Rockport and Goliad

After the motor home has been in the shop most of the time since Colorado, Schers and I decided to take a week long Texas trip to see if all is well with the motorhome. And to "get out of Dodeg" for a while. I left Wednesday morning and headed to Liberty. I have a bad cold but decided to go anyhow. Got to Liberty without incident. Schers and I went out to an early dinner and to the store in search of "cold" drugs. It was mighty cool in Liberty - the cold front made it all the way south. Thursday morning we headed out for Rockport. New roads for me - in Texas - who knew that I hadn't been on them all! it was an easy drive - went right past Jenny's old haunts in Pearland on our way around Houston. Got to the park here about 2. We ran into Marcus (Schers' friend from Colorado) while we were checking in. He came and helped us hook up. I had issues with my TV and was once again ready for a stick of dynomite BUT seems I need to have a satalite receiver hooked up to get cable...who knew. Actually I think I could have hooked it up another way but the receiver worked. All is well - I have FoxNews and internet!! It is really cold here this morning! I was surprized by the cold this far south. Even had the heat on in the motorhome last night. But slept like a baby and feel a lot better this morning. This afternoon we are going out to see the whooping cranes. Kind of like whale watching BUT bird watching instead!

Colorado 2011 - Days 12 thru 18

Okay, so. I started out strong and then fell apart in keeping this up to date!

Day 12: We all ate breakfast at the Egg and I and then Schers went home to get ready for work. Joan and I shopped town starting at one of the quilt shops here. Then we went to Lyons to the quilt shop there. Good gravy! Such a big quilt shop in such a small town! Then we had lunch in Lyons before heading back to Estes Park.

Day 13: Joan was going to head back to Denver today but didn't need to leave until 1 or so. We went into the park to take some pictures of some white poppies that we had seen. And stopped to take some pictures of the stream too. Then we had a picnic at Sprague Lake before she headed home. It had been a great visit with Joan!




Day 14: Been so busy that Breck and I decided to take it easy. Really didn't do much. Breck was happy with the dog park and a few walks and I was happy with some down time and my book and my computer. When Schers got off work at 3:30 we went geocaching. found quite a few.



Day 15: Pretty much a repeat of day 14. Though i did drive down Big Thompson Canyon to find some more rocks to take home for my rock garden extension and for Kathe! Cane home through Glen Haven - I had never driven up that road and it was really nice. Follows a nice stream and there are lots of places to stop and enjoy!

Day 16: Another day of rest and relaxation...dog park...walks...drive though the park...readin...computing...geocaching! All in all very nice. resting up for the hike Scherry and I are taking tomorrow on her day off.

Day 17: I picked Scherry up at 8 and we headed up to Bear Lake where we would start our hike. We headed out on the trail to Lake Haiyaha. The name means "big rocks" and once you get to the lake you can see why. The hike is about 2 and a half miles with about an 800 foot elevation gain. We went by Nymph Lake and Dream Lake and then really headed uphill!! Once we got out of the forest we could see all the way down to Estes park - an amazing view. We could see Nymph, Bear, and Sprague Lakes. We could even see the indentation that would be Bierstadt lake - we just couldn't see the lake. We crossed some beautiful streams and saw great wild flowers. Then when we got close to the lake we had to scrmble over huge bolders! We felt kind of like mountain goats! It was a beautiful spot. We ate our lunch on a boulder by the lake and then headed back down. We had beautiful weather and it was a great day!







Day 18: Today I took Breckers to the dog park for his last time swimming in Lake Estes! What a happy dog he is to get to swim in such a nice cold lake! He loves it!! Then I stopped by the office to see if I could move my motorhome to a pull through so that I could hook up my car this evening and be ready to head out early tomorrow to return to the HEAT! They found a spot for me so Schers came over and we were able to get the slide in (Thank Heavens!) and I moved to a pull through and rehooked up. Then Schers and I headed to Boulder where we were going to meet up with 4 other college and sorority friends - Joan, Cheryl, Jeanne, and Marsha - 3 of whom Scherry had not seen in 40+ years (one of whom I had not seen since graduation in 1968!). We met at REI and then went to Chatauqua for lunch. It was a great place and we really had a great time. It was a lot of fun to connect with old friends!



This ends this section of the blog. I will be back in september from the New England cruise.

