Old Friends and a Scare

Since we have lived most of our lives near Denver, when we return we always make an effort to see old friends and some family that live here.

While we were staying in St. Vrain State Park near Longmont, we met our friend Betty for lunch at Goodfellers restaurant in Longmont. Betty's husband, Larry, was on the Boulder Police Department at the same time John was.  He died in March, so it was important to spend time with her.

As you can see, we were seated outside.  A relatively safe way to meet people during this Covid 19 pandemic.  The wind was blowing briskly that day and just as we were leaving the restaurant, the umbrella you see in this photo blew off and tumbled across the outdoor dining area.  Thankfully, no one was injured.

Another day we drove to The Back Porch Cafe in Fort Collins to have lunch with John's sister Cindy.  We had a good visit--and nothing blew away that day.

While out walking our last morning at St. Vrain, we ran into friends Bob and Lindsey.  They were members of St. Gabriel's in Cherry Hills Village when John was rector there.  This is the third time we have just happened to be camping the same place as they were.

After leaving St. Vrain, we moved to Chatfield State Park on the southwest corner of the Denver metro area.  We will be here for 2 weeks.  On our first morning, I noticed a park ranger truck on the road next to our RV with its flashing red lights.  Before I could say anything, someone pounded--very loudly--on our front door.  John opened the door and was told "Evacuate, Evacuate."  I looked out the window and saw smoke.  John turned off our propane tanks and I picked up our computer and two iPads and we hurried to the truck and drove across the road to the group camping area.  This is what we saw as we looked back at our campground loop.

We were watching for several minutes before trucks from South Metro Fire Rescue arrived at the scene.  If you click on the image below, you can see one of the trees in flames.

A couple  of the younger campers had grabbed a bucket and shovel and were going to help fight the fire, but the fire department arrived to do the work.

This is the location of the fire--just across the camp loop road and one space to the southeast of us.  We are glad they put the fire out before any RVs were damaged or people injured.

We will have quality time with our son Eric and his family and with other friends during our time here in the Denver area.  We just hope there aren't any more dramatic events like airborne umbrellas or fires to spice up our lives.

Reflections and Water Fowl

We are spending several days at St. Vrain State Park near Longmont.  It is good to have spacious sites and the park is a photographer's paradise because of the numerous ponds and birds.

This is a view of the Rocky Mountains west of the park.  The large mountain may be 13,501 ft. Arapahoe Peak.

Don't we have a good looking truck and trailer?

This heron obviously summers here.  We have seen it both days during our morning walks.

Here is a shot as it flew off.

                   
                                 

And another photo as it perched in a tree.

There are numerous American pelicans enjoying the ponds. These are floating on Pelican Pond.

I found a great reflection photo of this cormorant.

Last night we had a glorious sunset.

These flowers--some sort of "weed" or wild flower--remind me a little of sunny-side eggs.

And one last reflection on Bald Eagle Pond.

Birds and More Birds

We spent a week at St. Vrain State Park, right off of I-25 and east of Longmont.  The park has several lakes and they attract numerous birds.

We saw pelicans.  Often there are several floating together.

There is at least one great blue heron.

These cormorants were soaking up the sun and drying their wings.

But the most spectacular site was an osprey that had just caught a fish.  The wingspan on these birds can reach up to 7 feet.

The osprey flies over the water until they see a fish, then dive rapidly into the lake, grab the fish in their talons and fly up to a tree to eat.

While the bird was eating it would take a bite out of the fish then raise its head to scan the sky for predators.  We had already seen an American bald eagle and learned that the eagle often steals food from other birds.

The eagle swooped down and the osprey took off with the fish.  We saw the birds sparing with one another until they were out of sight.

This is a photo of the eagle, taken before it attacked the osprey.

The osprey is an impressive looking bird.

We caught this cool photo of the osprey flying with it's fish.

Another day, we again saw the osprey with a fish.  It was in a different tree this time.  I don't know if you would say this is a balloon's eye view of a bird or a bird's eye view of a balloon

A better view of the feeding osprey.

Where Did That Come From?

Where on earth did this really long screw come from?  We didn't know what the problem was but when John checked the trailer tires Thursday in preparation to drive to Chatfield State Park on Friday, he found that one of the tires only had 30 pounds pressure instead of the normal 65.  Oops!

We called our road service company, Coach-Net, and they sent out a tow truck from the nearby town of Berthoud to remove the low-pressure tire and put on the spare.

