Jeeping in Carrizo Canyon.

We got up, with temperatures around freezing, ate breakfast, and waited until 10 AM for Tom and Joan. Then we headed out for Bow Willow Campground, where Tom and Joan had planned to spend the night. As we were driving in, they were driving out. After a few minutes, we agreed to head out in Tom's Jeep, and went up Carrizo Canyon. The lower parts of the canyon were sandy, but the further we went, the rockier it became. In some places it was so rocky that we were getting tossed around pretty hard, even in compound low gear. When the jeep trail petered out, we got out and walked, looking for some pictographs. Other jeepers directed us to the overhang that held the pictographs. The pictographs appeared relatively recent, different from other pictographs that we were familiar with.

The area is beautiful desert, with evidence of recent rains. The Ocotillo trees are green, as are some of the grasses. We have seen relatively few birds or other wildlife, although we did see a Phainopepla.

We finished the day with Margaritas and chips at Tom and Joan's campsite. We agreed that Tom and Joan would come to our campground Monday morning.

West to California

We got up around 7 AM on Saturday, to pack up and head down the road to California. With some last minute computer items for Eileen, we did not make it out of Sun City West until 9:30 AM.

We stopped at the Territorial Prison in Yuma for lunch, and took pictures of the Colorado River from the overlook. The river looked pretty small, due to most of the water being pulled off for irrigation. We saw numerous irrigated fields in Arizona, while the Imperial Valley of California is industrial agriculture. The irrigation canals were prominently marked, a key to the local economy.

In the Yuma area, we saw huge numbers of ATVs, dune buggies, and sand rails, each with a flag on a tall mast for visibility. The dunes are a popular recreation area, and there were dozens of RVers set up in villages spread across the area.

Mapquest claimed that it was only a four hour drive from Sun City West to Ocotillo, the closest city to the park, so Richard thought that we would have lots of time. As the day went on, the four hours came and went, and we were not near Ocotillo. The RV goes slower than the average car, especially in California, where the speed limit for trailers is 55 mph. We also made multiple stops, for air in the tires, bathrooms, gas, groceries, lunch, etc. It took us almost 7 hours to make it to Ocotillo.


At Ocotillo, we turned off Interstate 8 onto county road S2, and headed out into the Anza-Borrego desert. We drove by some badlands, over a small pass, and then found the Agua Caliente Springs park. It cooled down quickly as the sun went behind the mountains. Our campsite is big, removed from the hot springs pools, with AC, water, and sewer. It looks like it will be nice and quiet, which is good, since we be here for six nights, until January 2nd. Tom is supposed to come visit us tomorrow morning, and we can start exploring.

After dinner we played Scrabble.

The Cat's Day

The Cat was exhibiting symptoms of an eye problem that he has had in the past, and we did not have any medicine for him. We could not do anything about it on Christmas Day, but on the 26th we called our Vet in Boulder, to fax a prescription to an animal pharmacy in Phoenix. It took numerous phone calls and a couple of visits to the pharmacy, but we got what the cat needed. The bad news was that it was time consuming and frustrating. The good news is that it was inexpensive.

I had hoped that I could resolve the issue of the cat's medicine in the morning, but it took until mid-afternoon. This meant that we did not leave Arizona on the 26th, as we had planned. I called the park in California to change our arrival date, and to Tom to let him know our reschedule. We will all arrive in California on the 27th.

In the evening, Marianne and Eileen watched a movie on TV, until Marianne went to bed. Richard worked on Eileen's computer, setting up the printer so that it would print 4 by 6 photos. Richard wrote up an instruction for Eileen on how to do it.

Richard took Mike and Liz's two dogs for several walks. Rather, they took him for a walk, towing him down the street by their leashes. The dogs are not small, but luckily, Richard weighs more than the two dogs put together, so he can control them. The dogs seem to worship Richard, lying by his feet.

Christmas Party

We started the day by attending Christmas mass at the Franciscan center. The mass was very welcoming, with beautiful contemporary music. The people were involved, the feeling was nice. Father Joe said the mass. Very nice.

After mass, we drove over to Liz's and Mike's for a Christmas Dinner. There was great food, presents were opened, and all had a good time.

