Sculpting Out Our Life

On July 20th we returned to the Loveland Sculpture Park.  It had been at least 4 years since we had ventured there last, and each year more bronze statues are added.  The day was cool and breezy which equated to a pleasant walk of about a mile.

 Even though this wasn't one of the new pieces, I had to take a photo of the fox with a fresh flower on his head.

The alligator statue was halfway hidden between the cement paths that meander through the park.  I wonder if any children are tempted to sit on him. 😕   Flowers are also in abundance, and the grounds are meticulously taken care of.

One of my favorites is the fox looking over the small waterfall.
Monarch Girl was a newer addition, being added in 2022.  This was quite interesting, and looked different depending on what angle you were looking at her from.

The setting for the mountain lion statue was perfect.  As you followed the path around the corner it looks like the lion is crouching on a rock, ready to pounce.  It is partially hidden by the bushes and trees.

This might be my new favorite!  The banana statue is called "On a Roll".  What an imagination Jack Hill had to think of putting skates on a banana!!

The "Hangin' Around" Bronze was added last year.  It reminded me of when I was young and hung from bars like that during recess (such a long, long time ago).

This guy seemed to be wondering why Don had such a stern look on his face.  Maybe he was thinking "Relax buddy and sit back like me.  You are way too uptight" LOL😂😂

Such a peaceful park.  During the time we meandered around, there were at least 3 groups of people being pushed around in wheelchairs by their caretakers.  I'm sure they enjoyed it just as much as we did, maybe more so.

Parked the Truck in Parker

 We lucked out this summer!  The heat hit Phoenix (Avondale) the day we left.  So far, we have been gone 21 days and Phoenix has had 21 days of over 110 degrees or more!  Got out of there by the skin of our teeth!

After Utah we headed to Parker, Colorado, an 8 hour drive.  We were greeted by cool weather, even hail a couple of days!  So different from the temps at home.  Below is a view from Lisa and Ken's back porch.

As usual, different deer came to lay on the front lawn.  One day there was a fawn sleeping under their front living room window

View from the front porch.

Most of the deer are healthy, but this one had a large growth on her neck and her ribs were showing.  I felt sorry for her and went into the kitchen to get out a couple of carrots for her.  If they have another hard winter, it will be hard for this one deer to survive.

A couple of weeks later, the deer was back.  The abscess had drained, and she brought along a little friend!

Now to happier things like flowers!

  Columbines and Lillies!

Go Forth on the Fouth (of July)

 Our last full day in Utah was the 4th of July.  Hailey, Don and I headed south to Provo.  Sure enough, there was a parade going on in the downtown area.

We passed by an interesting bronze sculpture along the way.

We wound up on the sunny side of the street.  It was warm, and there were lots of pop up shades and umbrellas.  I took quite a few pictures, but it was hard getting good shots this far back from the front.

I thought this was a really cool wagon, so I inched my way further towards the parade route. 

Here comes the guy who was the "Life of the Party".   Not anymore!  The guy with the reins didn't look awfully happy either.  No wonder, it was a dead end job for him.😂😂

This group was a hoot!  They were having a great time banging on cowbells, drums and even upside down plastic buckets.

An hour later as the parade ended, we headed back to the Hailey's car.  On one of the buildings was a very colorful painting on a building.  It reminded me of Silver City, which has murals all over their downtown area.

One last and important stop:  Ice Cream at Sub Zero!  Don and Hailey ate the ice cream while I enjoyed sitting in a cool spot without the sun beating on me.  It was a win-win for the 3 of us.

Provo Pathways

 Since we had our bikes behind the truck, we did manage to fit in a bike ride one day while Hailey was at class.  One of the popular bike trails is Provo Canyon.  We found the trail, and by the time we got there, it was REALLY windy!  Usually we are "fair weather" bikers but this was probably the only chance we'd ever have to ride here.  Off we went:  UPHILL and AGAINST THE WIND!

The path is heavily used by bicyclists, walkers and runners.  People walking stay on one side of the yellow line and people on bikes share a two way path up into the canyon.  Even though it looks like Don is "hogging" the middle of the path, he is actually in the correct lane.