We were very impressed with the service.  Coach-Net called to tell us the truck would be there in 45 minutes.  The driver, Jake, called us when he was 10 minutes away.  And by the time he had started to work we received a call to be sure help had arrived.

John watched as Jake jacked up the trailer.

Once the tire was off, they inspected it to see if they could find the problem.

Yep, the screw pictured at the top of this post was imbedded deeply in the tire.  No wonder it was leaking air.  Jake put in a plug so the tire wouldn't leak and put it back on the trailer.  One of these days we will have the tire repaired even better, but hopefully this will hold till we return to Arizona.

We needed to get on the road Friday so we could see family in Littleton.  We shared adult beverages and chips and dip with our son Eric and his wife Liz and grandson John.  Kylie, our granddaughter is in Oregon swimming the in sectional meet.  We will see her next week.

Relaxing

After two and a half busy months, we have had two weeks of doing little or nothing.  And have we ever enjoyed it!  We may have full hookups with 50 amp electric, but this is camping.  Way back when we were working, a trip out with our RV was usually just a time to relax.  That is what we have done during our stay at St. Vrain State Park.

We visited John's sister Cindy at her new home in Fort Collins.  She had a small home built in a senior community there and we enjoyed seeing the house and the "big house" where there are apartments, a very nice dining room and other amenities.  We then drove to the Back Porch Café for lunch.  We had a good visit.

John has been working on two diamond willow walking sticks that needed cleaning and sanding.  They promise to be really attractive.  I brought along a bowl I had turned that needed sanding and a scroll saw project that needed sanding and assembling.  I completed both of those projects.

We have both been writing.  I am putting together stories of my life.  John is finishing up a future book about his ancestors.

Other than that, we have only left the campground for groceries and visits to the laundromat.  Each day we walk five miles, enjoying the ponds in this park.  I could post the many, many photos I took here this year and last.  I could take pictures of reflections and birds all day long.  I will spare you all the photos, but here are three I took this week.

There are several pelicans that spend most of their time on one of the ponds.  They often float around in a group, looking like a small island.  They are impressive when it flight when the bottom of their wings are tipped in black.

This blue heron liked having it's picture taken, I guess.  It posed for us in this tree for over 6 minutes before we walked on.

We saw these logs in one pond this morning.

One of the fields hadn't been mowed before we passed it last week. The sun really showed off the flowers that were going to seed. They looked like a really large dandelion flower but they are probably some plant I don't recognize.

John almost always gets up before me, often getting out of bed before first light. Yesterday he woke me up before 5:30 (I usually get up about 6), telling me there was going to be a spectacular sunrise. Was he ever right! It was definitely worth waking up a little early.

Tomorrow we move on to Chatfield State Park in southwest Denver.

Settling Down

After driving from Arizona to the East Coast and then back west to Colorado in a little over 2 months, then getting caught up in a wedding and several family health issues, we were ready to relax and do as little as possible. In January I made reservations for 8 weeks in 4 different Colorado State Parks. The rules allow only 14 days in a single park within 45 days. That's fine. The state has lots of parks we love.

Our first stop is St. Vrain State Park north of Denver along I-25. We stayed here last summer, as well, and we knew we love it. There are 4 ponds, possibly once gravel pits, that became a state park. The ponds house a blue heron rookery and good birding opportunities, as well as fishing for trout and bass. What I like most are the multiple opportunities to photograph reflections--my favorite camera opportunity. Here are a few I have taken this year.

Canada geese are very prevalent. We see them everywhere--and have to watch where we walk because of their poop.

These little birds were lined up on a branch. They sort of look like some kind of swallow.

Saturday while we were out for our walk, we came on a raptor presentation. Very interesting. We saw a Swainson's hawk, a kestrel and a great horned owl. They are all magnificent birds.

The park is located in a relatively rural area. This old house is still standing just outside the park boundary.

We are really enjoying our time to relax and refresh in this beautiful, peaceful place.

There was more to see at St. Vrain State Park than reflections. Of course bird watching is always rich with all that water around. At first I thought this might be an otter or muskrat. What do you think?

As we walked a little further it went underwater. When it appeared again we were looking at a cormorant. It had been looking underwater for something to eat. You could have fooled me at first glance.

We also saw pelicans.

As we walked around Bald Eagle Pond, we thought we might be looking at eagles.

But nearby there was a nest platform. When I checked it out with my zoom lens I realized it was an osprey nest.

On the far side of the park, we saw some old abandoned ranch buildings.

It was a great place to spend a few days.