Colorado friendship...

 Twelve years ago while Jack and I was sitting in our rig in Lexington KY, we spotted an RV exactly like ours.  Because they only made this model for four years, we rarely see it.  When I spotted it driving to the dump area and pointed it out to Jack, he took off running after it!  He ran up to the driver and knocked on his window and announced to him that our coaches were just alike!  They talked for a few minutes and the driver shared that he wasn't leaving, but was going to visit a friend and would be back later and to stop by his spot.  We did, and everyone introduced themselves.  We all sat around and talked until 1am.  That was the beginning of a long and deep friendship with Deb and Rich.  

Over the years we have gone camping together, visited them in their home in Denver several times, getting to know all of their family and kept in close contact.  Rich served in the Army in his youth, and like so many young men, got in contact with Agent Orange.  As with others, it invaded his body, slowly but surly and we lost him a few weeks ago, breaking all our hearts.  He was a terrific person in every way. 

When we made plans for this trip, there was no doubt that it needed to include Colorado, to see Deb and to be able to giver her a real hug in person.  We had been in touch all through those last days on the phone, but of course, that's not the same.  

As per her usual style, she picked the most unique place for us to enjoy the day together and have lunch - a place we hadn't been before (how could that be?  They had shown us so many places in Colorado before!) It was in a small town called Castle Rock and in a small church turned into an incredible Italian restaurant called Scileppi's at The Old Stone Church.  Family owned and operated for several generations, and you could smell the garlic before you even opened the door!  Yum!  They are in the middle of adding to it, with an addition to the side for more "pizza space" (they need it) and have added tables out in front as well.  

Deb and I split our meal (lasagna and salad) and we still have a ton left over for a whole other meal for tomorrow!  Jack's meal has enough left over for two more meals!  All so very good!  

Afterward, we walked all around town and into the few shops they had, but in all honesty they had more restaurants than shops!  We really lucked out on the weather, especially for Colorado, as you can never tell here if it is going to be cold, warm or rain from hour to hour!  It remained nice and warm, yea.  

All to soon our time together was over, and tear full hugs were passed around.  I reminded her that flights do come to Arizona, but I know she has much to adjust to and needs time to heal.  But we will hold her in our hearts and know that one day we will all be together again, here or there, as this friendship will continue on...

...on the road in Colorado,  Marie

A Castle in the mountains...

Did you ever wonder what makes someone do what they do?  Ever come across a building, or a structure and wonder "why" or "who"?  So many times it all happened so long ago, the history is lost and one knows, or we are just "passing through", so don't have any way of finding out the story behind it...

This time we were lucky.  Our host at our campground suggested we take a nice scenic drive out to see Bishop's Castle in the nearby San Isabel Mountains.  It wasn't to far, and the drive was a nice one, with a lunch stop on the way back at The Three Sister's Cafe.  She said the owner might even be there working on the place, "you never know, and he's an interesting guy".  I read up on the place, a rock castle, built by hand over several decades...sounded fun, so off we went!

The ride was indeed delightful, and the weather cooperated nicely.  Pretty valleys that wound up into the mountains.  Then, all of a sudden, there it was, looming right in front of you, this big, bold rock monstrosity!  Cars were parked all along the roadside, so that was also a give-away.  Tall trees tried to hid the entrance, but fail, at over 160' tall, it's hard to hide.

This "Castle" is hard to describe, as it's not like any you've ever seen, I believe.  You see, it didn't start out to be one, according to Jim Bishop.  Here's his story...

When Jim was 15 (in 1959) he decided to buy (from his own money saved from mowing lawns & delivering papers) two and half acres of land for $450.  He had dropped out of high school the year before and joined his father in the family ornamental iron works business.  When he was 25, he decided it was time to start building on the property.  Since wood and rock was plentiful, he decided to build a one room stone cottage. 

To make a very long story shorter, Jim, Phoebe (his wife) and his father, would come out on weekends during the summers and work on the "cottage"...it continued to grow, and grow, and grow.  Friends would say "what are you building, a castle?"  After awhile, Jim decided that's what he was supposed to do with it, build a castle...for people to come and enjoy...so he has kept building it all these years, never stopping, with Phoebe by his side until a year ago when she passed.  He does not, and he will not charge admission; Phoebe managed to set up a non-profit so that any donations can go to financially help local families with medical expenses for young children that aren’t covered by insurance.

