Sunday 9-6-26 New State & Doing This and That

 

Welcome to Wyoming sign

We had a super day.

We woke up in Frisco Colorado with the morning temperature of 45 degrees. By the end of the day we were in Rawlins Wyoming with the high temperature of 83 degrees and wind.

We have been at Pine Cove Campground in White River National Forest for a week. We had done 6 hikes for a total of 25.5 miles and walked around the campgrounds four times for 8 miles. We visited Frisco and attended Great Divide Art Festival in Breckenridge. We had a super time.

I rolled out of bed at 7:20 and got dressed. We had paid for another night at Pine Cove Campground but we decided to move on. We bagged up the chairs, put the grill away, brought in the controller and wires for the solar panels, put things down and secured and took some trash to the dumpster. We said good-bye to the neighbor across from us and her dog. As we were we driving away Mike from Kansas waved good-bye and we waved back. We were on the road by 8:30 am. 

Larry drove 220 miles today. He mainly drove on two lane highways. We saw Pronghorns, cattle and a couple of Yacks. We drove by a lot of rivers, the White River, Blue River, Colorado River, Illinois River, Michigan River and a few more. As we were driving highway 90 right outside of Silverthorne, CO the Blue River ran along side of the highway. We saw a few people fly fishing. The highway took us through a beautiful mountain pass. We drove by Green Mountain Reservoir and it was almost empty. After the mountain pass the scenery changed to hilling hills and plains. We drove by a lot of beautiful ranches. We stopped in Kremmling CO to fill the water tank, which we did two years ago but we couldn't because they were on #3 water restriction. So they couldn't do bulk fills. We were disappointed. We continued our adventure towards Walden CO. The drive was kind of boring because it was mainly plains. We did see a couple of wildlife crossing bridges, that went over the highway. We also saw a couple of people hiking the Continental Divide Trail. 

Wildlife Crossing Bridge

 

When we got to Walden we had driven 110 miles. We stopped at the dump station and dumped the tanks. We donated $5.00. Once again we couldn't get water because of the water restriction #3. The city park and schools were just around the block. So we drove and parked the Minnie to have lunch. We had a sandwich with chips. While we were eating lunch we saw this gentleman working out on the football field. He wasn't a youngster but he was in great shape. He was doing sprints. We had free entertainment while we ate lunch.

After lunch we continued our adventure we had another 110 miles to go. As we drove we saw Pronghorns and cattle. The scenery was about the same a lot of rolling hills and prairie. We drove another 10 ten miles when the highway Ys off. If you go to the right you go to Laramie and to the left you go to Rawlins. We went to the left. We drove another 26 miles to the state line. 

We arrived at Rawlins, Wyoming about 1:30 and did some errands. We first went to Carbon County Fair & Rodeo to make sure we could still stay there and take a shower. Someone three months ago said the showers were locked up. It still $20.00 a night with power. The showers were open. It was early so Larry programmed his cell phone to a laundromat so we could do laundry. Rawlins has three laundromats. One you have to buy a card and put money on it. We didn't want to do that. We went to one of the other ones. We didn't like how it looked so we went to the other one. It looked better. We did two loads of clothes in the washers it cost $3.00 per load. They had a coin machine, that gave you quarters for the machines. We used one dryer, which cost us $1.50 to dry the clothes. We were there for an hour and half. Then we went across the street to the Maverick and filled the Minnie up with gas. Maverick had a dump station and at our pump it had a water spicket. After filling up with gas we filled the water tank. Now we have water for a week or more. We had enough water in the tank for another two or three days before filling it. Then we went back to Carbon County Fair & Rodeo. 

Carbon County Fair & Rodeo entrance gate

The shower house

The Minnie in site #6 for the night

The grandstands 

Once there we called it a day. We took showers. The showers were good. You had to wait a long time for the hot water to get warm. It didn't get hot so we took showers without turning on the cold water. The water pressure was so much you had to turn the knob down about halfway. It was free and the bathrooms were clean.

For dinner we had leftovers. 

In the evening I played games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 5 games. It took me 15 minutes and 34 seconds to complete, which put me in 29th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2. 

Larry read his groups he follows. I ended up doin 4,500 steps today.  

Saturday 9-5-26 Great Divide Art Festival, Hiking & Having Fun

 

Great Divide Art Festival in Breckenridge Colorado

We had a super day.

The morning temperature was 43 degrees and the high temperature was 74 degrees. We had a lite rain shower come through at 4:00 and left about an hour later. The camp host said this was their monsoon season in Frisco, CO.

I woke up at 6:30 to go to the restroom and then went back to bed. I slept for an hour, which was 7:30. I got dressed and made oatmeal for breakfast. After breakfast we got ready for a hike. We decided to basically do the same hike as yesterday except go the opposite direction. We got started at 8:30. When we were starting on our hike we stopped and visited with our neighbor from Kansas. 

