A Full-time Life

KEEPING IN TOUCH ...

... in the time of Corona Virus

 

The first day of Spring in this hemisphere happened last week -- but it was kind of overshadowed by all that other news.   I hope everybody was able to go outside for at least a breath of fresh air.  

 

 

We are using technology to keep in touch during the isolation  -- but for us that really isn't all that different than ever, since we are so far away from family.     Just that it is even more important these days.    

The Blue Jay pictures above are mine -- taken near home (the Florida one) on the first day of Spring.    The rest of the pictures were texted to me from further away  ---   also on the first day of Spring.   I'm grateful that all of our families are well and able to go outside and breath some fresh air.    

The first two below are from Oregon:

 

A Rhododendron  blossom from our daughter and son-in-law's yard.

(in Oregon)

We didn't venture far from home last week.   Nature parks and beaches (and restaurants) are closed here.   We kept busy  -- working on the Canal Cottage project and spending some time assessing our various traveling options in light of the current situation. (Traveling back to our home in Oregon -- nothing more exotic than that needless to say.)

 

 

Cyndi and Jeff's beautiful Black Walnut Tree and the Spring garden under it 

 

The next picture came from our son in Colorado.  Their back yard (taken on, may I remind you, the first day of spring).  It's definitely an outlier among the blue skies and spring flowers:

 

 

 

Colorado people are strong and healthy and happy in all kinds of weather though (aren't they?) --   and anyway, by now, it's highly possible that the snow has melted and the sun is shining.    

My sister sent the next picture from a walk in the park near her Seattle home.    Our oldest son who lives in that corner of Washington State also texted that he  spent the weekend working in their yard.   

 

  

Perfect Spring Days in the Pacific Northwest!  (except for the you-know-what).       As the old song said "The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle" --  it should have added "when it's not raining."    (That is also true for our corner of Oregon .)    

 

(from Oregon) 

Don't forget to keep in touch with those you love. 

And go outside to play as often and as long as you can.

Thank you to our family for essentially writing this post. It would have been a boring blog with just one picture of a Blue Jay.   

 

Linking to the following:  Thank you hosts!!!! 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;  SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING 

WILDLIFE BREAK

 

Taking a little  break  from our Grand Tour 

with pictures from familiar places.

(See the previous two posts for the first two chapters of our trip.)

 

 

 

 This Green Heron was perched in a bare tree at the Delta Ponds near our Eugene apartment.   It was just a short neighborhood walk during the first week we were home.  Not really even looking for birds but very glad I had taken the little camera anyway.  Nice welcome back to the neighborhood.

 

 

 

The week before that we were in Colorado with our son and daughter-in-law, our Colorado family.  Toward the end of our stay,  more-or-less recovered from jet lag and travel weariness,  we spent a day with them in one of our favorite places --  Rocky Mountain National Park.  As always, we had a great time with Geoff and Lisa -- and as always on our Colorado visits we saw beautiful scenery and wildlife.

 

 

The Moose (Mooses?  Meese?) were having a lovely splash in what was really just a large puddle.  (The background photo shows what it looked like from where we stood -- without our binoculars or zoom lens.)

 

LINKING to    WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY ,  NATURE NOTES;  SATURDAY CRITTERS, and RATHER B' BIRDING .  Thank you to the hosts.

 

 

HOME AGAIN --- with memories!

 

Traveling from the Florida Canal Cottage to Oregon was a bit different this year.  It was an amazing 'detour.'  We're home now and  still sorting out our memories ... and our pictures from the trip.     To get started while I finish that project, here are just a few favorites.  There will be more later.  

 

Budapest

We were on a Viking River Cruise for 15 days -- boarding the boat in Budapest.  The boat docked in a different port almost every day -- we visited twelve cities in four different countries, traveling along three rivers to Amsterdam where we disembarked.     

 

Bill in Ghent 

 

After that, we stayed (all on our own) for two weeks -- spending more time in the Netherlands and adding the countries of Belgium and Luxembourg.  We had a wonderful time -- the whole trip was a triumph for the travel planner (who is pictured above, in Belgium).  

 

With Jacob and Maya at Schonbrunn Palace and also enjoying Sacher Torte in old-town Vienna

Hopping backwards to our time  on the Viking  -- we enjoyed and learned from every one of those twelve stops ... sometimes we went on the   tours the ship offered and sometimes we went out on our own.   The very best guided tour of all though was our own private one during our two-day stop in Vienna.  Here we were met by Jacob and Maya, our European grandson and granddaughter (in-law), who flew to meet us.  It was  wonderful to see them and without doubt we had the best possible tour guides in the world, as Vienna is a familiar city to them. 

 

Castles and colorful villages on the Rhine

One of the best parts of a river cruise is that there are wonderful sights to see almost every minute of daylight.  These rivers aren't wide and the views from our balcony or on the top deck were  amazing.   The pictures in the above collage were taken from the boat on one day's travel --  between Wertheim and Koblenz Germany.

 

Wachau Valley 

 

Every morning of the whole trip, I woke up amazed ... the  boat, the cities, the food, the scenery all really were the stuff of dreams.    But I think even more than anything the  charming views out the window of our room enhanced the dreamlike quality.

This post barely touches the seventeen cities in six countries that we visited, not to mention the scenic points between!   Needless to say, there will be more!   ...   it was a wonderful trip and it is also wonderful to be home!  

 

Back in the USA - Colorado

To get here, we flew from Amsterdam to Colorado where we spent a week with our son and daughter-in-law --mostly decompressing, for which we are enormously grateful.  Then home to Oregon, where our daughter and son-in-law kindly retrieved us from the airport.     Because I always include a picture of the first mountain sighting when we return from low-land Florida -- and since we our trip was about the low  countries of Europe -- Colorado once again has the honors!   The picture is from a walk on the greenbelt near where our family lives.  

 

LINKING this time to:   ALL SEASONS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS ; TUESDAY  TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS   

 

Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

 

 

 

 

ROYAL GORGE, COLORADO

Please scroll down for SIGNS SIGNS entry. 

Happy to be home in Oregon in real life,  but  in blogland remembering and sharing highlights from our recent roadtrip   ...

still in Colorado for this post.

The incredible Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge hangs 965 feet above the wild Arkansas River.    Built in 1929, for over 70 years, it was the highest suspension bridge in the world.   The picture below was taken near the Royal Gorge Park Visitor Center.  Rather incredible in itself, this is a City Park belonging to the small community of Cañon City Colorado, where we spent one night on our trip. 

