Last hurrah for auto-touring and upcoming departure

 Well, it's quickly approaching our departure date and we better hop-to-it to get our chores completed. That means cleaning, organizing and eventually winterizing Rocky for the upcoming snow season. We will go through our clothes collection, and pack up the remaining dry goods, cans and jars of food stuffs to bring back home (between the bears and potential freezing temp's it's good just to do a clean sweep). We've started to get busy.  Last night it got down to 34° and I'll bet there was a light dusting of snow in the higher elevations, we're at 7200'.

A few days ago we made a big loop up towards Mt. Evelyn and saw some truly diverse and beautiful landscape. We packed up our sandwiches and fritos, cold drinks too and headed out around 10am. Here are a few shots of this area north of Red Feather Lakes.

We knew it was going to be a great day of sights.

Cherokee Range Wildlife Area

It's kind of hard to see but we're following 
the road you see in the middle of the shot.

Talk about a little bit of everything, butte's, lunarscapes
and lush tree'd slopes too.

A pretty pond in the middle of nowhere

Same pond, looking the other way - so pretty!

A bit blurry, but we've got horses!

Aspens changing color

Getting into ranching country

These folks have some wonderful views 

Talk about layers upon layers - a long view for sure!

Bumper crop of hay, not a bad office is it??

Thanks for bearing with me, lots of shots I know, but I couldn't resist.  Our route was mostly on dirt roads and took us 6 hours. A long day for sure, but we wouldn't have passed it up.  We were astounded that there was that much diversity in the landscape, all within ~60 miles of Rustic.

A great way to burn in the Colorado scenery to tide us over until next year. Thanks for checking it out, and feel free to leave a comment. Next blog might be from the road - stay tuned.

"Big Boy" - UP No. 4014, Snowy Mtns drive through and fresh veggies.

Union Pacific's No. 4014 - Big Boy

The other day the famous Union Pacific "Big Boy" engine made it's appearance in Greeley, Colorado, about an hour away, and Ed decided to make his way down the canyon and over to check it out. Ed's maternal Grandad, after serving in WWI, was a railroad man his whole career so there was some early exposure and instant fascination for trains during Ed's pre-teen days, and even now.

In case you don't know about it, here's a snippet from the Union Pacific website:

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Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were "hinged," or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves. They had a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of "pilot" wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive. The massive engines normally operated between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyo.

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What an impressive beast! There was quite a crowd of enthusiasts present.

The next day I encouraged Ed to take a long exploratory drive up to Wyoming to check out the Snowy Mountains area. I had plans to continue with the deep cleaning chores I had started the day before in preparation for our winterization/departure later in the month.

Trusty Steed

Snowy Mntns view

Another view

Chillin' out after dinner (had to use the flash, boo).

It was a very enjoyable day for us both. Again, it was quite hazy so you may be better served by googling the Snowy Mountains for better pics.

It's been a great weekend for fresh produce as my neighbors on both sides shared some of their garden goodies with us. Cherry tomatoes, luscious orange tomatoes, bell peppers and a cucumber! Yum!

I *love* my neighbors!

Getting started making stuffed bell peppers. Onions, zucchini, 
celery, cherry tom's and orange tom's chopped up, then fried up with
 the italian sausage, add the black beans and green salsa, taco
seasoning,  garlic & herbs powder, and onion powder prior to
adding the rice and stuffing the parboiled bell peppers. Topped
with sharp cheddar and bake for 30 minutes @ 325.

Finished product with a scatter of fresh sweet onion and
cilantro and a squeeze of sour cream - YUM!

That's how the last week or 2 shaped-up for us, thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment!

Auto-touring northwest from Rustic along Deadman Rd then down the Laramie River Rd

 It was a great day to make up a sandwich and take a ride north to Deadman Road, up to Deadman Lookout at the top Deadman Hill, elevation 10,600', then down the beautiful Laramie River Road (county road 103) which runs south through the North Middle Mountain area.

Up at the Lookout there was plenty of logging work going on and it sure made a mess of things looks wise. 😦 There were some pretty sweet views but it was a hazy day.

Deadman Lookout logging activity.

During our lunch break the Boss spotted a golden eagle - cool! Couldn't get a pic though.  Leaving the area we came across a very pretty area, a small creek and meadow with a gorgeous mountain view!! (At least it would be without the haze/smoke.)

Too bad it was so hazy, but what lovely views.

A great leg-stretching opportunity for us both.

I wouldn't have minded a summer cabin around there but the grocery shopping would probably be harder (or at least lengthier) than it is here in Rustic. Did I mention we were on a dirt road most of the day?

We lollygagged around there for a few more minutes then headed onward to the Laramie River road area.  Wow! Another really pretty area, a long, high valley with mountains and hills on both sides.  

This is my kind of scenery, long views with mountains bracketing both sides.

We saw 2 herds of game animals; one herd of 7 pronghorn antelope and another smallish herd of deer? pronghorns? not sure.  It was exciting to see game in the wild. Also there were horses along and in the road - open range or escapees??

They blend in pretty well but you can see them if you squint.

South end of a northbound horse anyone? 
BTW, they didn't pay any attention to us as we drove by!

Further down the road we passed a couple of large spreads. I liked the look of the corrals, the yellow flowers and, of course, the mountains (with small patches of snow on a few).

Another cool visual was this view of a partially mown hayfield. Too bad the haze makes it look so washed out and flat.

Finally we crossed a moderately-sized creek and another large pasture with horses(!) out and about.

Half Mile Creek, runs out of the mountains
to the east and into the Laramie River.

