Lint Camp @ Kartchner Caverns

Last week I got to participate in "Lint Camp."  This is an annual event where ranger and volunteers go into the cave and clean lint off the formations and curbing.  It is very time consuming.  We each were issued a paint brush and tweezers and we used a black light to see the lint.  My  group worked about 3 hours and covered about 50 or 60 feet.  Afterwards, we sat in cave darkness and talked about the cave.  What a spiritual experience!

I know it sounds crazy, but lint is one of the worst things for caves.  Because the average temperature in the cave is 68 to 70 degrees and the humidity is 99%, it is like a petrie dish and lint becomes a science project growing mold and fungus and killing formations.

Glo picking lint out of cave.

Kartchner Caverns - revisited.

I've had a few calls from friends asking "Is everything ok?"  They had checked this blog and had not seen any updates for awhile and were concerned.  Thank you to those of you who were concerned and called to prod me to get back to it.

We arrived in the Phoenix area around the middle of September and spent a couple of weeks visiting with friends.  Our intent was to stay only a week, but... we had a death in the family, T's sister's husband, Frankie, passed away suddenly and T flew back to Myrtle Beach for a week.

While in the Phoenix area we stayed in Apache Junction.  The first week we were at Usery Pass Regional Park.  Though the area was beautiful, it was quite lonely.  There were only three or four other campers while we were there.  The second week we stayed at Bonita Vista MH/RV Park.  We enjoyed our stay and met many nice people.  We enjoyed it so much that we made reservations to go back there in February and say a couple of months.

We got to Kartchner Caverns Oct 6th and jumped right into following tours.  After a week we had a refresher course on guiding in the cave and Glo was off and running.  T is driving the tram.  We are loving being back at Kartchner.  Our neighbors are people we met here two years ago and we've made lots of new friends. We have our nightly cocktail hour and many of the other volunteers come up to our campsite to sit by the fire and chat about the tours we had that day.

One of the best parts of being here is that we are only thirty minutes from Brian and we get to have Sammy, our granddaughter, come for a sleep over about every other week.  Yesterday we took her to Reid Park Zoo.  We had a great time.  One of the highlights was a  baby elephant.  The baby was only three months old.  We got to watch it stay with it's mom and we got to see the Mom and Dad loving on each other.  So sweet.

Sammy Camel Riding

Mom & Dad loving on each other.  

Sammy the turtle

Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, AZ

After leaving Canyon de Chelly, we headed south and visited the Hubbell Trading Post, a National Historic Site in Ganado, AZ.  We were fortunate enough happen along just as a ranger guided tour of the home was starting.  What a unique and interesting place.

Sheep, Coffee, Rugs and Turquoise

The squeaky wooden floor greets your entry into the oldest operating trading post on the Navajo Nation.  When your eyes adjust to the dim light in the "bullpen" you find you’ve just entered a mercantile.  Hubbell's has been serving Ganado selling groceries, grain, hardware, horse tack, coffee and Native American Art since 1878. 

Arches, Canyonlands and Canyon de Chelly National Parks

T & Glo entering Utah

We left Granby, Wednesday, September 10th and head west to Utah.













Just when I think I can't be wowed anymore...  Arches and Canyonlands National Parks knocked my socks off.  Rather than go on and on with words I'm just going to post a few pictures.

Arches National Park

A red rock wonderland

Visit Arches and discover a landscape of contrasting colors, landforms and textures unlike any other in the world. The park has over 2,000 natural stone arches, in addition to hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive fins and giant balanced rocks. This red rock wonderland will amaze you with its formations, refresh you with its trails, and inspire you with its sunsets.

Arches Window

Glo @ Balanced Rock

Canyonlands National Park

A lifetime of exploration awaits you

Canyonlands invites you to explore a wilderness of countless canyons and fantastically formed buttes carved by the Colorado River and its tributaries. Rivers divide the park into four districts: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, the Maze, and the rivers themselves.

We were lucky enough to go there during the 50th birthday celebration and learn about the history of the park and have some birthday cake.

