Fall in the Colorado Mountains

 

Our final few weeks in Creede CO presented Alan with two new and really fun experiences.  Many people in our park there have Polaris Rzrs (Razors), off-road vehicles with a few more creature comforts than traditional ATVs.  His first trip was with our friend Bob, whose wife decided not to go with him that day.  Alan had a great time and he even got to drive quite a bit of the time.

 

Doesn't Alan look just like he belongs in the Rzr?



This is the group that went the day of Alan's first ride.

A few days later, folks across the road from us, Jim and Susann, asked Alan to go on an all-day ride.  Alan got to go in place of Susann, who generously gave up her seat so Alan could have this fun experience. 

 

 Jim and Alan at the top of Cinnamon Pass, 12640 feet above sea level.

An abandoned mine where they stopped and ate their lunch.

A high-mountain lake on their trip - they traveled on the road in the picture.

The top of California Pass, 12960 feet above sea level.

 

 Moose - I really missed seeing this in person.

Mountain goats - a great wildlife trip in addition to wonderful scenery.


Monday nights at Mountain Shadows, they have a jam session.  This particular night, our friend Bob sang with Barb Maxey, a professional singer/songwriter who was in the park.  Bob devised this clever boom microphone by using a rake and a couple of tools for a counter balance.   Wonderful music.

Every fall, there is a car show in downtown Creede.  This year, there were 92 cars on display.



Alan's favorite car.

On the morning of September 23, after a full day of cold rain, we woke up to snow on the mountain tops.  This was taken from our site and it was very cold that morning.



Later that day, we spent the afternoon with Tanya and Jim (high school classmates of Alan's) having lunch at Freemon's (see previous post) and "leaf peeping."  The aspen leaves were even more beautiful with the snow in the background.










We got a kick out of this sign.



September 24, the morning we left, it was in the 30's with ice like this everywhere.  Certainly time to get out of  Dodge.

 

It is hard to explain how being in the Colorado mountains makes us feel - it is like we can really breathe with the clean, clear air - it is just good for the soul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images from Creede

Mostly pictures - very few words.  There are just so many beautiful and fun things to see here.

Images from our morning walks:

We are here note in lower left hand corner.  Very low clouds that day.

Grave marker at Deep Creek Trailhead.

Lots of pinecones on the trees this year.

It is hard to get pictures of flying geese.

Bluebirds often follow us along this fence, but they only look blue when they fly.

These running horses were a big treat.

We haven't been to North Clear Creek Falls for at least 40 years when Alan took me there on our first camping trip together in his little orange tent.  I've always wanted to go back.

Freemon's is a "famous" hamburger place about 18 miles from Creede.  Yummy hamburgers and ice cream too.

 

Cooking burgers at Freemon's.



Freemon's and the whole surrounding area were evacuated during the West Fork Complex fire in June.  This was taken from Freemon's parking lot and you can see that the whole top half of the mountain is burned.

This is the hill at the back of the lot we were parked on in June.  Alan watered it for 20 minutes every morning and after we left, our neighbor, Angela, kept up with the watering.  When we first moved in, Angela told us we wouldn't believe what the hill would look like in August and September.

Sunset on a stormy night, taken from our site.

Signs like this are all over town.  Over 109,000 acres burned in the West Fork Complex fire in June and July and not one structure was lost.  The firefighters did an amazing job.

This is a stairway railing in a shop in town named Rare Things.

Are we in the Wild West?  The sheriff was practicing his roping skills on this "cow."

I understand Beware of Dog, but Strange Dog???

Busy Labor Day Weekend in Creede

Labor Day was a great time to be in Creede.  We couldn't believe all the community activities that were scheduled, plus we were invited to a fun party.

The Creede Balloon Festival scheduled 7:00 am launches Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The balloons were launched on the tarmac at the airport which is just across the street from the RV park.  We were up early each morning to watch, but on Sunday, Alan looked out the window and said there was a new balloon out there - it was white with big black letters that said CANCELLED.  He hates to get up early.  It is a challenge to choose which pictures to post - so many beautiful things to see.

The two pink balloons are flown by a husband and wife team.  More about them later.

We were this close to the balloons as they flew over us.

A view of our truck and trailer with balloons flying over the RV Park.

You can see how many balloons were over the park.  We are parked just to the left of this entrance sign.

Gizzmo was our only character balloon and it was the first one up each day.

The primo thing to do is to make a quick touch down on the water, especially where Willow Creek (on the left) flows into the Rio Grande River.  This is the wife of the "pink" team.  She was hooting and hollering, she was so excited.  This is very difficult to do since there is no steering.

The wind was such that her husband could touch down on the water too.  She was on the radio to him saying he was going too fast, so he reached out and grabbed one of those pine trees to slow himself down.  There are pine cones flying in this picture as he let go.

Here he is touching down, not too gently.  His wife is in the pink balloon to the left.

The water is pouring out of the basket as he lifts off.

Even though they launched on the tarmac, the runway was still open for landings. 

The white rig with the window is our trailer.  It was pretty exciting to have the balloons be so close.

Our neighbors when we were here in June had a mimosa, pancake and breakfast burrito party at 8:30 on Saturday.  The balloons were still flying, and Alan took this picture of one of them flying right over Jon and Angela's 5th wheel as we were eating and drinking.  Pretty great party planning.

There was a Salsa Fiesta and a hamburger cookout, both downtown on different days.  We were too busy eating to take pictures.

On Sunday, there was a Gravity Race - kind of like a soap box derby race.  The only rules were no motors or propulsion of any kind allowed and they had to be able to steer and stop.  Very unique and imaginative race "cars."  The main street downtown has enough slope to it, so gravity is what propels the cars.

Fish 'N' Chics was really creative.

The final event was an ATV Rodeo on Monday.  There is a lot more involved in driving those things than I ever imagined, and these kids were pretty amazing.  The riders had to follow several specific courses.  They didn't race against each other but did race against the clock.

These mud/water puddles were a part of the course in one round.  Riders were given the choice to go through the mud or around it - only one rider chose to go around!

The spectators on the left have great expressions on their faces.  Closeup below.

It was such a busy weekend we are going to have to rest up to recover.   Lots of fun.