Remembering the Campgrounds!

Just a quick note of the camping that I remember.

Okmulgee Lake with Mom and Dad.  There were so many evening picnics with the Shirleys, Harlanss, Fidlers, Parkers, and the Vanderpools.  So many good time with friends and families.  I still remember the smell of the Bush Beer consumed by the adults,  and the ice that we had to get at the ice house before pulling out to the lake.  So much innocent fun and not one of us was bitten by a snake.  JUST LAUGHTER!

One summer the Fidlers and Harlans had a school bus converted into a camper.  We traveled to Tahlequah and camped on the river.  ("most likely the bus would not go any further.") It might have been the Baron Fork, a tributary of the Illinois River.  All I remember are the bunks and the freedom we had playing wildly along the river.  Yes, now that I think of it, the hunt for the "church keys," that made that wonderful sound of continual adult beverages being opened and shared.  All I know for sure is that EVERYONE WAS HAPPY AND CONTENT.

Okmulgee Lake 1959----2012

Going to school in Tahlequah called for much time on the Illinois River.  All of us were poor, but being in the outdoors was RICH, and full of fun and memories.  "We also had to have a church key up until we could afford the beers with pop tops!"  Correct me if I am wrong but I think Coors started having pop tops in the early 70s.  I do know for sure that we did not have to have block ice or go to a ice house to fill our ice-chests.  I personally remember a PINT being all you needed to make for a great day after summer classes ending around noon.

Little by little friends started buying tents and started investing in camping paraphernalia.  HUMMM PARAPHENALIA always made our camping trips more memorable.  So many great memories!

Then came the child bearing years and friends gathered to let their children run freely along the Illinois River or Tenkiller Lake.  Time seems to have come full circle.

It was the time I got to spend 6 weeks in Yosemite that I knew that the mountains, rivers, wide skies, waterfalls, and campgrounds were something I never wanted to forfeit no matter what.

My invitation to travel by motor-home with college friend Kevin added to seeing The Northern Rockies, Canada, and then the following year to venture out into Alaska.

Like I said, once you have smelled the pines, listened to a waterfall, hiked into uncharted territory or viewed a mountain lake..........you just can not close the book to wanting to continue to to find the ROAD LESS TRAVELED.

About 4 years ago THE COOPERS let me use their RV to see if I might want to buy it.  My friend Bill and I borrowed it for about 10 days and came to the very place where I am writing this blog.  Ouray, Colorado, Creed, Colorado and the Black Canyon.  We did pull a small pickup which allowed us to do some day hikes and sightseeing.

Today sitting under the awning of my own RV, hearing the light rain and thunder in the valley while drinking a little red wine just soothes my inner being.  NO CHURCH KEYS!

Tonight the ALMOST FULL MOON peeks out  whispering a GOOD NIGHT!

Good Night to All and to All a Wonderful Tomorrow.

PS  I am having a hard time thinking about coming home due to the HEAT.

Life is Good and the Memories of Mom and Dad are FANTASTIC.

2nd Place to Campout after buying The Little Lighthouse.

It's a Great Day FOR a MOONDANCE!

Celebrating the Land

Fresh Air Massage

Organic Goods and Music

Took the day off yesterday and received an early morning massage outside of the "Little Lighthouse" then  headed for the Farmer's Market in Ridgeway.  Being on flat land has its benefits, especially when rainstorms are in the area.

Where they filmed True Grit.

Just a quiet day, trying to not act like An Accidental Tourist..

Getting to the Little Lighthouse in the middle of an afternoon rainstorm was just what was expected.  WONDERFUL!  Raindrops on a medal roof and thunder bouncing off the mountains makes a gal want to read until it is then time to nap.  (DOWN COVER)

 At the RV park every Wednesday and Friday they have BBQ and wonderful bluegrass entertainment.
This KOA is really great being you have just about everything you need and more, not to mention the stream running behind us.

We were invited into Ouray for hamburgers and DOMINOES last night!  Very good company and the margaritas and homemade salsa from Dee Hennigan made for another memorable evening.

Ouray County is known for its heritage as a ranching community.  This area boasts beautiful organic ranches and farms that raise everything from cattle to yaks to sheep, llamas and herbs.  "What the heck do you do with yak meat?"  Hope we don't get invited to someone's casa for YAK tacos, or Yak burgers.  Could sure use a nicely weaved rug for my little bedroom though.

