Library Card!

Buena Vista, Colorado

I am really a happy camper now -- I have a library card! BV offers temporary library privileges to summer residents. I had to fill out a form and pay $30, and I can only check out two books at a time. (Regular patrons can check out eight books.) When we leave, if all materials have been returned, I get my $30 back. I think that is a very good deal. Very forward thinking for such a small town.

The Buena Vista library is only two years old - it is a very attractive building. The library used to be housed in an old double wide trailer. The library is not huge but they have a respectable selection. I am reading "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen, and also have "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. Both books have been on my want-to-read list for some time. I am in the lap of luxury reading good books, hard bound at that. Another reason to like Buena Vista.


Quote for the day:
"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." -- Mark Twain

Historic Downtown Buena Vista

We stopped in at the Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce/Tourist office and picked up a town/area map and some other information. We met a lady who moved here from Wichita KS five years ago. Kay and her husband were visiting and liked BV so much that they moved here and opened up a small business - an arts gallery. Kay said she much prefers winters here to those in Wichita; she said BV does not get the ice storms, and the snow is not bad. She gave us her recommendations on restaurants and we ate lunch at the Evergreen Cafe -- a funky cute place. I had the grilled tofu scramble with salsa which was pretty good; Doug had Alpine eggs - eggs, potatoes, cheese, covered with sausage gravy. I won't tell his doctor.

We went for a walk in the historic downtown part of "Buenie" (pronounced 'Byoonie'; rhymes with 'you'). There are three blocks of old restored buildings. I love the triangular shape building - it now contains an attorney's office. This part of town has a touristy vibe to it. We did go into one gallery and found some nice overpriced paintings. I did find a great handmade gift for a relative. Living full time in an RV makes it easier to refrain from buying impulse items. There is also a kayak shop, of course. We were going to walk to the new whitewater park on the east end of town but it was farther than we thought, so will save that for another day.

There are 2,000 residents inside the city limits, and slightly over 2,000 in surrounding unincorporated Chaffee county. Buena Vista has only one traffic light. Most of the directions we get use the traffic light as a starting point.
Buena Vista was founded in 1864, in the mining heyday. The newspaper, the Chaffee County Times, was founded in 1880 and is still going strong. Buena Vista's economy was historically based on mining and agriculture, and to a lesser extent on ranching. There has been a prison here since 1889 which has provided jobs to the community -- it has changed over the years but is still here.
In the early 1980's the Climax molybdenum mine finally closed and the people of BV needed to turn to another industry to survive. Tourism became the answer to bolster the struggling economy. Whitewater rafting is big business in the summer - the Arkansas headwaters offers the best in the nation. Other recreation like fishing, snowmobiling, mountain biking and hunting is also important to the community.
The scenery and year-round mild climate, plus recreation, bring visitors to the area.

There are no chain fast food restaurants in town - we do have a burger place and a good pizza joint in addition to several other restaurants which are locally owned. We have a Central Market grocery in town, health food store, a hardware store, auto parts store, and an Alco (think early K-Mart). Any major shopping can be done in Salida, 30 miles to the south. Although we do believe in buying local when possible, we are making a list for the Wal-Mart!

Chihuahuas and other woes

Yesterday Glenda, one of the workampers stopped by to let us know that our forwarded mail had been mistakenly delivered by the post office to the neighboring campground. That was nice of her. When I opened the door to her, Chester, our 6 lb Chihuahua, slipped out the door. At first I wasn't worried because he doesn't go far. However, I didn't realize that Sassy, the campground owner's dog, was right outside too. Sassy is a Golden Retriever mix and we think daddy must have been a Curly Coat Retriever because she looks just like one. Sassy sticks close to Don and his golf cart, running loose but Don has excellent voice control and Sassy minds well. Don and Sandy are gone out of town for a family funeral, so the workampers are taking care of Sassy. Glenda had Sassy with her on the golf cart when Chester dashed out the door.
Chester has the typical Chihuahua 'Napoleon complex' -- thinks he is ten feet tall and bullet proof. He's bossy with our dogs but they all get along okay. Well poor Sassy didn't know what to think -- Chester charged right up to her, growling and sniffing her, acting all huffed up. Sassy turned away but he kept after her, even following her when she got on the golf cart. I finally was able to grab Chester - he gave a doggie "I could have really beaten you up if my Mom hadn't stopped me" comment. It would have been funny, except I didn't know Sassy's tolerance to small bratty dogs. One bite and good bye Chester.