Getting ready for Christmas

We spent the day before Christmas doing a little Christmas shopping, as well as getting ready to head for California. A quiet evening at home.

Heard Museum and Eileen Home

In the morning, Marianne went to the hospital to visit Eileen, while Richard worked on the camper.

In the afternoon, we drove into Phoenix to the Heard Museum of the American Indian. We arrived in time for the tour, and decided to take it. Our guides were two young Indian women. Their personal commentary made the tour more interesting, and we got a little insight into Indian culture, more than if we had just wandered around and seen the exhibits.

We had dinner at a little Mexican restaurant in Phoenix, where we received a call from Eileen, saying that she was being released. We drove to the hospital and brought her home. We and she were very happy that she was back in her house.

Richard swapped some messages with Tom. He is already in Las Vegas, but is concerned about whether Joan will be able to fly out of Seattle, due to the snow there. We will hope that this will all work out, and that we will be able to meet them in the California desert.

Dinner with Liz's family

We visited Eileen in the hospital, and she was looking pretty good. She was still under infection control, so we put on disposable gowns and gloves for our visit.

Richard decided that he needed a small tripod, so we went to a camera store, and found a suitable tripod, which is Richard's Christmas present.

We drove over to Liz's house for a tamale dinner. We admired their remodeling project, which looked very nice. Anna had strep, so she did not join us for dinner, but we included her in the picture. A nice evening. Their entire block was decorated with Christmas lights, very pretty.

Chihuly Glass at Botanic Gardens

We started the day by going to church at one of the huge churches in Sun City West. After mass, we went over to talk to the organist, Joan, who used to teach with Marianne. It was nice to see her again. She is now 80 years old, and still playing.

We visited Eileen in the hospital after mass, she was looking pretty good.


We headed for the Phoenix Botanic Gardens to meet Liz and Emily, to see the Chihuly Glass, and the plants. The glass was impressive, and it is amazing to see how many varieties of cactus and other desert plants there are. The juxtaposition of the glass and the plants was very interesting.




After the Botanic Gardens, we ate dinner at a restaurant, and visited Eileen in the hospital.

Evening in Sun City West

We slept in, relaxed, and did chores in the morning, and then went to see Eileen in the afternoon. As we were leaving, we saw Patrick and Stacy coming in. Eileen reported that she had a feeling of well being around 3 PM. Eileen's spirit is high, as usual, and she is glad that she in in the hospital, getting good care.

In the evening, Marianne and Richard went for a walk around the neighborhood in
Sun City West. We saw quite a bit of urban wildlife, notably a Gila Woodpecker, a pair of Harris Hawks, and a coyote. The Harris Hawk is a new bird for us.

Santa Fe to Sun City West

We got up early, left a cold Santa Fe, and headed down the road to Albuquerque. Marianne wanted to take the southern route, through Hatch, but Richard wanted to take the shorter route, through Flagstaff. Richard was driving, so we turned on I40 to Flagstaff. The traffic was not bad, and the driving was easy, thanks to relatively little wind, most of the day. We had lunch in Winslow at a family Mexican restaurant; we were panhandled there by Indians. The reservation looked mostly sad.

Flagstaff had lots of snow on the side of the road, glad that we were not there the day before.

On our way down from Flagstaff to to Phoenix, Liz called. Eileen was in the hospital. Marianne was pretty upset. We headed for Eileen's house, and parked the camper in her driveway. We then headed to hospital, and visited with Eileen a bit. A damper on our plans to have fun in Arizona, but we will try to do some fun things while we are here.

Heading South

We left Thursday morning, on our way to the Phoenix area. Happy to be escaping the deep freeze in Colorado. Our plan is to spend time with Eileen and her family up to and including Christmas, and then head to the California Desert.

It was a hard and slow drive, mostly due to a strong headwind, which is troublesome in an RV. We decided to stop in Santa Fe.

There is a party at Liz's Friday night, but we may not make it.

Fishing at Delaney Buttes

We slept in. Richard went out on the boat and fished for an hour and a half, with no success. We spent the afternoon reading and relaxing. We also went out for a short hike.