It was slow going up into the canyon for us oldsters. There were a lot of people on electric bikes, taking the easy way both up and down the path.

On the right is the Provo River.

 Still going uphill, but at this point the wind wasn't as strong since we were further into the canyon and surrounded by wooded areas.

Heading back towards where we parked, we had a nice view of the cliffs.

Another view of the Provo River, with the path partially showing on the very right side.  We did succeed in riding a total of 10 miles, our daily goal.  And it sure was a lot more fun heading towards the truck, going downhill and with the wind against our back.

Not Quite Salt Lake City

 One old saying is "Close, but no cigar".   Yes, we got close to Salt Lake City when we visited our granddaughter Hailey in Orem, Utah.  However, we needed to drive about another half hour north before hitting Salt Lake City.  That didn't happen this trip.  Below is a picture of the house (actually a log cabin) that she shares with 3 other ladies taking the same physical therapy tract.

 Hailey is in graduate school at Rocky Mountain University and will have her doctorate degree in 2025.  The university is located in Provo, Utah about a 15 minute drive south from her house.  She took us on a personal tour during a Saturday when there were no classes.   

Here is a view from the top floor looking north.

 I took a picture of Don and Hailey going down the stairs to the classrooms.  Below is the library, one like I have never seen before!  All the displays can be checked out by the students to assist them in their studies. 

This is one of the rooms where the students practice on each other.  There are plenty of tables. I wonder if this would be a good place to take a nap between classes?  Hmm.... I think not.  Their days are long and intense and these students only have 2 week breaks between their semesters.

Karchner Kamping

 Another delayed post.  Again, my focus was on other things, or maybe my memory failed me.  Hmm...which one was it?😒

On March 7, 2023 we joined Doris, Sandy and Jerry at Karchner State Park in southern Arizona.  This time we bunked with Doris and avoided hauling our trailer down for the short time we were there. We promised to be on our best behavior and she graciously put up with us.😅

We were greeted each morning with a beautiful sunrise.

Clear weather and a sunny day made it perfect for Doris, Don and I to do the Foothills Loop trail located above the campground.

This was the first time we had seen water running in the canyon.  The spring and winter rains brought an abundance of water to all of Arizona.

There wasn't much water here during our hike, and by the next day the wash was dry.  It will remain so until the summer monsoons bring needed moisture to this area.

Beignet time at the White campsite! These delicious little morsels are one of our favorite foods to eat while camping, even if it isn't healthy for us.  Ainsley helped Sandy and Jerry with the process while the boys (Micah and Wyatt) did their part by eating them!  Jerry's beignets are the bomb!💖💖

Better Late than Never: Catalina State Park

Good grief!  What happened to make this "January" post show up so late?  In simple terms, I completely forgot about the blog!  We had cut our trip to Tucson short because we hosted a student teacher from Martin Luther College during the same time period.  We came home early and adjusted to having a third (and much younger) person in our home for 2 months.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  😉

So here it goes: Once again in January we headed to Catalina State Park in Tucson and met up with family and friends.  There is always plenty of good food and camaraderie with this group.  Notice that more than one grill is being used for breakfast.

For the second or third year in a row we had family members from Reno join us.

Greg was in charge of the grill, and he always has a smile for me.

One afternoon we grilled chicken, peppers and zucchini with Don managing one grill and Jerry and Shelley doing their thing close by.

Bobby Cowen takes after Don.  Even if is chilly out, he is still wearing his shorts!  I keep telling Don he has no nerve endings in his legs.  LOL

One of our favorite things to do is to walk along the Bridle Trail to the trailhead.  Along the way we got to see this roadrunner up close.  Jim and Shelley had never seen one before, and he was a fine specimen.

Doris and I found our special rock alongside the trail.

Looking back, it was a good thing that we left earlier than usual.  A few days after our departure the road into the campground was completely flooded.  Campers were stuck there until the road could be cleared.  A lot of food was shared among our remaining group so no one went hungry.  Camping can still be adventurous!