types of places for people to see what it was like in 1870's.

Right now there is a Super Fund remediation of the site happening that is suppose to clean up the damage from the mining so long ago.  So some areas are off limits!  Click to link above to find out about the clean up project if you so desire.

 Lots of neat, old buildings, it had to be a really big boom town at the time of operation.

 

Darrel was inspecting the property because he was sure we could fix it up!  We had a friend that day, Mr. Dog, found us as we arrived and followed us around until we left.

This one he picked for our new home....

Since I try to keep these posts to short reads --- I will get a couple more posts going about the other wonders we saw after departing Summitville and heading down the mountain.

Thanks for reading, we miss you all and think of our days in Kansas often, but we are enjoying our adventure, too!

Love to all,

Susan & Darrel

Dealing with Holiday Weekends

Hello Readers,
Holidays on the road are something Darrel and I are still trying to figure out how to manage.  When you have a home, you hunker down and stay put....however, when you are living in a RV and staying in a RV park, that is where the city dwellers go for recreation.  So the crowds get larger and the roads and tourist spots get busier.

One thing we've learned is that you want to be there before the holiday weekend (or day) and you want to plan to stay for several days after -- remember, we made that mistake in North Dakota staying at a busy spot and trying to depart on July 5 ?!?!?!?

So we have finally decided that we do chores or activities around the RV that need attention like cleaning and reorganizing, cleaning out the truck, etc.  Yes, we still do have to clean bathrooms, clean the refrigerator, clean floors and throw rugs, sweep out the rocks and dust off the dust....plus there are always bills to pay and I can take a few minutes to blog (ha ha).

But we did go get our walking sticks at a place called Pool Table between Creede and South Fork, and saw some beautiful scenery.. so I'll share some nice pics

Darrel sitting on the tailgate peeling bark off our Aspen walking sticks....looks simple, right?

Notice he is using a utility knife and we already had one slice to the thumb!!!!

This is the road we drove up and the mountains in the distance.

We nestled in between mountain ranges and the trees lined the road up the mountain.

We were probably near 10,000 feet elevation and on the way down, looking over the 

Rio Grande River snaking through the valley.

Darrel thought we ought to try mountain climbing, yeah, right, maybe next time!!!

Believe it or not, we have 3 weeks left in Colorado and then head out for North Ranch Escapees Park -- where we are lot sitting for the winter.

We wish you a Happy Labor Day, sending hugs and kisses,

Susan & Darrel

Exploring the Amish Community

Hello Readers,
Well, aren't I the chatty one???  Here's one more post to catch you up with some sightseeing we did to the Amish community near Monte Vista, CO --- talk about some great food!

Rack and racks of pies, cinnamon rolls, breads, pastries --- smells so wonderful.  They offer a free donut and coffee when you arrive.

These little gems are "fried pies" and they are to die for -- come in peach, blueberry (my favorite), cherry and apple!  So good but I am glad we don't have them right next door!

The bakery is called "Worth the Drive" and this is the Amish lady that rang up our orders!

We also visited the General Store and the Grocery/Bulk food store --- what a community and it is truly amazing to see all the farm land they live on.

OK, I think I am done catching up for now -- we are enjoying warm days and cool nights --- and even though we look are bundled up -- we are enjoying the temperatures of Colorado!

Darrel, Susan --- Mickey and Brad, who have helped us on this journey of Rv'ing.

So we will say good-bye from the Ute Bluff Lodge teepee --- 

Wishing you all health and happiness,

Love,

S & D