That's No Bull!

Actually, they are bulls!  Elk bulls, to be exact.  I'm going to load this blog with elk photos.  By the time you finish looking at all my elk photos you're going to be screaming, "Uncle!!!" and may never want to look at another elk picture again, but I hope not.

What's the most amazing thing about these photos is when were in Yellowstone last year we were hard pressed to see a bull--lots and lots (and I do mean lots) of female elk all over the place, but bulls were hard to come by.  I think I caught two and they were both far, far away so I used the zoom to its max setting.

These bulls, however, were all over the place herding their harems.  It is rutting/mating season in the Rockies right now and we were blessed with lots of elk and heard the males bugle a number of times--very cool!  The bugling is a very distinctive sound that begins deep and resonant and becomes a high pitched squeal before ending in a succession of grunts.  In the photos below if its a male (antlers are your clue) with his mouth open that means I caught him bugling!  And at every location we saw elk we definitely saw the male with his harem, herding and protecting his precious property!

So let's get on with the photos.  We saw elk in two different locations which were both marked as elk sighting areas--Moraine Park which was right next to the campground and higher up on Trail Ridge Road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that's probably enough elk for you.  It truly was an amazing experience and Gary more than once had to jam on the brakes for an elk sighting! You also could tell from the number of cars pulled over to the side of the road that some sort of wildlife was present.  But nowhere near as crazy as Yellowstone.

Next blog will be our first trip up Trail Ridge Road (we took the road twice).  We never made it to the highest point, but it was a great ride into the alpine tundra area of the park.

1 Corinthians 14:8-9

For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken?

Rocky Mountain High!

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply
Rocky mountain high

How's that for a trip down memory lane?  It's hard for me to say "Rocky Mountains" without John Denver's lyrics ringing in my head!

We arranged to have six days off in a row so we could take the trip to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and Estes Park.  We left on Sunday and it took us longer than we thought it would because we made a couple of "dumb" stops that didn't pay off (useless gas stops), so by the time we got to the park it was already 4:00 p.m.  Just enough time to get settled in, check out the campground, and have dinner.

I was driving when we entered the park and did (hating to admit this) hit a few tree branches on the way into the park.  One place I really swiped the side of the RV was where the national park sign was on the side of the road.  The sign snuck up on me so I really did a quick right turn into the parking area and whipped through some tree branches.  But, you know I can't pass up a good national park sign for anything!

The first two nights we spent in Moraine Campground inside RMNP.  It was a beautiful national park (NP) campground and we really liked the fact that we get 50% off at NPs as well as free entry to all NPs ... sometimes it pays to be old :).  The downside of staying in a NP campground is that frequently there are absolutely no hook-ups ... no electric, no water, no sewer.  We had forgotten how to scrimp on water (it's been so long since we stayed somewhere without hookups) that it was a good thing we only had two nights because the fresh water tank was empty and the grey water tank was full!  Here's our beautiful campsite, though.

Here's Gary with Sadie on the hill taking her for a nice stroll and potty break.

The next three photos give you the view of the mountains from that slight hill.

 

The next day we took off on Bear Lake Road (one of the main roads in RMNP) heading up towards Bear Lake (which is where Bear Lake Road ends).  On the way, we stopped at one of the shuttle parking lots and had our first (but definitely not our last) wildlife sighting.  A deer ... in case you were wondering!

We also stopped across the street from the parking lot at a roadside fishing area and got a shot of this cool little fishing creek.

 Here we are at the creek.

The next three pictures are samples of the beautiful flora and fauna ... and COLOR that is splashed throughout the park.

 

We finally arrived at destination #1--Sprague Lake--for our very first RMNP hike.  This "hike" is basically a 1/2 mile "stroll" around the lake, but its elevation is 8,710'.

Here are some photos of this beautiful alpine lake in a Rocky Mountain High setting.

 

 

In the photo below, behind us starting at the left is Hallett Peak (elevation 12,713), in the center--Tyndall Glacier, and on the right--Flattop Mountain (elevation 12,713).

 

They have beautifully maintained trails throughout the park, and the one at Sprague Lake is just one example of how great they are.

 

From here we continued to drive up Bear Lake Road to our next stop, the Glacier Basin area to the Glacier Gorge Trailhead (9,180'), but that is the subject of my next blog.  Stay tuned for more Rocky Mountain High!

Psalms 68:16

Why do you look with envy, O mountains with many peaks, 

At the mountain which God has desired for His abode?  

Surely the LORD will dwell there forever.