After walking up and down several flights of stairs, in and out of many domes, around balconies, peeking through doors, taking lots and lots of pictures, we ventured out to find Jim Bishop.  Jack found him, where else, but digging rocks out on a project site!  They had a nice long chat while I perused the gift shop, then joined them towards the end.  Jim shared with us about loosing his wife and young son and his faith in God.  He's a small man, maybe only 5'6", frail, but what a life, and a mission to keep this project up, for the people.  I asked him about ever living here, and he said, it was never intended for him and his family, it was always intended for others to enjoy, that's why he does it.

What a treat to be able to actually meet the Dreamer, to hear the Vision, to Know Why...
It made my day...Thank God for people like Jim Bishop...

...kicking back in Colorado,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Always new Surprises!

As we headed out of town, we took a side trip to Trinidad Co.  We had been here several years ago,  so this was a quick trip through this time just to see it again, and what changes there might be, or what we might have missed.

One of the things we did want to go see this time was just out of town, in Ludlow.  It was the site of the Ludlow Massacre.  It was the Ludlow Tent Colony Site National Historic Landmark.  Jack had to enlighten me, as it was something I had not heard of before.  The coal miners called a strike in September of 1913.  The coal companies evicted thousands of miners and their families from their homes in company towns.  In January of 1914 the United Mine Workers Assoc organized a rally in Trinidad to protest poor working and living conditions.  Governor Ammons called out the Colorado National Guard to help keep the peace and by April 1914, membership in the local militia units consisted mostly of company employees, who sided against the miners.  On April 20th hostilities came to a head, which resulted in the Ludlow Massacre.  Lives were lost on both sides.  The tent colony burned and two women and eleven children suffocated in a cellar dug beneath their tent, know as the Death Pit.  The Death Pit and the monument serve as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the battle.

John Lewis officially became UMWA president in 1920 and remained at the helm for 40 years.  Lewis built the UMWA into a formidable union, raising the living standards of mine workers throughout North America and transforming health care in Appalachia.  His work in creating the Congress of Industrial Organizations (the CIO) in the 1930s brought millions of unorganized industrial workers into unions and led to an increase in living standards for millions of American families.

All this happened long before many of us were even born, and if it were not for memorials like this, we wouldn't know of the bravery of those before us.  That's why I believe it's important that statues, and memorials are important, least we forget...and therefore repeat our mistakes.

We are now in a new area of Colorado for us!  Alamosa!  It's home to a National Park...so, we got to go to another one yesterday!  This one said it was one that is "a least visited park"...well, I had to laugh as we waited in line for an hour just to get into the park!  ;-)  It is the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Colorado!  Well, it was worth every minute of the wait!  After all, we don't have little ones asking "are we there yet?", or anything barking, we had food and beverages, and nothing else on our agenda, so, we were just fine with the delay...The sun was shining and as we inched along, I got out from time to time and snapped pictures!  All was good!

Line ahead of us...line behind us...as far as the eye can see!

Once we arrived, Jack's "parking karma" worked and we got a parking spot at the Visitor's Center, went in and checked things out, saw the video, purchased our postcards, etc. then drove on down to the dunes, and once again found another parking spot, had our lunch then walked on over to see the dunes.  Well, what a site!

First of all, coming from California, I'm used to seeing people experiencing dunes via "dune buggies" - right off the road.  Big white hills, with people driving all around, here and there, up, down, around and around.  So, I guess, that's kind of what I expected.  Nope, not here.

Here, it's treated more like the beach, only...up hill, a 700' hill.  First, you walk, play in a creek, a very cold creek (well, cold to me, not so much to the locals, they thought it was just fine).  Then, after crossing this creek (Medano Creek) you walk along the sand for quite a bit, this you hike up the hill as far as you want (the dunes go up 700') and you slide down on however you want...people bring wooden boards, snowboards, rubber tubes, or just tumble down!  Some just like to climb to the top to sit and look out at the mountains.
People come for the day, bring chairs, tents, buckets, coolers, beach stuff!  It's amazing!

