Birthday Boy, Part Two

Eighty years and one day:  party number two!

This was a moving party, not a stationary one!  And it was awesome!  It didn't take long after boarding the bus for the wine to start flowing!  Bret came fully prepared with both red and white wine, plus water for rehydration purposes. Bret, Kim,  Tammy and Phil Prellwitz, Patty and Ron Schorr, and Bret's co-worker, Carlos and his wife Debbie climbed on the bus in Windsor with us.  We all were ready for a good time.

Our first stop was at Hale and Bradford Distillery in Berthoud, Colorado.  It's located on the second floor of an old Oddfellows building there.  This is where we met up with Ken and Lisa.

 Don, Patty and Ron look over the menu and try to decide what they want to try.

Don and Carlos enjoyed a game of shuffleboard while Debbie and Patty chatted.

Next stop: Longtucky Spirits in Longmont, Colorado.

One of the favorite drinks here was the cherry bomb which consisted of a ball of frozen dark cherry juice with whisky poured over it.  I heard it became better as the cherry juice melted and mixed in with the whisky.  I opted for a Horchata drink that contained no liquor.  Don enjoyed whatever was bought for him!

By this time, Don was "hangry" and wanted food.  We skipped one drinking stop and went straight for our evening meal without passing Go and collecting $200.....

BBQ it is!

Hmm, what should we order?  How about two huge platters of various smoked meat and sausage, plus some burnt ends?  Bring on the meat sweats!  LOL

 Here's to Don's 80th birthday!  It's a proven fact that people who have more birthdays live longer!

Birthday Boy

I guess when you turn 80 and are now over eight decades old, you have reason to celebrate!  Well, that is exactly what Don is doing, with multiple parties over the course of a week and a half.

Party number one was held at Boyd Lake State Park, where Don and I are camp hosting once again during the summer.  No way are we going to be here in the winter time!!!  Thursday was his actual birth date, and we celebrated with co-workers and family.  Our good friends, Ron and Patty, made pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw for the occasion.  We provided side dishes and a carrot cake.  No one left hungry!

After most of the people had left, I was taking off the black plastic tablecloths and decided to do a bit of "recycling".  I wound up wrapping it around myself and Tatum found a picker in one of the golf carts.  Voila!  I became the grim reaper!  That's what happens when you have a lot of goofballs in the family!

Loving Lathrop

One of our favorite Colorado State parks is Lathrop, located just outside the quaint town of Walsenburg.  Our site provided us with a wonderful view of the twin peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (translated into English as the Blood of Christ).

Bike trails are numerous throughout the whole park, so Don unloaded our bikes from the back of the trailer and off we went!  It was good to be out of the truck and cycling our way past the trees and lakes.

 You can barely see Don above the bushes and various plants as he rounded the corner

 Since it was a Tuesday, there were very few people either walking or riding on the paths.  The slightly overcast day with mild temps and no wind made it an excellent time to do our bike ride!

The evening sunset of pink and blue clouds enhanced the already spectacular views from our campsite.

If you are traveling with a trailer, you may want to consider this as one of your places to stop for a day or two.  You won't be disappointed!

Summer, 2019

Our summer travels this year actually started in Tucson, where we parked our trailer in front of the White house.  No reservations were needed and the accommodations were excellent.  The hosts were gracious, so we do plan on coming back again.  Our only disappointment was missing Tommy the Tortoise, who was still hibernating and oblivious to his surroundings.

Our Saturday evening stroll along Snyder road was cut short by the incoming thunderstorm.  Doris, Don, Jerry and Sandy were all ahead of me as I stopped to take some pictures.

Black clouds obscured the moon, while distant lightening illuminated the sky at times.

As the winds increased in velocity, it was time to head back and watch the storm from the back porch.

We left on Monday morning, heading to Colorado for the summer.  Our first stop was 50 miles south of Albuquerque, in Bosque, New Mexico.  Not only is this a RV park, it's also a horse hotel!!

 A walk around the park and along the old U.S. 60 road that flanked the backside of the park yielded not a single horse.   Lots of stalls and a big enclosed riding ring were available for the equestrians who travel with their favorite mounts.  It made me wonder where those people stayed at while on the road since not many RV parks or state parks have those types of facilities available.  At our stage in life, we don't even want a dog to worry about, much less a horse!

