Cottonwood Pass

Buena Vista
We
We drove up to see the Continental Divide at Cottonwood Pass, only 20 miles from Buena Vista. The road was steep with lots of hairpin turns, and we were glad we were not pulling our 5th wheel. The two lane road is paved up to the top, and we did see some trailers being towed but they were small ones.

The view is quite spectacular -- we had a great view of the Sawatch Range.

In the third picture you can see part of the road that we drove up, and in the corner you can see a bit of snow. Even though it was a sunny day in August, it was cold and windy at the pass. We'll return some other day when we are better dressed to hike a little on one of the trails. The elevation at the parking lot is 12,125 ft, and you can get up to 12,824 ft on the trails.

And of course I had to take a "tourist photo" of Doug in front of the Continental Divide sign.

Daytrip to Lakes

Buena Vista

We took a daytrip yesterday, north of Buena Vista, to Clear Creek Reservoir and Twin Lakes. Both places are popular with fisher-people. We saw both fly fishers and the old fashioned kind. This picture was shot about 20 miles north of BV. It was a hot afternoon when we left the RV park, but 10 degrees cooler at the lakes. Not sure what the elevation was. We sure are appreciating the natural beauty up here.

We took our Chihuahua, Chester, to the veterinarian this morning. He was not wanting to put weight on one of his rear legs since Saturday. The vet was one who had been recommended to us as being a good at diagnosing and surgery but not the best with his people skills. We were pleased with him (one of two vet clinics in town). Chester has a history of luxating patellas on both rear legs. That means his little kneecaps pop out of place when he walks. The leg that was bothering him was the same leg that had surgery in 2004 - surgery that was not completely successful. The vet did a good exam and felt the problem was inflammation. He gave us a prescription for Metacam which is better than giving aspirin. Chester is much better - back to his usual bratty self. He'll always have problems with his rear legs to some extent, but he gets around pretty well.

On the way home from the vet clinic, we stopped at a wonderful little bakery that we have discovered. They have very good bread, and sinfully luscious pastries. Somehow two big cinnamon buns jumped into our sack.

We are having some light rain and thunder/lightning with dark clouds coming over the mountains. In the summer, afternoon storms are common, but nothing like the heavy rain and high winds back in Nebraska. Rain is welcome here anytime.


Quote for the day:
"Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart." Erma Bombeck

Historic Cemetery Tour

Buena Vista

Yesterday we went on a historic cemetery tour to Mt Olivet Cemetary in BV. Re-enactors in costume were standing near "their" graves, and told of their lives and how they died.

The couple are Mr and Mrs. McPhelemy who came from Ireland during the potato famine. After a few years in the east, they heard of free land and gold in the west and moved their family to Colorado. He worked in the mines and later ranched, eventually becoming prosperous after some hard years of scraping to get by. They donated the land for McPhelemy Park.



The next one was a Madam, also known as a "soiled dove". She married a much older cruel man when she was 14, and he forced her into working at a brothel. That husband eventually died, and after several years of running the brothel, she remarried for love. They had some happy years, and she did charity work, trying to atone for her history. But when she died, the town refused to let her funeral be held at the church - they never forgave her for being a madam. Her husband held a service in their front yard.


















This guy had a very colorful past -- he was a gold miner but never struck it rich. He tried other work, and finally went east and studied homeopathy and became the equivalent of a pharmacist. On one of his travels, he was attacked by a grizzly bear and badly wounded. His friends got him to the doctor and after months he was able to walk again. Somewhere in there he was also shot and wounded. He recovered from all his misadventures and lived to the age of 91. He was county comissioner in his later years.
The older lady "Byrd" also had a very interesting life. She was born into a large very poor family who had too many children. For amusement, the children would wave at the train when it passed by. The conductor would always give this little girl a special wave. One day the train conductor and his wife came to their house and asked the parents if they could have this little girl. The parents said yes, so she went to live with them. This couple raised the girl and gave her a good education including music lessons. She married young but wasn't really in love with her husband. One day she was at some event with a friend and spotted a very handsome man. She said "I want to marry that man", so she left her first husband and married the handsome man who was also very rich. This husband pampered her and gave her everything she wanted. She wanted to take nurses to Europe - this was during WWI. So her husband paid for her to recruit women and train them as nurses, even bought them uniforms. Byrd took her nurses overseas to help the soldiers, and while there she met royalty and became friendly with them. After the war she came back to Colorado, and bought a hot springs resort. She invited her foreign friends to come and they did. She had all kinds of adventures and lived to be an old lady.


The saddest story was told by a young widow. She and her husband, who worked for the railroad, had two young children. Their wedding anniversary was coming up at the same time that a dance was going to be held in town. She got a new dress and her young husband got new boots. They danced all night and the children fell asleep on a bench. The next morning her husband had big blisters on both feet from too much dancing in his new boots. Two weeks later he died from blood poisoning. The young widow was overcome by grief. The railroad officials felt sorry for her and gave her a job as a telegraph operator in remote post in the mountains. She worked there almost a year, but felt so isolated and had no one to talk to and no way to resolve her grief. One day she just snapped and jumped in front of a train and died. Some passengers on the train took the two children to raise.

There were many other stories, but these are the ones I remember. Most of the characters told how hard their lives were. We paid $8 each for the tour, and it was well worth it. All proceeds go to the Buena Vista Heritage Association. This was a great "Living History" opportunity. History was never this interesting in school!

