The Kindness of Strangers

I have been meaning to tell this story from our Colorado vacation and kept forgetting. For some reason, it nagged at the back of mind for my entire business trip this week. What would Freud say about that?

My family is pretty serious about recycling. While we were staying at yurts, cabins, etc. in Colorado, we kept our recyclables separate from our garbage. Since none of the places we stayed had recycling bins, we had to find the little recycling centers in the small towns we went through. Our final stop was Colorado Springs which is a fairly large town. We could not find a recycling center. I think they probably have curbside recycling, so no center for drop-off like smaller Western towns do. Anyway, we still looked, starting with "soccer moms" walking the street and houses which looked like nicer residential areas first. My father thought we'd have better luck with someone like that.

After driving around and asking people for about 30-45 minutes, we ended up back on the outskirts of the main downtown area and saw a couple who looked to be in their late 50s walking their dog. From their expensive hiking-type clothes (like from Columbia sportwear or something from REI), we had a feeling they were into recycling. My brother, Kaaarrrl, careens to a halt by the curb close to them. My father opens his window and asks them where the nearest recycling center is. They don't know of one. But they start asking how much recycling we have. We show them. They offer to take it home to their house and put it in their recycling bin. So they ended up carrying our recycling, about 3 bags of plastic and cans, back to their house. How nice is that? Very freaking nice! So I guess I felt I had to tell them thank you, cosmically of course, since I am certain they don't read this blog.

Shuffled off to Buffalo

Sorry I have not been blogging. Phollower and I are in Buffalo with family for a visit. Back soon!

Stop #3: The Yurt

After leaving Coaldale, CO, we went to the State Forest State Park, north of Rocky Mountain National Park to stay in a yurt. This is like fancy tent which has a wooden structure under the canvas (or whatever the material is). It had a wood burning stove in it, a propane cook stove, and a propane light. It was about a 1/2 mile hike from where we had to park to the yurt. Normally, that would have been cake, but the walk was through ankle/knee deep mud and snow. But it was absolutely beautiful there. Here are some pics. On the left, is the view from the yurt. On the right, is a picture of the yurt. As you can see, we got a few inches of new snow while we were there. It was amazing.
















We took about a 5 mile hike in the Park on the one full day we were in the Park, and ended up hiking about 1/2 mile through waist deep snow, as you can kind of see in the picture on the left. The picture on the right was taken during the hike. There were tons of beautiful views. It was a hard hike, but a fun one.
















We also saw two moose on our hike from the yurt to the car the first night we were there. They were really neat. They were just hanging out eating. We made a little noise to let them know we were coming. One looked up, but they didn't walk away until we were getting close. When we rounded the bend, after they left, we saw 2 guys getting into a car with all kinds of camera equipment. I guess that had been trying to get a picture of the moose and we ruined it. Phollower asked them if they got any good ones and they said "no" but their voices said "ass". I am sure you know what it's like Tysgirl! By the way, if you like good photography, and haven't read Tysgirl's blog, you are really missing out (and she's a riot too).

The "fork-lift"

When we were rafting, the guide let us jump out and float in the 38 degree river if we wanted to. My Dad, along with almost everyone else, wanted to. I tried it, but it was too cold so I got right back in the boat. That meant I was the one pulling people in when they were ready to get back in the boat. I was the one who tried to pull my Dad in. My Dad is about 6 foot, 2 inches, and a big guy - not fat but really muscular and heavy. I had my feet locked under the boat side (as we were instructed) and was leaned back with all my considerable weight and using all of my meager strength, getting nowhere. So one of the guys who was rafting with us, pushed him from the water underneath to help me. He and his friend were from Arkansas and were pretty funny guys. Anyway the following conversation ensued:

Dad: "Who is grabbing my balls?"
AR guy #1: Shifting away from my Dad to another part of the boat, "That's what we call a forklift in Arkansas."

The conversation continued once we were all in the boat.