It is  my ambition to have friends join me next summer for either July or August.  There is an 18 hole golf course in Ridgeway, a liquor store, plenty of good music and food....... So mark your calendars.
Check out the KOA in Ouray/Ridgeway.  KOAs have cabins for 41 dollars a night... It is mostly for sleeping and you have access to everything the campers/RV/tents have.  That way you have a car to take day adventures.  
koa.com/campgroud/ouray

PLEASE THINK ABOUT MAKING A VISIT HERE WITH ME NEXT YEAR.

ps      Looking for a BeeKeeper      :)

The natural world comes alive through the EYES OF BEES.

PSS  The cool weather is giving Jan more energy.   She is peaking at 3 miles a day.

I WANNA LIVE IN THE MOUNTAINS

Some of you reading this blog know exactly where I have been parking my Little Lighthouse.

These are the areas I have witnessed....So comment if you will.  "To comment, hit the No comment icon twice.  There is a little pencil next to it."  I think this should work now.

Celebrating the Land in July surrounded by the Rockies.  Can not get much better than this.

Ouray (Switzerland of America)  on Highway 550 in southwestern Colorado along the San Juan Scenic and Historic Byway, of America's most beautiful skyways.  Red Mountain Pass connects Ouray to Silverton and Durango to the south while the drive through Ridgeway, to the north and west.  I absolutely love Ridgeway.  Small but has almost anything you need.   NOT WANT, I MUST SAY.

Yesterday Jan, Debbie, Waylon, Eli and I tracked to Telluride after meeting the guys in Ridgeway for a wonderful breakfast.  Telluride is a very exotic mountain town that has IT TOGETHER!!

Arts, Music, Eco Friendly, Shuddle service and so many healthy looking people.  VERY DOG FRIENDLY.  May I mention the drive through the San Juan Mountains felt safe as well as Magnificent.  Debbie managed to drive most of the time with 2 hands on the wheel and no more than 10 miles over the speed limit.  * I told her before we left for Telluride that I had contacted the Mountain Rangers that we were on our way and if they needed extra cash for the county WE COULD HELP.

Anyway the ride was pleasant and a sure memory.

The southwestern corner of Colorado in the heart of the San Juan Mountains, Ouray County has a population of around 4,560.  I WONDER IF THEY NEED ONE MORE?

Last night Jan and I went to the Sky Cafe at the Chipeta Solar Spring Resort to listen to live music.  Singing was Gigi Love and the person she tried to model herself after was Emmie Lou Harris.  She wrote most of her own songs. ("with a cause,")   Listening to her, watching the sunset casting down on the peaks of Mount Sneffels Range, viewing the saw-tooth beauty of the Cimarron Range, and counting each time a star appeared.......  made for another heavenly day, at the temperature of 85
.

Today we went back to Ridgeway to eat at the True Grit Cafe.  Ridgeway was where they filmed the entire movie True Grit.  Lunch was absolutely wonderful and what makes it so unforgettable is the gentleman that played the piano throughout our lunch dressed as if he was one of the characters in True Grit.

Off to Ridgeway again to sit in the park and listen to live music with the dogs, while drinking a sip of Pinot.

Affirmations of the Day:

Express Gratitude
Enjoy Exercise
Practice Good Nutrition
Take Time to Relax
Read

*Pictures later...

All is well and some.

ps I have my tapestry from the 70s hanging from my awning for privacy.  Just something about that time that makes me happy.

Tomorrow a lovely lady will come to the RV to give both Jan and I a massage.  7:45.  Can not wait!

"I am healthy, whole and complete."

2 Wheels-4 Wheels-6 Wheels

I can honestly say I have had the most fun I have ever had in my entire  life this last week.

Being courageous and wild at heart has jumped right into my sense of being AND BIT ME GOOD!

St. Francis ER

As most of you know, I was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake on my second adventure since getting my 26 foot LIGHT HOUSE. (RV)  Hiking in the woods is not a new thing for me, but I would hardly say I was hiking the night the RASCAL attacked me.

2 Wheels took me right into the hospital and thankfully OUT after a stay in the hospital.

4 Wheels, ahhhhhhh my goodness what an adventure it is to start at the bottom of a mountain range and    end up looking down and around at the most beautiful sights you have ever seen.  Getting there of course gave new meaning to TAKE CHANCES AND BELIEVE IN YOUR 4 wheeler's POWER.

