Whole--Almost

Wednesday, as we waited for all the repairs on our RV to be completed, we took a long (4 mile) walk along the Rio Grande River, shopped around for a couple of things we want for our trip to Alaska, then returned to Aloha RV to wait. Our truck seats are a lot more comfortable than the chairs in their waiting room. And with a power converter, broadband card, Kindle, ipad and computer, we certainly didn't get bored.

We were finally ready to leave Aloha about 4 pm. They had replaced the cover on our shower skylight that had been damaged by hail; they had repaired the body damage from our tire blowout; and they had installed a new front landing jack. We know they had a lot of other RVs there to be worked on. This is the second time we have been there and they helped us right away, since we were just passing through. We were very grateful. By 4 pm, we were also very tired. We are up early and raring to go, but by the end of the day, we want to kick back and relax. So we drove 20 miles north and parked at the Hollywood Casino. They have 40+ electric-only sites that are long and level. We almost had the place to ourselves. And the cost is only $10 a night, except during September and October. Only one other RV came in all night. There were large trucks parked nearby, drivers sleeping after fueling up at the gas station.

But why do I say we are whole--almost? Everything was fine until we were set up, relaxing and watching TV. Then the bedroom air conditioner began stalling or shuddering or something. We turned it off and used only the A/C in the living room. Now what? This morning the heat pump on that unit worked fine.

Today we moved further north, crossing into Colorado about 1 pm.

We are spending the night at Lathrop State Park in Walsenburg, a place we have stayed many times and volunteered in three years running. We have a great site,

the view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains out the front window is wonderful,

and the wildflowers are in bloom.

Bears, Bears Everywhere

This part of southern Colorado is overrun with bears, who are finding that humans' trash containers and back yards have more food that the drought-parched hillsides. This morning we heard on the police radio that there was a bear cub trapped in a trash dumpster at the high school in nearby LaVeta. Thankfully, it is a holiday, so school was not in session. We know they got the cub out of the dumpster, though we don't know how. I hope Mama Bear wasn't nearby.

Over the weekend, a mother bear and two cubs were wandering around the LaVeta cemetery. The local marshall determined that they weren't headed on into town. He was afraid that if he tried to get them to move away, they just might head for main street, so he left them alone. There are almost daily bear sightings in the LaVeta area.

Our campsite here in the state park is along a road that goes to the Department of Wildlife's facility. Some days we have seen three or four wildlife trucks going up and down the road with bear traps on the back end. We finally asked if they were releasing trapped bears nearby. No. When the move a trapped bear, they take it to a nearby wildlife area where they tag it, then spray it down with water. That keeps the bear cool as they transport it to another part of the state.

Today we saw a bear in the campground while we were cleaning fire pits. Fortunately, it was in one of those bear traps. We stopped by to take a picture. If you click on the photo, you may be able to see the bear's head behind the bars. It had already been tagged and watered down. In fact, it was sloshing in water inside that trap. But it was pretty calm--looking out through the bars and sticking its nose out another opening, but not growling.



Since the campground was full for the Labor Day weekend, we had an awful lot of ashes and wood to clean out of the fire pits. And a number of campers were gatherers--not hunter gatherers, but gatherers. That means they scoured the open areas in the park for firewood--which is not permitted. When they do that, often it needs splitting to burn properly. But since the gatherers don't come equipped to do that, they attempt to burn 12-foot long branches and stumps that are 12 inches in diameter. Happily, the park's maintenance crew helped John unload those huge pieces.



Tomorrow we will prepare our RV so we can drive to Denver on Wednesday. We will spend three and a half weeks at Cherry Creek and Chatfield state parks while we take care of medical and dental appointments, spend time with Eric, Liz, Kylie and John and with friends, and try to whittle down even more what we have in storage. It will be a busy time.

Final Days

We are in our last week at Lathrop State Park. Throughout the summer, we have used the dump truck while cleaning fire pits and removing Russian Olive trees. On the days I have worked in the Camp Store (aka Snack Shack), I have driven one of the park's pickup trucks. Friday John was cleaning in the camp ground and I was doing some work in the store, so we had both trucks. When I stopped in the Yucca camp loop to see how John was doing, we took this photo of both trucks. We sure have had good transportation to do our work.

