Happy Days

I can't believe it is now July 4! Time is flying by in Lake City. Was a good week which included a hike on the Waterdog Lake Trail to see incredible views, a couple nites out at the local places for dinner, a folk/jazz concert, a Pleasant View Resort BBQ, a drive down to Del Norte to get some honey and now the experience of a Lake City 4th of July. This town is like a large Eaton: down home, with lots of community spirit. Love it!

Deer outside our camper:

 

Hike on the Waterdo Lakes Trail:

 

 

 

Creede, a little town south of here:

July 4 with Jim and Nita; Theresa and Larry ( the other work campers)

 

 

Family activities in the park

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Cooking by the camp fire

Nice evening: Nita made sourdough bread cooked in her Dutch oven and then we all had apple and cherry cobblers she made the old fashioned way...over charcoal.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Getting into the Routine

So we are getting into a pretty simple routine: Sophie walks to new areas...visiting the many, many deer, dogs and rabbits that we encounter every day on those walks; work;leisurely drives; reading; and some hiking.

It is super dry here with pollen, but oh so cool and comfortable. Wish you all could come for a visit. Here are a few pictures I took over the week:

View of Lake City from a hill that we climbed:

Our bank:

On the roads around here:

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

A Surprise Day Off

Our bosses said there was not enough to do today so we got a surprise day off! Yoo-hoo! We were told about a beautiful scenic drive through a "town" called Powderhorn so decided to try...we ended up on the most beautiful dirt roads...one through aspens and wild lupines, another we got lost on and ended up meeting a nice young rancher and family who had at least 20 horses..she succeeded in getting us to buy some farm fresh eggs. .The correct dirt road took us past gorgeous ranches...each miles apart and we had a picnic near one just watching the cows.

 

The Powderhorn Post Office:

 

After returning we went to today's big event in Lake City: the 50 mile endurance run through the mts called the San Juan Mts Solstice Run. These crazy runners ( mostly from CO or high elevation states) ran through the mts ..up 12,840 feet and down..thru snow and rain at times.

We just came back from watching some of the runners. 2 people made it just under 8 hours and the first woman under 11! Amazing...

Now it is time to cook, relax and maybe see a sunset later..

 

Posted with Blogsy

A good hike

So today we decided to take a hike in the Slumgullion pass around11,000 feet. It was open meadows, with lots of tracks of deer, coyote, bear , horse and more. It was slow going but we loved it. The views were spectacular and no bugs!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Life in Lake City and Beyond

So we are getting into our work routines...work started Sunday and we do 5 days a week and the hours depend on the activity level here. Basically the routine is I do the morning Sophie walk early morning...we always meet up with deer and rabbits. She loves it! Then we start work at 9 and get assigned to one or more of the cabins that are vacated. The guests are told to clean up when they leave and so far they really have looked pretty good. My afternoon typically consists of nap, read and a little exploring time. At 4:30 we wash down jeeps and ATVs that have been rented out. We have an air compressor gun to get all the dust out and then a pressure washer to get the outside clean. They all come back well used but Don and I can knock one off in 20 minutes and we usually only get 2 a night. Then it is relax time again...Not bad! Monday nite we heard an Army Band play and there were at least 80 in attendance...a great ratio for this little town.

Today on our day off we took a drive up to Montrose and then over to Ouray, advertised as the Little Switzerland of the the west. Hard to get photos of this majestic town as the mts are so vast. We wandered the streets and drove in the hills..gorgeous, but it is too bad we had to travel by the main roads. The fun way is across the mts by jeep, but it took almost 3 hours by car. Next time we will bring our tent and stay over...

On the way there..cows everywhere in these vast plains:

 

The town of Ouray:

 

And neighborhood:

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Alpine Loop-Pure Excitement and Awe

So today we did the "Alpine Loop" , the most thrilling and gorgeous drive I have ever done: about 6 hours through the peaks of the San Juan Mts, much only accessible by 4 wheel drive jeeps or ATVs.

Even though we don't officially start work until tomorrow, Jim and Nita comped us a jeep for the day. Below are just a few of the pictures I took:

 

Just wait until you see a full slide show:-)

Posted with Blogsy