Our RV refrigerator has gone on the fritz. At first it was just not cooling like it should. After calling the factory for advice, Doug ordered a 'thermister' part, thinking that he could do a relatively quick fix. But yesterday it stopped working completely. We found an RV mobile service guy who can do the repair and he will be out tomorrow (Monday). Good thing it is still under warranty. For now we have moved our frozen foods to the campground rec hall freezer, and we got ice to put in the fridge which is now temporarily an old fashioned 'ice box'.

The truck has a large multi-arm crack in the windshield, the result of a rock thrown by a passing vehicle. Buena Vista has a mobile glass repair and they are coming Tuesday to replace the windshield. Our deductible is $100 so that is what it will cost us.

So all is well; we are getting off pretty lucky considering.

Quote for the day: "The only disability in life is a bad attitude." Scott Hamilton

Hiking to Agnes Vaille Falls

We took a short drive south to Chalk Creek Canyon near Nathrop. The Chalk Cliffs are on the bottom southeast edge of Mt. Princeton (elevation 14, 197'). A sign reads: "The striking white cliffs on Mt. Princeton are made not of chalk but of kaolinite, a soft rock produced by hot springs percolating through cracks in the mountain." Along the road we did see several 'hot springs' resorts that looked quite busy.

We decided to hike to Agnes Vaille Falls which was described as a 'short and easy' hike, right up our alley. The middle photo shows Doug toward the start of the hike. The only difficult part was the proliference of loose rocks - we had to watch our footing. The path took us up onto the mountain side a bit. The area is described as having Bighorn Sheep but we didn't see any. The waterfall was very pretty - wish I could have captured the sound.

There were several interpretive markers -- this one tells the story of why it was named after Agnes. "Born in 1890 to a prominent Denver family, Agnes Wolcott Vaille pursued an adventurous life. During World War I, she joined the American Red Cross in France. When she returned, she became Secretary of the Denver Chamber of Commerce. Agnes always had a passion for hiking and mountain climbing. During a winter ascent of 14,255 ft Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, Agnes slipped on ice and fell down the north face of the mountain. She survived the fall but froze to death before help could arrive."
A close friend who discovered the falls named it after Agnes.

We saw many houses and cabins from the road on the way back, some perched high in the foothills. Rather remote living and no cell phone coverage in the canyon. Beautiful, but we'll take our amenities. Being able to visit such gorgeous areas within a short drive is like having our cake and eating it too.

Buena Vista RV park

We are now settled into our summer home at Valley Mobile RV Park just two miles outside the town of Buena Vista. We will stay here for almost three months. We were looking for a place to sit out the hot summer months and still be within a day or so of Denver, where our family members live. There are no affordable decent places close to or in Denver. We love the state parks but they will only let us stay for two weeks. With the high fuel prices, we need to stay put for a while and put down temporary roots. Valley Mobile was recommended to us by friends in Texas. The location is good, the weather wonderful -- always cool at night and upper 80's during the day if the day is sunny. If the day is cloudy, so far the temps are in the mid 70's. And of course the low humidity which makes a huge difference. We have had enough of the sticky muggy Nebraska summers.

This is not a fancy place but it is neat and tidy, quiet, well maintained and the owners, Sandra and Don Trojanovich, are super nice people. We have full hook ups, concrete patio with picnic table, and a small grassy yard. We are close to town and a nice grocery store. The price is very reasonable by Colorado standards. This area is arid, so what is not watered is dry dusty scrub. We have two young baby trees in our "yard" -- sure wish they were larger.

