Drove out last Friday - Kerry, Tracey, and myself in 2 cars. We arrived at the Circle the Wagons Campground around 7:00 pm. Arvy had been delivered as planned and parked in the space I had reserved - #18.  Not leveled or hooked up to water, sewer, or electric though and I was a little disppointed about that, as I expected it all to be done.  It's not that hard to do those things, and we were able to get it all done, but just didn't want to after a long day's drive.  Also had to haul all my stuff in, and fix the beds for sleeping.  Strong smells in the camper, due to the bug and mouse treatments I had left. The worst was mothballs! I won't do that again!  Sat., after spending some time putting things away, we headed toward Colorado Springs with a stop at Walmart, checked into out motel, then up to Cripple Creek.  Stayed one night in Colorado Springs, and one night in a motel at Cripple Creek.  Monday, we drove on up to the south side of Denver to the new Ikea store.  Back in La Veta before dark. Tues. worked on trying to get the Satellite TV to work, plus a few other little jobs that I needed help with, and Wed. morning K&T headed for Kansas.  So - It's just me & Katy now, and we aren't expecting any more company until around the 4th of July when Tracey & Everette come to visit.  I worked on getting organized today. Tomorrow (hopefully) I will start washing the outside and/or cleaning inside. 

Back to Colorado!

I'm getting excited - in about 3 weeks, I'll be back in my "other residence" in La Veta, Colorado!  Wow! The winter went by so fast! I'm making plans & lists, have my spot reserved, and have talked to Birco and made arrangements to have Arvy pulled down to La Veta, parked, set up and dewinterized. Oh yeah - by the way - It's official! My camper's name is ARVY.

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Well, the party's over, I guess! George from Birco RV Service in Walsenburg will be here tomorrow to pick up my camper, pull it back to Walsenburg, winterize and store it thru the winter. I'm happy to be going home to my house, family, friends, cat, etc. (not necessarily in that order :)), but a little sad to be leaving this place I have enjoyed so much - the people I've gotten acquainted with too, although they're all leaving too, quite a few have already gone. I definitely plan to do it again next year! Thinking maybe I'll come a little sooner - around the 1st of June, and go home right after Labor Day.  Don't have to decide that now.

After I get the camper all taken care of, I may follow it back to Walsenburg so I can see where he puts it - then on down to Trinidad where I have motel reservations. Will spend the night there and pick up Colleen and Tracey when they arrive on the Amtrak train around 10-11, then head towards home. Probably will spend tomorrow night in Dodge City. By Sun. night, I'll be back in my own bed in Hutchinson, Kansas!

I took a lot of pictures this summer, hopefully will get some of them posted on here one of these days.

Decided today I would 1. Go to Walsenburg and talk to George Birrer the owner/operator of Birco RV Maintenance & Repair about picking up my camper and storing it for the winter, and 2. Drive down to Trinidad and see if I can locate the Amtrak Depot - so if Tracey comes on the train to drive back with me, I'll know where it is.  -  George was busy with another customer when I went by there, and I had one heck of a time finding the depot - AGAIN!  You just can't drive right up to it, only nearby and there is still construction in the area. When I got back to town I went by Birco again and George was gone, so I called his cell and he agreed to come and get it next friday, and pull it over to his campground, winterize it, and store it. I'm still not real comfortable with the situation, but don't know what else to do, so I guess I'll leave it as is.

I counted 14 RVs in the park today - out of a total of 41 sites - besides that, it was cool and rainy! It's starting to feel like fall, and I guess it's almost time. I spent most of the day working on the Sweet Adelines show program, after I went to the post office and picked up my mail. I mentioned to the very nice young lady behind the counter at the P.O. that I had canceled the mail forwarding, as I would be leaving before long. She said "When you make the last pickup, leave us your home address, and if anything else comes for you, we'll just send it on to you there." Wow! A little different from the post office in Hutch (and most other places) where you would have to fill out a form.

The bears seem to have left and the deer are back - saw a small group here in the park today. One lady told me it's because it's Bow & Arrow season, so they hang around town. Mmmmmm - I wonder - How do they know it's hunting season? Maybe they saw a friend get shot! How sad!

I'm ba-a-a-ack!  Went home to Hutch Labor Day weekend and spent the week there - took a break from vacationing. :) Checked on my house and yard (in good shape!), took in the fair - photography and art exhibits w/Kerry (fun!), had lunch with my Sweet Adeline friends, attended "Silver Sneakers" exercise class at the Y with my YMCA friends, went to the movie "The Help" with Pretty Prairie friend, Florene, and saw all my daughters - no sons :(  Drove to Dodge City yesterday (Sunday) after church and spent the night. Visited the casino for a little while, but it was taking my money, so didn't stay long! Got up this morning early and headed for Colorado. Was driving along thinking I should have had the oil changed while in Hutch, when I spotted the Walmart store in Lamar, CO. - zipped in there & got it changed, and was back on the road within an hour! I'm back in my camper now - tired, but happy I had a successful trip home and no trouble getting back. Arrived about 4:30 (KS time)

This is the most exciting thing happening here this evening! And that's not all bad!

The bears are becoming commonplace around here! The 2 cubs wander thru the campground daily, sometimes several times a day, and the mama bear can usually be seen a short distance away. There was an incident a couple of days ago where a mother bear upset a big dumpster on top of one of her cubs, killing it! That happened at Lucy's Campground on the other side of town, and when the news spread to the folks here, everyone was worried that it might have been one of "our" cubs - not the case though as they were seen here yesterday.  I went to Walsenburg today and did a little grocery shopping, then came home and spent most of the rest of the day reading a book. Went later to say good bye to Maryanne & Bob, leaving in the morning, took Katy along - she really likes their little pooch - who, by the way, is allowed outside all the time and just stays near their camper! :)

This morning I was invited to go with campground friends, Agnes & Don to see the Stations of the Cross at San Luis:   

A short forty-five minute drive southeast of Alamosa will lead you to the town of San Luis, where The Stations of the Cross are beautifully depicted in a series of life sized bronze sculptures placed along a comfortable three-quarter mile trail that climbs a short distance up a small mesa.(Ha! at 9000 ft. altitude it seems like a pretty long distance!)

We succeeded in hiking to the top where there is a small chapel. The bronze sculptures, the chapel, and the scene from the top, looking down on San Luis Valley were all very beautiful! Here is a picture of one of the sculptures.  On the way back, we stopped in Ft. Garland and ate (again) at the All Gon Cafe, and it was (again) very good! Spent a quiet afternoon - small shower, Happy Hour (actually Happy 30 minutes, because of another shower), and prepared to spend a quiet evening reading my book.  

About 6:30, I was sitting outside right beside the camper reading and Katy was tied close by.  I heard a small rustling sound and glanced up, thinking someone was walking thru the area between my camper and the next and whadaya think it was? Two small bears - not more than about 10 feet away! They were just strolling by, heading towards Katy, and she was so excited to have someone to play with, she was running towards them! I don't think they were anything but curious, but it scared the c___ out of me and I jumped up and probably yelled. That scared the bears and they started to run, but one decided to take refuge in the tree a few feet away. The other one then came back to get his/her brother/sister and evidently "talked him down", because after a few minutes the tree climber came down and they both left - at least they left my front yard! I happened to have my phone/camera in my pocket, so got some good pictures! 

                     

                                                                    

Big excitement here this afternoon, and again this eve.  The mother bear and cubs in this article were wandering around right here in the RV park! They don't seem very threatening - the cubs continue to play while the people gather to watch a few yards away. Mama bear usually backs off into the trees, but stays nearby.