Colorado 2011 - Days 10 & 11

Joan arrived on Monday. It was good to see her. We decided to see if we could catch the sheep down at Sheep Lakes. We packed lunches for a picnic and headed out. No sheep. So we headed down to Endo Valley for our picnoc. It actually did not rain on us thought it looked a little threatening at times. Then we headed up Old Fall River Road which had just opened the day before. We stopped at Chasm Falls which were really roaring. It started raining on us which made Schers a nervous wreck - Old Fall River road is a one way dirt road which goes up to the top and connects with Trail Ridge Road. Up at the top we went into the visitor center to shop. We saw a momma marmot and two little ones outside the window. They were great. The little ones were just playing and mom was just watching over them. When we came back down Trail Ridge Road we checked on the sheep again but no luck. Then we ate dinner at Poppy's. All in all a good day!







Tuesday we headed out to Indian Peaks Wilderness Area to take a hike to Mitchell and Blue Lakes. It was a 6 mile round trip with 800 feet elevation gain. It was a great hike BUT next time we hope to do it without the RAIN! It was really a beautiful spot - great streams and mountains and lakes. But we didn't get to stay up at Blue Lake for a picnic as we had hoped - it was raining pretty hard when we got up there so we just took our pictures and headed back down. I fell twice on this hike - what a clutz! Once I tripped over a log and then on the way down I slipped on a wet rock! Glad I was able to get up and keep going both times!! Always feels good to know I can get up when I fall down with no perminent damage! We got home from the hike - took hot showers - and met over at Scherry's house for a cookout. We grilled steaks and had baked potatoes. It was a great dinner - Breck was happy too - he even got a steak bone to munch!! All in all a wonderful day - in spite of the rain! In bed and asleep by 9!

Colrado 2011 - Days 8 & 9

Yesterday was a lazy day - took Breck to the dog park then went and wandered the town going in all of the shops looking for things for the grandkids! Did replace my gold nugget earrings since I lost one at Megan's birthday party. Glad to have them back. Then I came home and did my laundry. At 3:30 Scherry and I headed to Loveland so she could do her weekly shopping. We had a hard time finding a place to eat that was not TOO BUSY but finally settled on a nice Chinese restaurant. It was very good. We did not get back to Estes Park until after 9! Then today Breck and I once again went to the dog park - lots of dogs there this morning. Then we stopped by the grocery store - nice for it to be cool enough for Breck to stay in the car. I brought Breck back to the motor home and I went into the park to the Alluvial Fan. It is a waterfall that was caused by a flood in 1982 (I think) when a dam of a lake up in the mountains broke. It is amazing to see the power of water. I stuck my feet in a mountain stream - just for Ed. Hiked part of the way up the falls. There were a lot of people there. Never coming back in July again. Then i came back to the motor home and watched the rangers lose. When Schers gets off today we are going to do some geocaching. Tomorrow Joan gets here - it will be good to see her.

Colorado 2011 - Day 7

Yesterday when I wrote the post and tried to add pictures the internet connection here in the park was so iffy that I lost it all. So this morning I headed into Loveland to go to the AT&T store to get there mobile hotspot. Works like a charm! So ... Breck and I went to the dog park where he got to swim and run around a bit before the drive. Then we headed down the canyon - it is not much of a hardship because it is a really pretty drive. The AT&T store was anightmare as are all cellular company stores - took forever!! Poor Breck was out in the car - with the top down and the windows open and a bowl of water - and it was only 82! Once that chore was done we headed back up to Estes Park - making a McDonald's stop on the way out of town - lucky dog had a hamburger! In the canyon I stopped and picked up some rocks - yes Kathe - rocks are on the way back to TX. When we got home I set up the MiFi and was able to load pictures! Then at 3:30 I met Schers at her campground and we hiked 4.25 miles up to Sprague Lake and back. Most of it was on a horse trail and was really not wonderful. But we did it and know we don't have to do it again! Then we went to the Sun Deck for Scherry's belated birthday dinner. All in all a pretty good day here in the mountains where it is not 105!