AR guy #1: "In AR, when you give someone a forklift, it's go time."
Phollower: "Go time? Where do you go from there?"
AR guy #2 (AR guy #1's friend): "WE don't really call it a forklift. He does."
Me: "What is like to be friends with a guy who has his own name for grabbing a stranger's balls?"

So the forklift was a joke for the entire week.

Stop #2: Arkansas River

From Crestone, CO, we headed to the Salida-Canon City area.
The big draw to this area was to go white water rafting. My Dad and I had rafted about 12 years ago nearby with the same company, River Runners. We rafted the Royal Gorge, under the highest suspension bridge in America. It was amazing. Here are a few pics from our rafting adventure.


This first one is before we hit the "photo" rapid. The guide, Kelly, told us the camera was there. Phollower decided we should all stick our tongues out, Michael Jordan style. You can see Phollower doing it there in the left front, and maybe the guide in the left back (unless he's just thinking). My Dad is in the right front, with my brother behind him, and me behind my brother. My step-mother, Baby B, is in the seat in front of the guide.





This is in the following rapid. Seating is the same.

Rafting was excellent. Our guide was awesome, really experienced, and very laid back and cool. I will let Phollower write about the crazy stuff he did while we were rafting. River Runners really is a class act. I would raft them anytime.




We went to dinner at the Laughing Ladies Cafe and had a great meal. If you are in Salida, CO, don't miss it (but make a reservation or you will).

We stayed at the Big Horn RV Park in a little cabin. This place was ok. There was an area in front of the cabin to sit out at night. There were two double beds, but the pull-out couch was trashed. So my brother, Kaarrrl, had to sleep on the couch, but he never complains. It wasn't grimy, but it wasn't 100% clean. It had the smallest shower I have ever been in. You could not turn around without banging your elbows on the wall. I think everyone liked it more than I did. I was glad we just slept there and were pretty busy the rest of the time.

So overall, I'd do the rafting again for sure. And I'd stop for a meal at the Laughing Ladies. But I might try to find a different place to stay.

First Stop: Crestone, CO

The first place we went on our vacation was Crestone, CO. We stayed at the Willow Creek Retreat House. It was a nice little house. The view from the upper room, which has windows on all 4 sides, was amazing (see picture above). We slept up there and watched the moon set and the sunrise. The only negatives for the place I can think of are that it was hard to get out of the shower since the tub is raised and has high sides and that, for some reason, I kept banging my elbows on the railings. Maybe they were just the right height. Other than that, it was a cozy, nice place to stay with all the amenities of home.

Crestone, Colorado is a neat little town. Very spiritual. There are 3 Buddhist temples, an ashram (I'll leave the natural, but nasty joke to Phollower), and several other religious places. It is very small - just a couple of restaurants, a few stores, a natural food store, no liquor store. Just a heads up in case any of you go there. So we shopped before getting there and brought our own liquor.

Crestone is near the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which is amazing. We hiked in the dunes, played in the river, and hiked in the mountains near the dunes.


We also went for a horseback ride with the Baca Grande Stables. It was really fun, and I got over being afraid of horses. We saw a group of elk and a lone coyote from the horses - although those two sightings were not at the same time. We took the horses into a water pit - well our guide, Jocelyn, my brother, Kaaarrrl, and I did. Phollower did not - too chicken I think. The guide was really nice. And the horses definitely had some personality. Here is a picture from the horseback ride.


More from the trip later, and on Phollower's blog too.

A few days away

Phollower and I are heading out on vacation to Colorado. So nothing here this week. I know, try to control the weeping! Assuming we live through the rafting trip, when I get back I will tell you all about it and post pictures of the plush places we stayed, like this one, and of the places we hiked.

Sign You Are in California

This was a sign on the boardwalk in San Francisco. In case the cell phone pic is too hard to read, it says "No thongs except on feet." You'd never need a sign like this in the Midwest.