 

 

The bridge cost $350,000 to build --   today that cost would exceed $20 million dollars.  From the Visitor Center there are 360-degree views of the Gorge and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

 

 The night before we reached Cañon City, we purchased tickets to ride the Royal Gorge Railroad through the canyon.  

 

   

 

 

We boarded the train at the historic Santa Fe Depot.   Cars are air-conditioned and comfortable; food and beverages are available.  

 

 

 

We had a large picture window at our seat in the dome car, but the most spectacular views and photo ops were from the open observation car.   I spent most of the ride out there -- but it was nice to have the air-conditioned space available inside.    

 

 

 

Sometimes, as in the pictures in the collage, the train traveled through canyons so narrow that we could have touched the granite cliffs.  At other times, we looked up to the top of the 1,000 foot cliffs that towered above the track.   Above  is a zoomed-in view of the suspension bridge from way down below it.

 

 

 

Most of the time, we could see the wild and winding Arkansas River on one side of the track and steep cliffs on the other.

 

 

Here's the end of the train coming around a curve in the tracks -- and a few other photographers capturing the moment as they leaned out over the railing.

The next three pictures, like the top one in this post, were taken the  day after our train ride, when we drove up to the (city) Park.   There's a good-sized Visitor Center perched  on the side of the Gorge, 1,230 feet above the River.  Historical photos and information about the area and lots of family activities are available.

 

 

 

A wildfire destroyed 90 percent of the park in 2013 and the Visitor Center was completely rebuilt.  The Bridge itself was minimally damaged.   I like to walk across bridges and we had heard that you could walk across this one, but we learned at the Visitor Center that it is only open for pedestrians twice a day.  We missed the morning time and didn't plan to hang around for the evening hour.   (Also we learned that you have to pay an admission fee even to walk the bridge.)

 

 

We might  have walked the bridge, but here's one of the adventures Cañon City offers that did not tempt me at all.    We've taken trams up and down snowy mountains in at least a couple of places, but thinking about swinging above all those sharp granite rocks was more than a little shivery.

 

 

We were glad we were able to visit this spectacular natural wonder.    Here is one more view of the bridge from down below (on the train ride) ....  I like  this one because it shows off Colorado's beautiful blue sky, the  subtle colors of the incredible granite cliffs, and the amazing man-made wonder of the bridge all in one quick shot from the open train car. 

 

** My one new thing to learn this week was how to make the tilde mark above the 'n'.... but I had to use Bill's Mac to do it.  (He's Mac, I'm PC)....and so now you know that Cañon City is pronounced in the Spanish way more like Canyon than canon -- which makes sense and makes me much happier.

 

Sharing this week with the blogging communities at:  OUR WORLD; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; SIGNS SIGNS;  THROUGH MY LENS; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY.    

Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

IRONFIRE

 

Our plans on one day of  our Colorado visit (in early December) were to visit our all-time favorite outdoor sculpture garden -- Benson Park, in Loveland.    But we changed our minds when we realized over our morning coffee exactly how cold the day was.   (Benson Park is huge and there is no place to get out of the weather.)

Since we weren't at all sure  how long we'd be able walk outside in the less than 20 degree weather, Geoff and Lisa suggested a visit to the  Leanin' Tree Art Museum in Longmont. 

They'd never been there before either, so none of us knew what to expect.  We were brave enough to walk around the small outdoor sculpture garden when we first arrived --  and that's where we saw this intriguing found-object horse in his own fenced pasture.  

 

 

 Leanin' Tree is a well-known maker of western-style greeting cards.  The art museum includes many of the original paintings and sculptures from which the cards are taken.  As best as we understand, the Museum buys the artist's original works with some kind of agreement to reprint them as cards.  

 We enjoyed the visit  --  both outside and indoors (where we spent much more time.)

 

 It was OK to take pictures anywhere and I don't know why I hardly took any inside the Art Gallery (maybe because my fingers were still warming up).  And I'm sorry I didn't get the name of this artist.   

Below is something a little something different for a macro picture.  I just aimed the camera at a portion of Ironfire's torso and shot -- my fingers were too cold to take much time.  

   

 

  All four of us enjoyed our visit.  And a couple of days later we were able to visit the Loveland Sculpture Garden after all because the temperature had risen by about 40 degrees.   (Which is pretty typical of Colorado weather in our experience.)  This is Ravens' Gate, one of the sculptures there.  Those bronze ravens are so real looking that you expect to hear caws ...   and you think maybe you should cover you head. 

 

Linking to I HEART MACRO; MACRO MONDAY; RUBBISH TUESDAY; and GOOD FENCES.

Thank you to Laura, Gemma, Roan and Theresa respectively for hosting these fun sharing opportunities.

 

COLORADO CRITTERS - ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

We saw this magnificent and iconic Rocky Mountain Elk near the entrance to the National Park when we were in Colorado last month.    

 

 

 Such a photogenic state -- and Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the best parts of it.   

  Later that day, when we were leaving the Park, we came across what seemed to be whole family of Moose (mooses?  meese?).

 

 We had seen quite a few  Moose during our summer trip to Alaska --  and we'd  spotted them a few times in earlier years in the Yellowstone area and elsewhere. But never  a whole family group.    Geoff and Lisa, who live so near RMNP that they visit often, said this was the first such group they'd seen as well.  

 

 

And it was great to get a decent picture of a bull.    A young one obviously, but still  there are horns!   Of all the moose we saw in Alaska,  the only male was a large one that walked right through our campsite in Talkneeta while we were filling our water tank.  No camera of course -- (It was pretty darn exciting there for a minute or two though).     

But it's always better with a picture.

 

 

 These Colorado moose were a richer dark brown color than those we saw in Alaska.  HERE is a link to my favorite Alaska sighting for comparison.  (Another Mama Moose with her very young calf.)

 

SHARING the wonder with SATURDAY CRITTERS (Thank you Eileen) and to NATURE NOTES (with thanks to Michelle).  

A WINTER 'HIKE'

 

It was 20 degrees F when we visited Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this month.   Three guesses which of these hikes we chose:

 

I'm sure our Colorado son and daughter-in-law could have done any ... or all ... of these, but they were kind and went easy on the old folks.  

  

 

Of course 256 feet is more than far enough to see beautiful scenery in this National Park.   Here's  Bear Lake after our "long" hike.

