Author: bzspony1949

We've been full time RVers since 2015 and have been fortunate enough to have seen all 50 states (we flew to Hawaii and alaska) and stayed in each at least one week! It's been an awesome adventure but we've decided to park our fifth wheel in Yuma Arizona, mostly because its warm year round! By staying put in one place we can now do other travel both in the USA and abroad.

Our (Almost) Month in Creede, Colorado, Part 2

big meadow reservoir

Mary told us about this beautiful reservoir not too far from our campground.
Beautiful spot!
Mary said there was a hiking trail all around the lake. We ended up taking the longer route just above the path she told us about, but it was a beautiful hike too!

We saw these interesting plants along the hike. I’m not sure what they are, but interesting!

day trip to pool table

Just around the bend from our campground was another beautiful spot called Pool Table. I’ll bet these aspens are beautiful in the fall!
This might be where it got it’s name; when you get to the top (about 9500 feet) there’s this huge relatively flat meadow.

Pretty wildflowers everywhere.
Beautiful views!
And a nice view of the Rio Grande River below.
We liked it so much we had to bring Bryce, Laura and Reeve up here while they were here.
Blowing dandelions!
Reeve out sitting in the field
Laura says when she hiked the Continental Divide years ago she saw these flowers and dubbed them “Toilet Brush” flowers. Kind of fits don’t you think?

We came across this marker; I think Woody was an old fisherman (notice the lure embedded?) that wanted his ashes buried up here. I don’t blame him, it is beautiful!

pagosa springs spa and hot springs

A beautiful hot springs resort. We went there with Bryce, Laura and Reeve and Barb and Zach joined us as well.
This is the only picture I took in the spa; Laura and Reeve enjoying the 94 degree family pool!

jeeping the bachelors loop with steve and mary bergman

Steve and Mary came to visit along with her cousin Rex and his wife Lorraine. Steve has a brand new Rubicon (less than 3500 miles) so was testing it out.
One of the abandoned mines up there.
Fairly nice “road” and sometimes not!
We thought this was the road; turns out it’s a dead end ATV trail! That’s Lorraine scoping it out with Steve!
Turning around!
Another old mine.

While up there we came across this cool mine called “The Last Chance Mine”. It was purchased by the present owner to open it to the public as a museum. The building in this picture is over 100 years old; the current owner spent a lot of time and money restoring it to it’s present condition to use as their gift shop. It seems stable and strong, just not very level; it feels like it’s going to slide down the mountain!
Some of the many artifacts he’s found on the property.
The old outhouse, notice the sign? Pretty funny!

Rex’s Jeep on the right end; Steve’s next to it; he hasn’t had time to spend big bucks like Rex has!
Interesting wood carving, it looks like the current owner.
The owners house has this fabulous deck hanging out over the ledge! It’s probably 500-800 feet down! YIKES!!
The view from the deck.  Jan really wanted to hang out with a glass of wine!
Artsy view from the parking lot.

The entrance to the mine. It’s no longer being mined, but the current owner did find a vein of Amethyst that he has made into some beautiful silver and Amethyst jewelry he has for sale; Jan resisted!
This tour was conducted by an intern from a Colorado mining school. Interestingly, when asked how he picked mining engineering, he said nothing sparked his interest until they mentioned mining and explosives!
This was an offshoot that the previous owners never pursued. The explosive holes were bored but never used. They have put dummy fuses in to illustrate how it’s done.

After our day long 17 mile adventure time for libations and food; one of our favorite spots is Kips.
Fun day with some really fun friends! (Steve is Almost smiling!)
This old 50’s cabin is where they all stayed in South Fork.

great sand dunes national park

Jan and I took a trip over to this Great Sand Dunes National Park. It’s amazing that there are huge dunes in the middle of the mountain and plains here!
There’s Medano Creek that comes from the spring runoff from the mountains. This time of year it’s just a trickle and will dry up completely until the next spring.
These dunes are HUGE. Notice the dune boarders in the red oval?!? Their boards are similar to snowboards but wider.

This little spot reminded us of “The Tree” we all camped at in the desert near Ocotillo Wells.
As viewed from afar; they’re massive dunes!

 

Our (almost) Month in Creede, Colorado

cottonwood cove guest ranch & rv park

We stayed at Cottonwood Cove while in Creede. A small park very near Mary and Russell’s cabin.
One of the fun things while staying there was seeing their trail ride horses each evening as they came into the pasture that was right next to the campground.

