July 13, 2010 Old Fall River Rd, RMNP

Our trip today will be on the Old Fall River Road which was the first road through the park. It was started in 1913 and completed in 1920. It is only 9 miles but in that distance you travel from woodland through sub alpine to alpine tundra climatic zones. The road today is very much like it was years ago, except that it is one way today. I'm sure there were many tense moments when cars were allowed to travel both ways. Once you reach the summit and the Alpine Visitors Center you use the newer Trail Ridge Road to descend. I had thought that the trip might take 3 hours, but in actuality it took 7. We couldn't resist all the photo op's.
Top Photo--Bull Elk just below Alpine Visitors Center
Middle Photo--At about the half way point we had stopped to take pictures and up rolls a taxi. Photo also gives you a little glimpse of the actual road.
Bottom Photo--Just one of many spectacular views.

July 12th, 2010

We're finally at our destination just outside Estes Park, CO. Our friends Kay and Ernie's son in laws family has owned cabins up here for years. At one point some of them were rented to the summer help in the national park or shops in Estes Park or just vacationers. Several years ago one of the cabins burned so a vacant space exists and that's where Starship Avion has landed. In addition to Kay and Ernie another couple from Columbus have joined us. At one time we all lived in Columbus so it was fun to catch up on the happenings. Our camp is about 3 miles from Estes Park which is a total tourist town. There are the tee shirt shops, jewelry stores, candy and ice cream shops, etc, etc. You've been "there" I'm sure. Just outside town is Rocky Mountain National Park. Yes, the park is crowded now, but you know what, every once in a while you will look at a towering peak or a mountain meadow and the thought hits you "This is what it looked like 200 years ago when an Indian, mountain man, or trapper looked at the same sight". What a thrill.
Top Photo--Starship Avion at rest.
Bottom Photo--The Estes Park Gang.

July 6th through July 11th, 2010

On the 6th we loaded up and headed down the mountain. I am a certified flatlander when it comes to pulling a trailer, but I must admit I am getting better and more confident in going up and down these mountain roads. We went from our campground through Colorado Springs, caught I-25 north and headed towards Estes Park where our old Columbus, IN friends were staying in their son-in-laws cabins.

After arriving we parked Starship Avion, stayed overnight, but then headed back to Denver to stay and visit with cousin John. I know this doesn't make any sense but it was a timing thing. While in Denver we went to several antique or thrift stores, had a lot of good food, and just had a good time being with nice people. The 11th we headed back to Estes Park to await the arrival of more old friends from Columbus, IN.
Photo's--Hike pictures at Redstone Rec Area just south of Littleton.

July 5th, 2010 Victor (revisited) & Cripple Creek

We awoke to hail on the ground! Just after we returned to the trailer last night the storm caught up with us. You can imagine what a hail storm sounds like in an aluminum trailer. I really thought we would have visible damage, but we had nothing. We returned to Mueller S P and had a great breakfast with the Denver group. I simply do not understand why these people don't weigh 300 pounds apiece. We said a sad farewell to the group as they had to pack up and return home. We decided to stay an extra day.

We headed toward Victor, but before getting there we took a little side trip on Gold Camp Road. We checked out a couple of places in Victor and then headed toward Cripple Creek. While Victor is an almost ghost town Cripple Creek has elected to revive itself by gambling revenue. We were totally uninterested in Cripple Creek downtown and elected to drive through an old residential portion of town. While there we saw burro's resting alongside a home. We then remembered that Cripple Creek is the town that allows the descendants of the mine burro's to roam free. There is a group of people in town who provide feed and care of the animals. With the exception of the burro's we found nothing else that interested us in Cripple Creek, but have tucked Victor into the back of our brains as a possible future summer resting place.

Top Photo--Gold Camp Road

Middle Photo--Burro's of Cripple Creek, CO

Bottom Photo--Hail on the ground on July 5th

July 3rd & 4th, 2010 Victor & Mueller State Park, CO

Early on the 3rd, J & E and L & S picked us up and off we went to the old gold mines around Victor, CO. This area between Victor and Cripple Creek had some of the most productive gold mines in the U. S. Many of the buildings are still there and available for exploring. Our next stop was Victor, CO which some say is one step above a ghost town, but it did have permanent residents and a downtown. In reading about Victor two things stick out--in the late 1890's a couple were

having a spat and one threw a coal oil lamp at the other. The resulting fire burned down the east side of town. A few days later a pan with grease in the hotel kitchen caught fire and that fire burned down the west side of town. Consequently, all of the downtown buildings date from around 1899 to 1903. The second item about Victor is that when the town decided to build a new courthouse they started digging the foundation and struck gold!! Boy, those people in Victor had all the bad luck. We met up with J & K

and had lunch in Victor, then headed back to Mueller State Park for a wonderful dinner with the Denver crowd.

July 4th started out bright and beautiful. Betsy and I drove over to Mueller S P to meet up with the Denver group. We just hung around camp and talked mostly. Later in the day we started preparing dinner and noticed that large black clouds were moving into the area. Just as we were finishing dinner the sky opened and it poured. Luckily we were under a 10 x 10 canopy, but eventually the rain became to heavy and we sought shelter in L & S fifth wheel. We had eight people and five dogs in there, but the unit was big enough to shelter us all. We were all talking when all of a sudden we realized that it was hailing!! The hail peppered down and there was some concern that it would accumulate and collapse the awning on the RV, but the awning was retracted without damage. Betsy, Tipper, and I waited until the rain and hail paused and then we took off, up the mountain to our campground. The temperature fell to 46 degrees, and hail covered the road for some of the trip but we went slow and made it home safely.

