Colorado, Part II

On Sunday, we spent a few hours in Boulder wandering around the downtown area enjoying what it had to offer, plenty of shopping, interesting people watching, and street performers.

We then got on the road and headed north through Estes Park, which was very scenic.

In Estes Park, there is the stately Stanley Hotel, which, according to the AAA book, was owned by the inventor of the Stanley Steamer, and he used to transport guests to the lodging in his steam cars. Wouldn't it had been fun to be invited by Stanley just to get to ride in the steam cars?

Next we headed to The Rocky Mountain National Park.

As you would imagine, it was impressive, majestic even. 

Still some snow on the ground in places, and even had some elk close by so we can take pictures of them.

And we also got to stand at the Continental Divide.

We got to experience something last night that I knew we were going to try, but wasn't really sure when, but last night it happened, and we were prepared. We put our cardboard in the windows, our curtain up, and pulled into the WalMart parking lot around 10:00 at Steamboat Springs, CO, and did some stealth camping. It ended up being okay, with just minor traffic noises. . .   Then wow, and I am not making this up, at 2:15 we heard a trumpet blowing, from somewhere close, some random tunes that I didn't recognize, then the trumpet played "When The Saints Go Marching In." It went on for what seemed like forever, but was probably about 10 minutes.  Then it stopped. Then we just went back to sleep. Nothing else happened. 

This morning finds us at the laundromat washing clothes again where Anthony woke up a random homeless fella at 5:30 this morning. Next we are making breakfast in a park, our usual eggs and bacon, then will continue toward Yellowstone. We were hoping to do that yesterday, but just didn't make it.

Colorado

Lisa: Hannah and I were able to travel into Denver on Wednesday to deliver a student home one day early, so we found a Whole Foods to have a quick lunch before heading back. Also got to Facetime my mom and dad, and Hannah got to call Alyssa.

We made it back to camp where Anthony pretty much was working on the bikes most of the day, and I got to help in the kitchen. What I have noticed is that hardly no one is sitting around, they are either up asking others if they need help, or having some quality time with students, or doing the many duties that are required every day to keep this summer project camp running smoothly. We got to go to worship, and at 9:30 p.m., we got to watch open mic, which consisted of the campers/staff just showing their many talents, which was fun. The campers left this morning, and next week there will be a week of elementary students coming in. There is one week of middle school, high school, and then elementary school students.

The Long Scraggy Ranch camp is located at Buffalo Creek, CO. Here is how you know you are in the right place:

This is the heart of Buffalo Creek, which is a combo one pump service station, general store and post office. It was built in 1898. And if you need to know any information about what is going on, all you have to do is look on the board posted outside.

Yup.

Anthony:  On Thursday, I rode from Long Scraggy Ranch, and met Lisa and Hannah at Chatfield Reservoir and we rode our bikes about 20 miles to downtown Denver.  We rode by Mile High Stadium, went to REI, and then ate supper at My Brothers Bar and Grill before pedaling the 20 miles back to the van. 

Hannah said this is the original REI.

Really interesting bicycle art at REI.

Current Peyton Manning home.

Hannah tried out the van bed on the way back to camp.

On Friday, Hannah was busy with her duties so I helped John, the camp manager, build a log balance beam for an obstacle course.  Lisa assisted Mitzi in preparing meals. 

Saturday, 6/28/14, HANNAH'S 24th B'DAY, all she asked for was a family hike up Gray's Peak and Torrey's Peak, which are both above 14,000 feet elevation.  We woke up at 3:30 a.m. to start our hike early. We started hiking about 7:30 a.m., and Hannah and I summitted Gray's at about 11:00 a.m.  Lisa made it to about 13,200 feet elevation and decided to stop.  She started back to the car and made friends along the way to talk to.  It was about 34 degrees when we started hiking and the wind was very strong, with some gusts making it difficult to stand, much less walk.  There was also snow and ice across the trail in a few places.  When we made it to the top of Gray's, we decided not to go over to Torrey's, which would have been about a mile longer, because we were exhausted and the wind at the top was almost unbearable. 

The sign Hannah is holding says, the date, June 28, 2014, Gray's Peak, 14,270 ft.

That night, we met almost everyone from the camp at Los Garcia's in Conifer, CO, for a meal to celebrate Hannah's birthday. We were all exhausted from the hike and had no problem falling asleep.

Lisa: On our way back to camp from the birthday celebration, we saw a bear crossing the road. We were told that there is a regular visiting bear at the camp, so we have been expecting to see one at some point. One night Anthony was coming out of the bathroom at the pool house without his flashlight and heard a significant noise beside him. I think he had to go back into the bathroom again.