 

 

Signs like the one in the middle picture don't seem to be too effective.  "Thin ice possible" is kind of waffly.  Pretty much anything is possible at any time or anywhere, so I think people tend to ignore these warnings.   Obviously these  people (strangers) weren't worried about falling through the ice.  

 

 

Sharing with OUR WORLD on Tuesday, with thanks to Lady Fi, Arija, Gattina, Sylvia, Sandy and Jenn.

and with

SIGNS SIGNS on Thursday.  Thank you to Lesley.

BACKYARD SIGHTSEEING

 

There's never a dull or unphotogenic moment when we visit Colorado.  We don't even have to leave the house to give the camera a good workout.   

 

 

We've seen foxes in Geoff and Lisa's (almost) backyard on previous visits, but this time the resident wildife was this large herd of white-tailed deer.

 

Cody, one of their Aussie shepherds, enjoyed helping Geoff scope out the deer.

 

 

 

     

As always, our hosts took us to a bunch of other lovely spots during our (too) short visit, but we only had to look out their windows to enjoy this Colorado wildlife.

 

 

 

Sharing with GOOD FENCES and SATURDAY CRITTERS.

Thank you to Theresa and to Eileen for providing these two great sharing opportunities.

 

HALFWAY HOME (Beautiful Colorado)

 In real time, we are all the way back home in Florida after our snowbird migration.  And it's great to be here.  But it seems to take a week or two every season to get things back into ship-shape at the Canal Cottage.   And none of those organizational tasks make very interesting blog fodder.

 

But happily we split our cross-country journey  by spending a few  days with our son and daughter-in-law on Colorado's beautiful front range.  

And, as always when we stay in that beautiful state (and with those beautiful people), our visit was loaded with photo-ops.

 

 

And also as always when we stay in that beautiful state, the temperatures fluctuated wildly.  You never know what to expect from day to day in Colorado.

But we knew enough to pack our mittens and we got outside every day.   

 

 

 And whether it was 20 degrees or 45, those beautiful Colorado blue skies were always present!  

 

 

 Our blue skies this week are a little warmer, but we wouldn't have missed our stopover in the center of the country for anything.

 

Sharing this post with OUR WORLD on TUESDAY.  Thanks to the hosting team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOVELAND MEMORIES

 

 

A Friday Flashback for Valentine's Day  from the romantically-named city of Loveland Colorado.

 

 

Make a Wish!

 

May all your days be filled with joy.

 

  

 

Both pictures are from Benson Sculpture Park in Loveland.

 

 

 

Linked to SKYWATCH FRIDAY because beautiful blue Colorado skies are ALWAYS worth remembering and always worth linking to that lovely meme.  Thanks to Yogi, Sylvia, and Sandy for hosting.

COLORADO SKIES

 

We always look forward to our first sight of the mountains as we arrive in Colorado.  This year, the skies weren't as crisp and clear as usual  and so the moutains were just faintly there in the distance.   There was still smoke in the air from the terrible fires near Colorado Springs.

But  happily it  was clearer when we reached our destination (our kids' home).  The picture below is Golden Pond near where they live:

 

I always love this walk.  Both because the pond area is so  lovely and because the flat,  relatively easy walk helps me get acclimated to the altitude.  (There are excellent paved walking paths.)

Below is another picture from our latest visit to  Rocky Mountain National Park.  

 

**

This is the way we like to think of the Colorado sky.

I hope it will look like this  from now on -- with no more smoke!

***

Sharing the skies from last month's roadtrip with the participants at SKYWATCH FRIDAY.  Thank you to Yogi and the SWF team.

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

This is a slightly edited repeat post from another Colorado trip -- 4 years ago.  It seems perfect for Independence Day and perfect for the  SIGNS SIGNS meme, which I have been away from for way too long, and also for SKYWATCH FRIDAY.  

 PIKES PEAK, UNBUSTED

• 

 

Katherine Lee Bates, a professor from back east, thought of the words to the poem "America the Beautiful" while she enjoyed the majestic view from the top of Pikes Peak.  She had taken a train journey and seen other sights that she put into the poem (later set to music) but said that the words came together while she was there. 

 

The switchback road to the summit of Pikes Peak is owned and kept up by the City of Colorado Springs.  It's a toll road.  We paid and then a few miles further up, we noticed a booth on the other side with a line of cars.  We wondered if the City charged again for coming down.  The down booth, it turned out, is a brake check.  If you're overheated, a guy tells you to pull over until the brakes cool down.  Geoff knows how to drive in the mountains and didn't ride his brakes, so we didn't get busted.  We thought going down the switchback curves was less scary than going up. 

 

It's not too hospitable an atmosphere up there above the treeline, so I'm pretty sure people would have paid to get back down if they'd had to!  Only 60% of the oxygen available at sea level, plus snow, thunderstorms in the afternoons (possibilities of hail, wind, and lightning any time of the year).  The temperature rarely goes above 40.  (I think it was a little warmer the day we were there, but it was quite windy.) Here you can see the afternoon black clouds rolling in. 

 

Here are some things we learned about this 14,115 foot mountain.

 It isn't a National Park or monument.  A small upper portion was designated as a national historic landmark in 1961.    

• It was discovered by explorer Zebulon Pike, but he never made it to the summit.  Someone named Edwin James was the first to do so (in 1820).  

• Gold was discovered in the area in 1858 and "Pike's Peak or Bust" became the slogan of the Colorado gold rush. 

• There is an annual car race called "Pikes Peak International Hill Climb".  (Only two of the people in our car cared a thing about this race.  They sat in the front seat.  They were father and son.   The other two of us thought that the sharp curves were quite treacherous enough at safe speeds.) 

  Note:  In a comment on the original post, Geoff sent a link to a video of a car taking part in this race.  It was scary just to watch.

ROCKY MOUNTAINS ....

It's good to be back in Oregon (and blog-land) after our twelve-day  cross-country roadtrip.    (I took pictures as we traveled but found it hard to actually do anything with them, so I may be posting about the trip  for weeks.)

These are from beautiful Colorado, where we spent a few days a week ago.    I never think about the mountains when we're in flatland Florida, but on first sight, I realize how much I've missed them!

 

 

ROCKY MOUNTAINS (up) HIGH

 

 

Both these pictures are taken from the exact same spot.  The alpine flowers seemed to reflect the beautiful blue sky. 