After our visit we walked to the end of the campground and got on the Perimeter Trail, that took us towards Frisco Adventure Park. While hiking the trail along the shores of Dillon Lake four little boys came by on their bicycles. The first one said their were four of them so we got off the trail. We saw two of them yesterday. They were great bicyclists already and they weren't even six years old. We were very surprised they were doing the trail by themselves and didn't have an adult. I guess the trail is very safe. The Perimeter Trail came to a Y, where the Beach Trail intersected it. We got on the Beach Trail because we hadn't done this trail yet. The trail took us through part of the Disc Golf course. At one of the baskets we saw a beautiful beetle. I figured this was thanking the pine beetle for the Frisco Adventure Park. The host of the campground told us that 20 years ago the pine beetle took out a lot of the forest in the area. They didn't know what to do with the land. They thought about making a golf course but decided to make Frisco Adventure Park. That way everyone could use it and it could be used year round. We took the beach trail to Frisco Adventure Park. We walked around the baseball field and batting cage and by the horses/mules. Once again we walked around the park. Everytime we walk around we're amazed. They were people using the paved bicycle trail. They were jogging, walking their dogs, bicycling and walking. The bicycle tracks were being used today. We watched the people riding the tracks and some of them were very good. Frisco Bike Park has five different tracks, which were Peninsula Pump Track, Royal Roller Beginning Flow Track, Buffalo Run Intermediate Jump Trail, Ten Mile Advanced Jump Trail and Peak One Dirt Jumps. The one I thought was an agility course is actually the Intermediate Jump Trail. On the Ten Mile Advanced Jump Trail we saw a big jump and a couple guys jumping. We spent most of the time watching people do the Peak One Dirt Jumps. We had a super time watching people use the bike park. After watching them we went back to our hike. We got on the Phat Loop Trail. We did the section we hadn't done. Then we were back on Peak One Trail back to the campground. By the end of the hike we had done 3.75 miles. The trails were through the trees, in the open and small inclines. We had another great hike.

Beetle Sculpture

Frisco Bike Park Map

Peak One Dirt Jumps

Getting big air

Pedestrian tunnels under the highway

Our neighbor from Kansas was here because of the Great Divide Art Festival. He's a photographer. He told us the Great Divide Art Festival is Saturday 9/5/26 thru Monday 9/7/26. It starts at 10:00 and stops at 5:00 each day. 

In the afternoon we took the bike off the carrier and took it to Breckenridge, which is 8 miles from our campground. The art festival is at Colorado Mountain College. It's free and set up in the parking lot. We stopped by our neighbor's booth and he had gorgeous landscaping photography. He said he use to do the canvas photography and had just one left. Then he got into the metal because the colors were brighter and you see the landscape better. The booth next to his had two ladies dressed up in beautiful art. Their dresses were made of table coverings and they looked gorgeous in the outfits. There were jewelry booths, metal art, ceramic sculptures, animal sculptures, animals paintings and more. There were 51 booths of artist from all over the country. We walked around for about an hour and saw gorgeous art.

Animal Sculptures

Horses and landscape paintings

Animals and Landscaping Paintings by Meg Harper

Grizzly Bear and Moose

After walking around the Great Divide Art Festival we drove around Breckenridge. It was a busy touristy town with a lot of restaurants and shops. You can ride the Gondola for free but parking is $20. We didn't stop because it was way too busy for us.

When we got back we spent the rest of the day and evening relaxing.

Larry did some research on way to go next. Larry finished his book. I continued reading The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz. It's a good book.

I played my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 1 hour, 14 minutes and 23 seconds to complete, which put me in 13th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2. 

I ended up doing 10,500 steps for the day.   

     

   

   

Friday 9-4-26 Happy Friday, Hiking, Walking and Having Fun

 

Celebrate it's Friday

We had an outstanding day.

The temperature was like yesterday, the morning temperature was 39 degrees and the high temperature was 75 degrees. 

I woke up at 7:15 and got dressed. We had oatmeal for breakfast. After breakfast we got ready to go on our morning hike. It was our fifth hike in a row so we decided to take it easy hiking. We did a 3.75 mile hike. We hiked Peak One Trail to Phat Loop Trail to the Frisco Adventure Park. There were some small inclines. The trails took us through a beautiful forest. It was a cool but once you were out of the trees it warmed up. When we got to Frisco Adventure Park we walked around. It's so impressive. We saw courses we didn't see the first time. There was a course, that looked like an Agility Course for dogs. In the parking lot there were a group of people getting ready for their hike with their dogs. The workers are constantly working on something. We rested on a bench at the park for a little while. Then we got on the Perimeter Trail, that took us back to our campground. We would walk a bit and then sit on their benches and enjoy the views of the mountain and Dillon Lake. We saw people from the marina getting ready for the weekend. We saw a gentleman carrying his skull to the water down the long ramp. He was pretty fast we saw him rowing down the lake. We also saw a gentleman on a stand up paddle board. We had an outstanding hike.