We had other visitors too. This family of 4 Mountain Sheep came a few times in the beginning.
On our last evening there we saw 14! The original family must have told the others there was new green grass in the pasture to graze on.

fun times at el pescador (mary & russell’s cabin)

Mary and Russell came down for their week at their cabin along with Mary’s brother Jim, his wife Bev and Joni. We surprised Mary with a Hawaiian theme birthday party!
Barb and Zach also came for a few days.

Mary and Jim
Mary’s nephew Ryan and his friend Rion were there as well!
Even Russell’s Elk got in the party mood!
Bryce, Laura and Reeve visited for a few days too. Here they are in the playhouse in front of the cabin.

On their last day there Jim, Russell, Mary and Joni went kayaking.

Apparently Russell thought Jim was doing a fine job paddling and laid back for the ride!

Last day group shot. Left to right is Gabe with Mary, Jan, Bev, Joni, Russell, Brandt and Jim with Jet. Always fun times at the cabin with good friends!
The Three Amigas.

the creede mining museum

If you remember seeing this before in our blog you did. We went there last year but it wasn’t open for the season yet.
There were multiple displays with an accompanying audio tour headset. Very interesting learning the old and newer methods of mining; from hammer, pick and shovel to mechanized methods.
Preparing the explosives for blasting.

They used air powered engines for the later ore trams; much safer than internal combustion or even electric power.
One of the ore cars
The “potty” car!
Their lunch room, very sanitary!
Dynamite used, note the one decomposing? Apparently it’s VERY unstable at that stage!

The job bosses “bicycle”. According to the tour audio it was the most dangerous piece of equipment they used. Direct drive (pedal forward or back) and no brakes!
Warning Signals.
Interesting sign, this is where they melt down the ore to get samples for testing.
Testing lab equipment.
This door was used for the actors when they filmed The Lone Ranger at the Creede mines.
And finally this!

to be continued in our next post……..

 

 

 

 

Our Family/Friends Time in Denver and Colorado Springs

Bryce, Laura and Reeve
We stayed at the same campground as last year and luckily got the same spot with this river view.
While watching Reeve (Bryce and Laura were at work), Reeve built this fabulous creation!
We took Reeve to the Denver Zoo and had a great time! Reeve and GrandJan on the Merry-Go-Round.
Reeve and GrandJan on the little train.
After a few hours of looking at all the animals Reeve was done!
While in Denver we went up to Broomfield to witness Walt’s graduation from college. Afterwards we went to Walt and Carries house for a celebratory lunch.
Reeve loved the menagerie of animals at their home! ( 6 dogs, 2 cats, 1 Iguana, 2 horses,  2 goats, 2 parakeets and 1 parrot!)

 

COORS BREWERY TOUR

While staying in Golden we meant to do the tour but never got around to it. So we went back later. Great tour!
The copper kettle in the previous picture was one of the original kettles.
I didn’t know that Bill Coors was the inventor of the two piece aluminum can!
I also had forgotten that Coors and Miller had merged! These are all the brands they represent now.
Some of the current copper kettles.

Looking down on the line for Coors Banquet Beer.
Their beer making process.

colorado springs

We had a combination Father’s Day and Rich’s 43rd Birthday celebration at Rich’s home. Bryce and family as well as Barb and Zach were there to help in the festivities.
The obligatory blowing out of candles!
Aneka and Sheba.
Zach chilling!
While in the Springs we attended a few of Aneka’s training sessions with her newest horse Cruiser.
BranPa with Aneka and Cruiser.
Aneka and Dolly.

At another of her training sessions she and Cruiser practiced barrel racing. This is one her favorite events; she gets to go FAST!

Our Humvee Sunset Tour out of Moab

We left at 6:15PM from their shop in Moab for our 3 hour sunset tour. The “trail” started just minutes from there. I wasn’t sure what to expect but was soon to find out on this ride on the trail named “Hell’s Revenge”!
Our tour started going up the ridge of a huge slick rock. The sandstone here is called slick rock but is actually very good for traction even when wet. The trail is easy to follow; just follow the black streak left by many Jeeps and Humvees scaling these rocks!

Our first stop was to look at some fossilized dinosaur prints left in the sandstone.

After this brief stop; onward and upward!

Our guide told us this small puddle left in this stone occurs almost yearly. There is a shrimp that lives in here. In drought years the eggs just lie dormant until spring rains fill it up again and the shrimp will once again inhabit this tiny ecosystem.