 

 

 

AND (down) BELOW OUR FEET

 

 

We stayed with our son and daughter-in-law and, because they live there, Colorado is  of course always a part of OUR WORLD .  

When we first got to the state, the skies were a little smoky from the terrible fires. But by Sunday when the four of us drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park, the sun was shining, skies were once again our favorite  Colorado blue, and we were all happy.  

 

Visit the links on OUR WORLD hosted by Jennifer and the OW team.  Thanks! 

 

 

FLY-BY SKIES 2012

for SKYWATCH FRIDAY -  Thank you to the host team.!

 It was a flying trip across country for us this year, with one great stop in the middle.  The first leg of our journey we flew from Fort Myers to Denver. 

 

Colorado from the air

 Then, after our wonderful weeks visiting at our kids' home and car-tripping in the Four Corners, we flew from Denver to Portland.  We both had window seats this time (really, both of us -- our cheap flights separated us to opposite sides of the aisle, but we both got window seats, so we had no complaints!)

 

Leaving Denver

The smoke in both the above pictures is from one of the several range fires that were still burning in Colorado at the time.  

And, below, arriving in Portland..... Bill had the side with iconic Portland Mt. Hood -- but I had the camera.  This is one of the Washington State Mountains, we're not sure which. Mt. Adams.  (Per Geoff's comment below - thank you!)

 

Arriving Portland

It was a lot less travel time than a cross-country roadtrip -- but not as scenic.  I'm glad I was able to snap this handful of memories.

We still have many pictures from the beautiful (and very photogenic) Southwest and I'm definitely not through posting about that roadtrip -- watch out for the whiplash effect in the next few posts as this blog seesaws back and forth between Colorado and the Pacific Northwest!

PRAIRIE MORNING

 For Camera Critters

This prairie dog at the bottom of Rabbit Hill was not at all sure he liked sharing his home territory with us.

 

Prairie Dog, Colorado June 2012

 

We could hear whistles coming from the den.  I think they were asking the watch"dog" if it was OK to come out again.    "Is it safe?  Are they gone yet?"    

We soon were, leaving these busy little animals to their peaceful prairie home.

 

 

FOR CAMERA CRITTERS.  Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting.

LAUGHING IT UP IN LOVELAND

FOR:  OUR WORLD TUESDAY

 

We visit Loveland's Benson Sculpture Park * each time we're in Colorado. Our kids live nearby in Longmont and we used to stay in an RV Park in Loveland when we visited them once or twice a year .     We discovered the park by accident, but now it's a ritual we can't miss.   The City adds sculptures every year and we enjoy searching for the new ones -- and re-visiting old favorites.

The joyful swinging girl above is one of those favorites.  This picture was taken last summer  -- it wasn't quite as bright and sunny this year because lingering smoke from the Colorado range fires created a hazy atmosphere.  

The fires aren't close enough to Longmont or Loveland to be a danger, but it is a worry.  It's very dry all over the State.

But we had fun even if it wasn't quite as bright and blue as usual. 

Great company and a lot of laughs. One way that you know your kids aren't really "kids" any longer is that they are just as willing to be silly as you are. 

 

 

 

 In fact, I think the silliness was their idea!

 * Follow the link to see an album of our favorites.  

MOUNTAINS! ONCE AGAIN

For SKYWATCH FRIDAY

Rocky Mountain National Park, June 2012

 

There is nothing in the world like seeing MOUNTAINS again after you've spent months in the flatlands.  It's great to be in Colorado.

 

Front-range view from Rabbit Hill, near Lyons

 

 

REMEMBERING HIGH ALTITUDE

For SIGNS SIGNS at Lesley's. 

We usually visit Colorado a couple of times a year.  (Our son and daughter-in-law live there.)   Sadly we didn't get to visit on our most recent roadtrip. 

So this is a look-back to another year and another road trip when our son drove us to the top of Mt Evans.  (Link here to read the old post.) 

When you read the sign (click the picture to enlarge) you will see why we two lowlanders felt fortunate to make it all the way up -- even by car -- and even more fortunate that we were  able to walk around when we got there.

Another contrast to where we live:  these pictures were taken in June....when, of course, here in Florida it is very hot and humid! 

 _________________________________________________________________________

ENGINE # 486

Linking to the blogging community at WEEKEND IN BLACK AND WHITE. 

 

Durango-Silverton Railroad, Colorado.  Click here to read an earlier post about this ride, a part of our summer roadtrip.

There's just something about a train!  And something about this old-style one that seems to call for black and white.

 

 

 

MILLION DOLLAR HIGHWAY, MILLION DOLLAR SKIES

PARTICIPATING IN SKYWATCH FRIDAY.  Thank you to the Skywatch team for hosting this meme, which starts its 5th Season with todays posts.

 

  

We drove the Million Dollar Highway between Ouray and Silverton Colorado before and after we stayed at Silverton -- and  rode the train between there and Durango.

The scenery from the Highway was almost as spectacular as it was from the train (at least for the person not driving).

 

 Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about this portion of Highway 530.

   

Most of U.S. 550 in Colorado is two-lane mountainous highway. It is one of only two north–south U.S. Highways in Colorado which runs west of the Continental Divide The other route is US 491. The route travels north through the San Juan Mountains.

The Million Dollar Highway stretches for about 25 miles (40 km) in western Colorado and follows the route of U.S. 550 between Silverton and Ouray, Colorado. It is part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway. Between Durango and Silverton the Skyway loosely parallels the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Though the entire stretch has been called the Million Dollar Highway, it is really the twelve miles (19 km) south of Ouray through the Uncompahgre Gorge to the summit of Red Mountain Pass which gains the highway its name. This stretch through the gorge is challenging and potentially hazardous to drive; it is characterized by steep cliffs, narrow lanes, and a lack of guardrails; the ascent of Red Mountain Pass is marked with a number of hairpin "S" curves used to gain elevation, and again, narrow lanes for traffic—many cut directly into the sides of mountains. During this ascent, the remains of the Idarado Mine are visible. Travel north from Silverton to Ouray allows drivers to hug the inside of curves; travel south from Ouray to Silverton perches drivers on the vertiginous outside edge of the highway. Large RVs travel in both directions, which adds a degree of excitement (or danger) to people in cars.^[2] The road is kept open year-round. Summer temperatures can range from 70-90 degree highs at the ends of the highway to 50-70 degrees in the mountain passes. The snow season starts in October, and snow will often close the road in winter. Chains may be required to drive.^[3]

      

 

 

 

 

BLUE SKIES AHEAD

for SKYWATCH FRIDAY.  Click the links!  Looking at the sky is good for the soul!