Mules in their corral at Frisco Adventure Park

Skateboard park at Frisco Adventure Park

Agility Course at Frisco Adventure Park

Paddleboarding down Dillon Lake

Larry disconnected the Mobley because our phones are working great as Hot Spots.

Before going on our hike Larry setup the solar panels. We had great solar power all day. 

For lunch we had soup. 

In the afternoon I played games and Larry read.

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Pyramid Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 27 minutes and 41 seconds to complete, which put me in 18th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

After playing games I joined Larry outside, where he was reading in his chair. I read until it was time for dinner. We had the rest of the sausages we had yesterday.

After dinner I went on my evening walking around Peak One Campground. The full sign was out. I walked around the three loops (A  Loop 1-13, B Loop 14-62 and C Loop 63-80) once. I walked around the A Loop two times. By the time I got back to the Minnie I walked 2 miles. 

By the end of the day I had done 15,500 steps, which is 6.75 miles. We spent the rest of the day reading.

Relaxing with a good book

  

    

Thursday 9-3-26 Hiking, Walking, Barbecuing & More

 

Marina on Dillon Lake

We had another gorgeous day with a lot of sunshine. The morning temperature was 38 degrees and the high was 75 degrees. 

I woke up at 7:15 and got dressed. We had a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. Then we went on 4.5 mile hike for two and a half hours. I wore my jacket but I took it off within a few minutes of the hike. Our hike started at the same place in the campground as yesterday on Peak One Trail. We hiked it to the park road and got on Excesior Trail. This section was out in the open and we gradually climbed the mountainside. We hiked Excesior Trail to Treasure Vault Trail. We really wanted Jody's Loop but couldn't find it. We did find Jody's Nugget Trail but didn't know where it went. We stayed on Excesior Trail. Treasure Vault Trail went through a small section of the forest, which was very nice because it was beautiful and cooler in temperature. We hiked Treasure Vault Trail to Crossover Trail, which is a road. It was a dirt road and very wide. We hiked the road to where Perimeter Trail runs parallel to it. We found a place to get on Perimeter Trail, which was right before we had to climb a steep hill. We hiked Perimeter Trail back to the campground, which was about .5 mile. 

During our hike we saw a few bicyclist doing other trails. There are trails for mountain bikes only, they have jumps and other challenging hills. We saw the biggest jack rabbit ever. It was too quick to get a picture. We rested when needed or when we could find a log or rock to sit on. At places we had to climb hills but they weren't bad. We saw wild flowers at places. It was another super hike.

Hiking through the forest

Yellow Toadflax flowers

Silky Aster flowers

We have a hot spot called Mobley, it runs on AT&T and is inexpensive, we use it to get internet while on the road. We've had it for years and it has worked great, but a year or so ago they made a change and in some places it is now very slow, in some it works great. Certainly not as reliable as it use to be. My cell phone has limited data and it's almost out of data for the month. Larry has been thinking about doing away with the Mobley and getting another cell phone plan for me with unlimited data. Today he found a plan that has unlimited data and unlimited hot spot data, it also works via AT&T. He transferred my cell phone number to the new plan. Now he has something new to play with. He loves new technology stuff.   

   

When we went to town the other day we put a chair out to save our spot. Today I put the other chair out. Larry sat outside for a bit while I played games. Then I joined him.

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 1hour, 11 minutes and 35 seconds to complete, which put me in 15th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

For dinner we barbecued something new (Rancher's Brisket Burnt Ends Beef & Pork Smoked Sausage). They were excellent. The links weren't salty and very moist. 

After dinner I went on a 40 minute walk around Peak One Campground for 2 miles. By the end of the day I had done 17,000 steps.

We spent the evening reading. I finished reading Five Wishes of Murray McBride so Larry picked another book for me to read. The book is The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz. It's about a dysfunctional wealthy family, the Oppenheimer triplets, who don't like each. He liked the book and said I would like it. I like it so far.       

        

Wednesday 9-2-26 Hiking, Camping, Errands & Having Fun

 

Frisco and surrounding mountains

We had a gorgeous day.

We woke up to the temperature of 39 degrees and the high of 70 degrees. The clouds rolled in and out same as yesterday. 

It's great to wake up to temperatures in the 40's. I'm spoiled because Larry has the Wave3 going when I crawl out of bed, which is 7:15. I get dressed and then make breakfast. We had pancakes for breakfast. 

