Tuesday, October 10, 2017

The short snowfall ended yesterday, and the evening was a chilly 23 degrees, but it warmed up to the upper 40's today.  The sun was intense, so it felt warmer than that.  We decided to do some geo-caching and checking out the points of interest in Colorado Springs.  We first went into Old Colorado City, and it's quite the eclectic area of lots of different things.  We went to the Garden of the Gods, which is a 1,367 acre free city park and it was wonderful!  We drove through to get the feel of the layout, and then did a nice hike to several Earthcaches.  In some parks, they frown on tangible items placed in the parks, so they establish an Earthcache or Virtual to bring you to an interesting place in the park.  You have to answer questions that they ask you, about the area that it takes you to.  We will do the other half of the park tomorrow and hopefully, do some city caches. 

This was painted on the side of an old building in Old Colorado City.  We thought it was worthy of publishing!  This is the Old West! 

I took this picture from the visitor center for Garden of the Gods, and it overlooks the park, as well as Pike's Peak.  Quite the view!

This is called 'The Three Graces' in Garden of the Gods.  It reminds us of a hike we do in The Valley, called Praying Hands. 

We stopped to check out the beer at 'The Fossil Brew Pub' not far from our campground.  We met this couple there, that are locals and she was just a hoot!  This is her mug, and they belong to the elite club at the Fossil Brew Pub.  I say, it's a beer pub for "Old Fossils"!  We'll take our growler back before we leave and have it filled.  We also met a guy there that spent his summers in Waupaca, WI.

'Snowy' Monday, October 9, 2017

We have heard from several of you, regarding our absence since Friday's blog!  Sorry to worry you, but we haven't done anything much differently, except we did move.  Our week was up in Loveland, CO and we really enjoyed our stay there.  Even though we didn't get to fully do what we wanted in the Rockies, we did spend enough time there to enjoy the beauty and the ruggedness of the national park.  They are getting measurable amounts of snow there today, so I guess we're back to 'good timing' again.  We moved to Colorado Springs, CO and we are in a doughnut hole, where the snow is circling around this area, and we aren't going to get much now.  The flurries just started as I write this, and the next few days that we are here, the temps will rise to the 60's and 70's. Denver is getting some heavy snow.  We will be okay.  The trees here are still pretty green with a few yellow ones scattered here and there.  It is a shame if they get a heavy snowfall and it will break branches and cause power outages.  I fear that is what is going to happen in Loveland, as that was very heavily populated with trees.  Many were in the golden stages and very pretty.  We are seeing Wisconsin has enjoyed very warm weather, and I can only imagine how beautiful the trees are in the North woods!  I really thought Autumn would come early there, but from what we hear, the gardens are still flourishing! Enjoy the nice weather, as it makes winter a lot shorter.  We will hole up today, load some caches and hope to strike out tomorrow, or Wednesday, for sure.  We are staying in Colorado Springs until Friday.

This is the wonderful bike path that we enjoyed the day before we left Loveland.  This particular one is north of Loveland and in the open spaces between Loveland and Fort Collins.  We could see the Rockies from here.

I took this picture from the motor home, as we left the campground.  Loveland has a wonderful view of the Rockies, and we feel it's a great place to live.  We are too old to be transplanted, but this could be tempting.

Again, I took this picture as we drove through Denver yesterday on I-25 South.  It's the Mile High Stadium, and home of the Broncos.  We did this for all you Bronco fans, and especially Glenn and Glo Finck!  We were glad the Broncos didn't play at home yesterday, as the traffic was terrific!  Now, did you people watch the Packers yesterday?  Wow, Rodgers pulled that one out in the last seconds of the game!  Jim did put our dish up, and we got to see it. 

Windy Friday, October 6, 2017

We opted to stay in Loveland today, as they were predicting rain in the mountains.  It was quite breezy, so something is brewing.  Before I get started on our blog, I want to wish Phil O'Connor, our son-in-law a happy birthday today, and our second daughter, Karla and her husband, Worth a happy anniversary.  I believe it's 27 years for them, and I'm not telling how old Phil is!  We hope they all have a wonderful day and take time to celebrate!  We rode our bikes out of the campground and up the street a block to the bike path that is near us.  It had a few caches on it, but it also took us to a beautiful green space area with water 'ponds' dotting that area.  The trail took us to backyards of big, beautiful homes, and to large office complexes, that are right off the trail.  Quite the contrast, throughout our ride.  Most of the trail was cement, but they had some packed stone trails, too.  Then this afternoon, we went north toward Fort Collins and got on another trail that is still in Loveland.  Wow!  Another cement trail that went for miles.  We quit riding when the caches ended.  It was time to turn around, and Jim kept telling me that we would have a tough time getting back.  He was right!  We had a tailwind going out, but once we turned around, our legs hurt peddling going downhill! 

