Rocky Mountain National Park

Yesterday we took a drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park, outside of Estes Park. We didn't realize that there was an art show in town. It made for lots of traffic, on top of it being a holiday weekend. We picked up some salads at the grocery store, to go with the other food I had packed for a picnic. We found a nice pull off area, with this beautiful view, and ate our picnic lunch. There is still lots of snow in the mountains. Just a short drive inside the main gate, we came upon cars parked in the road all askew and realized that there must be some animals somewhere nearby cause everyone goes nuts when they see any type of animal in a national park. It turned out to be an elk, grazing in the field. It's too bad people don't realize what a hazard they create for other drivers by leaving their car in the road, to run off to get a picture. We drove on....

We took a ridge road that wound its' way up the mountainside...stopping at some of the pull-off areas to see the views. Look how deep the snow still is, high in the mountains ! I had Linda stand along the edge of the road, where the snow plow had plowed a path on the road. It was really cold, dripping down her back.

 

We left the park and drove down to Boulder. We were both really surprised how congested a town it is. When I think of Boulder, I think of a hippy type town but there are tons of corporate type stores there. We stopped for ice cream and then came back home. It was such a stark difference leaving the density of Boulder and then just a mile or so outside of town, it was like driving through the countryside. I really liked that area....it was some really pretty land. It was a nice day to take it all in...temps here in Brighton were close to 90 but way up on the mountain it was in the 60's...very refreshing and downright cool in some areas.

Today we just hung out around the rig. My eye surgery on Friday went great. It was really quick and I didn't feel a thing. Friday evening, once I got home, I had spasms in my right eye, which was a little uncomfortable but I slept really well that night and the rest of the weekend, it's been great. We had to go back to the Dr. on Saturday morning to have it checked and all is good. I will have one final check-up in June before we leave the area. I can already tell that my vision is much better. Hoping that my astigmatism doesn't come back and that my vision stays as it should for a long time. Weather today was perfect. Hope everyone had a great weekend and remembered those who serve and have served our country to give and maintain our freedom. It's a precious thing to have the freedoms that we all experience.  

Free Education Rolled Into Town

This weekend the National Alpaca Show is in Denver....how crazy is it that it's taking place while we're here. It's taking place at the National Western Complex just a little ways from us so we decided to go and check it out. We arrived this morning so we could take in all of the educational sessions that ran back to back all day. We learned all sorts of stuff...everything from how to pick a herd sire to the ailments and medical conditions an alpaca can suffer from. Alpacas were being shown, by a halter, all day long in the ring. There were several competitions going on simultaneously. We watched this one and I picked the second one from the left to be the winner. Ding ding ding....I won ! I used the same skills that we had used as kids judging cattle, when my brothers were in FFA and showed cattle in various shows, and applied the same uniformity rules, etc. It was probably more sheer luck but if today's gonna be my lucky day, let that luck be applied to having the winning powerball ticket. Ha !

In the vendor area, there were so many beautiful items...all made with alpaca fiber. Absolutely gorgeous things...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a photo competition, skein and spinning competition, silent auction and alpaca artwork. Here's some info on alpacas, from the Alpaca Owner's website:

There are two types of Alpacas, Huacaya (pronounced wah-KI'-ya) and Suri (pronounced Surrey). Huacaya alpacas represent approximately 80 percent of the aggregate US alpaca herd while suri alpacas represent the remainder. Suri alapcas have long lustrous locks of fiber or fleece that grow in "dreadlocks" giving the suri alpaca a unique appearance. Huacaya alpacas have long crimpy fiber that stands up from their skin that makes them look like cotton balls or teddy bears. Both suri and huacaya have the same properties of warmth, softness and strength which makes it a luxury textile. Alpacas come in a variety of natural colors from white, to ivory, all colors of brown, silver-grey, rose-grey and black.

