Introducing Kayleigh Elizabeth

It has taken me a while to recover from our last trip. My husband and I flew to Washington to see my oldest son and his family with their newest edition, Kayleigh Elizabeth. She was 3 weeks old then.

It was a great family time. Kayleigh is such a good baby - just eats, sleeps and poops! LOL It just felt so good to hold her. Kayleigh is the first girl since the previous generation since I had 3 boys. She is simply a treat for all of us. Even big brother, Drake, is taking things in stride. He loves on his baby "ti-ter". I even have proof!

 

 After a visit from my nephew who is in residency in Seattle, we made a trip over to a harvest festival near Olympia, the state's capitol. We had a grand time. Drake loved the pumpkin patch and the petting zoo. We even took a ride on a wagon pulled by a tractor. It was glorious! I think I will just let you enjoy it in photos. After all, they do speak louder than words.

  

Here we have arrived at the site of the harvest festival.

 

There were apples, corn and pumpkins to buy and eat.

Picking a pumpkin is hard work

At the petting zoo with the goats - baa-aa-aa!

Oh the fun of an old fashioned wagon ride!

Look at the joy and delight on this little face. 

A pose with mom before buying apples and corn to take home

- and, oh, a hot dog to eat.

Soon it was time to return home to Texas. We took the ferry across the Puget Sound over to Seattle. It was only heavy fog at first, but it soon began to clear.

The sun shining on the water through the low lying clouds was magical!

 The sense of mystery changed from moment to moment.

Passing close to the shoreline, we could see a little of the fall foliage through the mist.

Soon, the Seattle skyline appeared in the distance. It was beautiful!

I can hardly wait until I see my son and his precious family in January!

Since we returned home, we have seen professional photos of the family that are just precious. See them here.

Traveling the San Juan Skyway

Today, David and I left camp at 8:00 AM to drive the San Juan Skyway - a 236 mile loop through some of the most spectacular and rugged scenery in the nation. This scenic byway connects the historic mountain towns of Telluride, Cortez, Durango, Silverton, and Ouray through life zones ranging from desert to alpine.

We headed South to Dolores and over to Durango then up toward Silverton - about 100 miles away. Silverton is an old mining town and a narrow guage railroad travels from Durango to Silverton. We thought about taking the train again, but found that tickets are $100 each. We both have ridden the train before - when our boys were young. That's when I got a cinder in my eye. No problem, right? Well, a cinder looks like a grass burr under the microscope and sticks to the eye. I ended up in the Durango emergency room after trying for a couple of hours to get it out with eye washes. BUT, I was glad it happened to me instead of one of the boys.

We arrived in Silverton by about 10:30. The first store we popped into was a jewelry store - K&C Traders . They sell silver jewelry which I can afford and I found a nice pair of inlay teardrop earrings. They are made of Opal and purple Aventurine from South Africa and pink Astorite from right there in Silverton.

The Astorite is from a mine that was owned by John Jacob Astor IV who went down with the Titanic in 1912. The entrance to the mine was dynamited upon his death, but someone later re-opened the mine and discovered this pink stone. After analyzing it, it was discovered that it was something new. Traces of gold and silver run through it. It is only found in Silverton.

We shopped a bit and bought a couple of t-shirts before watching the train come in. The population of silverton probably doubles with every arrival and halves with every departure. It is a quaint old mining town.

Last time we were here, David and I road out to the cemetary and looked at old grave markers. It was quite a tour of the history of Silverton. Whole families were wiped out in 1917 with the influenza epidemic. Others died in mining accidents or were hung for crimes and there were women who died in childbirth leaving behind entire families. I would have loved to go back to the cemetary, but It was 2:00 PM and we needed to get back on the road.

After leaving Silverton (elev. 9318 ft.), we headed north toward Ouray (elev. 7811 ft.). In only 22 miles, the road goes up over Red Mountain Pass (elev. 11,018 ft.) and then makes a rapid descent into Ouray with 4 or 5 S curves sans guard rails.

Signs of the old mines are all over the area. Slag, a byproduct of processing the mined ore, covers the sides of the mountains, dotted with the dilapidated mineshafts.

After some pretty intense curves, we were finally in Ouray, another old mining town - called the Switzerland of America. As a kid, we had camped North of Ouray in one of the National Forest Campgrounds. I want to say the name of the campground was North Fork or South Fork but at any rate, what I remember most was arriving to the campground late in the evening and having to set up camp very close to the creek. During the night, there was a thunderstorm and by morning, one end of the pop-up was hanging over the creek. What fun times we had!