We got in on Sunday, and on Monday we were invited (along with everyone else) to a Mexican pot luck get together at the rec hall. There was tons of great food and a chance to meet some of the other folks.

The photo with the wagon is taken from the front of the campground, facing west and you can see Mt. Princeton, one of the Collegiate Peaks. I also took a photo from the rear of the campground - you can see some foothills. There are also mountains on that side as well. Buena Vista sits in the Upper Arkansas River Valley. The Arkansas River is a whitewater rafting mecca, so they get lots of summer visitors. The other picture is of the laundry building.
We are looking forward to exploring the area and "cooling our jets" for a while before our fall travels.

The Case of the Flying Window

We moved from Mueller State Park to Buena Vista CO last Sunday. It was only a 75 mile drive west on Hwy 24 - a good road and fairly scenic but up and down grades. We kept an eye on the engine temperature going over Wilkerson Pass but we did not overheat. The photo is from the truck while going toward the Collegiate Peaks near Buena Vista.

We did have our share of drama however. As we were pulling into our new campground, a car pulled in right after us -- the man jumped out holding a window and said "Did you lose this?" Well we started to say 'no' but looked at the rig and sure enough, one of the bedroom windows was missing! This nice man had seen it blow off and he stopped to pick it up, then followed us ten miles until we stopped. What a great guy - we could not thank him enough. The window frame was just slightly bent in one place but not broken. We felt so lucky - that window could have blown off the side of a hill, or worse, it could have hit someone and caused an accident. What are the chances of someone seeing it fall and stopping to get it, then following us, and then the window was not even broken!! Our Good Samaritan took off before we could gather our wits together to offer him gas money. We'll just have to "pay it forward" and help someone else when we can.

We were greeted by two workamper guys (the campground owners had taken the day off) who escorted us to our site. We were just going to use duct tape to put the window back, but one of the guys said "Look, it came off at the rivets -- I've got a pop rivet gun and I think I can fix it." So they got out their ladder and proceeded to put the window back in almost as good as new. We had two more guardian angels to thank.

This window is the bedroom egress window, but it is made to also open for ventilation. We must have failed to fully close and latch it this time. That is one mistake we won't make again. We are going to use a clamp on it when traveling to ensure it stays in place.

Quote for the day: "One can never pay in gratitude; one can only pay 'in kind' somewhere else in life." -- Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Colorado Wolf & Wildlife Center

We had noticed the sign for the Wolf Center, so we called and made reservations to go on a tour. The place is on 35 acres of rolling hills with lots of trees and big rock formations, very well maintained. They have 22 wolves, 2 coyotes, 4 red foxes and one wolf-dog. All the animals have been rescued from captive situations so cannot be set loose in the wild. CWWC is the only certified public wildlife sanctuary in Colorado and runs on donations. In addition to the tour fees they do get some corporate sponsors and a lot of donated hours. Two women, Darlene and Peggy basically run the operation with the help of volunteers.
Peggy was our tour guide. Most of the enclosures are one acre in size with natural settings of trees, rocks and dens and have plenty of room for the wolves to hide if wish. They put two adult wolves to an enclosure. They do socialize the younger wolves and take them to schools for educational programs, so children can learn that wolves cannot be pets, and how important they are in the ecosystem. All the animals are spayed and neutered. Peggy was able to lure most of the wolves fairly close so we had a good view. Peggy gave us the history of each animal - they come from backyards, fur farms (the red foxes), Hollywood, and even a college dorm in the case of the wolf-dog. Human ignorance or cruelty seals the fate of these animals. Here they can live out their lives.

Toward the end of our tour, Peggy asked if we wanted to hear the wolves howl - of course we did! She told our group of nine that we had to howl first to get them going. It took our group three tries of human 'howling' before we got results. First the coyotes started, then the wolves joined in. They kept up the 'music' for about five minutes; it was really special to hear.