Time to Explore!

Inside Roper State Park is the Mariah Mesa Trail, which rambles up the hillside on to the nearby mesa.  It was time to check it out.

 Both Doris and Jerry were checking on the pictures they had taken, while Sandy looked over Jerry's shoulder.  That day the weather was a bit warmer, perfect for the short hike.

 From that vantage point, we could see the road winding around the campgrounds and Roper Lake.  Wispy clouds provided a contrast to the azure blue sky.

 Doris and Sandy turned around at my request so I could capture a picture of their faces instead of their backs as they traversed down the narrow trail.

The only disappointment was the fact that there was only one bunch of purple wildflowers along the trail. But of course I had to stop and take a picture just to document it!  Oh no!  I saw on Facebook that this "flower" is actually called Scorpion Weed and can cause a very itchy rash similar to Poison Ivy!  The tiny hairs on the bulbs have poisonous oil.  Good thing I didn't touch it!

On a different day, Don and I took the road outside Safford so I could capture some shots of wildflowers, which were in abundance.  This type of wildflower show comes very rarely to the Arizonan desert and I was itching to get some shots of the beautiful poppies.  All these were taken beside Highway 191.

 Snow capped mountains, Cholla cactus and California poppies = one rarely captured picture!

Day of Discovery!

There isn't much to do in the small town of Safford, but they do have a free Discovery Museum.  Free is always attractive to us old folks who are on limited incomes.  Besides that, Jerry and Sandy White had three of their grandchildren camping with them, so it gave them something to do besides ride their bikes in the campground.

Our first visit was Tuesday morning.  When we got to the door we found out that Tuesday and Thursday mornings are reserved for school groups.  Guess we didn't qualify for that.  Shucks.  But we did have a chance to walk around the grounds with no screaming, pushing school children around us!  Guess I can call that a win. LOL

You can see how windy it was by looking at the flags by the parking lot.

  Doris was reading one of the many signs along the way while Sandy sauntered across the wood bridge.

 The Lowe kids found a huge tire on one of the sides and scrambled up in it.  Picture time!!!!

Back we went on Wednesday morning.  Success!  Besides free entrance, this little museum gives visitors a free simulated shuttle ride to see the planets in our solar system!  It rocked and bucked as we "flew through space" out from Safford and back again.  There was also a very interesting movie about the creation of the Hubble telescope, which the kids ignored, but the adults loved it.

Outside, Wyatt, Micah and Ainslie were concentrating on the box containing sand, water and colored pebbles.  There was something for everyone.  All's well that ends well.  

Relaxing at Roper

Want to find a quiet place to camp for a few days?  If so, Roper Lake State Park fills the bill.  Situated in eastern Arizona, almost to the New Mexico border, this campground is just outside of the town of Safford.  It was our destination this year for our spring camping.  We were third in our little convoy of three trailers, trailing right behind Doris.  A lot of moisture during the winter and spring provided us with views of millions of wildflowers along the way.

 Here we are, in the Cottonwood campground at Roper, like three ducks in a row!

This is a view from the other direction with the Pinaleño Mountains in the background.  The highest point is Mt. Graham, which reaches 10,720 feet.   This year, lots of storms brought an unusual amount of snow to mountains across the state, so we were able to enjoy the snow capped peaks during our visit.  The little shelters at each site were a definite plus.

A small lake attracts waterfowl and people who want to swim, fish or take their small boats out on the water.  

It is also the only place I've found and gotten photos of yellow headed blackbirds!  To say they are in abundance here is an understatement!  Flocks of them fly between the trees and cattails several times each day.  I love the contrast between their black bodies and bright yellow gold heads and breasts.

A coot looks for vegetation in the lake water....

 while the resident roadrunner nests nearby in a tree.  His natural camouflage makes him hard to spot.  We would have never found him without the help of another camper.

 The Vermillion Flycatcher was never in one spot for long.  He's a little fellow, always flitting from one tree to the next. 

The days were in the low 70's, but the cold wind made it hard to sit outside without a jacket at times.  Mornings brought beautiful sunrises like the one below.

And several evenings brought beautiful sunsets that lit up the sky like fire.  

Whatever the weather, we have fun together!