Today we rode (Jan's brothers and sister-in-law) for at least 4 1/2 hours and crossed from Ouray to Silverton through one dirt trail to another not so dirty but muddy mountainous trail.  3 times I thought to myself,  "Embrace this and make a memory to call upon in my elder days, even though you are white knuckled and in danger 75% of the time either going up, or coming down."   THE VIEW WAS UNBELIEVABLE and the tour guides were exceptional.  Debbie dressed me in North Face gear and black leather gloves thank goodness.  Riding in the  rain in the Rockies calls for CUTE AND SMART GEAR.
The songs in my head were of course from John Denver's Greatest Hits, and if I hum one more chores of Stairway to Heaven I think I will go back up to the mountain peak and jump off.

Rocky Mountain too High

Two nice young gentlemen were on mountain bikes bringing the ashes of one of their fathers to the place he called "His favorite Place."

Yesterday's trac to the highest mountain peak had me doing a Julie Andrews in jeans and tennis shoes, but I KNOW I HAD THE ARM ACTION PERFECT.

Stairway to Heaven

Life with a view

Now to the 6 Wheels.  The Little Lighthouse is just perfect.  It looks so dandy sitting between RVs that any country star could be hold up in traveling from one concert to another.

This morning we met our new neighbors as we were leaving to go into town.  I asked the gentleman if he was from Texas and he said yes.  OK, license plate gave it away, but it was a sure ice-breaker.  He asked me where I was from and I told him I was from Oklahoma.  He said, "My wife is from Oklahoma."  She was brought up in Okmulgee and spent much of her life also in Morris, Oklahoma.
Tomorrow I am sure we will find time to exchange memories of Okmulgee in the 50s.

Jan has been getting to do anything she wants on the 2 days we were off mountain surfing.  She found a great DOG PARK for Eli and Waylon in Ouray, and Debbie, Jan and I packed a great lunch and went into Ridgeway to picnic and discover what that small town has to offer on a warm summer day.

There were many times my travel partners let me travel a ways by myself.  I kept thinking about the people I LOVED THAT HAVE LEFT THIS WORLD.  I TOOK TIME TO APPRECIATE THE MOMENTS, FOR I ALL TO WELL KNOW THEY WILL ALL TO SOON BECOME JUST A
MEMORY.

Some of you are asking how to write a comment.  I thought I saw a place on the Opening Blog page, but just keep trying.


More later,
Julie/John/Led Zeplin are deep in my HEART

Cleaning House

Yesterday I pulled up my big girl panties, and hit out over the Million Dollar Highway towards Durango and on to Ouray.  All I can say is, I am not ready to do that nightmare again for a while.  EVERYONE SHOULD EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY AND DANGER OF THAT PASS AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIFE.   *#@!!!!   I almost had to throw those big girl panties away.

After getting down safely I turned down a road and was stopped by a gentleman on a BMW motorcycle.  "Girls, you look like you need some help, are you lost?"  Do it in a Kentucky accent please.   Being that I was still in shock after at least an hour at 10,000 feet of Rockies, I just didn't know what to say.  If you don't know where you are going, how can you be lost?  NEW MOTTO.

Jan leaned over towards me and said, THAT'S MY BROTHER!  Is everyone looking out for the two Senior Chicks on the road to EVERYWHERE?  In a matter of 15 minutes we were sipping frozen margaritas and dipping chips into some awesome homemade salsa.

Headed on to our campsite and there again, a kind gentleman escorted us to our site by 4 wheeler and stayed to helped me get plugged in.  While checking in the lady at the desk commented on the fact I looked like I had had a tough day.......I was pretty stressed about the hairpin turns and having to use my 3-2-1st gears off and on for much of the day....but that evening glass of Pinot seems to have done the trick.  KINDA LIKE CHILD BIRTH I WOULD THINK.   "I have heard others say, no more!"

OH WELL, I celebrated today by cleaning my Little Lighthouse,  26ft by 6ft wide.  The great news is I can get NPR on my radio/iphone dock.  Bad thing was......bad news filtered the airwaves.

Jan's sister-in-law Debbie and Jan came to pick me up for lunch.  Good thing I had broken my days of not showering, and was ready for the unexpected visit.

We traveled on to Ridgeway, Colorado after an adult beverage and lunch, to check out the small FLAT town to see what it had to offer.   Very livable.

But now ladies and gentlemen, I have two dogs on both sides of me, writing to you to a soft rain at a temperature of 85 degrees.  IT'S HOT  :)  "I know, I know!"

 YESTERDAY MORNING JAN, WAYLON AND I WERE INVITED TO 4 WHEEL UP  A 8,200 FT MOUNTAIN FOR A PHOTO SHOOT with Neil and Darlene Wise and their friend Bill.