 

After gray skies from the time we left Florida all the way through Kansas, we were happy to get to Boulder County Colorado where the sky is amost always blue. 

And it stayed blue as we traveled from there through more of beautiful Colorado and on into Utah and Nevada.

     
We will be happy if our luck holds and we have blue sky all summer!

 

 

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING - SILVERTON CO.

This post from our summer roadtrip is linked to LESLEY'S SIGNS SIGNS, the most fun place in blogland.  

The old mining town of Silverton Colorado is at one end of the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge steam railroad through the San Juan mountains.  Nowadays, the town exists pretty much to serve tourists...kayakers, jeepers, climbers, hikers, fishermen, and people (like us) who stay there so that we can ride the train.  (Or get off the train for lunch if they started from Durango, as most people do.)  The enlargement below the collage provides a glimpse of the town's  bawdier past!

 

 

 The Silverton Train stop (and this restaurant) are on Blair Street, which, in the old mining days, was notorious for its saloons, gambling halls,  and bordellos. 

The street -- and the train -- have been used as sets for a number of western movies. 

The train brings over 140,000 passengers a year into Silverton and it loads and unloads on Blair Street, providing passengers a glimpse of the town's past history.

There are quite a few interesting shops and restaurants, as well as some saloons. 

There are goodies to go (on the train ride or in your jeep). 

But no bordellos. 

Which is good.

SILVERTON-DURANGO RAILROAD

This post is linked at WATERY WEDNESDAY.   Click the links to get your eyes wet!   

The photos are from our recent roadtrip. We took the Narrow Gauge steam train from Silverton to Durango.  The track passes through narrow canyons in the San Juan Mountains along the Animas River.

 

Narrow is the operative word. At times, you could have reached out and touched the canyon walls.

 

All of these photos were taken leaning out of our train window, at places where the canyon was just a little wider.

The train has to stop at about the half-way point to take on water.  Otherwise it would run out of steam. 

Literally.

 

 

COLORADO VISIT

This post was written and posted a week ago Sunday and was meant for last week's     THAT'S MY WORLD.  But last Monday we were on the road again and unable that evening to connect to the Internet.  So I am linking it this week instead.  And of course family is always our world, even when we're not in the same time zone!

 

  

We packed a lot of activities in to our visit with our Colorado kids.  Here are a few that I got pictures of.  The collage above is Lisa and me at our girls' night out at Posh, a do-it-yourself painting studio.  I haven't held an artist's brush for over half a century, but this studio almost made me feel like I knew what I was doing.  It was an absolute blast! 

 
 Here's Bill feeling sporty as he gets a ride with Geoff.

 

 
Lisa and I got in a couple of good morning hikes.  (Well, they were walks for her, but hikes for me.)  But I didn't do too bad for being a flat-lander at this altitude. 

All four of us had fun hanging out on Pearl Street in Boulder (one of the most vital downtowns of any city ever).  It has great restaurants and bookshops.  We spent some time in Denver too and all of this in addition to enjoying the beautiful scenery and bird watching that I blogged about earlier.  

As always, we had a great time on our visit.   

COLORADO!!!!

FOR THAT'S MY WORLD, the end of the first part of our summer roadtrip.  

 

On a cross-country roadtrip, when this is your drive-by photo, you know you've reached Colorado. 

The only elevation we saw until we got here was the Oachita Mountains in Arkansas (below).  We had hazy skies during most of our roadtrip and very hot weather after we crossed the Mississippi.  Some of the haze was from the Arizona fires and maybe some because of the extreme heat.   

 

 As you can see below, we covered a lot of miles of farmland, lonely roads, and neglected and abandoned towns as we drove through Oklahoma and Kansas:

 

But we are in beautiful Colorado now, with family ... and where the skies are (now) blue. 

The roadtrip miles are always worth it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPRING FLOWERS

SHARED WITH MELLOW YELLOW MONDAY     and     RUBY TUESDAY

Spring flowers are in bloom in Colorado!  It's great to be here to enjoy them.  We saw the yellow iris and red poppy at Benson Park.

 

 

 

SCULPTURE REFLECTIONS AND SHADOWS

FOR WEEKEND REFLECTIONS and SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY. 

 

We have reached the first major destination for our Summer road trip -- Longmont Colorado -- where we are visiting our kids.  We dropped in to see these old friends at Benson Sculpture Park in nearby Loveland. 

 

 

 

FACE OF THE WEEK - FRIDAY FLASHBACK

This is the Potato Farmer.  He lives in Loveland Colorado at the Benson Sculpture Garden Park.

I've been exploring Picasa -- trying to learn to do more than just crop.  And I just discovered the Faces feature.  What a hoot!  Every face we've ever taken a picture of  -- whether living or created by  artists' hands --  is there.  Including the odd passer-by that was cropped out of the picture if we used it.  I need to get rid of some of those; think of the space saving!

But we were delighted to see this old friend in close-up.  To see more of him and other Sculptures in this beautiful Park, click below for the post we wrote last time we visited there.  There is a link in that page to our photo album.

Both sculpture parks described in the post are well worth a visit if you're in the Loveland area.  They're our favorite kind of art galleries!

 

LOVELAND SCULPTURE GARDENS

ON GOLDEN POND

FOR WATERY WEDNESDAY a  flashback to another Spring in another State.

 

I'm actually feeling just a little bit guilty about posting Geoff's snowy picture the other day.  As he said in his comment -- and I added later -- Colorado weather is very changeable.  It doesn't always snow on the plains in the Spring and when it does it melts quickly.

And Colorado is truly beautiful.  I took these pictures the last time we visited in the Spring.  We always go on beautiful drives and walks when we're there, but these three pictures were not taken on any special excursion --  we were within strolling distance of where the kids live.   

So the main things to remember if you go to Colorado are:  Dress in layers.  And be prepared for anything.  But always expect it to be beautiful.  You won't be disappointed.

AND NOW...FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

GEOFF E-MAILED THIS PICTURE TO US -- TAKEN TODAY (APRIL 23) IN BOULDER, COLORADO.  AH!! --NOTHING LIKE SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES!

