Fun with Friends in Forbes

Have you ever had friends that live close by, yet you never see them?   That seems to be the case with us and our long time friends, Rob and Gay.  Even though we live about a half an hour's drive from them in Arizona, the last two times we have gotten together have required at least 5 hours hours of driving each way!  Go figure.  It's odd, but the 4 of us seem to readily pick up where we last left off.

Our journey to see them was last week to see where they have their summer house...or should I say RV?
We drove south to Walsenburg, Colorado, then 30 miles west to Forbes Park.

I guess we were at the right spot......or did  someone mislead us?

Nope, the dirt road through the pines led us to

their abode, complete with private guest quarters!  Rob and Gay live in the 5th wheel during the summer and they have a separate trailer for visitors.  Guests are treated to running water, indoor plumbing, solar power and some fabulous meals made by both Rob and Gay.  I highly recommend the cheese fondue and German potato salad.  And the fabulous blueberry pancakes....

As we toured their gated community, we stopped to see the log house that was shipped here in pieces from Tennessee.

 Of course, each piece was numbered before being taken apart and shipped.  The metal tags are still in place if you look closely at the logs.

 Rob stopped to take a picture of the view from the mountain ridge. 

 And this is what they saw (approximately) from their point of view.  Fantastic!

 Oh, Oh?  Did Rob step in something???  Hoped he wiped his feet off before we all climbed back into the truck.

 

 One last walk down the road before we head back to Boyd Lake.

Forbes Fauna and Flora

Even though our visit was short, I wound up with a lot of pictures!  Deer and elk roam freely in Forbes Park since there is no hunting allowed.  I wonder if they realize how lucky they are?

On our first evening with Rob and Gay, we went driving with them on some of the dirt roads in the area.  The mother deer and her fawn seemed to be staring right back at me as I kept snapping away.

But the young buck paid no attention to me because he was so engrossed in eating the new, tender and juicy Aspen leaves.

Avid hunters would be ecstatic if they came across herds of elk like those below.  Of course, when it is hunting season, the elk seem to disappear(at least that is what I've heard).  I bet these elk don't venture outside Forbes Park during that time of the year.

Both Gay and I were delighted at all the different kinds of wildflowers.  One field not only had lots of  flowers, but an abundance of Monarch butterflies sipping the delicious nectar.

Wouldn't you love to have a backyard with a view like this with the mountains in the distance?

Rob and Gay led us to the oldest Limber Pine in Colorado.  Boy, it was huge!  The barbed wire fence is up to keep out the free range cattle, and it was up to Rob and Don to find a place where we could either crawl under or over it so we could get closer to this humongous tree.

 We decided it was a good place for the four of us to have our picture taken.  We managed to all smile despite the fact that was a mighty uncomfortable spot for us to sit down.  I sure could have used a pillow.

Magnificent Mushrooms!

It was our first time to hunt for mushrooms.  In my mind, I was looking for the "normal" sized ones that I've seen in the grocery stores.  Boy, was I ever off track!  It's hard to gauge how big these Western Puffball mushrooms are by just looking at a picture, so..

I set my glasses on top of one of the larger ones.  If I were in Italy, I'd say "Thatsa bigga mushroom"...or something to that effect.  You get my drift.

Rob took the picture of Gay and I with some of our treasures.  Not only are they big, but they're dense, so I was surprised at how much they weighed.

Gay sliced off the outside, then cut them into pieces like steak fries while I put them into flour, egg yolks and Panko crumbs.  One mushroom was more than enough for the four of us for lunch, with plenty left over.  We tried them with green salsa and also mustard with horseradish.  It's a good thing they are edible, or I wouldn't be updating my blog.  You'd be reading my obituary with the caption of  "Suicide by Puffball Mushroom"!