Colorado 2011 - Day 6

Today I took a killer hike - at least as far as this overweight, out-of-shape 65 year old is concerned. I headed up to Bear Lake parking area - getting there about 7:45. Put on my hiking boots and headed out. I was going to Alberta Falls - was there for the 1st time 41 years ago on my honeymoon - always been a special place! It is about a mile - got there took pictures - was actually the only person there for a couple of minutes. I started to go up the Mills Lake trail but changed my mind. Thought I would just go back to Bear Lake but when I got back to the trailhead it was just after 9. Thought maybe I could do a little more so I headed up to Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes. Figured I could stop at Dream if it was too much for me. I ended up going all the way to Emerald - I was proud of myself! All in all it was about 6 miles and 160' and then 605' altitude change! Up near Emerald there were 3 large bull elks - right off the path and posing happily for pictures. Then at Emerald there were some marmots - they had absolutely no fear of people that was for sure. When I got back I stopped in the campground to see Schers then came home and took Breck to the dog park. Now I am in for the night - well, I'm sure I will have to walk Breck at least once more. I will try to add a couple of pictures.

Colorado 2011 - Days 3,4 & 5

Monday and Tuesday were Scherry's days off.

Monday, we needed to get her car into Loveland to get the towbar put on so she will be able to get it back to Liberty in the fall. So we left about 9 to take her car into the shop. Then we ate some lunch in Loveland at Cracker Barrel before heading into the Cache la Poudre Canyon. We were proud of ourselves for finding it! It is really a pretty drive. The river was running well. We saw some rafters - glad that that is in my past. They looked like they were having fun though we did pass them when they were all stopped - seemed one raft had had some sort of problem - probably someone overboard - they were all standing on shore while the other rafts waited a bit downstream. Brought back memories... We didn't get back to Estes Park until 5:30 and decided we would just eat in our places.

Tuesday we decided we would take a hike in the morning before going back to Loveland to get Scherry's car. We took the shuttle up to Bear Lake and hiked down the Glacier Creek trail to Bierstadt trailhead to catch the shuttle back to our car. It was a nice hike - about 4.5 miles but downhill which was just what I needed for my first outing! I get pretty winded walking up the hill to the motor home while walking Breck! The flowers were great. And the streams were running nicely! After we finished our hike we went to Sprague Lake for a picnic. Then we headed back to Loveland to get the car. When schers got back to Estes we went to Grumpy Gringos for dinner. Really pretty bad Mexican food!

Wednesday morning at 8 I had an appointment with Lenny - the RV repairman! He arrived about 8:15 and crawled under the motorhome and proclaimed that the motor had a flat part (??) and that was why it was sticking. He said I needed a new motor but I told him I would wait until i got home because I had a service contract on the motorhome. He said that sounded like a plan. He said we could put it out by just pushing it whild the motor was turning. So at least I have my SPACE now! He assured me that the slide will come back in as long as someone is pushing from the outside while I'm inside pushing the button to turn the motor. He said it would work that way for a while BUT that I needed a new motor. So Schers will be pushing Tuesday (before I leave Wed) and itf it doesn't work he'll be coming back up here!!
After he left I decided to head up to the top of Trail Ridge Road so Breck and I put the top down and headed uphill. It was a great drive - car thermometer got down to 57!! On the way back we went by Sheep Meadow and there were 2 young rams in the valley. Took lots of pictures of them! I felt lucky to see them. Then Breckers and I went to the dog park so he could swim and run!! All in all a good day.

Tried to put more than one picture on but only one was successful. Will try more later.

Colorado 2011 - Day 2

The drive today was uneventful - which is always good. Got within 2 miles of my exit when things came to a screeching halt because of a wreck with all kinds of emergency equipmet. Took 45 minutes to go those 2 miles! Then coming up the Big Thompson canyon to Estes Park I was behind the only motorcyclists in the world who were happy doing less than 30 mph!! I kept pulling off on the slow vehicle turnouts just so the line of traffic behind me would know that I was not the one gumming up the works!! Got here and set up camp. Schers came over after work while I was setting up the vue cube for direct tv - nice to have FoxNews again. We went to The Rock for dinner - was a very good burger. Then we went to Safeway - I am never coming in July again - wall to wall peaople in town. It is really crowded. Then we looped through the park on our way back to the rv. We stopped at Alluvial Fan falls - they are running pretty full. Have to go back for pictures. Then we decided to get ice cream - largest one scoop I have ever seen - and really cheap!! All in all a good day.

Colorado 2011 - Day 1

Left the house about 8 this morning after walking Breck and Crash. All went well on the drive. Spent $238 on gas. Great googly wooglies!! After all of the things that went wrong with the motorhome before leaving I was looking forward to a flawless trip. However...the slide will not go out!! This is not a good thing. Going to be awfully cramped in here for almost 3 weeks! Schers gave me the phone number of the guy who fixed her airconditioning in Loveland so I am going to give him a call tomorrow when I get closer to Loveland and Estes Park. Schers said he came to Estes Park to work on one of her park friend's rv so we shall see. Other than that maybe a stick of dynomite and a match!! It is cooler here in Clayton but I am ready to get to the mountains.