On Saturday, we headed south to Canyon de Chelly (Pronounced: can-yen duh shay).  Another area I’d often heard of but had never seen. 

Canyon de Chelly National Monument was established on April 1, 1931 as a unit of the National Park Service. It is located in northeastern Arizona within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation

Glo loving Arizona & Canyon de Chelly

Look closely, just to right of center.  See the cliff dwelling.

Sunset @ Canyon de Chelly, AZ

Lisa & Whitney visit and our wrap up at Snow Mountain Ranch

Wednesday,August 27

My niece, Whitney, came for a visit and we drove to Denver to pick her up at the airport, a 2 hour one way drive.  On Thursday we took Whitney to Rocky Mountain National Park, where Whitney and I walked to “the top of the mountain”, 12000 feet.  

We stopped at Grand Lake for dinner and dined at this wonderful little bistro called O-A Bistro.  There was a single man sitting next to us and he overheard us talking about the wines and cheeses.  He made a few recommendations and we invited him to join us.  His name was Michael Thomas and he was chef at a local resort.  We had a most enjoyable dining experience and of course I had my picture taken with the owner, Christina Pedersen.

Christina Pedersen owner of O-A Bistro

Michael the chef in center

Friday, August 29

Whitney and I drove to Denver to shop a little and to pickup Lisa at the airport. Whitney met a friend there and went off with her friend to spend the weekend in Fort Collins.  Lisa’s flight got in on time, but her luggage didn’t.  After waiting around to file the claim, she and I headed back to Granby.  

Saturday, August 30

I showed Lisa around the Rawley Homestead, where I was an interpreter and then we went into the “big town” of Granby. We hiked a little around Snow Mountain Ranch and just enjoyed each other’s company.

Sunday, August 31

Lisa and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park and walked to the top.  That day it was really cold.  The temperature was 37 degrees with winds of 20 to 30 miles an hour, making the wind chill in the 20’s. After  leaving the Alpine Visitor’s center we drove through the park to Estes Park. There we happened upon a street festival.  Unfortunately, we got there too late to take it in. We shopped a bit and wandered around, found a river walk and while strolling came upon an outdoor venue with a young fellow playing music.  We had dinner at Mama Rosa’s restaurant sitting on the balcony, while enjoying the music.  We tried to come up with a way to not go back through the national park to get back to Granby.  Lisa thought she had found a way.  Just to be sure we knew which way to go we asked the manager of the restaurant and thank goodness we did.  The alternate route would have taken us four hours to get back to camp, due to the roads having been flooded out last year and still not repaired.  We got back home safely around midnight.

Whitney,Lisa & Glo @ Red Rock

Monday, Sept 1

We headed into Denver once again to pickup Whitney and take in the street festival, “Taste of Colorado”.  We all had a great time and headed back to Granby around 1:00pm.  Having left Denver a couple hours ahead of schedule we decide to take in Red Rocks Amphitheatre.  

“Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a rock structure near Morrison, Colorado, 10 miles west of Denver, where concerts are given in the open-air amphitheatre.” 

The first concert there was in 1910. What a magnificent place for a concert. The park was beautiful.  It was a quick visit, due to our having been invited to enjoy marshmallows by the fire with our neighbors who wanted to meet Lisa & Whitney.  We got back in time for a quick bite to eat before joining our neighbors for a farewell fire.

Carolyn, Don & Kiwi Sparks

Carolyn & Don Sparks and Linda & Buzz Clarke will be friends we’ll remember for sometime.