This really gives you the scope of the landscape.  Just  B_R_E_A_T_H_E  - Aaah.

Finally, to wrap up this "getting pretty long" post, one shot of a yummy dinner; meatball & veggie alfredo. It was a long day and we were pretty tuckered by the time we got home. Having a heat 'n eat meal ready to serve was a lifesaver. Did you know you can easily reheat pasta in either the microwave or in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil - YES!

Meatloaf-style meatballs and sautéed veggies in alfredo sauce
over thin spaghetti with 9 grain bread and Kalamata olives. 

Happy end to a great day.

Well, thanks for taking a few minutes to catch-up, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Horses, beautiful horses plus lovely scenery

 The other day we decided to head up to find Lost Lake, somewhere north of Red Feather Lakes. Ed has a Colorado Atlas & Gazetteer which shows all the topographical details, back roads, GPS stuff and more.  He'll spend a few hours pouring over it picking out a target, then figuring out what route he wants to take. One of his "entertainments". 

Anyway, we made up some sandwiches, grabbed some water bottles, a bag of Fritos and a couple beers and headed out.  Not too far along we came to this herd of horses, real beauties, and even a couple of foals. I did my best to "yodel-trill" them over to the fence line or at least lift their greedy mouths up from the grass and got a few shots.

See the foal looking our way?

They were all different coat colors, but especially striking was a silvery-grey gelding with black stockings, mane and tail. He wouldn't look up so this picture isn't the best but - he was gorgeous!

Almost metallic silvery-grey - handsome fella.

One more shot of the herd headed our way. The rolling hills with the mountains behind made a pretty peaceful setting, I loved it!

What a pretty pasturage, look at that scenery!

As we went along we got into some country that I felt was quintessential Colorado, or at least what I remember it looking like when I was out here as a teenager. Healthy trees with no beetle kill, rolling green spaces and masses of wildflowers.

This was a big operation, several large out buildings out of
the shot to the left. We expect it was a cattle ranch.

Now we're getting into lake country. Elevation is around 8400', temp is perfect, mid-70's. Mama duck swims her brood to the far side of the little lake. The water levels are low at this time of year.

Big boss observes the surroundings.

Lots of disbursed camping around this area.  The dirt roads are quite rutted but people are still driving their rigs to get out here. We were saying they better be using paper plates and plastic utensils, haha.

These are probably all small glacial lakes, they dot the scenery here and there. Here's another one.

On another subject, the folks here in Colorado are so giving with their garden produce. So far, we have received zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, tomatoes, cherry tom's, and cucumbers - all very yummy and much appreciated (we are 40 miles from town!).  Used the zucchini in spaghetti sauce and a veggie stir-fry, tom's in everything, cukes marinated in sweetened red wine & balsamic vinegars and olive oil and one of our favorites - stuffed bell peppers. So, so good.

I told you it is a favorite, along with a nice glass of red.

I guess that's a wrap for now, but thanks for checking in with us.  It's been a bit hazy but not too smoky, thank heavens.  Ciao for now.

Helicopter remediation, canyon views, and defrosting

 7AM and they are at it again - heavy-duty helicopters dropping wood chips/slivers on the worst or most probable spots on the mountainsides for flash flooding and mudslides. The hope is that the chips will become tangled together during the fall to make a mulch bed for seeds and seedlings and help stabilize the ground/soil. Sounds good, I hope it works.

They started west of us over the hill from the mudslide area, big semi's loaded with the wood chips and 2 helicopters doing the flying, then they moved to just east of us, set-up their chip piles and started flying in the Mineral Springs Gorge area.

A helicopter with his load flying over the river

Flying across the Poudre River

It's a bit unnerving hearing them flying almost directly overhead. They will be at it all day.

 

Here you can see the wood chip piles (2), they use 
a backhoe to load the mesh "bags" then hook them to the 
release cable so one end of the "bag" drops and the chips
are released.

Anyway, that's what's going on here, there's been rain most days so I'm glad they are trying to prevent any more drama.

I got busy and defrosted our freezer/fridge, a chore that isn't too bad and only takes about an hour.  I turn the fridge off about 30 minutes ahead of time, and I use a hair dryer to speed up the melting. I use baskets in the freezer to help me stay organized. I like being able to pull them out quickly, then rummage through them at my leisure (a hold-over from our sailing days I guess).

I try to defrost just prior to a shop-up. You can see
the fins up at the top that get iced-up. We added a fan to help 
more uniformly cool the entire fridge. The fan is
alligator-clipped to the fins and works great.

Another thing I worked on was making chicken and black beans burritos, 4 in all, one to eat and 3 to freeze.  I'm starting to think about how we're going to get all this food eaten up prior to leaving - it looks like so-o-o much, (it's a good thing we eat everyday, lol).

As usual, we always eat a hearty breakfast, and here's another sample using freeze-dried hash browns as the side.

Very handy to have around. I nuke water in a coffee mug for a minute
and 30, then add the hash browns. 15 min's later, after a cup of coffee
and a perusal of Facebook they are ready to be fried up.

After this delish breakfast settled, we packed up sandwiches and headed over to Dadd Gulch, one of my favorite trails. Not very challenging but great for a meander and picnic.

Looking west down the canyon, so peaceful & pretty.

It was a breezy day so a walking stick to hold the flowers still 
was called for in this instance.

After our hike and picnic, we decided to drive east through the canyon and see what caught our eye as far as the "pretty factor" views. Here's a couple of nice shots.

I guess this is where I'll leave it for now, thanks for taking the time to visit!