It was a stormy day, so there was lots to look at in the sky.. The radio from Laramie says that the high for tomorrow will be unseasonably cool, in the 50s.

After dinner, Richard went out on the lake again. After trying scuds and pheasant tail flies at 10 feet down without success, Richard changed to a Kastmaster spoon. He soon caught a large rainbow, who had swallowed the lure deep in his neck. Richard released it, only to see a cloud of blood, and then that fish kept coming back to the surface. Richard decided that it would die anyway, so he netted it and brought it in for dinner. We measured it at 18 inches, a big fat fish. We cut off the head and tail, and then cut what was left in half, as we figured that we could not at the whole fish in one meal.

Richard went back out, and caught another large rainbow, 16 inches, which he released. It was well dark when he came in off the lake.

Boulder to Delaney Buttes

Marianne exercised in the morning, while Richard sprayed a couple of his sculptures, and got ready fro the trip. For this trip, we are bringing the RV and the boat, a 62 feet long rig. We left Boulder midday to drive over to Delaney Buttes lakes, near Walden. The drive over was uneventful, over Berthoud Pass through Winter Park and Granby. The beetle kill is amazingly large, in some places dead trees as far as the eye can see.

The fly shop in Walden said that we need to go deep at the lake, maybe 10 to 12 feet down, with a scud or a pheasant tail. For the rivers, try a hopper and a dropper. We set up at South Delaney Buttes lake. Richard was a little under the weather, so too tired to fish in the evening. He hopes to feel better tomorrow and get in some serious fishing.

Durango to Boulder

We had breakfast with Eileen, and headed down the hill. We saw the train headed up the valley, and Richard stopped to take a picture.

After a stop to return some carpet to Home depot, we headed east. The drive through Bayfield and Pagosa Springs seemed slow, with somewhat heavy traffic. We stopped in Pagosa Springs for coffee and bread, and crossed Wolf Creek Pass to South Fork, where we stopped at the quilt and gift store. The quilt store there sells completed quilts, not fabric. Then we went to the quilt store in Monte Vista, where Marianne bought some fabric on sale.

While we were at the quilt store, Richard's cell phone rang. It was the guy who left the fly rod at Delaney Buttes. He saw the note we left and called. He said that he got talking with his friend, who was fishing from the dock, and just forgot the rod until a couple of days later. He was very happy that the "right person" had picked up the rod. Brian said that the reel was what was important to him, as his grandfather gave it to him. That made sense, as the reel was kind of a collector's item. He lives in Vail, but will have one of his relatives in the Denver area come pick it up.

The rest of the drive was more heavy traffic, some rain, and even a bit of hail.

We arrived at home to find Jim relaxing, waiting for Karen to come back from her class. They are staying here for a few days, although they left to spend Saturday night with friends in Fort Collins. We had dinner with them before we left for Durango.

A Day at the Lake

After breakfast, Richard drove into Durango to buy material to pad the concrete column of the boathouse, to protect the ski boat. He also picked up a WIFI router for Eileen, so that she could share her internet connection with visitors. Marianne and Eileen went for a walk.

After a nice lunch, Richard and Marianne went down to the boat house to install the padding, indoor-outdoor carpeting strapped to the column. A successful installation.

Late in the afternoon, Eileen and Marianne went to the practice of the Electra Trio. Eileen plays the violin. Marianne reports that it was very beautiful.
Richard went for a quick spin on the lake, in the fishing boat.




We all went to the clubhouse for a nice dinner. The mountains were very beautiful.

Trail maintenance, and Anna to the airport

In the morning, we had a good breakfast, and then did some maintenance on the trail leading from the cabin to the water. We removed stones, and set a few stepping stones into the ground at strategic points. All three of us were out there with rakes, brooms, shovels, pruners, sledgehammers, you name it. It was tidier and safer when we were finished.

Around lunchtime, Anna came back from a sleepover with triplets her own age, 9 years old. She was very tired, took a shower, and then went to bed.

Around 4 PM, we left for the airport. Anna's flight back to Phoenix and her parents was scheduled to leave at 6:15, but when we got to the airport we found that the flight was delayed. Because Anna was an unaccompanied minor, Eileen needed to stay until the plane took off. Anna is a very experienced traveler, as we could see when she went through security. The plane took off around 7:45 PM, and the tired crew went to the Doubletree Hotel restaurant for a bite to eat, with a view of the Animas river flowing strong.

