South Fork, CO

We left Breckenridge Sunday morning about 8:45 with our first stop in Fairplay for breakfast with our friend Larry, at the Brown Burro Cafe. We had made one trip over the mountain, in the car, but I didn’t remember quite so many switchbacks when I made the journey this time in the motorhome. We’re talking….foot off the gas going into the corner at a slow rate of speed and put the gas pedal to the floor as you pull out of the corner cause you’re going straight up. The good news…. it’s only four miles to the summit. The bad news…..it’s pretty much all switchbacks for those four miles. Going down the other side wasn’t bad at all and before you know it….we got to the Brown Burro and had an awesome breakfast with Larry.

Left Fairplay around 11:30, headed to Bobbie and Jim’s campground outside of South Fork. Got here about 2:30 as they were having a get together with their camp hosts. A bunch of nice folks and so happy that they have adequate staffing so they can enjoy the summer a little bit. We have a great site, right along the stream. We awoke this morning in the crisp mountain air to the sound of banjo playing. Not the annoying “dueling banjos” type of sound but the nice strumming and play a sound type of playing. I cooked bacon and eggs for Linda outside on the grill and Linda met the family in the next site over, who was responsible for the banjo playing.

Mike, his wife and three year old daughter and five year old son live in California and flew out for a wedding in Colorado Springs. Mike teaches ecology and he gave Linda a lesson in aquatic bugs and showed her how you could tell if a stream was healthy (this stream was very healthy, he said). They were an awesome couple and the kids were adorable. They said that camping is so expensive in the state parks in California ($30/night) and not many young families are getting out with their kids to camp and he thought that was a real shame. His kids were having a ball playing in the water and walking along the paths. He said they really loved this park. Sadly, they left today so chances are we won’t wake up to banjo playing tomorrow.

We’re having  a great time relaxing with Bobbie and Jim. We went to Creede today to stock up on balsamic vinegar and infused oil. I bought two flavors of oil and vinegar. Cranberry and pistachio balsamic and garlic/parmesan/sundried tomato oil and black truffle flavor. Oh my, it is so good to sample all the types they have and there were more choices than last year. The two bottles of balsamic we bought last year just ran out so the timing is perfect to get more.

Jim drove us up to the far end of town where Johnny Depp has been filming a new Lone Ranger and Tonto movie. He plays Tonto…There were people dismantling equipment in the area but no sign of Johnny. We’ll have to watch for the movie and see the backdrop of Creede in the film. We came home and had a snack-fest of yummy stuff that we had brought with us and also sampled our new balsamics.

We had fresh mozzarella and sliced tomatoes, a special cheese a friend of ours got us hooked on that is infused with balsamic, deviled eggs, hummus, crackers and chips, sweet Bing cherries and our favorite adult beverages. After we let all of that settle, we were ready for dessert. Baklava that Linda and I bought at the Dillon Farmer’s Market at a booth that had all sorts of Greek yummies. The pieces were huge and we were all stuffed. We had hoped to eat the fresh, sweet basil pasta that we had bought at the farmers market too but we’ll have to save that for another night.

After we fed our faces, it was time for Jim to feed “Buddy”. How cute to watch this little chipmunk get up on his lap and stuff his cheeks as full of peanuts as he can. When you think he can’t possibly get any more in his mouth, he grabs one for the road and off he runs. When Jim got up to do something, he started getting on my lap to see where the peanuts had gone. Sorry….buffet is closed.

Tomorrow Jim is fixing us breakfast before we head out for the Sand Dunes National Park, outside of Alamosa. Want to get there before it gets very hot. Should be a fun day..