We made it as far as the base of the hills, but by then I was out of steam, no way could I make it up those hills.  By then the winds were really blowing, stinging and I had, had enough.  It was beautiful, amazing, fun, and I was ready to leave.  Leave the "sliding" to the young ones.  Maybe 20 years ago I would have done it, but not today...but I had fun anyway!  Glad we came!  Interesting place, I must say!

...on the road in Colorado, Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

A Drive through Rocky Mountain National Park

After we left our friends in Colorado Springs, we decided to stay a couple of days midway between there and Wyoming so we could visit the Rocky Mountains and Estes Park.  We found a nice little state park at Boyd Lake that worked out just fine.  It was also just an hour away from Boulder where another friend of ours lives, so we could meet up with him one day as well.  Yippee! 

After settling in at Boyd Lake, we headed out the next morning to take our drive go see the famed  Rocky Mountains...you know the ones... John Denver used to sing about them!  (Take me home, Rocky Mountain high, Colorado...), anyway... With our love of National Parks, it was a must for us to take the time to really enjoy our drive through that park.

The day was beautiful and the park was not crowded, so the drive was lovely.  The only time we had any traffic was when a couple of elk decided to have "lunch" near the road...then "everyone" stopped to watch!  They managed to hide themselves a bit with as much foliage as possible (let's have a little fun watching the tourist make fools of themselves, shall we?).

The park itself is HUGE,  so you can't really see the whole thing in one day, so we chose the best loop for us, to see the highlights.

We made a stop at Estes Park, only to discover it was a small town that was just another town full of "tourist shops" with the same stuff we've seen in all other towns we've visited!  It did have one place that was interesting though, and that was the original home (now a lavish hotel) of the gentleman who invented the "Stanley Steamer" engine!

All in all, it was a lovely visit.  There was a nice saying (by Ann H Zwinger and Beatrice E Willard, Land Above the Trees) on one of the displays at the ranger's station in the park that I thought summed it up nicely...
                               
                                    "...where the sky is the size of forever
                                                        and the flowers are
                                                                     the size of a millisecond..."

...kicking back in Colorado, but on on way to Wyoming!  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

A Salute to the Future and a Peek at the Past...

Our last day spent with our friends we started our day off visiting the  United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.  What a beautiful campus, set in a gorgeous location!  The first thing you see as you drive along the freeway to get to it, is their very large Falcon Stadium, with it's back against the large rocky mountains that Colorado is so famous for.  Impressive.

Once inside the Visitor Center, you are welcomed with a large mural showing cadets throwing their hats in the air in celebration of graduation, a bronze plaque blazoned with their motto "We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does".  They show a great film about the life and training of a cadet, and have exhibits displaying the history, uniforms, a model of a cadet's room, etc.  Then, of course a very large gift shop!

A map is given (and needed!) for you to take a tour of the campus.  Luckily, most areas of interest are in a central area.  The most visited is the Cadet Chapel.  Completed in 1962, originally controversial in its design, the Cadet Chapel has become a classic and highly regarded example of modernist architecture and was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2004.  The first thing you see is it's row of 17 spires.  There are gaps between them that are filled with colored glass that create an incredible experience inside.

Besides it's beauty, what makes it really unique, is that it was designed to house three distinct worship areas under a single roof!  The Protestant nave is located on the upper level, while the Catholic and Jewish chapels and a Buddhist room are located beneath it.  Beneath this level is a larger room used for Islamic services and two meeting rooms.  Each chapel has its own entrance, and services may be held simultaneously without interfering with one another.  How is that for "co-existing"?  They haven't left anyone out, having an Earth-Centered Spirituality area for Wicca, Paganism and Druidism and an All-Faiths Rooms for worship for smaller religious groups.  I think the designer Walter Netsch did an outstanding job with this task!

The Protestant Nave

Catholic Chapel

Jewish Temple

 Buddhist Vast Refuge Dharma Hall

Being a weekend, there were not many cadets on grounds, but we did see a few practicing here and there, which was nice.  Another enjoyable stop was at their Honor Court where they had various replicas of airplanes, statues and sculptures honoring members and squadrons.

After walking our legs off this very large campus, we headed "back to the past"... to check out the Wild West Ghost Town Museum!