North of Ouray, we headed West at Ridgeway crossing the Uncompahgre River. To our left we followed the northern edge of the San Juan Mountains, running into a bit of rain until we turned left at Placerville headed toward Telluride.

We made one stop at the Keystone Hill Overlook for me to get out and snap a picture. Before we knew it, we were at the turn that bypasses Telluride. The rest of the landscape was familiar since we had just been there two days ago.

Another 45 minutes and we were back at Priest Gulch. David took a nap and then took the time to tear down camp since we will be leaving in the morning. There will be no campfire tonight. The rest of the evening will be for relaxing before our two days on the road home.

It has been a great vacation! And last night St. Anthony finally found the trailer keys for us! They miraculously appeared in the drawer under the bench for the dining table. We had no need to open the drawer until I told David I never looked there for matches before we bought some and that I bet we would find matches in there. Sure enough, we found matches, and tucked in the bottom of the drawer next to muffin cups were the missing trailer keys. Come to find out from David, he saw another shooting star last night! God is GOOD - all the time!

Drumroll Please!

This morning, it was David's turn to have breakfast in bed. I got up and fixed coffee and made blueberry pancakes and brought them over to him. He just laughed. But I think he enjoyed it. Wednesday is the day the RV Service comes through the campground to check if anyone needs a repair. They said they would swing by our campsite to check our trailer brakes midmorning.

After breakfast, I went for an early morning walk and took some pictures of one of the locals from across the river. :o) There is a nice little bridge that got me there. It's the bridge we came across with the trailer so we could get to our campsite. I am told it is an old railroad bridge. We are in slot #82 of 87 trailer sites. There is also tent camping close to our campsite.

There are some nice spots on the other side that are taken by people who come up here for a whole month or spend the entire summer here. A number of campers have 4-wheelers so they can take the jeep trails over the mountains. Maybe one day we will come back here and do that. David's parents used to come to this campground and stay a couple of months. They made a bunch of friends here. David's mom came up here once after George passed away, but she says it isn't the same without him. I can understand that. Anyway, here is the old railroad bridge I was talking about.

On the far side of the river from our campsite are a number of interesting things. The campers who are here all summer are on that side of the river and they really like to make their campsites feel like home. They have grass around their site and most of them have a flowerbed. They are growing everything from iris to red poppies. I took pictures of both.

The iris are blue and purple. The purple ones are so dark in some places that they are almost black. But the purple is still vibrant! I look forward to the day that we can come up here for the summer - or at least for a few weeks at a time. We will have to wait until David retires of course and figure out a way for me to get my monthly infusions.

Anyway, I had lots of fun on my outing this morning. I went and sat in the swings for a while. The little pavilion with the swings looks pretty new as the wood hasn't weathered. You can tell the newer parts of the campground. The owner makes little improvements every year. Closeby, there are several cabins that you can rent. They sleep anywhere from 3 - 6 people. Priest Gulch has a great website too.

After returning from my walk, I sat down and finished the rest of the book I started day before yesterday. I was reading Life on the Rock by Jeff Cavins. It is the story of his conversion - or reversion - to the Catholic Church. Jeff Cavins was in Austin in May when I bought the book and had him sign it. It was an easy and interesting read. I'll start reading my other book this evening - The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian.

To bide the time until the RV Service came to fix the trailer brakes, I watched other friendlies in the park - lots of birds, including hummingbirds - and chipmunks. I finally got out my telephoto lens here at the campsite and had fun taking pictures of the chipmunks' antics - eating and playing - and chasing each other.

About half an hour into my photo shoot, the RV Service drove up. Come to find out, the brake shoe popped off the drum on the one wheel that had locked. Brakes on all the other wheels look fine. He will be coming back either this evening or tomorrow morning with the new brake shoe. Hurray! And how convenient is this that the repairman comes to you! He was also quite reasonable for a come-to-the-customer service. David went ahead and paid him so we can leave for Silverton bright and early in the morning. Fix the shoe on the brake drum and we will roll! Woohoo!!!

Trip to Telluride

Today began with breakfast in bed! And things just got better from there. After breakfast, we got in the car and headed to Telluride - a ski town about 50 miles north of Priest Gulch. I'll say no more. Enjoy the pictures!

  

 

 

Soaking in Mother Nature

This is a relaxing day. I slept in while David drove into Cortez to buy the new tire. At 6:00 AM, it was 39 degrees outside. But I stayed under the warm blankets until 9:00 AM. After fixing and eating a bowl of hot oatmeal, David drove in. I fixed blueberry pancakes for him - and yes, I have to say that I also ate pancakes. The altitude always gives you a voracious appitite! Then we went out for a walk.