Strollin' on the Riverwalk

It's really kind of a sad story.  Late June this year the refrigerator in the RV decided to stop working.  Not completely, but enough that we couldn't keep things in the refrigerator area cooled enough to store perishables.  The freezer worked better, but wouldn't keep ice cream cold ... how can anyone live like that???

So we contacted a local RV repair facility who came out to the campground a few times before finally determining it was unable to be fixed.  They contacted the extended warranty company and started that arduous process of getting approval to replace the unit.  Late August, we FINALLY had the new refrigerator installed!!  Yes, it really did take two months!

How we dealt with it during those two months was getting rather burdensome.  We filled large water bottles with water and use those to keep the refrigerator somewhat cool.  So every couple of days we were exchanging thawed water bottles for frozen, continually rotating them in a freezer that the RV owner was letting us use.  It was starting to get to be a total hassle, that's all I can say on the subject.

But there was victory on the horizon!  And here's our victory photo of that new baby!  They say every cloud has a silver lining ... well our silver lining in this cloud was that we ended up with a more expensive refrigerator that matched our other appliances AND includes an in-door water dispenser (which our other refrigerator did not have!).  We felt blessed!

So why did I title this post Strollin' on the Riverwalk?  Because it's part of the story ... actually the ending of the story.

The glorious day for installation of the new refrigerator arrived and we were hoping it would only take one day and we could drive back to the RV park that night.  Of course things don't always go as planned and the installation took longer than expected because it took a lot of work to get the old one out and the new one in.  This included taking the doors off the RV.  We decided to stay the night in Pueblo and go to the Riverwalk there because we'd heard about it and seen some photos.

We headed straight to the Riverwalk after checking into the no-tell motel in town.  The Colorado State Fair was in progress which limited our hotel choices.

Then we drove down to the Riverwalk for dinner.  Here's one of the Riverwalk signs that line the corridor.

We decided to take Sadie for a walk down the Riverwalk first before we ate dinner.  You can't imagine how delighted and surprised we were when the first restaurant we came across had this sign posted at a section in their outdoor patio "Seating with Pets".  WE WERE SO SURPRISED AND EXCITED (anyway I was excited, not too sure how excited Gary got about this).  Tick-tock, that restaurant search game is locked!!  After that sign it was a no-brainer where we were going to eat.  And if that wasn't enough that you could sit with your pets while you ate, they also had excellent food ... Angelo's Pizza and Pasta ... go there the next time YOU visit Pueblo, Colorado!  The photo below was taken from across the river and the seating with your pets was to the left.

From our patio seating we had a great view of the Riverwalk (as you can see above) and watched the different boats/gondolas go by with their evening passengers.

Here's Gary and Sadie both enjoying the views and sites on the Riverwalk.  Isn't that a great picture of Gary?

 

This waterfall feature was almost across from where we were seated.  It is just one of the many water features you can enjoy along the Riverwalk (more to come!).

The shot below was taken looking straight across from where we were sitting at Angelo's.

After dinner we strolled down the Riverwalk to the next street crossing (Victoria) that had this cool rock-filled waterfall display.

Here is another other view of the Riverwalk (by the way, did I mention this was the Arkansas River that is also the one and the same in Canon City?).   

A couple more things we enjoyed on our walk.  The first is another cool water feature using the red clay that is all over Colorado (and Gary told me the word Colorado actually means "color" and there's definitely so much color in this beautiful state).

This next photo is for all you Toyota-ites out there in cyberland.  A kudos to Pueblo Toyota for their advertising on the Riverwalk!

When we got back "home" the next day with the RV, we were again blessed with another fabulous Colorado sunset.  How many more of these can I handle ... I don't know, but I can't wait to find out!  So many evenings we have had such gorgeous sunsets.  It's almost "commonplace" to see one, but I never tire of them.  I love being able to look out the front of the RV and seeing something so beautiful that our great Creator created with just a word from His mouth.

With all the rain we've had lately (it's been a wet summer) the silver lining in those rain clouds are the late summer wildflowers that are lining the roadside.  This photo was taken across the highway from the RV resort at dusk after the sunset started to fade.  The sign you see is the new Royal Gorge sign announcing its opening after the fire last year.  It was closed for 14 months and just reopened this Labor Day weekend with thousands of visitors flocking to view the spectacular scenery which will be the subject of another blog!

1 Peter 1:24-25

"All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass.  The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the LORD endures forever."  And this is the word which was preached to you. 

My One-hundredth Post!!!

Just to let you know ... my last post Day Trip Part 1 ... was my one-hundredth blog post!!!  I feel like I should have an anniversary celebration! 

As you may (or may not) know, June 14, 2014 was my one-year retirement anniversary from Toyota.  So in a little over one year, I have posted 100 blogs on our travels.

