Memorial Day weekend

After getting mostly set up in site 3 we were moved to site 51, pictured above, because the water to 3 was contaminated.  After getting mostly set up in site 51 we learned that water in the entire park was being shut off because it was contaminated with nitrates.  So there we were in a park with 51 sites and NO water except for toilets and showers.  The rangers went to Alamosa and brought back gallons of water to give to campers who needed it.  We stayed put in site 51 until most all of the campers had left and then moved back to our original site.  The water may not be turned back on for up to two weeks.

We are at San Luis State Park.  All the dust you see at the bottom of the photo is from where a very large lake once was.  There is no lake at all any more.

I was so excited to see snow on the peaks when we arrived.

This photo doesn't begin to do justice to the moonrise we saw one evening.  The moon was full and we watched it start from a tiny sliver in the dip to the right of Mt. Blanca.

On to Colorado

We left Mountain View on May 22, and headed for Colorado.  We drove through Oklahoma City the day of their first tornado but we left Fort Smith early and were past OK City and tornadoes by noon.

Almost there.

We stopped at Lathrop SP near Walsenburg, CO, to meet our boss, get some training, and go to a barbeque.  Galen and I will be campground hosts for the summer at San Luis SP next door to the Great Sand Dunes NP.  The nearest city, Alamosa, is about 20 miles away from San Luis.

One of the two lakes at Lathrop.

The other lake looks turquoise in the right light.

We found a couple of geocaches in Walsenburg one day and one was at this old power plant.  It is for sale.  A lot of coal was mined in this area and there are miles and miles of tunnels and thousands of men were killed working in the mines.

Galen, the cache finder.  We failed to find three caches in Lathrop SP so it was nice to be more successful in town.

Mountain View - early May

Bess, Joyce, Mary, and Galen perform at the Folk Center.

The Mountain View volunteer sewing brigade made cloth name tags and luggage tags (nearly all the dulcimer bags look the same so we made a variety of luggage tags) in the pickin' shed.  Profits from the luggage tags, along with all other profits from the Gathering in September, will go to three local charities.

This pretty bluebird had a home in a birdhouse next to our RV.

I wove this purse with strips of batik on a cardboard loom and my friend, Sue, will line it for me.  It will then be donated to the Gathering raffles.

We discovered schneckens at a bakery in Astoria, OR and this is the result of my second attempt to make them.  My first try resulted in the caramel going over the edge of the pan and filling the house with smoke.  I won't make them very often since they are full of butter and brown sugar but they sure are good!

OOPS

This is an example of what can happen when people coming to say goodbye distract the driver from his normal way of doing things.  The trailer didn't actually hit the tree but the driver couldn't back up because of a steep drop off behind him and it is obvious why he couldn't go forward.  Because trailer was small, the guys could unhitch it and muscle it into a better position.  In a few minutes the trailer was hitched up again and on the way.

Folk Festival Parade - Mountain View, AR

Folk Festival Parade

Tornado Warning - Mountain View, AR

It is tricky getting photos of lightning but Galen managed to get not one but two photos as most of the folks at Ozark RV park lingered around the bathhouse during a tornado warning on April 20.

Bee and Campfire

I got a new knee about a month ago so haven't been doing a lot or getting on line much either but I am doing well and am getting my life back.  Here are a few photos:

Galen took this cool photo of a flower and a bee.

Roger and Marie regularly host campfires and popcorn at the RV park but they have gone home and won't return until fall.