I was surprised how may Suri alpacas were at the show (I don't know why I was so surprised but since they represent a much smaller percentage I thought there would only be a few there). A lady we spoke with, at her own booth, said that when someone knits with Huacaya fiber the product will have that fluff and curl to it, like the crimp that is in the fiber whereas a product made with Suri fiber will drape and lay flat. Many high end men's suits are made with Suri fiber. We liked the look of the Huacaya alpacas....they look like big fluff balls with eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There also were men there shearing the alpacas. It seemed that once the owners of the alpacas finished showing them, in their respective categories, that they got them sheared. I know at White Violet Center, where I'll be going this fall, they sheared the whole herd about a week ago since the weather is starting to warm up. Here's the before and after on one alpaca we watched. Talk about shedding some pounds ! They look really naked when they get done with them. Some of the ones laying in their pens, would lay down right in front of a fan blowing full blast on them. Linda and I were freezing in there but with that big of a fur coat on them, they must get really warm. It's such a short process to get them sheared.

I would say maybe 5 minutes in total. They walk them over to the mat, put their front and back feet inside loops on the ends of ropes and then lay them on their side while the pulleys extend their legs out to hold them still. Then the shearer goes to town, pulling the fiber on the main part of their body in one full blanket. It's really something to watch. This alpaca just laid there calmly. The little one that had been sheared before this one, was squealing because it was stressed. Sometimes they will hum or huff if they are stressed. Many times, on the farm, when the shearing takes place they will also trim their feet and teeth and give them their vaccinations. We didn't see any of that happen with these animals. The show concludes tomorrow. There are a couple more sessions tomorrow but I don't think we'll be going back. We'll see what tomorrow morning brings. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the animals and what goes into their care. Next March 2014 the national show will take place back home in Hershey, PA....how cool is that. All in all it was a great day....and no, I didn't win powerball. I guess my luck ran out with that one competition we watched. Drat !

My Computer is Resurrected..

Picked up my computer from the repair tech today, here in Brighton, CO. He said that since lead isn't used anymore for the soldering, the square disc on the motherboard comes loose and doesn't make connection. That is what makes the screen black....it can't communicate with the system. He had to take the computer apart and solder the disc back on. We dropped it off at his shop Tuesday afternoon and it was ready today for $99. So happy to have it back.

Since my computer is back, I'm able to download our pictures from our trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Zapata Falls...both near Alamosa. We left Holbrook, AZ on Saturday morning and made our way to Alamosa, CO. We boondocked near our friends, Bobbie and Jim on Sunday and Monday night. It was so good to see them and hang out with them for a little while. On Monday they went to Santa Fe to visit their new great grand-daughter and we went to the National Park. It's so neat to see 600' sand dunes at the foot of the mountains. And this year we got to see the start of the stream that is formed as the snow melts from the mountains and flows across the base of the dunes. Last year, the stream wasn't there when we came in May.

 

You could literally stand and watch the water push and strain to form this year's riverbed...pushing new veins of water out onto the sand. It was like watching it "give birth". It was so neat !

Boomer enjoyed laying down in any puddle big enough to hold his body. He was a silt-covered mess by the time we left there.

 

 

We left the Dunes Park and stopped at the little restaurant down the road to get a piece of Coconut Cream pie to build our strength up for our hike to Zapata Falls. We did the same thing last year and remembered how yummy their pie selection is. Zapata Falls is just down the road from the National Park but a very bumpy ride up the hillside on a dirt road. We ate our pie and made the 1/2 mile hike up the stone covered path to the falls, which sits at the base of the mountain. From the trail, you get a gorgeous view of the sand dunes and snow covered mountains below. I took the picture above from the hiking trail.

This year there was still ice across the stream so once you hiked along the rocks, you could step off onto the sheet of ice and walk on that for a ways. From there you step from rock to rock and make your way up the stream to get back into the canyon to where the actual falls is.

 

Linda is standing on a sheet of ice that flows down the side of the canyon and across the stream bed. Behind her you can see Zapata Falls, cascading down the side of the canyon. It's one of the neatest places I've ever been. In this picture, I'm standing on a rock in the middle of the stream where the light pours through a slit in the canyon walls. When I stand in this spot, it feels so incredible (kind of like "Beam me up Scotty"). Luckily this year someone had attached a steel cable to the canyon walls so it gave us something to hold on to as we climbed along the side of the rocks. Without that cable, it would have been really tricky to have gotten sure enough footing to make our way back to the falls. It was too slippery and treacherous to take Boomer so we tied him up to a tree while we went back to the falls. He was watching us as we tiptoed across the rocks until we could get back to him safely, like a protective parent. He also loved playing in the cold mountain water in the small pools near the entryway.

