Oriole antics

Mrs Baltimore Oriole and family were hanging right over our RV spot.  She was a delight to watch tend to her family.  I saw two large mouths pop up for just fleeting seconds so not sure how many babies.  They were hungry and noisy, however.

We spent last night at Valentine, Nebraska in the heart of the Nebraska Sand Dunes.  Have to admit I finally got my fill of grasslands.  Scenery did not change much all day--and we found ourselves driving in high winds again. 

   Tonight we are at Pickstown, South Dakota at the Fort Randal Dam on the Missouri River.  This is where all that snow melt from Montana is coming through at record pace and causing all the flooding down stream.  It is breathtaking to watch it come over the spillway at 155,000 cfs (that's cubic feet per second--I can't imagine how much water that actually is)  The sound is deafening!  Wish Arizona could have just a little of all this water.

Down a dirt road

We took a drive one day out to Toadstool Geological Park, Nebraska's version of the Badlands of South Dakota.  Thought we were running into rain on the dusty road out there but it passed on by as we got closer.  The early morning sun on storm clouds made for some dramatic photos. 

Little farther down the same dirt road was a place called the "Hudson-Menge Bison Bonebed" where thousands of prehistoric bison bones have been unearthed at the site of an ancient spring.  A small portion of the bonebed is covered over with a permanent building so that archeologists can work uncovering the mystry of what might have happened here some 10,000 years ago.

Still on this now muddy, dirt road we came to High Plains Homestead where a family brought in several old authentic buildings from around the area and reconstructed an old west town for tourists.  They did a really nice job.  We had lunch of bison burgers in the Cookshack--where "reservations are appreciated, drifters welcome."

High Plains Homestead, Carroll County Nebraska

This baby phoebe must have just fledged.  Just learning to fly.

More days at Fort Robinson

View of Fort Robinson from on top of the buttes.

The park's herd of long-horned cattle in front of those buttes.

This young wrangler was my trail guide.  Turned out I was the only one signed up for the 8am trail ride so I had a personal guide.  He is a local so I learned lots about the park and surrounding ranch lands.  You will notice that my horse had sense enough not to go to the edge of this ledge like he did! Will was out on a long bike ride while I was enjoying this handsome young man's company.

Every Thursday night there is a free rodeo put on by park employees.  Besides the hard stuff like "team steer roping", they had events like Musical Chairs on horses, and "drag the hide"--which was pulling kids on a buffalo hide behind a horse across the arena to see who could make it across the field in the fastest time.  Was pretty funny.

The park also has its own herd of Bison, which is also big on the menu at the lodge restaurant.

Cooperative barn swallow

Fort Robinson State Park, Crawford, Nebraska

Hayride Breakfast

Grassland Wildflowers

We were here once before—unfortunately can’t remember just how long ago, but  is a place we looked forward to visiting again.  Fort Robinson State Park is in the very northwest corner of Nebraska in the Pine Ridge region, actually,  just south of the Black Hills of South Dakota.  It is Nebraska’s largest state park and a very active place.  Was a military post dating back to 1873 at the site of the Red Cloud Indian Agency, played a significant role in Indian wars of 1876/1890, has been used as everything from a military remounting station (preparing horses and mules for Calvary and combat), military K-9 training center, and German POW camp during WWII, was a agricultural research station until it became a state park.  Crazy Horse died while imprisoned here.  Many original building have been preserved and are rented out as lodging.  Has tons of activities available for young and old alike.  We did a trail breakfast this morning where we had a hayride to breakfast cooked out under a bluff.  There is a “post playhouse” here where we enjoyed a dynamite production last night about the life of Hank Williams.  Going to a rodeo tonight.

Hiking the Bluffs overlooking Fort Robinson

Just captured this bird's silhouette but no mistaking this is a Red Crossbill.

One last look at the grand Rocky Mountains

       We spent a day in Denver metro area with the coach in for service at a Winnebago dealership. We needed a couple of items fixed—nothing serious—just annoyances, and since it was raining anyway, it turned out to be a good day to do that.
       First rain we have encountered on our trip. Was a cold, nasty day. Good day to see the 4th “Pirates of the Caribbean” (best one yet)—We are big Jack Sparrow fans.

Those tiny dots on the horizon are Pronghorns.

Then onto the windswept plains of Eastern Colorado. I am truly a flatlander and although the mountains are spectacular, I love the undulating grasslands that seemingly go on forever. However, WIND was the operative word here—we drove in strong winds until we just had to get off the road. Will was clutching the wheel so hard his hands ached. Got as far as Scottsbluff, Nebraska and spent the afternoon in Walmart parking lot because it was just not safe on the roads.  We have encountered a lot of wind on this trip, its been a windy summer everywhere we have been.

So we visited Scottsbluff National Monument and learned some pioneer history of the Oregon Trail and the big expansion westward of the mid 1800’s. Then got out of the wind at an interesting farm/ranch museum.

We fully intended to spend the night but about 7pm the winds subsided so we hooked the car back up and drove the last 75 miles to Fort Robinson Sate Park in northwest corner of Nebraska. We're planning to spend the next several days here.

Uncle Ed and Marcella

Wonderful evening spent with the Neumann's on our way thru Colorado. 