Lucky for us our driver wasn’t quite as daring (fool hardy) as this fellow!
He made it though; all passengers intact!
Our driver was kind enough to take any pictures we wanted to prove we were actually there for this adventure.

We stopped at this spot overlooking the Colorado River far below.
As you can see, I didn’t venture too close to the edge!
Some did.

At our final destination to view the sunset. Beautiful colors changing before our eyes as the sun set.

Rain in the distance.

 

A group shot as the light wains.

Back home we go.
Look out for traffic!

Arches National Park

When we visited Arches they were doing major road construction so unfortunately we were unable to see many of the sights (and iconic arches) located in Devils Garden, but here are some pics of what we were able to see.
The famous Double Arches

 

This is called ” Ham Rock” because someone thought it looked like a ham.
This is probably the most famous arch; Delicate Arch. It’s the one that’s on their license plates. I took this with my 300mm telephoto. You can see how huge it is by the people in the picture. Amazing!

I can’t fathom how that rock stays up there of thousands of years!

And my craggy tree of the day!

Dead Horse Point State Park & Canyonlands National Park

dead horse state park

The name comes from the 1900’s when cowboys used the area as a natural corral for wild horses, some of which did not survive.
The road is is Open Range as you can see; I’m glad I invested in my Ranch Hand front bumper!
The view from the point is breathtaking. Cirled in this picture is a couple with their infant right on the edge! Foolish if you ask me!
The dirt road below is a remnant of the old trails. Yes that’s a Jeep and 2 mountain bikers down there.
A nice view of a horseshoe bend in the Colorado River; you can see that trail from the previous shot in the foreground.
Yes, another dead tree shot:-)

canyonlands national park

We grouped these two together only because they are directly adjacent to each other.
This park entry was also open range; look out cows!
Maybe not as deep or wide as the Grand Canyon but just as impressive.

The obligatory (not quite) dead tree!

This time a live tree; a Pinion tree.

This switchback trail went down 1000′ to the bottom of the canyon; just part of the many trails used by mountain bikers, ATV’s, 4 wheelers and hikers.

 

 

Bryce Canyon National Park

This and the following 4 photos are of the Amphitheater; a main focal point of Bryce Canyon NP. It’s so massive it’s impossible to get it all in one picture!

Is that ET?

This looks like cliff dwellings but it’s not; it’s all natural formations !

LOVE my dead trees!!!

Fairy Castles!

We had beautiful weather for our visit at Bryce, but the morning we left this is what we encountered! Snow and sleet from there until we reached I-70! FUN!!

 

 

Capitol Reef National Park, Kodachrome Utah State Park

Capitol reef national park

The first thing you see just inside the park is this aptly named formation; Twin Rocks!

Millions of years of sediment and sand, just amazing!
Amazing views in every direction!

These formations make our F350 look like a mini-truck!

 

We took this dirt road to Cassidy Arch Trail. Butch Cassidy purportedly used this place as a hideout.

More roadside Mother Nature “rock art”
There was also an abandoned Uranium mine from the 1950’s!

kodachrome state park

Chimney Rock is one of the first formations you see here. If you look closely at the photos from 1949 on this sign, it doesn’t look much different! (Unlike us humans from 1949!)
It seems strange that this monolith is out in the middle of the field away from the rest of the rock formations.
Some other formations seemed somehow familiar 🙂
These were everywhere! It’s no wonder the Mormons have so many kids!

The Yuccas were still blooming.

And, of course, they have dead trees too!
Even the dead trees have beautiful patterns and colors just like the rock formations.
And for my Gin loving friends (TOM!) Juniper berries were plentiful!

Zion National Park

 

 

The view out our back window to our “back yard” for the week here at Zion West RV Park just outside of Zion! I even got a shady spot to park Big Blue! When we arrived this Alfalfa field was not cut yet. He did it t late that afternoon and into the evening, finishing by headlights well after dark.
We watched a couple days later as they bailed the entire field of Alfalfa.
He’s about to pick up the last bail just before sunset. Hey, free entertainment watching other people work hard!
Our first day out we visited Kolob Canyons at the north entrance of Zion; an area most people don’t visit according to the rangers.

 

While visiting our first spot here we saw this camper. It had German/European plates on it; looks like it would go just about  anywhere!

This “cracked egg” rock was right by the parking lot, pretty interesting! From what we read and heard freezing water causes this.
And, of course, more spring flowers!
And brand new leaves on the trees.
We did this short hike to an overlook.
The trail up
Interesting idea to allow water to drain without flooding the walkway!