ADDED SUNDAY AFTERNOON:  See Geoff's comment below -- When I posted this I actually meant to add that knowing Colorado weather it was probably hot and sunny by the time I saw the picture -- the weather is so changeable there.   He says it is raining -- and my weather icon shows temperatures in the 60s there!  (Here in Ft Myers we have 80s with a chance of a shower -- hasn't happened yet. 

SKYWATCH FRIDAY FLASHBACK

Click SKYWATCH FRIDAY for more beautiful skies -- from all seasons and from all over the world.  

We got a digital picture frame for Christmas and I've been sorting through pictures to choose favorites for it.   I do realize that it isn't a permanent album and that we could just grab the first hundred pictures we came across and change it later.  Our gray days are just putting me in the mood to make heavy weather out of whatever little task I set myself.  The sorting and disposing of photos is something that really needed to be done again anyway though.  I'm glad to have the incentive to get it done. 

I've chosen these three to remind us of our trips to beautiful Colorado, where the skies really are always blue (although cold right now).  These were taken in other seasons/other years!

A VISIT TO A MOUNTAINTOP (JUNE 2008) SUNDAY FAVORITES

I'm feeling a little sad because we won't get to visit Colorado on our delayed Fall roadtrip.  But our Colorado kids are hoping to visit us in Florida this Winter. 

So I am re-posting this -- one of my favorite posts about beautiful Colorado.   Click here to read all about our stays there.  Thanks to Chari for the  SUNDAY FAVORITES  meme, which gives us an excuse to share some older posts.  I loved getting a second look at beautiful Mt Evans -- hope everyone else does too.

(Visit  Skywatch Friday   for more views of beautiful skies.)  Here is the original post: 

Mount Evans is one of quite a few 14,000+ feet peaks near where our son Geoff and his wife Lisa live (and also near where we live when we're in Colorado).  But this Mountain is different from the rest because it has a paved road all the way to the top.  It is said to be the highest paved road in the world.

This is really a lucky break for us -- believe me, we're not going to be climbing anything that high ever.   Just getting out of Geoff's Jeep and walking around is enough high-altitude hiking for us. 

The wind was blowing very hard.  We really noticed the difference in altitude and temperature as we "climbed". 

We are glad that we got to experience a little bit of what it's like up on the top of the world.

Real climbers probably kind of hate that there is an easy way to get to the top of this mountain and I really couldn't blame them.  But this real mountain climber didn't seem to mind us being there as he looked down from his even higher perch.

The building on top of the peak (below), called Crest House, was built in 1939 and was the highest structure in the world at 14,260 feet.   It was destroyed in a propane explosion in 1979.  Only the outer walls remain; it's now an observation platform.  You can see for miles. 

Reading the warning sign actually made me feel good -- as if we were in pretty good shape just to stay alive up there!  (added note:  click on this picture or any other for a better view.)

THREE STATES AND THREE DAYS ON THE ROAD

 

We chose a different route than we usually take when we left Loveland last Monday.  Our usual route out of Colorado involves Route 80 and 'Whyoming'.  This time, we chose the more scenic I-70.  And we can't remember when we've seen as much varied scenery in such a few days.   

We drove past Denver and through the Eisenhower Tunnel near that mile-high city.  This is the highest automobile tunnel in the world at over 11,000 feet.   It goes under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains.  Beautiful mountains and green trees lined both sides of the highway.  We passed turnoffs to the famous ski resorts of Vail, Glenwood Springs, and Aspen.  

On past visits to Colorado (pre-blog, even pre-camera) we made sidetrips to all those towns -- even stayed overnight at Aspen (in the off-season, when it's affordable).  This picture is near Glenwood Springs; the mountain scenery is typical of most of the drive on this day.   I-70 runs right through the canyon and along the Colorado River.  We saw quite a few people rafting.

Some of the mountain passes were very slow driving, low gear.  We stayed that night at Fruita (still in Colorado). 

Tuesday, still on I-70, we crossed into Utah where we drove through some beautiful scenery that was in total contrast to the previous day.  This was all moonscape-like rocky scenery, granite reefs and uplifts.  Also in contrast to the day before -- and to add to the surreal feeling -- there were no services for over 100 miles of the Highway -- no signs, no old towns, no nothing, but the amazing scenery. 

There wasn't even much traffic, although we passed turnoff roads that led to several National Parks (Arches and Canyonlands, Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon, Capital Reef).  We've been to those parks on earlier trips, most of them before we started to blog.   

Wednesday morning we left I-70  and hopped on to Utah State Highway 21, which has to be the longest, loneliest road ever.  Straight as a die for miles and miles.  Scrub desert scenery all the way. 

We had to stop a couple of times to wait for large dust devils (or small tornados) to cross the road.  

Into Nevada, we got on Highway 50, which we have seen billed as "the loneliest road", but it definitely isn't if you've just come off of SH 21. 

Since our Winter in Florida and the Low Country, we had almost forgotten how much space there is in the West.  Mountains and lots of flat land under them.

 

If only there were water!

 

The differences between these three neighboring states reminded us yet again of how varied and beautiful this country is. 

The actual on-the-road portion of our trips is not always this interesting . Sometimes the road is just a way to get where we're going.  But for these three days at least, life was about the journey and not the destination.

We were happy that we chose this route.

GARDEN OF THE GODS

In 1859 two surveyors exploring locations in Colorado came upon this beautiful area of sandstone formations.  One of them said "this would be a capital place for a beer garden."  The other one, who had a poetic turn of mind, said "Beer Garden?  Why, no, this is a place fit for the gods to assemble.  We will call it Garden of the Gods."  And so it has been called ever since.

In 1879, the railroad magnate Charles Perkins purchased 240 acres of land here, at first thinking he would build a summer home.  He never did, deciding he would rather leave his wonderland in the natural state for all to enjoy.  He didn't leave any written plans for the area when he died in 1907, but  his children, knowing his feeling for the Garden, gave the 480 acres to the City of Colorado Springs.  They specified that it should forever remain free to the public and that the only buildings on it were to be those necessary for maintaining it as a public park.  (They also specified that there are to be no alcoholic beverages in the park, so that guy who wanted it to be a beer garden would still be out-of-luck.) 

We went to Garden of the Gods in the late afternoon, after exploring Pikes Peak earlier in the day.  It had been cold and windy up there.  Here, the summer sunshine reflected on these beautiful red rocks made it seem even warmer than the 80 degrees it was.

You really need to dress in layers in Colorado!

  

Geoff and Lisa at the Park Visitor Center.