Okay – testing testing testing.

Day 13

Day 13

Okay – okay – so I haven’t been very good at this blogging thing on this trip…and today we have sun (after a gray day yesterday) and the Bingo jackpot is up to $3800 and since I left the casino a winner last night (a whole $15) I have extra money for the casino tonight. As you can tell I have a busy day ahead of me – what with eating all day too!!

Hilo – We went to see Volcanoes National Park and it was interesting but we did not have enough time – the one problem with cruise tours. Both Scherry and I could have spent the whole day there. May have to come back BUT not by cruise ship. Once I post this to the blog I will try to upload a picture but the internet connection is S L O W.

Honolulu – We went to the Arizona Memorial and the Mighty Mo. It was really good – I had seen the Arizona before but it is always impressive. And they have completely redone the Visitors Center since I was last there – it was a great improvement.

Waimea Canyon – On the island of Kaua’i we visited Waimea Canyon. It is pretty spectacular. Not really very Hawaiian looking because it is almost deserty! I know that is not a word but it is descriptive. On the way we went along the coast and saw a blow hole – which actually was not being very spectacular when we were there because it was low tide. There were chickens all over the place and our guide told us that the island had been very involved in chicken fighting and then along came a hurricane in the ’80 and all the chicken coops were blown away and now the island is overrun with chickens!

Haleakala Crater – Now this was really something else!! We drove from sea level to 10,000 feet!! The crater itself is very other worldly looking – all shades of reds and grays and browns. The astronauts used this area for training before the moon landing. It is really beautiful. It sure was a bit chilly though at 10,000 feet. I really think this may have been the best part of the trip. Then we went to the Maui Ocean Center which was also pretty neat – it had one of those glass walkways where the fish swim all around you. At this port we also had to tender to get to shore. The tender on the way in was okay BUT on the way back the water was really rough!! That tender boat was really jumping around on those waves. It was a wild ride!

Other than that we have been at sea – and the Pacific is a pretty rough ride. The ship bounces and sways pretty much all of the time. Doesn’t bother me much but Schers is not a big fan. Last night though it was really rough! Tomorrow afternoon we have a 4 hour stop in Ensenada, Mexico – we are just going to get off on our own and wander. Maybe even find a McDonalds! Food is very good but we’re all tired of fancy!

Day 2

We just killed time until it was time to head to the ship. Got to the pier about 12:30 and breezed through to our rooms. It was really painless. Then we took a quick tour of the ship – saw a lot of it before heading to the buffet for lunch. Now there was a crowd!! After lunch we did some more touring before the obligatory muster. Walking from Deck 14 to Deck 7 isn’t too bad BUT walking back up was the pits!! We were late leaving because a Norwegian cruise ship had us blocked in but we were on our way about 5:30. We left going past the new Queen Elizabeth – don’t know why they don’t call her the QE3. Certainly is a lot different than the good old QE2. We met up with the rest of our group at 6 in the dining room for dinner – the service was awful BUT the prime rib was good! After dinner I lost my usual $20 in the slot machines and then headed back to the cabin to call it a night! The ship was rocking and rolling – Schers put on her seasickness patch. This morning there was a beautiful sunrise out here in the middle of the pacific. More tomorrow.

Travels without Breck - Hawaiian Cruise

Left the house this morning at 9:15 - thanks Ron - and our plane took off about 11:35. The flight was fine - we actually got to LA about 40 minutes early!! Had to wait for a gate to open up. Then after a $70 cab ride we arrived at the hotel. We walked to Wallyworld to buy me a new pedometer since mine was in the pants I wore to walk Breck this morning. Then played on the computer for a while. Then asked where to go eat dinner. We went to the Yard House which is down by the harbor. It was very good. Nice to have a beer or two, too. Then we walked home from dinner - it was only about 6:15 but it was already dark. Sun sets early here. And there were a few blocks where it was almost scary. But we are safely back in our room and tomorrow we get on the ship and head west! Looking forward to 4 days at sea. Be good for Aunt Kathe and Aunt Helen Breckers - sorry you aren't here. Hope to take some pictures tomorrow.