Hope you're enjoying the read as much as we are enjoying our freewheeling, roaming, RVing lifestyle.

Blessings to one and all,
Gary & Judy

Day Trip Part 1 - Cripple Creek

We're finally getting strategic about our time here in Colorado since it seems like it is slowly slipping away from us so we sat down the other night with the Colorado map and made some decisions about places we want to go before we leave in October.

Since we go back to work tomorrow we decided a one-day excursion was our best bet right now so we headed off to Cripple Creek.

Cripple Creek is an old mining town about an hour northwest of Canon City and played an integral role in the rich heritage of Colorado. The first homesteaders arrived in the mid 1800s. In 1890, a ranch hand named Bob Womack discovered gold and Cripple Creek changed forever. By 1900, more than 50,000 people called the gold camp home. When the golden era ended in 1918, more than $300 million in gold had been mined in what would be the last great gold rush in North America. By the 1920s, only about 40 mines remained, but two decades later, in the 1940s, the town began to promote itself as a tourist destination, offering visitors a glimpse into the past.  In 1991, the town was opened to limited-stakes gaming. Today the venerable gold camp has reinvented itself as a full-service tourist destination, all the while preserving and showcasing its rich history.

And now with the price of gold being what it is, 300,000 ounces a year are still being mined by the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Company, making it the fourth largest producing gold mine in the world.

Cripple Creek has a state-of-the-art Heritage Center (which we did not visit) with informative tours and interactive displays, distinctive museums and attractions, a guided tour of a modern working mine and a spellbinding tour of the Mollie Kathleen Mine (neither which we took) from the Gold Rush that will take you 1,000 feet underground.  There's also the Narrow Gauge Railroad (which we didn't ride) through the Gold Mining District and a great jail museum (which we did visit).

Now that you know a little bit about Cripple Creek, how about some photos of our one-day journey?

Here's our Cripple Creek greeting sign--well, not exactly the official city sign, but one that gave us a greeting to the historic downtown district on the side of one of the buildings.  Notice the old brick?

The first thing we saw in town after we parked were these burros just roaming around wild and free in this backyard!  You can see that Sadie isn't very interested in pursuing a relationship with that very big dog!  While I only have a photo of this one donkey, there were actually 5-6 burros roaming the streets.  From this backyard they meandered off to another yard. What a sight to see.  Shoot-howdy, do you ever see that in Los Angeles, I ask you? 

 Now for some photos of the downtown area and some of the neighborhood.  Unfortunately, there was a lot of construction going on downtown so getting a nice photo of the main street without yellow caution tape and wooden barriers was difficult (first picture below).  Hopefully, you get a good flavor of what this historical town looks like.

 

 

 The plaque below was on the church that is pictured below the plaque. 

 

The next four photos were taken on the main street in front of a couple of different businesses.  The first one was basically an empty building with this card game set-up in the front window to simulate the gambling that took place during the gold rush days.

 I thought the pink donkey was a good place to take a photo of Gary and Sadie.

This one is for all you men out there ... I just couldn't resist taking a pic of him!  She must have been really on a shopping binge!

This bronze was by the train station which you'll see next.

While we decided not to ride the train, we still felt it was worthwhile to take a few photos.  This particular train ride is about 45 minutes round-trip but doesn't go all the way to Victor, the neighboring historic gold mine town.

Our final destination in Cripple Creek before we headed off to Victor (the topic of my next blog) was the Outlaws & Lawmen Jail Museum.  Here's Gary at the front entrance.

We were given an oral rundown of the jail and what we would find in it by the docent which was really helpful and made our self-guided tour more beneficial.  The housed mostly men in the jail, but also a few rabble-rouser women!

Here's a picture of their first inmate who looks pretty disgruntled with the food service and amenities!

These artifacts were hanging on the wall in the Warden's office.

This photo is a depiction of the women's quarters.  This first one is the actual jail cell where women offenders were housed.  The second one is where the matron lived (she was responsible for the female prisoners).

This is a photo of the women's bathroom facility.  It is a far cry from the men's which was basically housed in one of the jail cells on the first floor (women were housed on the second floor).

Here's a photo of the first female prisoner.  See how happy she is being incarcerated?  She's probably that happy because it's giving her a reprieve from her husband (ha!ha!ha!).

To end this blog on a nicer note, here are a couple of photos of just a couple of the beautiful wildflowers growing recklessly and aimlessly in and throughout this scenic area.

From here we traveled on to Victor, the next mining town which is very closely associated with Cripple Creek in the gold mining region.

 

Ephesians 4:1-6
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is  one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.