On Thursday, we took our first (and last) hike of the summer here. Our last hike was in May at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. You can read about that outing here. Then, just before Memorial Day, I twisted my knee, resulting in surgery in July. I am finally almost back to normal, so we hiked the Hogback Trail here in the park. It felt so good to be out doing that again.

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When we leave, we will miss the beautiful sunrises we have had most days all summer.

Also, peaceful days when Martin Lake offers great reflections of the lakeside vegetation.

We had a short thunderstorm last evening. When the sun finally came out, we were treated to these two rainbows--God's assurance of his love for us.

This has been our third summer to volunteer at Lathrop and our 12th time to camp here. Obviously, it is a favorite destination and we know we will be back.

Winding Down

We have been here at Lathrop State Park since late May and now we have only one more weekend to work. We will be leaving just after Labor Day. We will miss our great site. We have great views, privacy, quiet.



We will miss our cute cottontail rabbits.



And the hungry humming birds.



And certainly the deer in the yard.



We won't miss checking for mice every morning.



Or goat heads. They are the seeds of a nasty plant that grows around our trailer here. These wicked seeds look like pictures I have seen of kidney stones, but smaller. They stick on the bottom of our shoes, then we track them inside. If we forget to clean them up, we find them with our bare feet later. That is no fun.

We won't miss the constant threat of hungry bears. For the past few weeks, that has meant I am afraid to go outside after dark, even to get in our basement. I am putting smelly garbage from dinner into the freezer until we can take it to the trash the next morning. We love seeing bears when they aren't too hungry and they aren't too close to our home. We don't want to encounter them looking for food right here.

When we are parked in one spot for quite a while, there is always a lot of stuff to put away before we can drive down the road. We have started by putting away stained glass pieces we hang in the windows and John's carved figures that sit on the desk.



There are outdoor mats, the BBQ grill and stand, wheel covers and chairs to put away. And the basement to re-organize. We have three days off this week and next Tuesday to get this done, so it won't be that hard. But we are getting anxious to move on, to take a few months off from volunteering. It is time for a change of pace.

Friends and Pot Luck

One day last week, just before we headed out for a bike ride around the park, an RV pulled into our driveway. We were delighted to see Joe and Muriel, friends from our days at St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church in Cherry Hills Village. They were returning to their home in the Denver area after a trip to Chama and Santa Fe, NM, and stopped by to say hi. We had fun chatting for maybe half an hour, before they headed for home. Unfortunately, the photo I took caught Muriel with her eyes closed, but it is the only one I took. We were so glad they came to see us.



Thursday evening was the annual staff and volunteer appreciation picnic here at Lathrop State Park. The park provided the meat, beverages and eating utensils. We all brought dishes to share. John, the park manager, was both the BBQ cook and master of ceremonies. As I took this picture, he was talking about the rewards of helping park visitors enjoy their time here. (We agree with his thoughts about that.)



Karen office manager, distributed gifts to all the volunteers. The gifts were a small thermos, a water bottle or a lunch bag. John and I each chose a thermos.

They Can't Hide Here

Southern Colorado along Interstate 25 is not densely populated and the local county sheriff's offices aren't large and life is probably fairly quiet for Colorado State Troopers in this area. But yesterday and today they have shown criminals that they can't hide by coming to this part of the state.

The big headlines came today when Walsenburg and Huerfano County deputies captured the "Dougherty Gang," two brothers and a sister pursued from Florida to Georgia and on to Colorado. They were spotted in Colorado Springs, then in Canon City, and today a CSP Trooper saw their car in a gas station in Colorado City. To learn more about this great capture, check out this story from the Denver Post.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18653096

(I hope you can find these stories. I am having trouble getting the links to work in this blog.)

Then read this story from the Denver Channel 9 web site.

http://www.9news.com/dontmiss/212835/630/Dougherty-Gang-arrested-in-Colo-after-shootout-

Not only was it a bad day to drive south on I-25 for these fugitives, it was bad for the many motorists and truckers trying to navigate the same highway. It was closed for hours. When we finished our laundry late this morning, we planned to drive to the north end of town where the trio was captured. The line of trucks and cars going south on the main drag through town must have been about a mile long. We later heard and saw that the interstate was closed.