This is a park shelter that is behind the huge office building complexes.  Next to the office buildings, are numerous and large apartment buildings.  They all have patios, and most of them have a bike positioned there, also. I don't blame them.  This is a gorgeous place to bike.

We are still on the bike trail near us, and they call it the High Plains Environmental Center.  It is 275 acres of land and water set aside for the bike trail and to protect the marsh land.  They say it is a style of living with the land, and not just on it!  They call it 'Suburbitat'.  Pretty neat, don't you think?  Loveland is very progressive with their bike trails, and I might add that, we haven't seen a Culver's Custard Shop here! It is too healthy to have a custard shop!  Notice the dark skies looming overheard.  We could see the rain clouds on the mountains, so we are glad that we didn't go to the Rockies today.

I guess I didn't center this very well, but it was on our way back and 'against the wind'.  I think I was in a hurry to get back to the truck.....huff and puff!  If I don't post a message on our site tomorrow, it's because we may just ride the bike path near us again.  We are thinking, why do we want to spend 3 hours on the road to 'do a hike'?  Everyone and their dog will be out tomorrow, as there is going to be a big change on the weather scene come Sunday night.  We move south to Colorado Springs on Sunday, and they are predicting snow in Denver and north on Sunday night and Monday.  These beautiful Aspens will be covered with snow on Monday!  It's time to get out of Dodge!

Thursday, October 5, 2017

It was a surprisingly beautiful day.  We had fog early, but it lifted and it was too late for us to go to the Rockies after that.  We'll go tomorrow, as they lifted the rain for this area.  I guess I should say, we'll see what it's like in the morning. So, I got on the geo-cache site for Loveland and found two nice bike trails.  They actually adjoin each other and we did close to 10 miles on the bikes and found 15 caches.  These people out here really have a lot of bike/walking trails and it shows that they are very health conscious.  We also found one very close to us, and we can bike to it from our campground.  We didn't get home in time for me to make my chili, so we walked a block to Old Chicago and had a wonderful pizza.  We are  hoping we can go to the Rockies tomorrow, as they had signs on the road the other day, stating that weekend traffic is very heavy.  Wow, can it get any heavier than this?  We want to do a hike and check for the Big Horn Sheep again.  Then we're done with the Rockies.

River's Edge Natural Area is the name of the park that we biked and geo-cached in, and it was just wonderful. Most of the trails were paved and they were working on others that were a packed stone, but still very nice.  They don't charge for riding a bike here, in fact, Wisconsin is the only state that we found that, charges an annual fee to ride your bike on the bike path. 

The natural area that we biked, was on the southwest corner of Loveland, and you could see the white capped mountains of the Rockies from there.  I loved this crisscross fence along the bike trail.  There were many large ponds and at one section, we even followed a fast flowing stream.  It was very enjoyable. 

 

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Sunny Wednesday!  We didn't go to the Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday, as it was very chilly in the morning and they predicted scattered showers. We weren't sure what to expect when we got there, as Estes Park was to have received 3 to 6 inches of snow on Monday.  Instead, we went to Fort Collins and Jim got his new hiking boots.  Fort Collins is a lovely little town.  Last night, we listened to the news and they were talking of Hwy. 34 from Loveland and west to Estes Park is closed until Memorial Day of 2018!  That was our straight shot to the park!  Now what?  We checked further and we needed to take I-25 south and then west, so it is going to add to our travel time to get there.  It is what it is.  We went to the Visitor Center as soon as we got into the park, and found out that the total road over the Continental Divide is closed, due to heavy snows, and it didn't sound like it would open again this winter.  Well, bummer!  What happened to our good timing?  The ranger told us that they had this unexpected early snowfall and she pointed out what we could do.  We drove the loop that was open and did a little geo-caching.  Most of the caches that we had loaded were on Hwy. 34 and the area closed in the park.  We did manage to find ten caches today.  We basically, wanted to check out the park, and found it just beautiful, and the snow added to the beauty.  Most of the snow that Estes Park received, was mostly melted away and wasn't an issue at all.  We are to get rain tomorrow and Friday, so we are going to go back over on Saturday and do a hike.  We have plenty of time to figure out which one!  It is to be 70 degrees Saturday, and it will be our last day here.  As long as we can't do the whole road to Grand Lake, we will be ready to leave. 

We saw many bunches of Elk alongside the road, as we drove the loop, so we checked it out.  Many male Elk were bugling and trying to keep their 'women' together, so it made for an entertaining photo op!  This particular one must have been really busy, as he was nearly hoarse from bugling.  We didn't see any Big Horn Sheep on today's trek to the park, but perhaps the next time.

This is one of many beautiful sights that we saw today.  The Aspen were fading near the higher elevations, but very prevalent in the lower regions.

This lunatic Magpie thought we would give it a handout of food, but we didn't.  They really frown on giving any wildlife anything to eat, as they will get dependent on it.  This area is called, 'Sheep Lake' and the glacier kettle ponds are here, and the Big Horn frequent this area.  We saw none today.

