First Stop in Colorado—Pueblo

Our first stop on our return to Colorado was Pueblo.  One day we walked a trail in nearby Lake Pueblo State Park.  We loved the trunks on these old juniper trees. 

We also enjoyed some of the spring wildflowers.  This is globe mallow.

If I remember correctly, this is a pasque flower.

The sky was blue so Lake Pueblo was beautiful.

Wednesday we got our exercise walking on the Riverwalk in downtown Pueblo.  There are numerous bronze statues along the way.  This American Bald Eagle is impressive.

This mosaic shows the course of the Arkansas River.  The Riverwalk follows the original course of the river before it was diverted following a flood in 1921.

An island in the river features statues of animals described by the explorer Zebulon Pike, who followed the river into what is now Colorado.  Pikes Peak, a 14,114 ft high mountain, is named after Pike.

This plaque shows the cooperation between the people of the community and the Colorado Fuel and Iron steel plant in town.  That plant has been sold and is now named Evraz Pueblo.

These bronze birds are easier to see in the reflection than the metal sculptures, at least in this photo.

Bronze statues of young children are popular in many places.  Perhaps they are all designed by the same artist.  We found several along the Riverwalk.

There is also this American Indian.

And a cowboy on his horse and a longhorn steer,

 

I love this young boy getting ready to sail his boat.  But somehow, I think this one will sink.

Another of two children.

A massive buffalo.  These animals once were widely present in Colorado and others plains states.  They are the mascot of the University of Colorado—John’s and my alma mater.  Our son Eric also received a degree from CU and our granddaughter Kylie is a student at CU.

An interesting artistic wall along the Riverwalk.

Iris and other spring flowers.

A mare and her newborn foal are depicted in these statues.

We had been on the Riverwalk before, but we enjoyed it just as much this time.  Originally we planned to travel in Texas this Spring and would have seen the San Antonio Riverwalk.  Instead, we got to enjoy the one in Pueblo.

Saturday, we visited John's sister and brother in Canon City. We had a very pleasant day visiting with John's sister Kendal and her husband John at their home. John's brother Tim and his wife Diane joined us there. They, too, live in Canon City. It has been quite some time since we saw either couple, and it was good to catch up. Every time the family gets together, we take family photos, usually outside the house were we get together.



Right before we left, Tim and Diane's daughter Megan and her husband Gabe stopped by for a few minutes with four of their five children. Andre, Jordan, Jarid and Victoria have really grown since we saw them last. We were sorry Devin couldn't come, too. I keep up with Megan's family on Facebook.



We had parked at Lake Pueblo State Park, about 50 miles east of Canon, so we could visit with the family. We had never been to that state park before. The campground is old with funky metal sunscreens shading the picnic tables. But I snapped some good photos there.







Sunday we headed south to the Hollywood Casino RV Park north of Albuquerque, NM. Now we are in Gallup, NM, waiting for the temperatures in Mesa, AZ, to cool down below 95 before we go there for the winter.

During our three-week stay in Colorado, we kept numerous appointments, ran lots of errands and had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends.