Katie's Adventure on Hwy 12

The day started off slowly - slept late (7:30!) :) messed around till about 1:00 and decided to run into Walsenburg (15 miles) and pick up a few things at the Dollar General Store. It was raining when I left, and on the way back, the cloud formations over the mountains were so spectacular that even though it was still spitting rain, I stopped at a "pullover" a couple of miles outside of town to take some pictures. I jumped out and was snapping away, when it started raining harder, so I quickly got back in the car and drove "home".  I parked and turned around to get Katy out of the back seat and she wasn't there! - or anyplace else in the car! I quickly drove back out to where I had stopped, half expecting to find her dead or badly hurt on the road, but she was nowhere to be seen. The speed limit out there is 65, and most cars are going at least that fast - lots of curves too, so would be hard to see a little dog until it was too late. After driving up and down that stretch of highway several times I gave up and came home, convinced I had seen the last of my little dog, and very upset! About 15 minutes later, I got a phone call! Two young ladies - sisters, maybe 15 and 17 - had found her and picked her up - and - long story short - it wasn't long before I had my puppy dog back!  Sometime later, I glanced out the door of my camper to see a deer stroll past - maybe 3 - 4 ft from the door! I grabbed my phone/camera and went out to see not one, but two deer strolling around the RV park eating grass.

I've never seen a town with so much wildlife in it!

Very quiet day! Kelly and Teresa said goodbye last night, as they had to get on the road early this morning to drive first to Colorado Springs to pick up Teresa's Mom, Mary, then to Lawrence - Total of 644 miles, Kelly said later! I spent the day doing some "maintenance chores" and taking it easy. Clouded up and rained (again) this afternoon - has been doing that about every day since I've been here. Nice rain, off & on for about 30 minutes, then cleared off about the time I went to Mass - 6:00 - at Christ the King, here in La Veta.  The priest is from Uganda and a little hard to understand - also has long sermons, about 30 minutes! The church is small and looks to be quite old. A little bit reminiscent of St Peters at Willowdale, but not as well kept.

Train ride

Another busy day! Rode the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad out to the top of La Veta Pass where some very enjoyable music and entertainment was presented in a natural ampitheatre run by solar and wind power.  Kelly, Teresa & I boarded the train at about 9:45, and returned around 5:00.  One highlight of the trip was the 7 or 8 bears sighted alongside the track in one area.  Later, K & T came over & we had one last evening of visiting - they will leave early in the morning to go to Colorado Springs & pick up Teresa's Mom, then return to Kansas.  They will be driving to Lawrence first to help Kristen & Leah move, then on home to Wichita on Sunday.  I will have a few days of solitude before driving to Dodge City next week to meet Kerry & Tracey and pick up John & Sydney.  I will miss my company, no doubt about it, but if I'm going to pursue this lifestyle, I'd better expect to be alone quite a bit of the time!

Catching up on posting

Thursday, July 28, 2011 - Today we drove up to Cripple Creek - looked around a little bit, did some gambling, and drove home. Teresa came home with a profit of about $90, Kelly & I didn't do so well! Were all very tired by the time we got back - about 7:00p, so went home & to bed early.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 - Drove to Alamosa, by way of the Sand Dunes National Park - http://www.nps.gov/grsa/index.htm . Nice drive, and nice day - the Dunes were spectacular, as usual! Didn't do much in Alamosa, but a little Walmart shopping (a $29 printer for me), and eat at a very good Mexican Buffet. Back "home" in time to take a nap, then K&T brought dinner over (Chef Salad) and Kelly played his guitar for awhile.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - K & T spent the day in and around Colorado Springs visiting Teresa's Mom & Aunt. I stayed home (for a change) and "played catchup" - later joined them at the La Veta Inn where they ate dinner after they returned. Had my first "Camper Emergency" in the form of a power outage. Had called the Camper Repair & Svc. place in Walsenburg, but Circle the Wagons - owner came & reset the main breaker and saved the day!

Monday, July 25, 2011 - Drove down to Trinidad by way of the Scenic Highway of Legends - http://www.highwayoflegends.com/index.php?showimage=7 - viewing many historical places along the way and stopping at some. A little shopping at Walmart while in Trinidad. Located the Amtrak "depot" - could be described as a very small shed. Back home for a nap, then later we drove down to Cuchara where we ate dinner at the "Dog Bar".

Sunday, July 24, 2011 - K & T drove me to Walsenburg to church, after church we drove to Pueblo where looked around some, went on a short riverboat tour - http://www.puebloharp.com/ - and ate at an Italian Restaurant recomended by the young man at the Riverwalk Boat tour place.Back later to my "house" for hamburgers and Guitar music by Kelly!

Sunday, July 24 - Ally, Ashley and Austin headed for home this morning after meeting Kelly & Teresa for breakfast.

Saturday, July 23 - Today we stayed around here - out to the Lathrop State Park for awhile - Ally & Ashley walked aways and stuck their feet in the water. Austin liked that part! Kelly & Teresa got into town about 5:15 and after eating with them at the restaurant at Sammies where they are staying, (and leaving Austin with them) Ashley, Ally & I went to the Melodrama at the La Veta Center for the Performing Arts. - a converted church/theatre! a unique, interesting, and very entertaining evening topped off by a "bear viewing" in the motel parking lot! It ran across the lot just as we were driving in, then hung around awhile to peer from behind a tree at the humans who had come outside to peer at it!

Friday, July 22 - we traveled in the direction of Colorado Springs, did several of the Royal Gorge activities - across then down into the Gorge. It got pretty hot there, especially standing in line for the incline rail. Austin was a trooper - most of the time riding on his mother's back (or front)! To Garden of the Gods after that before returning to La Veta.

Thurs., July 21 - We went to Cuchara for lunch at the "Dog Bar", then on to Trinidad and the Super Walmart store VIA the "Highway of Legends".


Wed., July 20 - Ally & Ashle (& Austin) had a few problems getting here, but finally arrived about 1:00 am. First was the heavy rain (Lamar, I think), then after leaving La Juanta on that long lonely stretch of road called Hwy 10, they (mistakenly) took a detour which added about an hour to their trip - did arrive safely though and I was very glad to see them!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Monday morning we headed for Cripple Creek about 10:00. We would have gone sooner, but had to wait until "Charlie's" opened to get ice cream before leaving! Charlie's is a small local grocery store and ice cream parlor.  There are benches outside and they are usually occupied by ice cream eating people. We also planned to visit the "Bishop's Castle" - a strange and unusual castle built by a strange and unusual man named Bishop. After several hours of wandering and not finding the castle, we gave up and went on to Cripple Creek.  Had reserved a room at the "Cripple Creek Motel" - the only motel in town that accepts dogs - and as Sydney expressed it in a Facebook entry: it was a "piece of poop motel"! Stayed overnight and (of course) enjoyed an evening of gambling. Back to La Veta on Tues., and a quiet evening at "home" - except for a short picture taking trip into the country, both directions from town.  Wednesday, Kerry, Tracey, John & Sydney started the trip home about 8:30.  Very quiet after they all left, and I spent the day doing laundry and getting ready for my next visitors - Ally, Ashley, and Austin.  They are on the way - called from Holly, Colo., where they had stopped to wait for a rain storm to pass, and should be here sometime after midnight. Hopefully not too much after!

La Veta is a very unique and interesting little town. Among the unique features are the deer which wander around town. They are obviously accustomed to people and not at all afraid - will stand and watch as people and cars pass by.  Bears are also common in the area - Sydney saw two yesterday while on the train ride to La Veta Pass.

Another long day of painting! Kerry & I went at 9:00 am to our painting class at the La Veta School of the Arts and with a short lunch break, painted all day until 4:00. Tracey took John & Sydney on a day trip up to Alamosa and the Sand Dunes, and did a little shopping for camper supplies.  The painting class was really great - we both felt like we learned a lot - plus had a lot of fun! Tomorrow will probably head for Cripple Creek and maybe spend the night near there.

Kerry, Tracey, John & Sydney arrived Wednesday eve., about 5.

Thurs. we all drove to the "Lazy S" otherwise known as Dennis & Marilyn's Colorado place near Antonito, where Denise, Michael, and 3 of Michaels friends are spending a few days. Said Hi to Denise and borrowed a couple of painting books, then drove down to Taos, N.M. where we ate Dinner and looked around a little. Stopped on the way at the Rio Grande Gorge, near Taos, also stopped at a place where they are building things out of tires, cans and cement. Very strange. 

Fri.. we drove to Cuchara, then on down to Trinidad and Raton, NM. Tried to find the depot in Trinidad, but never did locate it, so went on to Raton and found the one there.  In case we need to send John & Sydney on the train, I'll know where to go to put them on. Tri

Saturday, Kerry & I went to our watercolor painting lesson/workshop. Tracey and kids went rode on the train out to Fir where there was a live concert, then back on the train.

Long day - tired - going to sleep now - maybe write some tomorrow night.

.............the rest of the story about the awning. About 30 minutes after I got it up and took the picture (and sat under it - smiling) the wind came up and started blowing pretty hard. I was struggling to get it down and having trouble when a neighbor showed up to help me. I'm finding out that the wind blows in Colorado too - maybe not quite as hard as at home, but I'll probably just leave the darned awning down from now on!  Later yesterday I drove to Walsenburg (15 mi.) to Dollar General and a hardware store. Also noticed a Safeway there, so a little more shopping there than in La Veta.

Today I decided I needed to start getting out more, so was walking Katy over by the river (really more like a creek) and talked to a lady whose trailer is parked nearby. She invited me to come to "Happy Hour" at 4:00. Everyone brings their lawn chair and whatever they want to drink and they put the chairs in a big circle there by the river under the trees and have a "gabfest". I went, met a bunch of women and enjoyed it. There are actually two circles of chairs - one for the women and another for the men - a great way to get acquainted!



I just finished putting up the awning -
ALL BY MYSELF!!!!





Now Livin' in La Veta!

It's Monday morning, July 11 - I'm sitting here in my camper in La Veta, Colorado - just realized I haven't written anything since before we left Hutch and I really intended to! Here's a rundown of the time since then:

Wed., July 6th - Steve & Kathy took off work about 4:00 and we left town at 5:15. Drove to Dodge City, parked the camper in an RV park, and went to the Casino for a couple of hours. 

Thurs., 7/7 - Next morning we headed out about 8:30 and got to La Veta around 2:00 with several stops along the way. Got the camper all set up and ate at __????_________  An uneventful trip (Thank God!) but of course a little tiring and stressful.  Later drove down to Trinidad to the Walmart store to get some groceries and other stuff.

Fri., 7/8 - Spent part of the day getting stuff into the camper and unloading. Steve worked on getting the awning down. It was stuck with the "pull cord" in the wrong place - hadn't rolled up with the awning. He got it down and "fixed". Drove down to Cuchara - spent a couple of hours there,   checked out the local grocery store.

Sat., 7/9 - Ate lunch at the little diner (Italian sausage sandwich - huge!), Drove out to the Lake and looked around, Later had ice cream at Charlies. I went to Mass at 6:00

Sun., 7/10 -  Kathy & Steve left about 9 am - I worked on my curtains and getting the rest of the stuff in out of the car and washed some clothes. First night by myself in Colorado!

All of these days, Kathy cooked at least 2 meals a day, sometimes 3! After the first couple of days when we were traveling, then getting settled, we ate out very little.  She's a wonderful cook, & I probably gained some pounds!  Steve worked at getting the camper level, fixing the awning and getting it easier to put up & down, taking the hitch off his truck, and other stuff. Also did his best to educate me about "camper maintenance".   Don't know how I would have managed without them.

Almost travelin' time!

Sarah's headin' back to Texas - as I "speak", Ally has returned to Kansas City, the Sheahans gathered at The Farm one more time, and July 4th, 2011 is history! The fireworks seemed more numerous and louder than ever this year. I wonder if it's a sign of improvement in the economy - people spending more money on fireworks? Today Katie gets a haircut, I tie down as many loose ends as I can get hold of, and try to remember everything I may need in the next 2 months - and - tomorrow we head for Colorado!

July 1st, only 5 more days!

Gettin' stuff together to leave - freakin' out a little bit at the thoughts of being gone from my home and my family (and my hometown, and my friends, and my church, etc., etc., etc.) for 2 months!  I'm going ahead with my plan though........no turning back now!!!