We got back to the rig and then that evening we went out to dinner with Bobbie and Jim to a Mexican restaurant in town. That was the hottest food I've ever eaten in my life ! My lips, tongue and roof of mouth were on fire, my nose ran and Linda kept asking me if I was ok cause my face was beet red. Whew ! The food was good but really hot...We finished off our meal with sopapillas....a donut like pastry that you put honey on and eat. Yum ! It helped to cool my mouth down.... We had such a good time with Bobbie and Jim and hated to pull out Tuesday morning. We arrived in Brighton Tuesday afternoon and got settled in. We'll be here till the 31st. We're really excited because this weekend the National Alpaca show is being held here in Denver....how cool is that ?!? Free workshops all day Saturday and half a day Sunday plus lots of fiber displays and alpacas. Gonna be a fun weekend ! We also have a eye appointment tomorrow afternoon to get ready for our eye surgery next week. Both of us need a touch-up on our lasik surgery. My astigmatism came back in my one eye and the vision in Linda's one eye isn't as sharp as it should be. Tomorrow we get all the testing done to get that taken care of next week. Lots of stuff going on....Hope everyone is having a fantastic week !

 

Two Parks Left to Go

We finished up the two parks, here in Holbrook, and will be heading out in the morning. We have two parks left in our schedule, before we head back east to visit family and I head to my internship. Both of our remaining parks are in Colorado...first Brighton (outside of Denver) and then most of June will be spent in Breckenridge.

The weather today has been awesome. I got the laundry done after our final meetings with the parks and Linda is finishing up the paperwork, which we call "packaging the job". We'll finish that up over the weekend and mail it off to the office. Tonight we're going to go to one of our advertisers for supper because we heard that they have an awesome fish fry. Yum ! We shall see how good it is. We're thinking of riding the bike but there's a huge black cloud overhead. Update: We went to dinner...this area is so unique in regards to weather. Look how menacing that sky looks but chances are we won't see a drop of rain. The black clouds will gather overhead, with tentacles that come down and touch the ground. It's so cool looking but sort of scary too. We did ride the bike and came out to find it sitting under one of those black clouds(but no rain). The fish fry was really good. We got 4 large pieces of fish, fries and cole slaw for $8.99 and brought back almost half of our dinner. Will be great for lunch tomorrow while we make our way to Santa Fe.

We came out of the Hopi Travel Plaza (where we had supper) and Linda found herself in the clutches of two resident dinosaurs that were lurking out back. She ran for her life back to the bike and we made a quick getaway.

 

By the way, I've always wondered why Arizona doesn't observe Daylight Saving Time.While in the travel plaza and scoping out a gift shop, there was plaque on the wall that said the Native Americans say, Leave it to the government to think that if you cut a foot off one end of a blanket and sew it on the other end of the blanket, that you'll have a longer blanket. Hmmm...I kind of understand the logic behind that but man oh man, it gets daylight here at 5:30 and dark by 7....Those aren't banker hours that you'd need to work to get your day in....more like the hours my grandmother kept. She was usually up around 4:30 or 5 and in bed right after the national news. And then, like tomorrow, the minute we drive 45 minutes east and get into New Mexico, we've lost an hour. So off we go in the morning...love to hit the open road.

Gorgeous Weather

This weekend was really nice. We got the bike out on Saturday and took a ride up to Show Low. We went to the casino there and had lunch and spent $20 on the slot machines (last of the big spenders). That $20 was lasting me quite a while until I moved over to a Buzzard Bucks machine and didn't realize it was a $1 machine instead of penny machine. Funny how that dollar symbol and penny symbol can look the same. Well, that blew the $12 I had left on my ticket in a real big hurry. Oh well, the 90 minute ride up and back in the 80 degree temps was well worth it. So nice....

We also got to take in the sights at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest recently. It's the third time we've been there but it never gets old.

 

 

 

This little guy was sunning himself on a stone wall. What a cutie !