Deer in Buena Vista

We were driving in BV last evening a little after 7 p.m. and saw these two bucks grazing in a yard. So I finally got my deer photo! This was just two blocks from downtown. We just pulled the truck over to the curb and I shot out the window. I couldn't believe my luck when one of them looked up. They sure didn't seem bothered by us.
We have seen quite a few deer in town before, but I never had my camera ready. The first one we saw was walking down the middle of a street. Last week we noticed a doe calmly laying in a yard while people sat in lawn chairs not too far away. At first I thought it was one of those statues but then I saw her chewing.

I suppose all the deer in town are pests, but we have never heard anyone complaining. I think the town folk rather like being able to watch the deer up close. All young trees have protective fencing, as well as vegetable gardens and some flower beds. Deer ate the flowers off the pot I have outside our rig, so now we put the pot up in the truck bed at night.

Music in Buena Vista

We enjoyed two musical performances this week, right here in town. The first one was the weekly "concert in the park" that the town holds every Thursday in the summer. This was the first time for us, and honestly we did not expect too much. We were pleasantly surprised. The group was the Mountain Minstrels and they played Celtic and Irish music. The group consisted of a violinist/fiddler, a flutist who also played piccolo, a drummer on some kind of traditional Celtic drum, and two guitars. There was also a young gal who did clog dancing to a few of the tunes, and a vocalist. The Minstrels were talented musicians from Buena Vista, Leadville and Salida. The lead guitarist also makes guitars professionally. The town does not pay the groups who come to play at these weekly concerts -- a bucket is passed through the audience midway through the concert so they at least get gas money. We really enjoyed the music, as did the rest of the audience of about 100 people.

Our other musical experience last night (Saturday) was one of a summer series that was started by the Aspen Music Festival 30 years ago and is going strong. Most of the performances are in Aspen or Salida -- this is the only one this year in Buena Vista, so we were anxious to go. The performers were the Sybarite Chamber Players -- a string quintet who looked to be in their mid to late 20's. They are professional musicians based in NYC. All of them also have solo careers and have their Masters Degree in music; the gal who played viola is working on her doctorate. Several of them play with the New World Symphony as well as other venues. They organized into a non-profit and got a grant so they could bring their music to small towns.

I'm going to quote from the program:
"Devoted to educating and expanding the repertoire for string quintet, the Sybarite Chamber Players break down conventional musical boundaries to boldly step forward into a new genre of chamber music. Juxtaposing the likes of Stravinsky with Radiohead or Dvorak with Led Zeppelin, the Sybarite Chamber Players are considered one of the most versatile ensembles of is kind, nimbly programming the most fresh and daunting combinations of music styles."

First they played 'conventional' classical music -- Quintet in G Op. 77 by Antonin Dvorak. They were very very good. After the intermission, they got into their nonconformist roles, let their hair down (the girls literally), and played music from Radiohead that has been arranged especially for them. (Radiohead is an English alternative rock band from the early 1990's.) It was fun to hear, and to watch them obviously get such a kick out of performing. At one point one violinist played her 1885 violin with chopsticks, and the bassist beat his instrument with what looked like a big soup ladle!

They certainly were not what most people probably expected from a classical music event, but they were very good and stimulating, and got a standing ovation from the crowd.

The concert was held at a local church. Some of the older folks wore 'church clothes' but most people were very casual. It was fun to have this experience and not even have to get all dressed up, or travel out of our little mountain town.

When we were driving into our RV park, we saw a deer with antlers right beside the park office. He was busy nibbling grass and merely looked up when our headlights hit him. He was not at all frightened and calmly went back to his grazing. Must have also been a deer that ate all the flowers off my potted plant a few days ago. The dogs think that deer droppings are tasty (ugh). So we have culture and nature here in Buenie!

Quote for the day:
"Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience." Victoria Holt

Leadville visit

We took a drive to see the historic city of Leadville, 35 miles north of Buena Vista. Leadville, nickname "the two mile high city", is the highest incorporated city in the U. S. at 10,200 ft elevation. It is an old mining town -- gold, silver, lead and later molybdenum was mined. In the late 1800's, Leadville was the second most populous city after Denver; Oscar Wilde was one of the celebrities who came to the famous Tabor Opera House. Now the population is about 2,500. The last mine closed in the 1980's and Leadvillle hit hard times.


Leadville is very historic but not a pretty town in our opinion. Many of the old houses are still standing, some have been restored but most are still in need of repair.
We talked to a couple of people who live in Leadville -- they said that many of the employees who work at the big ski resorts live in Leadville because it is still affordable. This is a great area for people who love winter sports but need to live on a budget.

The Climax molybdenum mine is set to re-open in 2010, so the locals are looking forward to a boost in the economy.

Cottonwood Creek

Buena Vista

This is Cottonwood Creek -- it runs right through town! Quite a few houses back onto the creek, or even have it run in front. I imagine being that close to the creek adds quite a bit to property values. We have not heard of it ever flooding; this year it is running fast due to the big mountain snowfall that is now melting. I'd love to have that burbling water in my backyard. "Burbling" does not really describe it right now -- it is more like whitewater.
The Cottonwood is a tributary that runs into the Arkansas River.
As the creek approaches McPhelmy Park in Buena Vista, it widens and becomes the Town Lake which is a fishing spot for kids.
At the end of the lake, there is a pretty man-made waterfall. In the evenings, lights are turned on under the waterfall. After the waterfall, the water goes in a culvert under the street, then continues rushing on through town.

You can see part of a railroad depot that is being restored on the park grounds.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of this huge old tree in the park. I think some trees have character -- this one certainly does! At first I thought it was a cottonwood, but the leaves look like willow. If only trees could talk, this one might have some interesting stories to tell.