 

PIKES PEAK, UNBUSTED

The switchback road to the summit of Pikes Peak is owned and kept up by the City of Colorado Springs.  It's a toll road.  We paid and then a few miles further up, we noticed a booth on the other side with a line of cars.  We wondered if the City charged again for coming down.  The down booth, it turned out, is a brake check.  If you're overheated, a guy tells you to pull over until the brakes cool down.  Geoff knows how to drive in the mountains and didn't ride his brakes, so we didn't get busted.  We thought going down the switchback curves was less scary than going up. 

It's not too hospitable an atmosphere up there above the treeline, so I'm pretty sure people would have paid to get back down if they'd had to!  Only 60% of the oxygen available at sea level, plus snow, thunderstorms in the afternoons (possibilities of hail, wind, and lightning any time of the year).  The temperature rarely goes above 40.  (I think it was a little warmer the day we were there, but it was quite windy.) Here you can see the afternoon black clouds rolling in. 

Here are some things we learned about this 14,115 foot mountain.

• It isn't a National Park or monument.  A small upper portion was designated as a national historic landmark in 1961.    

• It was discovered by explorer Zebulon Pike, but he never made it to the summit.  Someone named Edwin James was the first to do so (in 1820).  

• Gold was discovered in the area in 1858 and "Pike's Peak or Bust" became the slogan of the Colorado gold rush. 

• There is an annual car race called "Pikes Peak International Hill Climb".  (Only two of the people in our car cared a thing about this race.  They sat in the front seat.  They were father and son.   The other two of us thought that the sharp curves were quite treacherous enough at safe speeds.) 

• 

Katherine Lee Bates, a professor from back east, thought of the words to the poem "America the Beautiful" while she enjoyed the majestic view from the top of Pikes Peak.  She had taken a train journey and seen other sights that she put into the poem (later set to music) but said that the words came together while she was here. 

It was a fine day trip.  Beautiful scenery and good company.  We've always heard about Pikes Peak and we're glad we got to go to see it. 

 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH JUNE 2009

Our son and daughter-in-law moved to Longmont, Colorado about the same time we started our most-time (then Full-Time) RVing, so we've been coming to the Loveland-Longmont area once or twice a year for a decade.  By now, it is another place that feels like home and it's good to be back again.

A week ago on Saturday, Geoff and Lisa picked us up for a day trip through magnificent Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was a beautiful day.  Sunshine, snow (but none on the roads), elk, and the closest we've ever come to a moose (mother and baby).   Scroll through the pictures -- they really say it all. 

 

Yup, it's beautiful Colorado in June.  We're lucky to be "home."

ROADTRIP Part 1 - TEXAS TO COLORADO, Spring 2008

"Getting There is Half the Fun" is the adage we live by as full-time RVers.  You have to enjoy the trip as well as the destination, because there are going to be some road trip days.  Sometimes those days are amazing, sometimes not, but they are always worth it.  Even on the worst road day, we have our house with us at the end of it and we're always heading on to the next adventure.    

It was still tornado season in Colorado when we were ready to leave Port Aransas at the end of May, so we had to choose our route carefully, based on watching the weather. We actually stayed a couple of weeks longer in calm and cozy Port A than we'd originally planned, waiting out some really bad weather to the north of us. By the time we left, the local papers were full of tips on preparing for the coming hurricane season, which starts the first of June.  You've got to hate it when those two seasons overlap.  On this leg of the journey, we had a lot of thunder and lightning and a few nights of big hail -- but no damage at all.  It was a nasty spring in so many places this year -- we were fortunate.  

On our first night out of Port A, we stayed overnight at Armadillo Junction RV Park near Kerrville.  This is in the Texas hill country -- like the Gulf Coast, this isn't the typical Texas that people from the Northwest tend to imagine.  It's green and rolling hills.  The Guadaloupe River flows nearby.  We like this area and have stayed there longer on past trips.  But it was terribly hot this stop -- definitely time to head for cooler climes.

Next we stopped at San Angelo State Park.  Texas State Parks are excellent -- we had purchased an annual pass on our way to Port A.  This makes the cost quite reasonable (and we like the idea of supporting the parks).  This one is on a huge reservoir, lots of birds even this late in the season.  While settling in for the evening, we saw a jack rabbit that we honestly thought for a moment was a small deer.  Huge.  Walking later on, we saw a badger heading for its den.

We had decided to stay a couple of days here because we thought it would be busy on the weekend, with school out and Memorial Day.  It wasn't -- we practically had the park to ourselves -- but it gave us the opportunity to explore the area a little bit. 

Just before getting to the state park, we had driven past the tiny, tiny town of El Dorado.   This little village and the town of San Angelo had been much in the news just before we got there, because it is where the State had removed FLDS children from the El Dorado polygamist compound.  The courthouse where the hearings were held is in San Angelo as is Fort Concho, the frontier era fort where the mothers and children stayed for a time.  We took a quick tour of the Fort, which has now been restored to its status as a historical museum. 

This whole area is quite isolated and it was interesting to see these places.  News-people from back east must have felt like they were in another world.  We kind of did.

We stayed the next night at Amarillo Overnight RV Park.  This is an appropriate name for the park.  It's nothing outstanding but perfectly adequate for one night and easy to find.  You can take a Texas limousine from the RV park to a restaurant called "The Big Texan" in downtown Amarillo.  So this park and the restaurant (for which "big" is a good description, both of the restaurant and the food) are about all we know about this city besides the song "Amarillo High Morning." 

There sure are a lot of Texas cities that have songs written about them!  (I just have to "sing" a bit of them when we drive through El Paso, Laramie or Amarillo....I'm pretty sure Bill wishes that those songs didn't exist -- as I can't carry a tune in a bucket!)

Amarillo to Colorado took us across this skinny little part of Oklahoma.  There is nothing in that part of that state but dead looking grass.  No towns.  We had to stop quickly though just so that we could say we'd been on Oklahoma soil.  I think it only took us about  an hour to cross that panhandle. 

The first night in Colorado we stayed in a town called Lamar at a park called Lamar Sportsman.  The sport of choice here was horseback riding -- and the stables were rather close to the RV spots.  Hot -- and flies.  This was not the Colorado we know and love -- and have already posted about (extensively actually). 