The mission of CWWC is "Education, Preservation, Protection". Peggy told us that the Bush administration has de-listed wolves as a protected species -- this is not a good thing. She told us that Colorado needs wolves; the Elk population has grown too large and suffers from 'wasting disease'. She had hoped that wolves would come down from Yellowstone and repopulate Colorado, but now hunters shoot them.

We paid $10 for a group tour and it was well worth it. For a donation of $100, we could have had 30 minutes of "interaction" with the wolves. Peggy said that some of the wolves even give kisses. We really enjoyed our tour and seeing these magnificent animals up close. It would be so much better if they could live in the wild. For more information, go to www.wolfeducation.org.

Florissant Fossil Beds, Colorado

Today we went to see Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, only a dozen miles away from Mueller state park. Today Florissant is a beautiful area of meadows, forests and wildflowers. The town itself is tiny but was a thriving community back in the late 1800's. The fossils here were formed 35 million years ago. A lake stretched 12 miles through an ancient forested valley with towering redwood trees and a lush humid climate. A volcano created volcanic mudflows and buried part of the redwood trees. The volcano erupted frequently over time, each time showering the landscape with millions of tons of ash and pumice. Fossils of a diverse mix of more than 140 species of plants have been discovered at Florissant. The insect fossils are remarkable -- insects are rarely preserved as fossils because they are so fragile. The volcanic ash that washed into Lake Florissant was finer than talcum powder and ideal for this delicate preservation job. Over 1,400 species of insect fossils have been discovered here.


It was a struggle to preserve this special area from real estate development. For over 50 years scientists and concerned citizens campaigned to create a park to protect the fossil beds. Finally in 1969 the national monument was established.
Doug is standing near "Big Stump", the largest petrified redwood stump found in the monument. It measures 12 ft tall, 38 ft around and is all that remains of a tree that may have been over 230 ft tall and 750 years old when the mudflow buried its base.

At the visitor's center you can see some of the tiny insect and leaf fossils on display. The visitor's center also has a short movie that tells of the history - we watched that before heading out on one of the trails. There was a ranger-led hike that we joined for a short time but they were going so slow that we struck out on a self-guided hike. This was a very enjoyable day and the weather was mild and about 70 degrees.


Quote for the day: "You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school." -- Stephen Ambrose

Feeling punk

Mueller State Park, Colorado

We have been nursing our colds for the past few days. Being at the altitude of 9500 ft sure has slowed us down a lot. (For comparison, Denver is 5400 ft.) The weather yesterday was overcast and quite chilly; the high was 49 degrees. Sure wouldn't want to be dry camping here! We are very glad to have electricity, and between our heat pump and the propane heater we manage to keep warm -- dogs cuddled under lap blankets helps too!

We have not felt like going anywhere, except short walks with the dogs. Today the sun is shining and we enjoyed a slightly longer morning walk. Surprisingly, we have not suffered 'cabin fever' as much as I thought we might. I have done a lot of reading. One of my fears when we started out on this new traveling life was that I might run out of books, but that has not happened. A few friends have saved up books for me, and we often are at campgrounds that have book exchanges. If I am really feeling like I am getting low on books, we visit Goodwill stores where I have found some good ones. Books that I have enjoyed lately are "Angels in the Gloom" by Anne Perry, and re-reading "Prince of Tides" by Pat Conroy - such lyrical prose. I am now reading Anna Quindlen's "Black and Blue" (very good) and then waiting for me are Patricia Cornwell and Dana Stabenow mysteries, and a collection of essays by Jacquelyn Mitchard, one of my favorite authors. In addition to reading, I enjoy Sudoku puzzles.

Doug passes the time by listening to music and playing with his Nintendo DS (not just for kids anymore with the advent of the 'Brain Age' games). I like to play Wordjong on the DS too. We have also watched a few movies on pay-per-view TV. Now that we are starting to feel better, we look forward to getting outside more and enjoying the fabulous mountain scenery.

Snow!