Linda, Buzz & Suzi Clarke

Tuesday, September 2

This was the last day Lisa & Whitney were to be with us. T chose to work, so the three of us

Whitney,Glo & Lisa @ Cascade Falls

decided to hike Monarch lake.  We got started a little late but had plenty of time to do a 4.4 mile hike around the lake.  We had wanted to hike to the Cascade Falls, but the ranger said it was 9 miles round trip.  So we decided we didn’t have time to hike to the falls and be off the mountain before dark.  We enjoyed wandering and taking pictures, chatting and seeing the scenery.  We were enjoying ourselves so much that we missed the sign  that would have pointed us around the lake and ended up hiking to the falls.  We kept going thinking we would eventually get back to the lake. We even a stopped and asked some campers.  We finally realized we were hiking up the mountain, not down, so we turned around and headed back.  All the while thinking, “It is getting dark and it will be cold on this mountain after dark.”  We had no cell phone coverage, so we couldn’t call T and let him know what was happening.  We kept hiking and hiking and hiking.  We finally got off the mountain at 7:00 pm.  We’d been hiking since 1:20. What an adventure.

Lisa & Whitney @ Monarch Lake

The three of us almost to the top.

Whitney & Lisa loved being outdoors

We called T to tell him where we were and that we were going to dinner at A-O Bistro.

We had a wonderful meal and recovered from our adventure.  After resting for awhile we got up to go and could hardly walk.  Our muscle were so tired.  

The next day, Lisa & Whitney left for home.  What a  delightful visit we had, one we won’t soon forget.

Snow Mountain Wrap Up

As I always do, I want to recap and add a few pictures of our stay at Snow Mountain Ranch.  We had a great time in Colorado.  My job as an Interpretive Guide at the Fred Rawley Homestead gave me the opportunity to learn about the Homestead Act and about the hardships of homesteading.  I then got to share my knowledge with people who came from all over the world to see the homestead that was founded in 1919 with all of the original buildings still standing.

I met an old codger, named Dusty, who was the chuck wagon cook.  Dusty prepared a Cowboy breakfast almost every morning and I often shared coffee with him.

The views around Snow Mountain were magnificent and we got to see them everyday.  Though we were ready to leave when the time came, we had a great experience during our 2 1/2 months in Colorado.

Dusty the Cowboy Cook

Glo the Interpretive guide @ Rawley Homestead (1919)

View from our campsite

View at Snow Mountain Ranch

What whirl wind months July & August were!

I can't believe I let two months go by without posting an update.  To say the least we are enjoying Snow Mountain Ranch and the people we are meeting.  My job here is Interpretive Guide at an old Homestead.  I've learned a great deal about the Homestead Act and about the hardships people suffered in this area back in the early 1900's.  T's job is in maintenance where he does anything from pickup garbage to service cabins that might have a problem.

This posting will cover both July and August.

We arrived at Snow Mountain Ranch on the 2nd of July, got checked in and were given a quick tour of the place.  Wow! What a difference from Keyhole State Park where we were one of seven volunteer couples to Snow Mountain where we are one couple among over fifty volunteers.   The first night here we participated in “game night”, which was held every Tuesday evening.  


YMCA of the Rockies, Snow Mountain Ranch is just outside the town of Granby, Co.  Granby holds an annual 4th of July parade that they bill as the “best small  town parade in Colorado.”  I of course had to see it.  I was quite impressed.  The parade started with a fly over of some vintage airplanes.

I spent the entire morning at the parade taking pictures.  I got carried away taking pictures of dogs.  I’m just putting a few pictures here.  I can only image what they were thinking.

 

Jill Miles, owner of Grand River Coffee Co.

I also met the owner of a little coffee chop called Grand River Coffee Company. Jill, has owned and operated the coffee shop for fourteen years.  She made visiting Granby fun and T and I often went to her place for coffee and a scone in the morning while here.  A great place to meet the locals.

Since the months went by in a flash, I’ll just cover the highlights.

Milner Pass

We of course went to Rocky Mountain National Park at the first opportunity.  All I can say is, “WOW!”  It rivals the Grand Canyon for beauty, though my heart will always be in Arizona.   My pictures of the Rockies will not do it justice.  

I knew the Continental Divide was the midway point between the Atlantic and the Pacific, but I did not know that it "separates drainage to the Atlantic from drainage to the Pacific. It traverses America from Alaska almost to Cape Horn."

We had the opportunity to go on a Zip Line.  The way to the top was either climb a ladder or a pole.  Those of you who know me, know I didn’t do it the easy way.  I went up the pole and zipped down.  What a thrill!