Father's Day on the road

This is how Will celebrated Father's Day.  Started with a phone call from each of the kids to wish him a Happy Father's Day; lunch at Costco (a personal favorite); Bought himself a new power drill from Costco; Found the new bike rack he had been looking for at a sporting goods store--got to use his new drill to install the new bike rack.  Couldn't be better.

Herd of Elk

Came across this small herd of elk as we left the high mountains and came down to the foothills on our way to Denver area.

Colorado mountain pics

Denny Creek Trail

Grey Jays have a reputation of skulking and being extra curious around people but these guys were really brazen as they guarded the Ptarmigan Trail.  They obviously knew that back packs held food.  Didn't take much effort to get them to grab a peanut from Will's hand.

Couldn't find this in my plant guide but was obviously an orchid!!

Rocky Mountain Clematis--they were everywhere on the Colorado Trail

Big horned sheep grazing along the road

Collegiate Peaks, San Isabel National Forest Colorado

We came back down the mountain today to do some laundry, get our dose of internet access, get some local pizza and have a soak in a hot spring.  Was nippy at night up there, but as soon as the sun came up the temperatures warmed up comfortably.  We hiked a few trails in San Isabel National Forest where we had to climb over snow banks.  You may have heard that the Colorado Rockies had record snows this year.

We had so much fun with a hummingbird feeder.  Will couldn't get it hung up without the broadtail hummers clamoring to own the space.  There are three little hummers in this pictures.

Looking west across the Colorado Rocky mountains at Cottonwood Pass.  We drove up here to see sunset, too much snow and cold to hike.

The Collegiate Peaks  --  "several 14ers" here.

We followed the raging Arkansas River from Pueblo, Colorado upriver to the town of Buena Vista along the front range of the Rocky Mountains.  We are going to hang out here for a few days.  We're staying in town tonight but we spent the afternoon scouting the area and found a national forest campground off the beaten path at about 10,000 ft that looks pretty cozy.  We're going to move up there in the morning and dry camp.  We'll be out of cell phone and internet range so no posts for a while.

Colorado is so much greener than NM or of course, Arizona--obviously much more moisture here.  Plenty of snow on the peaks.  This county claims 12 of Colorado's "14ers."  That is Colorado talk meaning peaks that are over 14,000 feet.  Popular place to come for mountain climbers.  We plan to do some hiking but no where near the summits.

Bishops Castle

Amazing what you happen upon as you drive the back roads. . .

Bishop's Castle was begun in 1969 and for 40 years Jim Bishop has been building the castle in a  mountainside in eastern Colorado, himself.  It looms out of the forest with its 160 ft height and the closer you get the more amazing it appears.  It isn't finished--he was there today, working away and talking to the half dozen visitors.  But its open and accessible and you can climb one spiral staircase after another to reach the several levels. 

This is Mr Bishop, working away and talking to people as they visit his castle and sharing his brash, right-wing philosophies of life and politics.  He is colorful, shall we say, but to have such a vision and then spend a half of a decade acting on it like he has would take a certain personality.

Leaving the haze behind

We left New Mexico and the smoke behind and moved into Colorado.  It wasn't always as bad as this picture taken while driving near Albuquerque but haze in the air continually from the Arizona fire.  Wind is blowing the smoke straight for Gallup and Albuquerque and northeast NM.  Especially bad in evenings when wind dies down and it settles in the valleys.  Albuquerque officials have declared health hazard.  We have been east of Sante Fe on the other side of the Sangre de Christo mountains so not as bad. The smoke is inconvenience for us, so much worse for people in harms way of wild fires. The wind has been blowing every day--getting weary of wind.

My new most favorite animal!

We visited an Alpaca ranch today near Mora, NM and it was so fun.  Besides their huge gift shop and visitor center where you can watch a video about Alpacas and buy everything ever made from Alpaca fiber we took a tour and got to feed some year old young ones.  They were just sheared this past week so they look a little skinny but they are the sweetest animals.  They readily ate out of our hands.  No fear of getting bit as they munched from our open palms because they have only bottom teeth, they are engineered to eat grass.  We got up close to a baby cria (that is what baby alpaca are called) that was about 4 hours old.  Little wobbly and just as cute as can be.  This ranch has 300 animals on a 200 acre spread that they raise purely for fiber.  They make a soft, mewing sound and are the most gentle animals ever.  I wanted to take one home.  I was so taken by them that I bought a skein of alpaca yarn and have no clue what I will do with it.

Little farther down the road we stopped at Fort Union National Monument and toured the ruins of a fort that stood on this location from 1851 until 1891. The famous Santa Fe Trail passed through here making it a supply depot to military outposts farther west as the southwest was being opened to Anglos.

Finished the day walking around historic plaza district of Las Vegas, New Mexico and the restored Plaza Hotel.  Lots of buildings in Las Vegas due for historic preservation.  They are working on it.

New Mexico

We're east of Santa Fe in a New Mexico state park.  There are goats across the fence from the campground which gives it a certain ambiance!   Hiked in the Pecos Wilderness today.  Showy spring wildflowers everywhere.  The hike turned out to be a workout, trailhead was 8,000ft. 

Sunset tonight was bright red because of the smoke in the air.  Albuquerque is really feeling the effects of the fire in northeast Arizona.  Winds are bringing the smoke all this way and making it uncomfortable in the valley.  We're on the other side of the Sangri de Christo mountains so it isn't quite so bad here but we can still see the haze and occasionally smell the smoke in the air.