For some reason, I have always wanted to visit Boulder, and that's where we are now. We are at The Laughing Goat Coffeehouse on Pearl Street, with everyone else that needs to use wifi. 

Today we are heading toward the Tetons and Yellowstone.

South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado

Yay!! I found Anthony on the side of the road swatting mosquitoes at the junction where we had planned to meet, so that was perfect. There was a store there and he could have gone in, but he was afraid that I would miss him, so he was standing there waving at me as I was driving up, getting eat up by mosquitoes.

Can we just talk about the usefulness of mosquitoes for a bit??

Okay, that's enough.

Let me reiterate that Spearfish is just a jewel of a town. The parks were so clean and plentiful. An interesting fact about Spearfish is that the Spearfish Creek runs south to north year round, and it freezes from the bottom up. Yup.

Anthony wanted to take this lovely picture of me eating breakfast, so here you go. I am at our campsite and this was about 6:00 a.m. So please don't judge. Thankfully, for you, the picture is blurry.

We headed south and had told Hannah we would try to make it to The Long Scraggy Ranch in Conifer, CO, where she is, so we zoomed through Wyoming to get there. On the way, though, I learned something about Anthony that I didn't know before. He knows the complete first verse of The Devil Went Down To Georgia!

Seems if Colorado was so colorful, then what's up with their sign? Maybe you are supposed to be focused on the beauty that is everywhere else, because it is so beautiful.

We made it to the camp where Hannah is for the summer working with one of Cru's summer projects, Urban Summit Adventures. This is her second year working with this project. And we got to meet everyone this morning, which was wonderful, and Hannah put Anthony to work looking at the approximately 20 bikes that are there for the campers/staff to use while they are there.

So, how at home does he look? Being able to be outside, working on bikes, enjoying the beauty that is everywhere. So cool.

The camp is about in the middle of nowhere, so no cell phone service or internet unless we drive 30 minutes away, just FYI, to my mom and dad. 

We are staying here to celebrate Hannah's 24th birthday on the 28th. And are planning to leave on Sunday heading to Yellowstone, and whatever awaits us in Montana. 

Until next time . . .

South Dakota

Today was spent mostly in a car, but what we got to see today, for the first time for each of us, was Mt Rushmore, which was quite impressive, and Crazy Horse.

And here it is:

True story, when I took the picture with my camera, the camera indicated that Thomas Jefferson blinked, ha!!

I apologize about the next picture, I wasn't able to crop and keep the whole picture intact, but had to post it, because it's amazing how much Anthony favors George in their profiles. Just turn your computer screen sideways, please.

Here's what I got from the road of Crazy Horse:

That's the head carved out, and that's all that is completed. All you could barely distinguish from this picture is the nose.

We also took a drive through several communities that looked like miniature Gatlinburgs, so they were pretty quaint looking, like Keystone, Lead, and Deadwood, but ended up in lovely Spearfish. Here is where we are camping tonight, right beside the creek. The sound it makes is so much better than the one on my sleep machine app on my phone.

We also stopped and got our picture taken at Spearfish Canyon at Bridal Veil Falls:

Spearfish is a great community with biking trails all over the city to NUMEROUS parks. It really is a nice town. 

I just now was able to dump older pics from my camera to the ipad, so here ya go:

The token picture where you stick your head through a wooden hole. (This was at the Katy Trail)

This picture cracks me up. He is so happy:)

I am now sitting in Common Grounds Coffee Shop in Spearfish drinking good coffee and enjoying my morning. As you might guess, Anthony decided to bike back down 14a and we are supposed to meet up eventually. I hope this works.

Not sure where we will end up tonight, but pretty sure it will be in Colorado somewhere. 

The Badlands of South Dakota

Lisa: Sunday night finds us camping in the Badlands National Park. We saw a sign for camping, and just pulled in. 

Here is a picture of what the campsite looks like so far:

If the early homesteaders had access to an REI, this is what it may have looked like on the prairie.

Today the Badlands had a very moderate temperature in the 60's, so it wasn't so bad after all. Actually, it was pretty great. We spotted prairie dogs, mountain goats, bison and a fox, which Anthony said was a coyote.  We learned Bison always have the right of way.