Jack and I have visited a number of Ghost Towns across the country, but this was nice in that it was inside, clean, and all in one spot.  It was well preserved, located within one of of the last remaining Colorado Midland buildings.  The structures were abandoned after the gold rush era in the 1800s and included a general store, saloon, blacksmith shop, jail, livery stable, rooming house and a beautiful Victorian house along with a ton of artifacts.  There were hardly anyone else there when we visited, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

You could put a quarter in the player pianos and have a dance with your partner, or hop on a saddle and pretend you were a cowgirl, or even pet one of the last remaining bisons!

It was a great way to end our week together.  We had so much fun, saw so many new things and once again renewed our friendship with these wonderful people!  What more can two people ask for?

Life is good...

...kicking back in Colorado, Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Pikes Peak or Bust!

Our next big adventure was to spend the day driving up to Pikes Peak, all 14,115 feet of it!  Certainly easier than the folks in the 1800's, but still plenty of switchbacks to experience!

Lucky for us it was a beautiful day.  Coloradoans have a saying that "if you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes, it will change".  It seems to be a valid one too, so we took jackets and umbrellas, and we ended up needed both on and off!  The only weather we didn't hit was snow(ing) and only saw small amounts of it at the top areas.

There were 11 different stops along the way up to the Summit where you could get out and park, take a break and snap some pictures.   As you climbed the mountain, the terrain and the views changed beautifully.  We started at the gateway at 7,8000 ft with a deep green forest.  Around 8,600 we saw our first "warning sign"...to watch out for Big Foot! 

At 9,160 ft we came into Ute Pass and the view of the Crystal Reservoir below.  It was so clear that day you could even see the town of Cascade in the distance.  This is where we saw the first glimpse of the top of Pikes Peek too.

From there we started the up hill climb and quickly left the trees behind!  I caught a very quick glance at a herd of rams on the hillside while Rich was driving around one of the curves.  I snapped as fast as I could, got a picture...you can (almost) see them if you look real hard (lower left of the picture...they are those white spots!).  

A couple more stops for pictures before we reached the Summit...

Then...we made it!  All 14,115 feet!  Beautiful!  (and a wee bit cold!)  ;-)  

With stunning views below...

Then we started back down the mountain...

 That's a lone climber on top of that rock hill!  Then back into the trees we went...

Last stop, at Crowe Gulch at 8,540 ft, for a quick bit to eat (not great, but something anyway), then back to camp for a rest before dinner.  What a lovely day!  

...kicking back in Colorado,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Fun with Friends in Colorado Springs!

We are spending the week with some wonderful friends of ours who live in Colorado and have the same RV that we do!  Every once in awhile our schedules work out that we get to spend some time together and meet up and camp.  This week we were able to spend a week in Colorado Springs at Garden of the Gods RV Resort.  Since this is their "back yard" they were kind enough to play tour guides and show off their state!  We spent every day seeing the sights and having a grand ole time...it's going to take a couple of blogs to share it all!

We started our week off with a tour of the gold mine operation of the Newmont Mining Corporation in Victor.  We even had to don hard hats and vests, as this was a serious tour!  What an operation they have, we really learned a lot here.  This is an above ground rock pit, where trucks make about 30 trips a day hauling rocks that do, or don't have gold in them.  The sections have been pre-drilled and sampled to determine if they do or not, so if the trucks are being filled with rocks that do have gold, they go to the rock crushing area, if they don't, they then go to the "Overburdon Stockpile" that will later be used to fill the pit back in when they are done with it.

The "rock crusher" does just what it sounds like, making big rocks into to tiny ones that then goes onto a conveyor belt that drops them into a series of screens to further sift them down.  Ultimately they wind up going through a leech line with chemicals that slowly works out the "gold", finely sending it to the processing room where it's readied and formed and then sent out.  This is commercial gold used mostly for things like inside I Phones, etc.  However, several years ago a large shipment was turned into gold leaf and the Colorado Capitol Dome in Denver was covered with it, so that was pretty cool!

This is one of several gold mining operations this company has, and feel that they will be mining here for at least another 10 years.  They have 600 employees, with half being female (with equal pay) with an average annual pay of about $72,000, working 12 hour shifts.

Victor was a cute little town, not very big, and I would bet most of the inhabitants work at the mine!  You can see it's gold history everywhere, from old mining shafts still up, to old ads painted on the buildings and the 1900's buildings now being used as stores and restaurants. 