The Stanley Hotel that sits high on the mountain and overlooks Estes Park, is a stately old hotel. 

Rainy Monday, October 2, 2017

Not much to write about today, as we holed up, due to the rains most of the day.  They had freezing rain just west and north of us to Fort Collins, so we'll go to REI tomorrow.  I am so glad we used our 'good heads' when we booked our place here.  We thought it was a bit of a drive to the Rocky Mt. Nat'l Park, but it is lower elevation and our rain here is snow at Estes Park!  We don't think we'll get a chance to go in there until at least Wednesday.  Our geo-caches are covered with snow!  I'm glad some of them are Earthcaches, as there is nothing tangible at those caches.  We just have to answer some questions about what we see.  I didn't post any pictures of Fort Laramie yesterday, so I'll do that today.  We should all remember those lost in the terrible attack on the concert goers in Las Vegas.  What a horrific tragedy!  Our hearts go out to their families in trying to understand all of this and to try to move on. 

The unmarried officers lived in this building.  It has been refurbished to its original state.  By the looks of things, they did get a bit rowdy at times!  It was called, "Old Bedlam". 

This building was actually, a duplex.  Two families lived here, and the husbands were of higher rank.  The duplex was living quarters downstairs and bedrooms upstairs.  It was split down the middle, front to back.  We thought it was very nice and any family could live there today. 

                                            This large building housed the infantry barracks.

The upstairs floor of the barracks, is the sleeping quarters for the infantrymen.  The bottom floor was the mess hall with long tables and benches, where they ate their meals. 

Saturday and Sunday, September 30 and October 1

We left our wonderful camping spot and area in Guernsey State Park today (October 1) and I will give you an update on what we did yesterday and today.  Our internet service was so poor in the last place, so we opted for doing it today.  Yesterday was a geo-caching and historic day.  We mainly, wanted to stay in this area to take in Fort Laramie, just south of us, and we were surprised there was no fort there!  They are surrounded by the Laramie River on three side, and it snakes around that area, so they only had to protect the one side.  Many of the buildings have been restored and it was quite nice.  The Fort was originally a trading post from 1834 to 1849, and then the army acquired it.  It was then used as a supply and military outpost along the Oregon Trail.  Other major trails passed through here.  The California Trail and Mormon Trail also went through here.  The Pony Express ran through here from St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA from 1860 - 1861.  Telegraph and stagecoach lines passed through here, also.  With the end of the Indian Wars, Fort Laramie's importance diminished and it closed in 1890.  It was sold at public auction.  Geo-caching took us to some places of interest and importance in the area.  One was to an area where the Oregon Trail Ruts were very visible.  Another was the Register Cliff, where people crossing this area, etched their names and date in the soft sandstone, that was proof they were here.  Another geo-cache took us to the Army Bridge, that crossed the Laramie River and connected the area to the fort.  We arrived at our campground in Loveland, CO and will stay a week here.  They had 16 inches of snow in the Rockies yesterday and we are under a winter advisory through Tuesday.  What happened to that High System that came in from the west coast and all those 70 degree temperatures?  It is mild here and they haven't had a frost yet, but if we are to get rain tomorrow, that means the mountains are going to get snow!  We don't have a reservation after this week, so we may be staying a while longer.  I don't mind the snow in the mountains, as it will make our pictures much prettier!  As long as Loveland doesn't get any!  We are at 5200 feet elevation, so we don't think we'll get snow here.  Things will all work out.  I'll post a few pictures from yesterday, as I wasn't able to do that in Guernsey.  If you read the blog from Friday, I have just posted pictures of that day.  The structures at Guernsey State Park are a must see.

These are the grooves in the sandstone from the iron wheels on the carts transporting goods and people across the Oregon Trail.  Oxen were used at first and then they used mules to pull the wagons.

This is one of about 350 etchings on the sandstone cliff, that people placed their name and the date they were here.  It reminded us of El Morro in New Mexico, near Grants.  It is basically, the same concept, only the earliest here is 1852 and El Morro had dates back to the early 1600's.  That was due to the Spanish invasion, looking for gold.

This 140 foot bridge was built in 1875 to connect the town to Fort Laramie.  They replaced the wooden planks in 1990 and it is very stable. It was used until 1958.

This is Boot Hill Cemetery in Hartville, Wyoming.  I think every little town in the West has a Boot Hill.  The grave site that is fenced in says, 'Baby Pinkerton' 1897.

Jo-Ann Fabrics is next door to our campground, so we went for a walk tonight and I stocked up on my baby yarn, and will have something to do in my spare time.  How convenient was that?  Good planning, I'd say!  Our grandson, Cam, in Virginia turned 21 yesterday!  Due to the poor internet service, we are a day late, but we hope you had a great day, Cam!