Also, for an added bonus, we ran into some people with whom we went to church from Oxford, MS!!!  It has been 14 years, and the lady hasn't changed, but I am not sure I knew the husband when we lived there. Before we recognized each other, their sweet son offered to take our picture, and then I saw the mom. I didn't say anything then, but we happen to walk to the same place and I overheard the dad say to someone else that they are from Oxford!!  Then I butted in and said "I knew I knew you!!" Actually, I think I hollered it. I know, embarrassing. But how ironic. Moral: make sure you behave, no matter where you are.

It is now 9:30, and I just heard the howl of the coyote!!! How cool. Glad we are in a van and not a tent if they start sniffing around.

Our sunset:

I know, beautiful, right?

Monday morning: last night was the greatest, even though there was no shower, we had no running water at all for that matter. But last night our bladders didn't take us through the night and at 2:30 we made a trip to the lovely toilets, but MAN, THERE WERE A JILLION STARS OUT, and we got to see all of them.  We also saw a single, bright light on the horizon in the East, and could not figure out what it was.  As we watched it for about 20 seconds, we got to witness a crescent moon rise above the horizon. The single bright light we saw was the tip of the moon as it was rising. Just gorgeous. BONUS FOR HAVING A FULL BLADDER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.  

Also, I had noticed some pretty big piles of poo in the middle of the camping area, and there being horse trailers nearby, I was thinking they were from huge horses, but, NO, there were bison grazing just yards from the campground, which was pretty cool. 

We have been talking about our theme song for this advanture. We have thought about "Free" by Zac Brown band, or "Wide Open Spaces" by Dixie Chicks. We have thought up more but of course didn't write them down, so we have forgotten what they were. What do you think?

Today I would like to give a shout out to the free wifi at the laundry mat. Not only did I get to publish this, we are thankfully going to smell better when we leave, yay!

Today is Mt. Rushmore.

Nebraska

Lisa:  I would like to say a big howdy-do to all the people at the campground that we woke up this morning at 5:30 when the car alarm went off when we opened up the car door. It has only happened to me once in a grocery store parking lot, and I was embarrassed then. . .

Anthony:  Well, yesterday we made our way through Iowa and are now in Nebraska. We stopped in Omaha and rode our bikes about 14 miles. Omaha is connected to Council Bluffs, Iowa, by a 3000-foot long pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River.  There are many bike/pedestrian paths on both sides of the river, so it is a nice place to bike. 

Lisa:  Sorry, Anthony, I cut off your head:(

Anthony:  We camped at Smith Falls State Park near Valentine, Nebraska, last night. On our way there, we kept seeing ominous storm clouds in front of us. Neither of us know what a "weather front" is, but we are pretty sure we saw one yesterday. It was not blue or red like it is on the nightly weather report on TV.  A large "dirt tornado" crossed the road and gave us some excitement when it hit the van and shook us about some. That was the largest and strongest "dirt demon" either of us have ever seen and felt. 

Lisa:  about this dirt tornado, OMG!!! Needless to say, we were both a little excited. What's funny is that Anthony's excitement consisted of sitting there all wide eyed staring at it, and mine consisted of "oh, Jesus, oh, Jesus, oh, Jesus" really thinking I would see Him any second. All I knew was that if you think a tornado is coming and you are in a car, that the weatherman says to get to a ditch and lay there. So I was looking for a ditch to lay in. But Anthony was going 55 mph, so I didn't know what would hurt more, being slung around in a tornado, or jumping out of a moving vehicle. The weatherman didn't say anything about that. And I was a bit too excited to take a picture. 

Wish you could have been there. 

But this was what it looked like driving into it.  It didn't help that we just drove past Pilger, NE a few miles back and they had the road closed to what used to be that community. The double tornadoes wreaked havoc on that town. Very tragic.

Anthony: The campground was 4 miles off the main road down a dirt road that had what seemed to be "rumble strips" on it the entire 4 miles. We were unable to go much over 20 mph without shaking the van apart. Since it had rained just prior to us driving on the road, a lot of mud was slung on the van and our bikes. Fortunately, the ground is very sandy and the mud comes off relatively easy. 

Lisa:  This morning we had our normal eggs and sausage (Free range hometown eggs, Chattooga County sausage), and our tea with honey (Franklin County honey). I dread it when our hometown supplies run out.

We also drove through Norfolk, NE, the hometown of Johnny Carson. We decided not to stop by the museum and see the Johnny Carson statue and memorabilia.

We stayed last night in Valentine, NE, where "the largest tract of grass-stabilized sand dunes in the Western Hemisphere" are, according to our AAA book. Yup.

Today is South Dakota, hoping to get to The Badlands and possibly Mt. Rushmore. I love experiencing this adventure with this man of mine.