Sending photos soon.....

Remember, smile at strangers, we are on this journey together.   "Met a father and daughter today from  Germany.  They had been dirt biking and jeeping the mountain range between Telluride and Ouray.
WHAT A MEMORY THEY ARE MAKING.

Pagosa Springs

Highway 87 out of Delhart, smelly Texas...........Raton, New Mexico Interstate 25 North.....Headed toward Pagosa Springs on Highway 160.

Soft rains through Wolf Pass and a most gorgeous view.  Aspens, Nora Jones and winding roads toward our destination.

I think this entire trip so far I have only passed 3 vehicles.  "Am I in a hurry, NO!"

Part of the morning was spent reflecting on a sweet friend that crossed over into her own NEW journey.  Sweet Annie Zoeller, poet, artist, MOTHER, fun-loving WOMAN passed away.   I listened to the Nora Jones CD 4 times while softly weeping her goodbye driving through magnificent terrain and thinking about how fast we can lose the ones we tuck into our lives.

I have lost 3 dear friends in the last month......Call a friend today to tell them how much they mean to you!

On a lighter note and after experiencing how my RV took to Wolf Pass,..... Jan, Eli, Waylon and I headed North of Pagosa Springs.  20 miles on a well paved dirt road to our surprise we were greeted by a friend from Oklahoma, Neil Wise. (Husband of a bunko friend, Darlene)  I had stopped to take photos of a bluff and stretch my swollen foot....Neil pulled up on his ATV 4 wheeler to escort us on to our overnight site.  Come to find out a Mountain Lion was spotted in that same place days before.
Rattlesnake......Mountain Lion.... Bears OH NO!

The campground was supposed to have been full, but for some strange reason, (ANNIE) they found us a spot over looking a pasture of horses under tall pines.

Neil helped us get plugged in, (Still Plugged in to WIFI) and he took me on a photo adventure on his little ATV 4 wheeler, open air, top of the line vehicle.  Jan and Darlene followed in their truck.  WOWOWOWOWeeee.  No words.  "I will try to post a few photos when I figure out how."

Today we will take Waylon on another adventure and then head out to Ouray.  Not really looking forward to the Million Dollar Pass.  Durango first, and then Ouray for 10 days.  It will be nice to get the table and chairs out and set up the little house on wheels.

Burn ban has been lifted but we did see on the four wheeler some damage to this area.   Not to bad!

MORE LATER..............SHOWER THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE WITH LOVE!  James Taylor

Looking for ideas on a name for the RV.

QUOTE FROM THE DAY

Campground resident said, I ride my bike 11 miles a day.........Jan said, "I think that sounds like a lot of work to me."  Lance from Germantown Tennessee 70 years young said....."DONT EVER LET YOUR BICYCLE RUST, THAT IS WHAT KEEPS YOU YOUNG!

So, now I will close....take a walk and hope that your day is full of good moments.

ps    Temperature this morning was 54 degrees....  Windows open wide and NO AIR-CONDITIONER NOISE.

"Church Ladies, get out that Nora Jones CD and sing!"  Annie and her memories LIVE ON.

Greetings, This is my first posting on the road....  Bare with me while I am learning how to update and post photos.

Jan and I left Tulsa yesterday and made it to Dalhart, Texas.  Interstate 40 took some getting used to with all the 18 wheelers....It was wonderful to head off North in the direction of Colorado.

We found a great RV park to pull into with a great big Texas welcome.   Shhhweee!

Like I said our welcome was wonderful.. The young gentleman escorted us to our spot that the dogs would appreciate, nice green grass and ordered our pizza for us to be delivered and helped us hook up to cable TV etc.

As we were visiting I noticed a strange smell of cow "shit" to not sugar coat this.  I told him I smelled cattle, and  he sort of gave me a sweet little smile and announced that there were 1,000s of acres of cattle that are being fattened up to be  turned into our non-vegatarian diets in this town.  Where there are cows there is plenty of fertilizer.
  The smell didn't make our dinner under a wonderful apple tree and a sky of multi-color beauty very enjoyable.  There is also a dairy across the highway from us.  Now I don't want to eat cheese of beef.

Reminded me of the time a was riding a mo-ped in Switzerland behind a fertilizer truck.  The locals told me then that that smell was perfume to them and their crops.  ALL NATURAL....

The temperature last night was wonderful here, but that dang smell brought me into the JoyVan way earlier than I wanted.

Heading North as soon as we get the house clean...  :)

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