I took my camera this time and shot a few pictures of the area campsites and the river. What a beautiful morning! On the other side of the river from us are campsites of people who come here every year and stay for the summer. Also on the other bank of the river is a bridge/pavilion with swings. We sat a while relaxing in the swings, just taking in everything around us.

By the time we walked back to camp, it was already lunch time. Homemade pizza tastes ten times better in the mountains! Since then, I've been watching a chipmunk playing close to our firepit and a few people fishing on the opposite river bank. It almost looks like there is snow falling; the seeds from the cottonwoods are blowing everywhere. I keep hearing the Hummingbirds fly up to the red lanterns David has strung along the front of the awning. They are attracted to the red but we don't have a feeder. Maybe I'll get one tomorrow when we drive into Telluride for the day.

Time for some quiet meditation to just soak this all in.

Later...

We had a campfire last night and this evening, David built another one. So we sit like Ma and Pa in our chairs with a blanket each as we wait for the sun to fully set and the stars to appear in the sky.

Last night, just before David came into the trailer for the night, he was looking up into the starlit sky and noticed a collection of stars that formed a cross. He was just staring up at them when a shooting star went past. It caused him to smile and he came running into the trailer to tell me about it. He said that it was as though God was saying, "Trust me." I thought of Abraham looking at the sky trying to count the stars and God was saying, "Trust me." Maybe I should start calling David - Abraham!

"Roughing It" in Style on the Dolores River

Today is Sunday and we got up early enough to have a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs and biscuits before leaving camp for Cortez. We went to 10:30 AM Mass at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church. They obviously are used to visitors as they had us all stand and tell where we were from. There were people from Arizona and Arkansas and a few others from Texas. It was a nice little church. The liturgy was o.k. overall, but they sang the Lamb of God with various names for Jesus and they stood right after the Lamb of God when everyone is supposed to kneel. David and I were the only ones kneeling. I am so thankful that I go to a church that is liturgically correct

After Mass, we made a quick stop by the local Walmart. It's amazing how many things you leave behind when you are camping. How could I ever have forgotten the hot chocolate and marshmallows?!!! David was in search for matches and lighter fluid for the campfire. (That's where I'm sitting right now.) It was nice looking at the countryside on the way there and back without the concern of the trailer behind us. I think that David has let go of his worrying. Praise be to God!

We both took a nap this afternoon. For me it was much needed as I have not been sleeping that well. Part of it may be the altitude. I always get headaches when I'm in the mountains. Small drawback for all the beautiful scenery.

After a nap, I watched David change the tire on the trailer while eating a cherry chocolate ice cream cone. How decadent is that!? David will take the damaged tire to be replaced tomorrow since the Walmart in Cortez has the right tire.

I think that I will be sleeping in tomorrow morning or maybe sitting outside the trailer in the cool morning air with a cup of coffee. It's amazing that Starbucks even makes it here via my bottled coffee latte. This must be what they call having your cake and eating it too. Not to mention being able to get on my computer and blog our travels.

It's been a long time since I "roughed it" while camping. David grew up with a trailer and my family had a pop-up. Although we cooked outdoors and didn't have toilet facilities (other than a porta-potty) and we slept in sleeping bags, the only time I remember being truly uncomfortable was one camping trip to the northern part of Michigan. We camped somewhere close to the Sault Ste. Marie in a tent on the hard ground and during the night the wind blew the tent down on top of us. The wind was so strong, you could run against it and not move forward. We were looking for Jasper along the shores of the Great Lake. It was very cold there and I only had shorts and sleeveless top. That's the extent to which I would ever want to rough it and these days I don't want to do that. Sleeping arrangements are very important to me. When I don't sleep well, I don't feel well.

David and I bought a small trailer back in the early 1990s and as the boys grew, we grew out of it. We bought our current trailer in 2002. It is a little bigger and now that the boys have all moved away from home, there is lots of room. There are hassles to having a trailer - storing it when not in use for one - but the advantages outway the disadvantages, I think. You have the best of both worlds - the conveniences of home and the beauty of Mother Nature.

(view from our trailer window)

Tonight, we ate like royalty. David had bought 2 filet mignon to grill and I fixed baked potatoes and fresh green beans to go with them. We ate at the picnic table outside the trailer. Then it was time for our ritual walk through the campground taking in the sound of the river and the birds, making a note of photos I will take when we go out next and I have my camera in hand. I figured out that my computer will take my xD card so I can let everyone enjoy what I am enjoying. It's too bad there isn't a camera that captures the smells of the trees and the campfires. You are really missing out on a lot when you can't take it ALL in. Otherwise, you can't beat the view from my window can you?