Boulder to Durango

We got up early and got on the road around 7 AM. We took the car, since we would be staying with Eileen. We took the US285 route, through the San Luis valley, Del Norte, and Wolf Creek pass.

The drive was straightforward, with relatively little construction delay. We had a picnic lunch at the highway rest area between Del Norte and South Fork. The rest area is very tidy, maintained by a couple who work for the Department of Transportation. The decor was a little quirky and homemade, with horseshoes and cowboy cartoons in the bathrooms. The lady who maintains it said that they are more or less allowed to do their own thing. This time of year, they have lots of flags, for the 4th of July, since the VFW ladies use it for their picnic. They have other decorations for other holidays.

Eileen was happy to see us. We sat and watched the sky and the lake, cool and pleasant.

More fish, and then home

We fished in the morning. Richard caught a couple of good fish.

We left around noon. We went home via Granby, Berthoud Pass, and I-70. The traffic on I70 was bad, typical for a Sunday afternoon.

All in all, a good trip. Nice to get away from the city.

Fish at last, Lord, Fish at last

We went out after breakfast, rigged to go down ten feet or so. Richard caught and released an 18 inch rainbow, perhaps the biggest fish he had ever caught at Delaney. The girth was especially impressive, a big fat rainbow. Then Marianne caught a good fish, 15 inches or so. Richard kept fishing as the day went on, and caught and released a total of three big trout, including one at twilight.

It was kind of a relaxed day, more or less focused on fishing. The weather was sunny and beautiful, with minimal mosquitoes. Very nice.

Marianne had a catch of another type, a rod and reel left on the bank. No one came back to claim it; we left a note with a phone number in case they eventually come back. Marianne thinks that it was a couple of young men. The rod was on the ground, with the line spread out, kind of strange. Marianne was thinking about writing a story about this rod and the frustrated bank flyfisherman, who tangled his rig and threw it away in disgust, and then put rocks in his pockets and walked out into the lake, a la Virginia Wolff. We looked up the rod and reel; the rod is worth $500, and the reel is a collectible.

No fish for us

We woke up to a very nice day, ate breakfast, and got to fishing, but without success. It was particularly frustrating to see big fish cruise by, expressing no interest in our offerings. We watched a guy in a cataraft pull in fish after fish. We finally knocked off, without even a nibble for our trouble.

We headed over to the North Platte River, where we have fished before, but the river was very high. We made a few casts, but could not see a reasonable way to fish the river, except perhaps by casting right next to the bank that we were on.

After that, we went into town and did a little shopping. Marianne put together some very nice wraps from the “Fort Garland Cookbook”, which we picked up on our trip a few weeks ago.

After dinner, we rigged up to go down to 8 feet, where we were told the fish were. We had some difficulties, and then a front blew in, so we came in, having only gotten in a little fishing.

We closed the evening with a few games of Skipbo.

We hope to have better luck fishing tomorrow.

Boulder to Delaney Buttes Lakes

We got underway around 9:30 AM, and headed north, via Longmont, and took a lunch break at Fort Collins. The Poudre River was running big, a mocha color. We saw many rafts on commercial river trips. It is a slow drive over Cameron pass, but all downhill on the west side. The lady in the liquor store in Walden said that the weather had been bad, but it is a beautiful day today. The forecast for Denver was in the 90's, but cooler and pleasant here.


There are a surprising number of people at South Delaney Buttes Lake. We were not able to camp on the west side of the lake, where we would usually camp, so we camped on the east side. Not sure if the fishing will be as good here. Richard fished for an hour and a half around sunset, but no luck. He saw a few fish on the surface, and a muskrat. We watched the lightning flashes of a thunderstorm far to the east.

Canon City to Home

In the morning, the girls played in the pool, and we packed up and hit the road about noon. The drive home was uneventful.

I should note that Canon has an ~ over the first n, but I am not sure how to do that on this system. Maybe ñ will work, Cañon City.

