06-29-18 Yesterday we traveled from Wyoming to Utah, camping at the Crystal Hot Springs RV Park. They have hot and cold mineral springs that we will try before we leave. The campground was mostly empty when we arrived but it is almost full tonight. I guess people are coming in for the 4th of July.

We saw this view on Higway 80 at a rest stop in Utah.

We found ice cream in Brigham! As a bonus, they were holding a car show in the parking lot! One of the first one we looked at was this first aid and rescue truck from Manville. It all looked original.

Bob in the back of the Manville rescue unit.

A 1936 Ford

06-25-18 This is the view from the Rock Springs KOA.

06-24-18 Today we traveled to Wyoming and are staying at the Rock Springs KOA for four nights. We went out and searched Rock Springs for an ice cream cone with no luck. The locals do not seem to eat ice cream out here the way the people back east do. We couldn't find ice cream in Craig, Colorado, either.

We spent over a month in Colorado. A couple of thoughts. First, although marijuana is legal for recreational use in Colorado, I never saw or smelled any. I had forgotten it was legal until an "Is you pot secure?" ad on TV aired. The places to buy it must be very well hidden, very discrete.

There is an awful lot of property for sale in the mountains. It seemed like there were "for sale" signs on every other ranch. I wonder why so many people are selling.

06-20-18 We are in Craig Colorado until Sunday. We are staying at the Craig KOA which is nice. A nice couple from Wisconsin bought the campground last winter and have only been open since May of this year. It seems like the campground is in nice shape, and they are working hard to make some cosmetic changes. Bob and I wish them well!

We stopped at the Museum of North West Colorado, which was well worth the visit. They have lovely displays of western treasures. Here are a few pictures.

The saddle used by Buffalo Bill Cody in his Wild West Show. He started the show in Nebraska in 1883.

There were numerous guns on display in the museum. Many were Colts made in Hartford, Connecticut, like this one.

There was a gold mining display in the museum. There is apparently lots of gold here in Moffat County. However, the gold is very fine. I tried panning for gold a couple of times here. Although I found black sand, which indicates the presence of gold, I didn't see anything big enough to pick out. Although I haven't found any gold yet, I will keep trying. It's fun! I saw lots of animal footprints near the river. I took some of the black sand back to the museum to show one of the curators who specializes in gold panning. He looked at it and thought he saw some individual gold specks, but nothing big enough to pick out.

This is a flower I found in a field. It is the size of a baseball.

06-16-18 Some photos of the Buena Vista Colorado area

		The view from Arkansas River Rim Campground. Art, there is still a tiny bit of snow left on the mountain for you.

On our way through Buena Vista, we passed a surf shop. Yes, as in surf board surf shop. I couldn't quite figure out what you could do with a surf board in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, over 1,000 miles away from the nearest ocean. Later we found these people on the Arkansas River "surfing."

		One day we spent some time driving around on some of the county dirt roads. We came across two tunnels drilled through the rock.

More tunnels

		Beautiful scenery

More scenery

		Dessert flowers for Amy Reay

06-14-18 Bob went whitewater rafting today with AVA Rafting Company. I stationed myself downstream to get a few pictures.

		The scenery was lovely! I waited for almost two hours for the rafting group to reach me. It was a terrific place to sit and listen to the water.

Just when I was beginning to think I had somehow missed them, down the river they came! That's Bob in the front!

		Here's Bob again at a different place on the river. He had a great time and got soaked! Below is the professional photo from AVA.

06-13-18 We are camping at the Arkansas River Rim Campground in Buena Vista, CO. It is very comfortable, although we have very little TV reception and Bob is suffering for it. We can only pull in a couple of PBS stations. The Arkasnsas River is 100 feet below us and very pretty. Yesterday I tried panning for gold. I think I had a flake but lost it when I tried to pick it up. I'll try again today. I bought a fishing license yesterday and plan to fish a little this evening.

		The Arkansas River below our campsite.

The fish were jumping last night. Hope they are still hungry tonight!

06-11-18 We had a terrific time at the M Lazy C Ranch. Our cluster of campsites was very remote; we were about a half mile from the office. The office is one mile off the main road, County Route 24. The mile-long road to the ranch is County Route 453, a single lane dirt road that curves around rocks, aspen and ponderosa pine. We were lucky. We didn't meet any campers on our way in or out, which would have meant backing up for one or the other of us. County Route 453 runs right through the middle of the ranch.