 

 

On Sunday we moved to the second park we are working....about a half mile down the road. We arrived in time to watch the NASCAR race. Being 3 hours behind the east coast really takes some figuring out as far as TV programs. For some shows its not as simple as subtracting three hours. The evening news comes on at 5:30 here. I do a lot of channel surfing to try and catch when our shows will be starting. As far as our sleep patterns, don't even ask. I feel like my grandmother in that we usually go to bed between 8:30 and 9 because my body thinks it's much later and we wake up anywhere from 5:30 to 6:30 most mornings. Last night we had a nice rain shower that lasted for quite a while. Of course it rained....I waxed the bike and it was sitting outside.

Today has been nice with temps in the low 70's. Supposed to be these temps most of the week. We're finishing up this job and will be pulling out on Saturday to make our way to Colorado. I haven't looked at Denver's temps lately but I'm hoping the snow has left the area and isn't coming back until next winter. Nor any hail storms or tornado warnings like we had last year when we were there. My hope is for peaceful, warm spring-like weather. Is that too much to ask ?

Hidden Cove Park

Linda and I had the opportunity to take a tour of the petroglyphs at Hidden Cove Park the other day. Mike, our tour guide, contacted me  almost a year ago and told me about this wonderful find, within the city limits of Holbrook and asked if I would put some information in the guest guides on our next trip to Holbrook. He had sent me some pictures so we were anxious to see the petroglyphs for ourselves.

 

We went first thing in the morning while it was still cool and the petroglyphs would be in the shade. We followed Mike up the rugged path, climbing over rocks and making sure we had solid ground under us as we made our way up to the ledge. The area where we were headed didn't look that far up but once we climbed up there, it was up pretty high.

  We got to one point, where we were looking straight up at a bunch of petroglyphs and out flew a bird from a nest over our heads. We were perched on the side of a ledge but luckily we had good footing cause it really startled us. The mother bird flew a short distance away and voiced her displeasure at us being so close to her babies.

The city has obtained a grant, contingent on them having a couple of studies done before the end of the year. They have put together a three phase plan that will set up hiking trails throughout the area, preserve the Zuck ranch remains (there are the remnants of a windmill and foundation there) and a bunch of other things that I don't remember the details on. There is a pond there that draws hundreds of species of birds to the area. Mike was headed to that area to do some work, after our tour, but we didn't go up there to check it out.

We felt so privileged to see the petroglyphs up close because once all of the plans are put into place, you will only see them using binoculars from the bottom. If you get to the Holbrook area, call city hall, and schedule a tour. Mike will probably be the one to take you and he was instrumental in finding these great artifacts 20 years ago. He takes you on a 90 minute tour that's free of charge. You should be in good physical shape and able to climb a steep, rocky area but the experience is priceless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cliff, the glyph, who's been immortalized on a t-shirt since being discovered at Hidden Cove Park. He's looking up at the sky...wonder what he saw that was worthy of a picture on the wall.

The city has built two picnic pavilions near the parking area so visitors can enjoy a picnic lunch while visiting the park but the swallows have taken over. They seem to think those pavilions are the perfect place to build their mud nests. The underside is just covered with them. Mike said they put chicken wire on the underside to try and deter the swallows but it hasn't worked and a couple of the birds got under the wire and couldn't figure out how to get out and died. They have found a home there, just like the ones at Capistrano.

Hidden Cove Park is a really cool place...a real gem..within the city limits of Holbrook, AZ. The city golf course is also in that general area. You can play 9 holes of golf for $5...what a deal. On your next trip across I-40 be sure to stop and say hi to Cliff, the glyph.

Look at the top of the left picture where you see the deer. The picture on the right shows the archer shooting the deer. This was a large carving...really neat.

At some point a giant rock, from above, had fallen which has shaded an area where there are many petroglyphs. This has helped to preserve the patina on the rock. We crawled under and around the giant slabs of stone to get where we needed to go. Mike said that they have documented over 300 drawings here and an archeologist believes this area is older than the petrified forest, just down the road. The people that lived here and created these drawings came before the ones found at the petrified forest.

 

 

 

LiveJournal Tags: Hidden Cove Park,petroglyphs,rock drawings,Holbrook,Arizona,tourist attractions. petrified forest