Top Photo--I'm not sure how this all transpired, but I walked out of a shop and the Denver Circle had somehow gotten involved in a tomahawk throwing lesson. I've always wanted to try my luck at it so I jumped right in. Managed to stick 1 out of 3.

Bottom Photo--downtown Victor, Co.

July 2nd, 2010 Cripple Creek, CO

When we planned this trip we thought we would be in Estes Park for the holiday weekend but it didn't work out that way. I called my cousin in Denver and ask if we could hang out with them and their friends over the holiday. Since they all have RV's they make a point of camping out on the holiday weekends and others. The problem was that the state park they were camping in is extremely popular and reservations are made months in advance and at that point the campground was full. However there was a private campground about nine miles from the state park so we got reservations there.
What we didn't know was that the nine miles was mostly straight up. Our campground is one of three in the U.S. over 10,000 feet in elevation! But the view is great. Both Betsy and I think that this is probably the best view of all the campgrounds we've ever stayed. After settling in, we headed over to the park to meet up with "our Colorado friends". They have been friends for years and since my cousin and his wife are in the group they have graciously allowed us to join them in their travels. I'm pretty sure that Betsy and I are on probation status at this point, but we haven't been kicked out yet. With Betsy and I the group consists of four couples with a total of five dogs. What a sight we are when we move about. They are really a fun group.
Top Photo--Starship Avion in the mountains.
Bottom Photo--Local Wildlife

July 1st, 2010 Northern NM & Southern CO

Today was one of those days spent on the interstate system getting from point A to B. It was about 225 miles but the new vehicle pulling the trailer is not as "comfortable" pulling as the truck was. Maybe I'll get used to it one of these days. We flew up I-25 to Trinidad, CO and Trinidad Lake State Park. Our campground directory said that we should use exit 14B off of the interstate. We passed up exit 14 thinking that the next one would be exit 14B. To our surprize the next exit was 13A, with no mention of the state park. So we went north another exit, and turned around for another crack at finding the correct exit. This time, as we headed south, we saw a sign saying that the state park was actually exit 13B. Yeah, we found it! Well, not so fast. When we approached we saw construction and a sign saying that commercial trucks should not use the exit due to tight turns. So we continued south and found an unobstructed exit to use and headed north again for attempt number 3. At this point the old Kingston
Trio song called MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) was playing in my head. It was a song about poor old Charley who didn't have a nickel and therefore couldn't get off of the train. We did finally find the correct exit off of the interstate only to find that most of Trinidad was under road construction too. Somehow we found our way through the maze and caught the road to the state park. We wanted to spend some time in Trinidad because it is a neat little town, but by the time we arrived at the park we were exhausted. We pulled into our spot, didn't even unhook, did some laundry, took showers, ate, and went to bed. Another exciting day on the road.

June 29, 30th Ojo Caliente, Santa Fe, Taos

Our next stop was Ojo Caliente, NM which is a tiny town between Santa Fe and Taos. Ojo Caliente Resort is located there and has hot springs and pools. Betsy and I were not interested in the springs and pools but we decided to stay in their campground just for the convient location to both Santa Fe and Taos. We visited Santa Fe first and found it to be pretty much like it was when we visited several years ago. We did have a little scare while there. We used the St. Francis hotel patio to get our bearings and then headed off to see the sights. We stopped at a gallery about three blocks from the hotel and Betsy realized that she had left her purse on the patio. We rushed back and the purse was gone. However some dear soul had taken it to the hotel desk. Thank you, whoever you are. We looked in several stores, found the old plaza where the Indian blanket traders sell their jewelry, and enjoyed ourselves very much. The next day we reversed direction and headed north to Taos. Taos is smaller than Santa Fe but the old plaza is very similiar. It has galleries, tourist shops, cafe's. Betsy visited the Nicholi Fechin museum. As mentioned on the last post, antique stores will let Tipper come in, but museums won't. Tipper and I waited in the car. For some dumb reason I was having a sinus meltdown that day and didn't really feel well so we didn't do the pueblo. However we did return to Ojo Caliente a different route which took us over the Royal Gorge on US 64. The gorge is this steep canyon, created by water erosion, with the highway bridge over it. We stopped by the side of the road and started to walk to the middle of the bridge, but Betsy turned back when she felt the bridge move as traffic went over it. I made it to the middle, took a few pictures and retreated as fast as possible to terra firma.
Top Photo--Royal Gorge. That's the river way down there.
Middle--Camel Rock outside Santa Fe.
Bottom--Taos flower cart.

June 27 & 28 Albuquerque

We have always pretty much considered Albuquerque somewhere to "get thru", but this time we've decided to explore a little bit since we have time. Enchanted Trails RV park is very close to Route 66 and have a ton of info about the sights in Albuquerque. I learned that the original Route 66 thru town was not an east- west route but rather a north-south highway. I believe that was the case until something like 1937 when it was re-routed. The north-south original highway is basically 4th street now. We took the time to drive it and saw several of the old Route 66 survivor gas stations, motels, and tourists courts. The east west route is now Central Ave and it too has several old buildings. We did a typical tourist thing and visited Old Town where all the shops are located. What we discovered was that if you venture into the small streets, and alley's you will find some real neat merchandise as opposed to the tourist junk on the main streets. We also found the "antique mile" and visited some shops. The first one we stopped in was run by a very nice, funny, older couple that we really enjoyed talking to. We found items for both Cuz John and wife Elaine. We always ask if Tipper can come in to the antique shops and almost every time he's been allowed in. He's a very good shopper. Almost as good as Betsy!
Top Photo--Old neon sign. Very cool.
Middle--New Mexico must be the place to grow Hollyhocks. We see them everywhere.
Bottom Photo--2nd story trailer. You don't see this very often.