The biggest problem at the ranch was dust. It was incredibly dusty. Much of Colorado is in the middle of a drought, especially in this area. Just walking through a field causes little puffs of dust. A vehicle driving by will envelope you in a cloud. Everything in the camper has a coat of dust, it is in our hair, food, all over the dogs. I won't be sad to leave the dust behind.

		Our campsite was very remote, about a half mile from the office. A little too remote for Bob. Our only neighbors were traveling with their horses. Unfortunately, they were not friendly at all. Very unusual for campers. There is a small coral for horses at each campsite and many people come with their horses. The Pike National Forest abutes the ranch.

Our campsite is way in the back in the pines. This shot is from a field between us and the office. The small shack in the right side of the picture is an old abandoned gold mine. The shack was the housing for the bucket that was lowered into the mine.

		All over Colorado there are indian prayer trees. Whenever there was a birth or wedding in the tribe, a prayer tree would be made. They would weave a hemp rope, select a sapling pine, bend it over, stake it to the earth with the rope, and tie a medicine bag was tied to the staked tree. Over time, the rope disintegrated but the tree was left to grow bent over. The indians believed that whenever the wind blew through the needles of the tree, their prayers were lifted to heaven. This is a prayer tree on the ranch.

As previously mentioned, I went for a two hour horseback ride. The scenery was beautiful and the ride was very enjoyable. Here is a photo from the top of a hill on the ride.

		We spent a little time at the Florrisant Fossil Beds. It is an area that for many years, starting in the 1800's, people would come to collect fossils. The US Government finally made it a national park and a federal offense to collect specimans. Here are two petrified redwood trees.

06-08-18 Today Bob and I took a ride on the Royal Gorge Historic Railway. The Royal Gorge is sometimes called the Colorado Grand Canyon. It was a nice ride and Bob took some great pictures. Here they are.

		The train runs along the Arkansas River in Canon City. Lots of people white water rafting through the gorge.

Some people mined for gold along the Arkansas. Here is an abandoned sluice. The tour guide told us that there was a man who came to the river every Sunday to pan for gold. He found about one ounce a month. Not a bad return on a hobby!

		We were lucky to see several big horn sheep along the way!

Canon City was the first city in Colorado to have running water. The water came through a wooden pipe that ran along the gorge from a settling tank up river. It was used until the 1960's after a flood destroyed much of the pipe.

		Lovely scenery.

	The Royal Gorge Bridge stretches across the gorge, 1,000 feet above the river.

06-07-18 Ahhhhh... Horseback riding. The trail horses here at the M Lazy C are well cared for and in nice shape. We went for a nice two hour walk through the ponderosa pine forests, passed an old abandoned town, and several abandoned mines in the mountain.

06-05-18 Well. That didn't work too well. Our work camping gig has come to an end and Bob and I are continuing our adventure as a retired couple again.

Today we are going to the M Lazy C Ranch in Lake George CO. It is a working ranch that also has a campground. I'll post pictures probably tomorrow.

Yesterday, we went to Pikes Peak. The scenery was beautiful! Here are some pictures.

Here is a photo of the view from our van on the way up the mountain. You can see how the road snakes back and forth. We were going to drive to the top, but the rangers were stopping cars at different parking lots and asking people to use vans to the top. It was free, so why not? Actually, after the trip, I was glad we didn't put the wear and tear on the truck brakes and transmission on the way down.

		Bob at the summit of Pikes Peak, 14,115 feet above sea level. We thought there was a lack of oxygen at 8,000 feet. There is even LESS up here! It's hard to breath.

These photos don't even BEGIN to show the beauty here.

		The rock formations are amazing. Here is one on Pikes Peak. The rangers are preparing for this year's annual Pikes Peak Road Race. The racers reach over 200 MPH at one point on the road. I can't imagine where that is! The record to the top is just over 7 minutes. It probably took us 45 minutes to make it to the top. If you are interested in a video of a racer making it to the top, there is a good one on YouTube. Look for the record Pikes Peak race time.

	A view from the top

		Apparently, emergency services are tired of rescuing people who overestimate their abilities.

About half way down the mountain, the rangers check the brake temperatures. If they are above 300 degrees, you have to pull over for 30 minutes. This is the ranger showing our van driver the temperature of his brakes. They were good.

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