Our granddaughter, Sammy, came for a week.  Some of the things she got to do for the first time are listed below. T & I get to do these kinds of things on a regular basis, living here in Granby, Co.  Her visit was way too short.  Alas!  She had to leave due to starting kindergarten the following week.

Sammy coming down from the top of the Rocky Mountains

• Go to the top of the mountain- We took her to Rocky Mountain National Park and she walked part the way to the top.
• We drove Berthoud Pass, a winding, curvy road with many switchbacks.  She loved it.

Look closely, you'll see Sammy's name on the stick.

• One of the many highlights of being at Snow Mountain Ranch is that you get to make your own walking stick.  Sammy worked hard at it and has a very unique stick to show for it and Granddad burned her name on it. 

Waterfalls @ Snow Mountain Ranch

• Hike to the waterfalls - There is a waterfall trail at Snow Mountain.  It is a mile and a half one way with a significant incline, or so T & Sammy thought.  We made it to the falls and Sammy got to use her walking stick.

• She went to “work” with me one day and saw humming birds up close and loved the ground squirrels one of which posed for us.
• We had s'mores by the fire.

After a week of fun, it was time for her to fly home, alone. She was thrilled beyond belief and had an uneventful flight.

Grandma and Sammy Canoeing

Some other things T & I have done while here are:

Drive Rollins Pass, also known as Corona Pass. 

Rollins Pass, Elevation 11,600 feet

“John Quincy Adams Rollins established a toll wagon road through this pass in the mid 1860’s.  David H. Maffot’s Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway crossed the Continental Divide at this point in 1903.  First know as Bolder Pass, then Rollin's Pass, the railroad workers dubbed it “Corona”, the crown of the “Top of the world.”  

 It is incredible and hard to believe that wagons used to traverse that pass.  In later years track was laid and the train used to come across the pass.  I’ve seen pictures where the train was buried in snow.  Around 1928 the Moffet Tunnel was built and the track across the pass was abandoned.  Now it is a rocky rough drive to the top, but well worth the drive ONCE.

Top of Rollin's Pass

T & I went to Winter Park Resort and road the Alpine Slide.  What a thrill!  I think it is the longest alpine slide in the US.  We rode a chair lift up to the top and looked out over a magnificent view.  I can only image what it must look like in the winter.  I even tried my hand at getting through the human maze.

Top of Winter Park

I hiked the Monarch Lake Loop, a 4.4 mile loop around Monarch lake.  While on the loop, my friend, Andrea, and I came upon a moose.  I’d been told they will charge at you, so I of course backed away and waited for the moose to make up his mind as to which way he wanted to go.  I wanted badly to step onto the trail and get a good shot of the moose, but I thought better of it and stayed out of his way.

Moose up close and personal

Andrea & Glo hiking Monarch Loop

Osprey nest

Along with all the activities here in Colorado, I flew back to Myrtle Beach for four days.  Our son, Thomas, came to the visit the "grannies", on his way to Quebec for a speaking engagement.  I couldn’t pass up the chance to see him when he was so close. (For those of you who don’t know, Thomas lives in England.)  So I drove to Denver, two hours away, to catch a flight to Myrtle Beach.  Got back on a Thursday, drove the two hours back to Granby, worked on Friday and on Saturday drove to Santa Fe, NM (8 hour drive) to pickup Sammy for her week with us.

Oh! And during all of this, I traded my Miata for a Mini Cooper.  Call me crazy, but it was time for me to have a car that would allow me to carry more than myself and one other person.  Plus my body said it was time to get something a little easier to get in and out of.  I do miss “Red”, but life goes on.

We have another month here before we head to southern Arizona for a few months to work at Kartchner Caverns in Benson.  That is if the weather holds out. The weather here has been wonderful.  We’ve had highs in the 70’s and lows in the 40’s all summer.  However, fall is fast approaching.  Today the high was 59 and the low tonight is forecasted to be 38.  The next few days are forecasted to be the same.  We will be on the road as soon as snow is forecasted if that is before October 3rd.