Silver Chariot

August 12th – 19th: More hiking adventures with Veronica on the final days of our daddy / daughter adventure, then visits with friends and family!!!

August 12th – A rest day. Went to “Bear Coffee” in Silverton for their veggie breakfast burritos again. We checked email, etc. and then went to take a coin-operated shower at the Molas Lake campground. We then had a late pizza lunch along with some delicious brews at “Avalanche Brewing and Pizza” back in Silverton….

A postcard from Key Largo

We recently left the unpredictable Texas winter behind on March 4th and adopted the Sunshine State as our new home until May 24th. Key Largo, Florida to be exact. Here, at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park we 3 volunteer for 4 days and have 3 days off to explore. And explore we have! The…

A tour of Colorado High Country Trails

I haven’t posted since mid-July, so I decided to touch upon each of our weekly high country hikes in one blog posting. We’ve been high in the mountains above Telluride, Ouray and Ridgway, Colorado Tuesday or Wednesday of each week; our days off. The scenery has been amazing as we hiked through deep forests of…

Headed for Ice Lake Basin

I climbed to it with my son in 2012, I sent friends there in 2013 and I longed to return this year. Based on our experience hiking around 10,000 ft. there was still a lot of snow until late June, as the winter had had 120% of normal snowfall. On June 27th Mandy and I…

Dinosaurs and Rock Art

This particular figure is known as The Guardian. We found the image delightful because he reminded us of the totoro, from the Japanese animated film, “My Neighbor Totoro.” Totoro is fond of showing his huge teeth and roaring, and this character seems to be doing just that! The Guardian can be found along Colorado 139…

My love affair with the San Juan Mountains

I have been coming to the San Juan Mountains since I was 4-years-old. Our first trips as a family to the San Juans began at the S-Lazy-U Dude Ranch between Creede and Lake City, on the headwaters of the Rio Grande. My dad used to fly fish while my mom and sister and I would…

A grand time on Grand Mesa

It’s been unusually hot for June in Ridgway, Colorado, where we are currently camp hosting at Ridgway State Park. So, this past week we decided to venture up to the Grand Mesa to escape the heat at 10,500 feet. It was at least 20 degrees cooler at that elevation. The Grand Mesa is the largest…

We’re still here!

Wow, the last time I posted was in June, 2016! One of our family members became ill in June, so our focus has been on their well-being and return to good health. Things are almost back to normal now, so I have time to blog again-yes! Where to begin? Even though there was a health-crisis,…

700 years of history…Mesa Verde

Once again during our weekly days off we tried to squeeze in a National Park or two. Luckily for us, Mesa Verde National Park is just 2 1/2 hours away from Ridgway State Park in southwestern Colorado. Mandy has been lobbying pretty hard for a visit to Mesa Verde, so happily we finally made it!…

Moab!!

We’ve been exploring farther and farther abroad on our days off from work here at Ridgway State Park, Colorado. We were very pleased to find out that Moab, Utah is only a 3-hour drive by car, across some gorgeous country. The route takes you across a mountain pass (Dallas Divide) with awesome up-close views of…

Even better than the Grand Canyon?

Most of the trails above 9,000 feet are still snowbound now, in early May in Colorado. So, on our two days off this week we chose to visit the nearby Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, which lies about 15 miles to the northeast of Montrose, and a 45-minute drive from our home-base, Ridgway…