Fall Colors in the Colorado Mountains

Most years we head to Arizona in early September.  Not this year, so yesterday we drove to the mountains to enjoy the fall colors of Colorado's aspen trees.

Any hillside where there are aspens, we saw the golden leaves.

They start turning from green to yellow and then sometimes to darker yellow and orange.

Our route took us over Kenosha Pass, elevation 9,997 ft.   Obviously, we weren't the only people out to see the colors.

Some areas of the Colorado mountains have been decimated by the bark beetle, leaving large stands of dead conifer trees.  But that obviously hasn't been a problem where we were traveling.  There is a healthy mix of green conifers and aspen trees.

Even above timberline, the mountains are beautiful.  We come from a beautiful state. 

Just look at these hillsides.

When we got to Breckenridge, we decided to get some exercise.  Flowers grow willingly in hanging baskets around the town.

We crossed this picturesque creek.

More flowers.

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These were in a flower box along the sidewalk, rather than in hanging baskets.

You can sit and rest a while in this area along the main street.

Breckenridge has a rich mining history. Here is a statue of a miner.

And another of a pair of donkeys carrying the miner's tools.

Any day now, Colorado  can be blanketed with snow.  Trail Ridge Pass road was partially closed overnight due to ice and snow.   Thankfully, we made our tour before we had to worry about that.
 

Scenery Along I-10

Texas is HUGE, as anyone knows who has driven across the state. I don't think we are even half way across but the environment has changed several times.

This is what the countryside looked like around El Paso.

When we looked west across the Rio Grande River toward Mexico we saw this horrible pollution.  It was very cold and many people in Mexico use wood fires for heat.

Gradually the amount of vegetation increased.

It got thicker.

We saw this sign announcing that the town of Fort Stockton was ahead.

Then we saw the statue that is depicted in the sign.

Texas is rich in energy resources.  Of course there are lots of oil wells.  An oil field has recently been developed near Fort Stockton.

West Texas is also windy.  And the state is harnessing that resource as well.

It is fall in Texas, not winter like up north.  The oak trees on the hills are turning subtle colors of red and yellow.

The first two years we volunteered, we came to Texas and fell in love with the state. We are enjoying our month here.

Winding Through Beauty

After Blake and Julie's wedding, we drove south again, this time taking one of the most stunning roads in Colorado, the Million Dollar Highway (officially the San Juan Skyway) through Ouray and Silverton to Durango. The road took us to over 11,000 feet above sea level and around many sharp curves with no guard rails and steep drop-offs. But it really wasn't a problem for John pulling our Airstream.

September provides prime fall color viewing most years and we were treated to spectacular sights.  I will let the photos tell you the story.

Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of your creation!

Eye Candy

As the temperatures cool and the days grow shorter, God paints the countryside with beauty as the tree leaves change colors. In the eastern part of the country, the colors are often intense reds and oranges. In the Colorado mountains they are mainly gold. If we are lucky and the conditions are right, sometimes we see oranges and reds. This year we are lucky. Tuesday we drove through Grand County on US 40 and US 34 in search of the gold. We took along two cell phones and two canon cameras. I hope you enjoy the trip as much as we did.



















 











There's no place like Colorado, especially in the fall!

Mid-west Visit

We have been in this part of the country for over a week now. We missed the fall colors in Colorado, but we are seeing the beginnings of changing leaves here. The poplar leaves are turning yellow and a few maple trees are turning red.

We lived in Wisconsin for three years in the 1980s. Since then, we forgot how dreary it can be at times. The sun shone for a few days, then yesterday it clouded up and rained most of the day. Today has been another gray day. The first year we were in Wisconsin, we went six weeks without seeing the sun. Most depressing, especially for people from Colorado where the sun shines almost every day.

During the rain yesterday, we saw some Amish buggies on the road. They have lights and turn signals for such weather and at night.!

The buggies even have license plates.

We went to Shipshewana to a laundromat. Out back, we discoveed where the Amish women parked their buggies.

In another parking lot, we saw this sign.

As we drive around the area, we can spot the Amish farms--the electric lines bypass them. Each house also has a large clothes line outside. (Click to enlarge this, or any other, photo. You can see the clothes line better.)

We had been told about an interesting produce auction, held Thursdays in the nearby town of Emma. We went looking for it and when we spotted all these buggies, we thought we had found it.

We were wrong. It was an Amish wedding! We quickly walked back to the car and returned to our RV.

The other day, I took a picture of the sun setting over South Twin Lake on the edge of our campground.