 Mueller State Park Colorado

We had 'thundersnow' today. I heard distant thunder at 7:00 am, so hurried to get the dogs outside for their morning potty. They are afraid of thunder. Just as Piper was squatting, a clap of thunder interrupted her, so I had to keep her walking until she found a 'safer' spot. Right after all three dogs got back inside the rig, it started to rain. The rain turned into fat snowflakes, and it snowed heavily for over two hours. Pretty, eh? The good thing about this altitude is that the snow melts quickly. I took the photo from our bedroom window.

Yesterday we drove down to the town of Woodland Park, 10 miles from here. It is a quaint town of about 6,000 people, and they have a Super Wal-Mart, so we stocked up. I got a haircut - she did a decent job. It is always a gamble going to different hair salons, but I figure its only hair, and it will grow back if I get a bad haircut. We haven't had any trouble finding walk-in hair cutting places.

Both Doug and I have colds and are congested. Today we are not doing much, but we do need to do laundry this afternoon. The camper services bldg has washing machines and dryers. So far the Colorado state parks that we have visited have all had laundry facilities - clean ones too.

Quote of the day:
"It is best to learn as we go, not go as we have learned." -- Lesle Jeanne Sahlar

Hike at Mueller state park

 Today has been rather windy and cool with dark clouds part of the day. Finally we decided it was not going to storm and went for a short hike on one of the trails. Part of the trail was closed due to Elk calving season. We saw some kind of scat and clumps of dark gray fur - bear perhaps? Have to get a book on scat so we can tell what kind of critter was there.

Earlier today I was sitting at the dining table and suddenly a ruby-throated hummingbird appeared at the big window. He flitted for a second or two, long enough so I could appreciate his iridescent coat. His tiny bill sort of pecked at the window; maybe he was admiring his reflection? The park service prohibits putting out hummingbird feeders since the bears could be attracted to the sweet nectar. Too bad, as we'd love the company of more of the tiny birds.

Mueller beauty

 Mueller State Park
I woke up early this morning and crept outside without waking Doug or the dogs. The sun was up but the breeze had not yet stirred. As I walked around sipping my morning beverage and enjoying my solitary communion with nature, I thought up a little poem-thing:

Morning quiet
Snow on mountains
Sun caressing treetops
Crow disturbing the peace
Rarified air -- breathe deeply

Once the sun warmed up the air sufficiently, the wind came, beginning with a soft breeze. After doing the morning chores, we took a bike ride around the campground. We are scouting for an easier campsite for our next time here - one we can get into without a shoehorn. The combination of the high altitude with hills makes me realize how out of shape I am. I took this photo from the empty group campground, the highest point we found so far. You can see the treeline on the mountains; click on the photo to enlarge it.
Mueller is open year-round, but we don't plan to come here before June. This is a good time;the aspen trees have just opened their leaves.
With all the bear warnings, I was a little jumpy last night when I took Piper out for her potty at bedtime. I turned on all our outside lights and stayed close to the rig.

Mueller State Park Colorado

 
 We arrived at Mueller State Park this afternoon. This is an absolutely beautiful place -- at elevation 9500 feet, we can really appreciate the mountain scenery. The first picture I took while I was standing by our picnic table. The picnic table has a sign prominently displayed that says "Warning! Bears are attracted to food and odors" and cautions against leaving anything out. We'll have to remember to empty the outside dog water dish at night. The wind is whispering in the pines and the air is fresh and crisp. We hope we won't get campers close to us and probably won't during the week. Weekends might be busy with Colorado Springs 35 miles to the east.

The drive up here on Hwy 24 was spectacular, with amazing views. Hwy 24 is a good road, four lane most of the way -- there were some steep grades but "Bertha", our truck, handled it well. I call her "Bertha Big Buns" because she is rather hippy with her dually rear end, but we are glad of all that power when we are towing "Homer", our 5th wheel.

We reserved a 40 ft pull through site -- sounds good, but the 40 ft is in a tight "C" shape. Doug had to do some maneuvering to get us to fit. The back of the rig is hanging over a hillside, and the slide-outs are touching the pine trees on both sides, but we made it. The payoff is getting to live close to nature and breathe mountain air for two weeks.