Eating out in Colorado Springs

Since we visited most of the tourist spots on our last trip through Colorado Springs, this was a chance for some down time, time to see old friends, visit Camper's World, defrost the fridge, restock the larder.  We attended some rock shows, pumped the locals for info on local gems, and spent a couple of days rock hounding.  On our trip to Ruby Mountain we saw a wolf, but of course we forgot to bring the camera.

Sister Sharon and Bro in Law Don joined us for a couple of days.  We played cards, lazed at the pool and went to dinner in a unique restaurant - a WWII Air Force Plane located (appropriately) at the air port.  Food was good, ambiance was great.

The Restaurant/Plane

Check out the pilot

The Cockpit

The inside - the tall guy is Don

 

Zapata Falls

Zapata Falls are located outside of Grand Sand Dunes NP on BLM land.  We drove approximately 3.5 miles of unpaved road - all up.  The hike is a half mile - straight up.  Then we walked through a  stream into a cave to see the 40 foot waterfall.  It was well worth the effort.

Charlie got there first so I had to wait for him to move so I could see the falls

upper falls

lower falls

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes NP is 8,175 feet above sea level.   The park contains 330 square miles of sand, and the highest dunes in North America (the highest of which is 750 feet high).   We set out early in the morning to attempt our ascent while the temperature was less than boiling.  I was uncomfortable in shorts for about 10 minutes.  Sand boarding is allowed, but most people just roll down.

Great Sand Dunes in front of Sangre De Cristo Mountains

Going where no man has gone before

It is like walking in mush

Lots of critters have gone before

Charlie on top of a ridge (that's as high as we went)

Snow boarding, oops sand boarding

Charlie walked down, I took the easy way

Flora and Fauna

The bears were hiding, but we saw lots of deer

Publish Post

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP is one of the smaller national parks.  Like the Grand Canyon the park consists of a North and South Rim.  The Rock has a mica layer that glitters.

Telluride

Telluride is one of the prettiest spots I have seen.  It is an alpine village at 8,750 elevation.  Mountain Village at the top of the gondola is 9,545 elevation.  Both are breathtaking.

Mountain Village

Telluride's Main Street

Waterfall seen looking down the Main Street of Telluride

Mountain stream

Gondola headed for Mountain Village with bicycle hanging on door

Boat ride with Robin and Tom

Another great sunset

A mermaid named Morgan 

Morgan and Robin

Tom, trying out a new ski

Flora and Fauna

Creede, Colorado

We did an RV rally in Creede.   It was a beautiful RV resort.  There were 27 coaches.  As always when RVers get together, we ate, we got acquainted, then we ate some more.

Charlie gave a talk on rock hounding, I played Vana and passed around the rocks specimens.

We participated in a Jeep Scavenger Hunt.  We were given a map and asked a series of questions.  The route took us up a mountain loop, by several old gold mines, and to the local cemetery.  It was fun, and we were one of three winners.

We drove up into the mountains to one of the rock gathering sites.  Skies got black and we hotfooted it to the jeep, but we got caught in hail storm before we could get back down.

Also got the coach weighed, we were delighted to know we have room for more rocks.

Mine

Only potty on the tour

Deck at the Last Chance Mine

Lunch stop at a ghost town

Flora and Fauna

Pagosa Springs

We stopped in Pagosa Springs to visit friends.  It is a beautiful little town.  Nearest Walmart is over 60 miles.    We had a massage and soaked in the springs.

Not a clue, just a unique cloud formation

The view from our rig

Flora and Fauna

The hummingbirds fought through bees to get to the necter

Garnet mining in Idaho

This is our third trip to the garnet mine south of Coeur d'Alene.  The mine is run by the Forestry Service and costs $10 a day to dig through a large pile of dirt.  We found eight ounces of garnets the first day and 7 ounces the second day.  This time we visited a local jewelry shop in Moscow and had an expert look through our booty.   Testing revealed several contained a star but only a couple were large enough to be worth more than the cost of cutting.   We left one for cutting and a few more for testing.   One was a translucent red - no star, but will look nice in a ring.  Charlie will have lots of material to practice on when we get back to the Quartzsite Rock Club.

Moi digging in the dirt

Sifting the dirt out

Sluicing the rocks

The star garnet after cutting and polishing