Mueller Musings

If you are ever in the Colorado Springs area, and love to camp, then Mueller State Park is a great choice.    The park is about 25 miles west of Colorado Springs.   The elevation of 9500 feet means cool days and cold nights (at least for us desert rats).  On Monday morning it was 31 degrees when we got up.  Brrr.... We realized how thin the air is here when we walked uphill to the camper services area.

No cramped sites here!  No one in back of us except a valley of pine and aspen trees.

The picture below shows what our site looks from down the hill side.  We camped at Mueller 7 years ago with our son's family.  Our daughter-in-law's whole family also came here from Wisconsin and Utah.  We occupied 5 sites in the same Conifer Ridge Campground.  This time, it is just us for the first 2 days, then Kim and our 3 Colorado grandchildren will arrive today and set up their tent on our site.  (Yes, it is allowed-we checked).  The tent site is the big gravel pit in the above picture.

This is the view out our door.  Awesome!  It is also in the middle of bear country.  No food, cooking utensils, cosmetics or other toiletries can be left out and must be stored in a closed, hard-sided vehicle.

  This is one of the deer that greeted us as we returned "home" on Sunday night.  They were grazing right along the road in the park and not concerned about us at all.  We're hoping to see more wildlife the next few days.  You won't see this at a KOA!

Mt. Cutler

We got to Mueller State Park (25 miles west of Colorado Springs) yesterday and today we met our daughter, Lisa, for a hike.  The hike reminded me of the Wolf and the 3 Little Pigs fairy tale:  we huffed, and we puffed……and we did make it to the top!  So much for acclimating ourselves to the difference in altitude and the fact that we were out of shape.  Lisa patiently waited numerous times as we stopped to catch our breath.  One guy was running up the trail and I wrote him off to being a show off.  We could have done that too.  Yeah, right, if we were about  40 years younger and had trained for months!

Don and Lisa stopped at the bridge, then later on down the trail, we stopped for another pic of me with her.  Not only do I like taking photos, but this documents the fact that we were there and we really did the hike!  After all, if I just put something in writing and didn't back it up with pictures, would you believe me?  Don't answer that question!

As we turned a corner, Don and Lisa seemed a bit confused as to exactly where we were.  I didn't care, I was just following along.

"Dad, it is this way, around the corner"

Don answers with a different response and a point in a another direction.....

They seem to have differing opinions.  Lisa says to the left and Don says to the right.  Good thing the path is just one way, unless you slip and take the "accelerated" way down the side of the mountain!

The path got a bit narrow for me at one point.  I made sure I was a close to the boulders as possible!

Another turn, another great view to take in.  

 This is a view towards 7 Falls.

And as we headed around another corner and proceeded up the trail, we had a great view of Colorado Springs.  You can see the golf course at the Broadmoor Hotel if you look close enough!

Happy trails to you, until we meet again!  May the trails you hike be easy, lift up your spirits and provide you with wonderful views of God's creation!

Liking Lathrop

Well, here we are, all settled in at Lathrop State Park.  We wanted to escape the Phoenix heat and today we discover that it is the same temperature here as it is at home!   This year we have brought along our bikes after getting the trailer hitch welded and reinforced.  No more holes in the back of the 5th wheel from handlebars!  At least, that is what we are hoping for.  Going through Albuqueque,  someone in a truck was furiously waving at us and shouted to Don that something was wrong with the bikes.  Sure enough, some straps had broken and I guess they were really jouncing up and down.  That required a quick stop along the Interstate so Don could improvise with more bungee cords.  We started out with two bikes, and I want to go home with both of them!

Here is a view of Martin Lake with the mountains in the background.  The other in the park is Horseshoe Lake.  Water skiing can be done only on Martin, so most of the fishermen head for Horseshoe.  This part of our bike ride was easy.......it was mostly downhill and no wind!

Today we came across a Canadian Geese family.  Yesterday we saw them in the water, and also a huge Blue Heron as we biked all around Martin Lake.

The park is loaded with lots of blooming Yucca plants and various other wildflowers, such as the Blanket flowers in the foreground.  I was leery of getting off the asphalt path to get a closer view since there have been numerous sightings of rattlesnakes in the last 2 weeks.  I get the chills just thinking of it!

I did get a close up view of the Colorado Copper Mallow since it was just off the path and in very short grass.  That is, after I checked for any movement around the flower.  I was taking no chances of getting a close up shot of ANY snake!

Here's a shot of Don, on the path ahead of me.  The 3 mile ride around the lake took us through open desert areas as well as shady ones closer to the water.  We figured we rode at least 5 miles since we had to ride from the campground to get over to the lake.  At our age, we are just thankful we can still do this!

Saturday afternoon we drove into the small town of Walsenburg, which was built on a coalfield 30 miles long.  The top picture shows the abandoned train station.  The tracks in front of it were built in 1876 to carry to coal from the mines to the markets.  Below is Huerfano County Courthouse built in 1904 and just across the street from the old train station.  As we drove around we noticed that all the houses were old, although most were well kept.  

Tonight we will be "rocked" to sleep by the gusting winds.  Maybe we should get some extra long seat belts and strap ourselves in!  If it's like other times, Don will sleep like a baby and I will wake up with every shake, rattle and roll.

On our way and out of the heat!

Summer came early this year to Phoenix.  Last year, we left on Memorial Day and the weather had been pleasant all month long.  This year, we skipped over the month of May and went straight to June!  We sure weren't ready to deal with the high temperatures.  The only good thing about it was the fact that I could swim in our pool.  All the other years, it was too cold when we left for the summer, and too cold when we got back.  

Our first leg was a short one.  We drove to Show Low and stayed two nights with our friends, Pat and Joy.  We met them many years ago when they were camp hosts at Fool Hollow State Park.  They purchased a new cabin last fall.  It worked out well for them, and also for us!  We backed our 5th wheel up, hooked up to their electric and we were set for 2 days.

The "full hookup" came with a nice dinner and dessert.  Can't beat that!  Don and Pat lounged in the great room while Pat checked on the food in the kitchen.

Sheila, their Australian Shepherd, gives a kiss to Joy.  This is one smart dog that seems to understand almost anything they tell her.  She is also very spoiled.  If I ever died and came back as a dog, I would hope my owners would be Pat and Joy!

We took a new route this year, going across Arizona Highway 60 east to Socorro and I-25.  This took us through Pie Town (never even had heard of this before) and my guess is their special attraction is pie.  In case you were wondering, we didn't stop for a piece even though there has never been a piece of pie I didn't like.  I am a woman with low will power when it comes to chocolate and other sweets.

 

Before we got to Socorro, we came across a mass of radio antennas.  These were part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.  The 27 radio antennas make up one of the world's premiere radio astronomical station.  The data from all of these are electronically combined to give the resolution of an antenna 22 miles across!  Amazing what we discover sometimes as we veer from the beaten path! 

Once we got set up at our site in Santa Fe, we headed out for some groceries and to visit one of our very favorite places to eat.  Bobcat Bite is a very small restaurant on the Old Las Vegas Highway north of Santa Fe.  Not much to look at, but this is the reason we skipped having a piece of pie!

I think Don is a bit hungry.  The cheeseburger is calling him.....and me too!

One half on an utterly awesome green chili cheeseburger cooked just the way we like it!  Don't you wish you could have been there with us?  If we lived closer, we certainly would be coming here a lot more often.  Makes me glad I'm not a vegetarian! I do love my veggies, but broccoli, corn on the cob or the best red pepper can't even hold a candle to this meal!