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.
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