We got to the "real deal" the next day and we had a wonderful time as always.  In case you missed those earlier posts -- or just want another look at the beautiful part of Colorado where we stay -- click on these earlier links:  

http://travelingrainvilles.typepad.com/traveling_home/2007/11/colorado.html

http://travelingrainvilles.typepad.com/traveling_home/2007/12/more-from-color.html

http://travelingrainvilles.typepad.com/traveling_home/2008/06/sculpture-gardens.html

http://travelingrainvilles.typepad.com/traveling_home/2008/06/colorado-in-june-2008.html

 

 

SCULPTURE GARDENS, LOVELAND

  As if the surrounding mountains are not enough to feast your eyes upon, there are two beautifully done sculpture gardens in the town of Loveland.   A visit to either garden makes a very enjoyable afternoon.  It's lovely to stroll around  viewing the art and gardens while enjoying the fresh mountain air.  Much better than a stuffy museum (and much more likely to be visited -- by us, at least.)

The nationally famous Benson Sculpture Garden Park is centrally located in the older part of the city.   Every year, Loveland has a juried exhibition when the city buys new sculptures for the park and to place elsewhere throughout the city.    There are well over 100 sculptures in the park.  Most are bronze, but there a few in other mediums. Most are quite naturally located in the large park, so that it is as if you were just stumbling upon this farmer coming in from the potato field or children playing or whatever the various sculptures depict.  We visit this park each time we're in Loveland, looking for new additions and checking on our old favorites.  Click on this link to see a few more of our favorites:  (click on the first picture to start the slideshow) .  Some of the sculptures in the park are more contemporary or abstract in design.  Those are also fun to look at, but our favorites remain the more traditional.   

http://travelingrainvilles.typepad.com/photos/loveland_sculpture_park/

 

The Chapungu Sculpture Park is newer.  This garden is at the edge of town, near a new and "upscale" shopping center.  The park was built and the sculptures purchased by the shopping center developer and (as far as we could figure out) it is managed jointly by the development corporation and the city.  This park has contemporary fine art by Zimbabwean sculptors.  Telling stories through carvings is a tradition in that country.  The landscaping in this newer garden is more natural grassland, which I imagine is rather like that of the sculptors' homeland. 

This was the first time we'd visited this park.  Some members of one sculpting family were working in the park when we were there.  It's always fun to watch experts at work.

The captions on the photos in this album are taken directly from the carvings.  They made it seem like you were hearing the sculptor talk to you about the work.

http://travelingrainvilles.typepad.com/photos/sculpture/index.html

A VISIT TO A MOUNTAIN TOP - COLORADO JUNE 2008

Mount Evans is one of quite a few 14,000+ feet peaks near where our son Geoff and his wife Lisa live (and also near where we live when we're in Colorado).  But this Mountain is different from the rest because it has a paved road all the way to the top.  It is said to be the highest paved road in the world.

This is really a lucky break for us -- believe me, we're not going to be climbing anything that high ever.   Just getting out of Geoff's Jeep and walking around is enough high-altitude hiking for us. 

The wind was blowing very hard.  We really noticed the difference in altitude and temperature as we "climbed". 

We are glad that we got to experience a little bit of what it's like up on the top of the world.

Real climbers probably kind of hate that there is an easy way to get to the top of this mountain and I really couldn't blame them.  But this real mountain climber didn't seem to mind us being there as he looked down from his even higher perch.

This building on top of the peak, called Crest House, was built in 1939 and was the highest structure in the world at 14,260 feet.   It was destroyed in a propane explosion in 1979.  Only the outer walls remain; it's now an observation platform.  You can see for miles. 

Reading the warning sign actually made me feel good -- as if we were in pretty good shape just to stay alive up there! 

More from Colorado

This is Colorado's state flower, the columbine.  We saw it last August, when it was still like spring up in the mountains above Denver.  Wouldn't it be cool if we could get a picture of every State flower?

This visit to Colorado wasn't actually an RV trip at all.  When we came home from our London stay, we flew into Denver and then spent a while with our kids in Colorado before heading back to the Northwest by car.    (We had stored the fifth-wheeler in Oregon.) 

On one of the days we were there, Geoff took us on a Jeep ride up to these mountains above Breckenridge.  I don't think there could be a greater contrast than between living in the busy and crowded city of London and then just a few days later being up in these wide-open spaces.  We were so lucky to get to do both!

This is the Jeep Trail up the Mountain.  The pass is called Radical Hill(!).

________________________________________________________

And here's some of what we saw when we got to the top.  (Click on the pictures to get full views.)

 

There were so many great views and the mountain goats were so amusing.  I could hardly stop taking pictures.  These are just a sample.   It was a great day.

Colorado - in the Fall, 2006

Loveland, Colorado is one of several places where we've "lived" as RVers.  We like to pretend that we're locals whenever we stay in one place for more than a week.  And Loveland certainly qualifies -- we've stayed there a whole bunch of times.  Our son and daughter-in-law, Geoff and Lisa, moved from the Northwest to near Boulder in 1999, about the same time we started RVing.  We've visited there once or twice a year ever since. 

Of course, with the kids there, we'd have visited often anyway, but it was a great bonus for us that they chose this beautiful area.   We've always stayed at Riverview RV park, which is actually right between Loveland and Estes Park.  The first time, we were kind of disappointed because the park wasn't closer to the kids' house -- it's about 20 miles. But we found the distance easy to manage and we loved the park. It's well-kept up, has great views of red cliffs and the Big Thompson River, and, of course, besides being close to the kids it's also close to Rocky Mt National Park and is a good jumping off place for exploring the whole area.   

We've experienced some interesting Colorado weather over the years.  (Sometimes, you only need to stay a few days to experience two or three seasons -- the weather can be very changeable.)  But most of the time it has been beautiful, with crisp clear weather and blue skies.  The altitude and dryness take a little getting used to, especially the first time, for those of us more used to the damp Northwest.  But it's well worth it -- the area is drop dead beautiful.

All of these pictures were taken in Autumn, 2006, around Riverview RV Park and at Devil's Backbone, a great little hiking spot, that's practically in downtown Loveland.  We went from snowy Yellowstone in September to freezing-cold Casper Wyoming in October, and then on to still beautiful autumn-like Colorado, where we stayed until mid-November. 

                                     

Later on in the fall and winter, there were record snowfalls in this part of Colorado.  But by that time, we were down on the Gulf Coast of Texas.  That's one of the nicest things about RV living.  Wherever we live, we try to live there only when the weather is at its finest.  And we love it that way!