Wildlife!

At the top!
What can I say, I have a fascination with dead trees! Notice the snow capped mountain?

For the next 3 full days we visited Zion proper.
The Towers of the Virgin.
The Court of the Patriarchs.

 

The Virgin River was flowing very fast & full; so much so that The Narrows (pictures later in the post) were closed beyond the paved walkway.
We took the tram to the third stop in and walked the paved trail back to the Visitor’s center along the river.
The views along the way were incredible at times!
Among all the lush greenery were blooming Cacti!

We also did the river walk to The Narrows; which, I mentioned before, were closed beyond the paved walkway. Still a beautiful walk; 2 miles round trip.
Interesting ecosystem; there were even these swamps along the way!
Looking down towards the narrows.
Weeping walls!
Flowering plants growing out of the cracks in the rocks.

This little guy was very vocal; wanted us to feed him or go away I guess!
Rich should remember this picture ; his mom and I took the same one years ago!

Time to turn around!
One of the big draws for thrill seekers (NOT us!) was Angels Landing. It’s a 5 1/2 mile round trip “hike”up 21 switchbacks followed by walking a narrow ridge (with a chain to hold on sometimes!) with huge drop-offs on both sides to reach the top. The name comes from the belief that only angels (and idiots?) could land there!
“The idiots  I mean hikers”

One of our 3 days in Zion, instead of taking the shuttle through the park we took the truck and drove Utah State Route 9 through the Zion-Mount Carmel tunnel. Since there are size restrictions we needed to buy a special pass to take Big Blue through (any vehicle 7’10” wide or 11′ tall ). They stop oncoming traffic so you can go down the middle of the tunnel (for a fee of course)! Remember it was built before large vehicles and motor homes existed!
Here we go through! The tunnel is 1.1 miles long.
Beautiful scenery all along this road!

Don’t get a flat or break down here!
This mountain is called Checkerboard Mesa for obvious reasons.
Amazing; and all done by nature!

Coming back you can see one of the three windows cut into the tunnel wall.
The view from inside the tunnel through that window.
These flowers just growing out of cracks in the rock amazed us!

 

 

 

 

Final Post from Pahrump and surrounding area

red rock canyon national conservation area near las vegas

It’s pretty obvious why the name Red Rock Canyon!

 

Some of the spring flowers near the picnic area we were using

One of Jan’s favorite pictures; mine too!

china ranch date farm- another day trip from pahrump

There was this dirt(gravel) road for about 5-10 miles to get here

Nice cactus garden next to the main building that housed the equipment to process the dates.
Their original delivery truck.
We saw this on the way down to the creek; I think it’s either a little humor for the tourists or a play store that was for the kids. Just part of the charm!
It doesn’t look it, but this was actually kind of comfortable!
Blooming Ocotilla!

They even had a palapa where we sat while enjoying their delicious date shakes! We also took home some date bread, yum!!
Jan saw this rock formation on the way out and wanted me to take a picture for some reason. Hmmmm?!?

rhyolite ghost town

One of the buildings left of this old  gold mining community from the early 1900’s; if you Google it it’s a pretty interesting story!

This metal art depicts a miner; I’m not really sure how the Penguin fits in?!?
Another interesting building was this bottle house. Its built using hundreds of bottles. Since it was a mining town I’m sure there was no shortage of empty booze/beer bottles!

But the strangest thing was this still operating “Art” Museum; see for yourself!
This of course, was called “Ghost Rider”!
Ghost Painter?!?
And of course the Holy Ghost at the Last Supper!
Why not? A mosaic tiled cement couch!

the amargosa opera house and hotel

It almost looks abandoned from the outside but is an operating Hotel and Opera House used for artist to perform; not so much opera now. The woman who bought it in 1967 and started the Opera House/Hotel business, Marta Becket, just died this year at the age of 92. She performed there up until she was 87!
The hotel rooms; still operating, more like a 50’s motel I’d say!

 

A tribute to Marta

When audiences were sparse (which I’m sure was often out in the middle of nowhere!) Marta missed having an audience so she started painting these murals. That’s the king and queen of Spain of the time in this one!
Maybe too much time in the desert?!?

Their “Yard Art”!

we also did do a “tour” of the chicken ranch, but nothing photo worthy! i did buy a tshirt for my good friend tom though!

Goodbye to Pahrump, next stop Zion National Park.