From there we took a drive to Cripple Creek, and what a difference!  Gambling and taken over!  Oh my!  They saved the old building tops, but redid all the bottoms of the buildings and it's just solid casinos.  I've never seen anything like it before.  We dashed into one when it started to rain, so that we could walk back to our car (you can walk from one to another all along the same block) and of course the guys just had to try their luck at the slots...well, good thing they did, as they both won!  What a hoot!  Not a lot, but both walked out with enough money to buy us gals dinner with money left over, and them saying "now aren't you glad we came in from the rain?"  ;-)

The following day we checked out the small Garden of the God Park just outside of our campground.  It's a pretty setting in a car.  We had accidentally headed into it with the RV on our way to the campground a barely made it through the entrance!  I had to get out and guide us through with absolutely no room to spare on either side of the RV, but...we made it through without a scratch!  Sure would not want to ever do THAT again though!  Phew!
After our little jaunt in the Park, took in the historic Old Colorado City.  Another cute little town.  Had a wonderful lunch at a quaint restaurant and then just headed back to camp.

The small entrance we came through!

...kicking back in Colorado,  Marie

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park CO

Having seen both rims of the Grand Canyon in Arizona  and then experienced the beauty of the slot canyon in Utah, it was time to see the massive gorge waiting in south-central Colorado that I had heard so much about…the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park!

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a crack in the Colorado Plateau half a mile deep yet astonishingly narrow…just 40 feet across at one point called the “Narrows”, with the raging Gunnison River at its 2000' below floor.  It takes it’s name from the limited sunlight that penetrates its depths, its eternal shadows evoking a somber, almost religious mood.  The day we were there, however, was a very sun-filled day, so we were lucky and caught it in all it’s glory.

The entire canyon stretches for 48 miles, but it’s the 14 mile section from Gunnison to Montrose that was elevated to national park status in 1999. The 7 mile South Rim Drive runs from High Point to Tomichi Point, passing overlooks with signs explaining the canyon’s unique geology.  Then, there is an East Portal that takes you on down to the river’s edge and the Gunnison Diversion Dam.  All this sounds short, but it took us almost a full day.  We saved the North Rim for the second day, which was much shorter.

Our first stop, after our long drive out there, was at the Ranger Station where we watched a wonderful film about the history about the park.  It’s really gone through quiet a bit!  The Ute Indians described it as “much rocks, big water” and pretty much walked around it.  At that time, the river was deep and flowing hard and loud.  By the time the US declared independence in 1776, two Spanish expeditions had passed by the canyons.  In the 1800s, the numerous fur trappers search for beaver pelts would have known of the canyons’s existence but they left no written record, so probably walked away as well.  The first official account of the Black Canyon was provided by Captain John Williams Gunnison in 1853, who was leading an expedition to survey a route from Saint Louis and San Francisco.  He described the country to be “the roughest, most hilly and most cut up,” he had ever seen, and skirted the canyon south towards present day Montrose.  Following his death at the hands of Ute Indians later that year, the river that Captain Gunnison had called the Grand was renamed in his honor. 

In 1881 a narrow gauge railroad was built, that lasted until 1955.  In 1901 the US
Geological Survey sent two men into the canyon to look for a site to build a diversion tunnel bringing water to the Uncompahgre Valley, which was suffering from water shortages due to an influx of settlers into the area.  They finally were successful, and after a 4 year undertaking the tunnel was finally completed in 1909, stretching a distance of 5.8 miles and costing nearly 3 million dollars and loosing 26 lives.  During 1933-35 the Civilian Conservation Corps built the North Rim Road to design by the National Park Service, with includes fives miles of roadway and fives overlooks. 

In 1933 It became a US National Monument, but in the 1990’s a local minister began a letter writing campaign to make it a national park.  He loved the canyon and visited it daily.  He felt that it was a special place that everyone should see and enjoy.  He even gave sermons out there.  His campaign worked, and President Hoover came out to the canyon, and agreed with him, and in October, 1999 it became a National Park.  Each of the overlooks were named by him.  That just shows you what one person can do!

It was a wonderful stop along our journey in Colorado and I'm so glad that they did preserve it as a National Park for all of us to enjoy!


...on the road in Colorado,  Marie


If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/