Richard

Marianne's Art Opening

Saturday morning, we got up early and headed out, getting on the road about 8:15. We arrived at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park at Royal Gorge around 11:15. The kids headed for the playground.

This is our first normal internet access in a week. What you have received has come off our cell phone. Also we have been running the computer on batteries, and of course it uses a good part of the battery just to boot a windows computer, not leaving a lot of time to get work done, whether looking at pictures, working on the blog, or checking email. But here we have a good WIFI connection and AC power. The kids got to check their email for the first time on the trip.

Marianne, along with 15 other fiber artists, is in an art show at the Fremont Art Center, and the opening coincided with our trip, so we decided to attend. We were able to meet some of the artists, see what other people had done, and talk shop. We all snacked on the excellent hors d'oeuvres prepared by one of the artists. Richard enjoyed talking to the only man in the show, who made a superb weaving.


After the opening, we headed for Royal Gorge, built in 1929. It claims to be the highest bridge in the world, at 1053 feet above the river, but the Millau bridge in southern France, opened in 2004, is 1125 ft high. We had hoped to walk across the bridge, but entrance to the private park was $20 each! We settled for the scenic overlook. It is about 1000 feet down to the river and the railroad track.

One of the Royal Gorge Rangers suggested that we take Skyline Drive, which runs along a knife edge ridge, and ends up in Canyon City. The dinosaur tracks were interesting, as we were looking up to them as if we were underground. It also provided us a good view of the town of Canyon City.

In camp, Erica and Ari played in the pool until Richard noticed Erica's swimming had gone downhill, and took her back to the camper, over Ari's protests. Erica fell asleep on the couch by 9 PM; as Richard knows from personal experience, the cold water just sucks the energy out of you.

Richard stayed up late, updating the blog and catching up on world news.

Crestone, Ashram, Monastery, and Pool

On Friday, we headed out to Crestone Colorado, a center for a wide range of spiritual groups, and a place that Richard had been wanting to see for a while. We had a picnic in the forest, and then went off in search of Stupas and Ashrams.

The Baca Grande development, just outside Crestone, was developed by the Strongs. Hanne Strong was very interested in Buddhism, and began to offer land to various religious groups, from Catholics to Zen Buddhists.

The houses in the development tend to have solar panels and adobe walls, in the pinons, very pretty. Ari noticed that a high percentage of the houses were for sale; we were told that many people only make it though one winter, too cold and too isolated.

We saw a sign for the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram and gift shop. We went up the steep driveway, and were greeted by Ramloti. She invited us to visit the gift shop and temple. We chatted at some length with a Finnish lady, who explained to us something about the Ashram. This particular Ashram was neither Buddhist nor Hindu, although the statues in the temple were mostly Hindu. They believe that their spiritual leader, Shri Babaji, was a reincarnation of a previous spiritual leader. (The belief in reincarnated leaders is apparently common for eastern religions, based on the book we bought on the religious groups in Crestone).

Their daily schedule includes getting up very early, 7 AM and & PM prayers, as well as work. They referred to their work as Yoga, but not meaning the poses that most of us associated with the word Yoga. They believe that their work is a form of prayer. Richard was very interested to hear how much their daily schedule and religious practices were very similar to that found in Catholic monasteries.

She indicated that the various religious groups in Crestone are very supportive of each other, with the Catholics attending their annual festival, and everybody going to the Monastery for Christmas mass.

We bought Indian bracelets for the girls, and then went to their temple. The sign in the vestibule asked that women cover bare shoulders. The girls had tank tops, so we wrapped them in their visitor saris. They had pictures of their spiritual leader, as well as a statue of the Divine Mother.

We drove to the Catholic monastery, and spent some time in their chapel. Unfortunately, no one was available to talk to, but Richard read their Friday evening prayers aloud. If we had stayed for another half hour, we could have attended a memorial service for a local woman.

After a brief detour to pick up Erica's glasses, left behind at our lunch rock, we headed for the Dunes Pool, in Hooper. The pool was a busy place, but there was room to swim. The girls enjoyed diving, while Richard kept a close eye on Erica, who needed four tries to swim the width of the pool unaided.

We drove home, where Ari prepared dinner for us. We watched the sunset and closed the evening with the usual Skipbo game.