Yesterday the CSP, with the help of Pueblo and Huerfano and Las Animas County Sheriff's deputies, arrested two people who had stolen a car in Pueblo County. The high-speed chase began in Pueblo County, sped through Huerfano and ended south of Trinidad. The two suspects ran from their car and were pursued by officers and eventually a canine unit. You can read a little about that event in this story from the Denver Channel 7 web site.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/28818914/detail.html

All in all, it has been a good couple of days for law enforcement in Southern Colorado. All of this action passed only three miles east of where we are camped. It makes us feel proud of Colorado law enforcement--and a little safer from the bad guys.

Can't Anyone Build a Campfire?

It sure didn't look like it this weekend at Lathrop State Park. As we cleaned the fire rings in our 103 camp sites, we found a huge amount of only partially burned logs. We didn't have much wind or rain over the weekend, so our only guess is that the campers this weekend don't have fires very often and they didn't know how to get a really good fire going.

They also didn't have any idea how much wood they would use over the weekend. Since we not only clean out the fire rings, but also pick up all the unburned wood people leave in their sites, we did a lot of lifting in addition to all the shoveling John did cleaning out the ashes.

Just look at this dump truck load. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will see unburned wood on the left and the partially burned wood and ashes in the middle.



In addition to all the split firewood the campers didn't use, would you look at the chunks of un-split wood? How on earth do people think that will burn? At times, we see people put a six-foot log in the fire and find it won't burn. And campers often bring old two by fours and other used wood from home. Then they leave it for us to pick up.

In addition to the usual glass, aluminum and plastic in the fire rings, we also found some new litter today. It included a baby bottle, a collapsing fork, and a aluminum wire grill. Do they forget these things or decide they are too dirty to use again. I imagine one family was driving down the road with a fussy toddler and wondered what happened to the bottle.

Each weekend, the personality of the campers changes. Since the school year is about to get in gear, we didn't see many families with school-age children this weekend. They will be out again in force for one more summer camping trip over Labor Day. I wonder if the people camping this weekend were out for the first time this summer. They realized summer was almost over and they had to use the camper or tent at least once.

What will next weekend be like? We can only wait and see.

Goin' On a Bear Hunt...And Other Critters

Remember this photo I posted last month? It is the foot print of a bear.



Southern Colorado has been in a drought for at least a year. That means there isn't much food available for the bears. But they know where to find food beyond berry bushes--trash cans! A couple of weeks ago we saw the first two dumpsters raided here in Lathrop State Park. This week the bear, or bears, got into one dumpster Sunday night into Monday, then another Monday night into Tuesday. That second dumpster wasn't far from where our RV is parked. Last night it was another one in the campground.

How do they get in? Bears aren't stupid. See the lid of this dumpster? Mr. or Mrs. Bear climbed up on top and stood on it. That pushes the lid--which is supposed to be bear proof, note the bar across the top front--down so the bear can reach in and remove trash bags.



If you need even more evidence of how big and strong the bear is, just look at this pile of scat (poop) left near one of the dumpsters. My cellphone gives you an idea of how large the pile is. That was one big--or full--bear!



Here is the lid of a dumpster the bear got into sometime last month. You can still see the dent that was left.




As if bears weren't enough, this morning one of the park employees was out early on a bike ride in the park when she saw a mountain lion in a popular picnic area, headed to the water for a drink. She turned around and went back the way she came before the large cat finished taking a drink.

A few hours later I was out helping John with fire pit cleaning. I looked down at the ground just as I stepped on a snake. I gasped, jumped away and looked again. It didn't move, so I stopped holding my breath. It was obviously dead. I waved to John to come over a take a look. As he approached, my "dead" snake slithered away. Yikes!

Youth Corps Gets It Done

This is the third week the Mile High Youth Corps has been working here at Lathrop State Park. The Youth Corps hires young people, ages 18 to 24, to learn skills and perform public service. To learn more, click on the name of the organization above.

The corps has a contract with Colorado State Parks. Here at Lathrop this year, they have been clearing out dead cedar trees and removing non-native Russian Olive trees. One weekend, John helped haul out the cedar trees they had cut. Before they begin their work with chain saws, the crew stretches to prevent pulled muscles as they work.



Here you can see the pile of cut dead wood and the dump truck loaded with more wood.



As John dumps a load of wood, you can get an idea of how much they have cleaned out around the park. And this was just their first week here.



Both men and women are a part of Youth Corps. The crew at Lathrop had 10 young male members and a woman crew leader. Here Annie is helping load the dump truck.



In addition to working with chain saws, one day the crew members spent several hours pulling noxious weeds in one area of the park. Talk about back-breaking work!



The group works for 10 days at a time, then gets four days off. Most days they work all day, but there is an education component to the program, as well. So some days they work half day and attend classes the other half. They camp out in tents at the work site. They really appreciate being at Lathrop, where there are hot showers available every night. Sometimes they are in remote locations and don't get a shower for 10 days straight! We thought about the group last night, when it rained for hours. That makes it hard to cook outdoors and makes sleeping in a tent rather unpleasant.

The Youth Corps provides income for the participants and teaches them skills that will help them find another job when they complete there time. And the work they do benefits their community. Mile High Youth Corps is part of AmeriCorps, Click on the link to learn more about this national program for adults of all ages.

Rain Update

As I posted last night, we had a good rain yesterday. In fact, it rained lightly and steadily until 9:30 and sporadically later in the night. This morning, the world outside our window sparkled. If you enlarge these photos, I think you can see the raindrops clinging to the plants. It sure is better than the dust we saw there before!

Cool, cool rain!

After two + months here at Lathrop State Park in Walsenburg, it is finally raining! For hours! For the past two weeks or so, dark clouds have passed by every afternoon or evening. Each day it would sprinkle for a few minutes. It has been in the 90s most days for several weeks.

Finally, today, we had a downpour about 4 pm. That meant our satellite TV didn't work--no Bret Baier on Fox at 4 pm. But we need the rain so bad, we didn't care. This part of Colorado is in a severe drought. But it is now 7:45 pm and it is still gently raining. Yea. Maybe Horseshoe Reservoir will fill up a little. Then the temperature dropped into the 60s by 5 pm. Great! Maybe things will green up a little and our air conditioner will get a break.

I just saw some photos on the web of wild flowers in the northern part of the state. We haven't had any here.

More of John's Visit

A place for everything and everything in it's place.
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
That hits the spot.
Yes, yes, yes, of course, why not. But don't tell your mother. (Thanks to John McCutcheon)

These are the sayings John will probably remember from his stay with us this week. Especially about everything having it's place. Our RV is set up for two people and we find it is imperative to put everything where it belongs so we have room to move around. That is even more important when you add a 6-year-old boy and his bed.

Papa and John went for a second hike on Wednesday. They walked up to Horseshoe Reservoir and looked at the ducks and other water fowl.



Getting to the lake requires crossing a cattle guard--a little bit of a challenge for someone with small feet. Maybe this is why cattle don't cross a cattle guard.



Our Thursday activity was definitely the high point of the week for John. He has seen it as they drove through Walsenburg several times and, finally, he was able to go there. Obviously, such places are familiar territory for John. He walked right in.






Papa and John got a two-person inner tube to go on the water slide.





I didn't go down the water slides, but John and I had fun in the lazy river. He is on a swim team and is a good swimmer.





He loved coming down the slide that didn't use tubes, all by himself.



That afternoon, after we bought ice cream at the park's Visitor Center, John wanted to go to the playground here. Again, we said, "yes, of course". He walked the balance beam.



Showed us his skills on the monkey bars.



And showed us three different ways to use the slide.







He tried out the swings, but didn't find the seats comfortable. (I tried them too, and agree.)



And one last special event--Papa let him drive the truck. (But don't tell your mother.)



We had an absolutely wonderful week, getting to know our grandson better. He is sweet, really laid-back, interested in wildlife and fun to be with. We hope he comes again. But not next week. We are ready to get our routine back for a while!