After breakfast we got ready to go on a hike. Once we were ready off to the trails we go. The last couple of days Larry has plotted out a track to hike. There are so many trails if he doesn't make a plot we will certainly hike either further or loess further than we want. Today our hike was 4.5 miles. We walked to the end of the campground and hiked the Peak One trail and Phat Loop trail to the main road of the campgrounds. We crossed the road and got on the Perimeter trail. The Perimeter trail took us gradually up the side of the mountain to our main trail we hiked, which was Queen of the West. We had one bicyclist come around us. She told us she was behind us and thanked us. While hiking to the trail we saw a couple of bicyclist coming towards us. We got off the trail and let them pass and they thanked us. A little farther a couple was jogging behind us. They told us they were behind us so they could pass us. They also thanked us.  The trail was very narrow and had loose pebbles. Queen of the West trail was very nice and took us around the mountain. The trail had short declines and inclines. We didn't know we had ascended 500 feet in elevation but at the end of the hike Larry's watch told us we did. Queen of the West trail took us through a different type of forest than we had been hiking. It was all pine trees and thicker. We hiked through a canopy of trees it was beautiful. After hiking Queen of the West trail we were back on the Perimeter Lakeshore for the last 1.25 miles. During this section of the hike where we were resting. A couple of women joggers stopped to take their picture with the lake behind them. Larry offered to do it for them. They were thrilled. We saw a couple of pontoon boats going down the lake. They had channel markers for them to drive through. We also saw a lot of Canadian geese sunning. We hiked for two and a half hours. We started at 8:00 and finished at 10:30. We had a super hike.  

Dillon Lake from Queen of the West trail

Part of Queen of the West trail

The forest we hiked through

When we got back from the hike Larry put out the solar panels because we had sunshine. He wanted to keep our batteries charged. While he was doing this the host came by and Larry asked him if there was any propane in Frisco. He said no but told us where to get some in Silverthorne. We visited with him for a little while. 

Before lunch we decided we would stay a couple more nights so we paid for the next two nights. For lunch we had sandwiches and chips. 

Last night the voltage meter on the house battery was acting strange and saying the battery was low. Today Larry removed the battery, he cleaned each of the connectors with a wire brush, reinstalled the battery and tightened the connectors. It appears to be working correctly now. He believes the problem could have been from a loose connector or a dirty connection.

In the afternoon we put things down and secure because we decided to go the Silverthorne. We're not out of propane but Larry didn't want to run out especially if we stay here through the weekend. It's Labor Day weekend, there is only one place in the entire area that fills propane and they are closed on Sunday and Monday. Silverthorne is 7.5 miles from our campground. We stopped in at Mountain Dirty Motorsports, where we got propane last year. They filled the tank now were ok for a couple of weeks. Then we stopped in at Target to pickup a few things. While in Target we looked at their muffin pans. They had a silicone muffin pan but it holds 12 muffins and we want one that hold 6 muffins. That was ok we'll look in Walmart the next time we're there. The last stop was Sinclair to fill up the Minnie with fuel. Now we're all set for awhile. 

Running errands

When we got to Frisco Larry had to take two traffic circles. He had to do this both directions. They're a little scary because they have two lanes and sometimes when you're in the outer lane and as soon as you exit the circle you may need to merge to the left. Larry does an excellent job of doing the circles with the Minnie. 

For dinner we barbecued hamburgers and had chips. 

Today I didn't do my evening walk because I was tired. I must be getting old because I remember when I use to do 24,000 to 28,000 steps per day. Nowadays I'm not doing 10,000 steps. When I'm on vacation I'll do a lot of steps. We hike in the morning for 3 to 5 miles so I end up doing 16,000 steps or more. I usually do a 3 mile walk in the evening, which give me 6,000 steps. At least I'm keeping a little active when I'm on vacation, which is good. Today I did 14,000 steps.

In the evening I played games and read.

I finished reading The Fives Wishes of Murray McBride. It was an excellent book. It had a surprising ending but it was excellent. Larry finished the book he started yesterday.

Relaxing with a book

 

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong from yesterday and today. I did the event, which was Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Klondike and 3 Free Cell). It took me 15 minutes and 25 seconds to complete, which put me in 12th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends. I didn't play Angry Birds 2 because I'm trying to conserve power. 

Sunset at Pine Cove Campground

  

   

  

Tuesday 9-1-26 New Month, Hiking, Camping, Frisco & More

 

Happy September

Happy September. Fall is just around the corner.

We had a gorgeous day with a lot of sunshine. The morning temperature was 43 degrees and the high was 68 degrees. The clouds rolled in and out a couple of times but it was mostly sunny.

We had an outstanding day of hiking, camping and visiting Frisco Colorado.

When Larry got up he turned on the Wave3 to get the chill out of the air. The temperature was perfect for sleeping. I rolled out of bed about 7:15 and got dressed. Then I made pancakes for breakfast.

After breakfast we got ready to go on a hike. We started our hike at 8:00 from the Minnie. We hiked four miles mainly on Perimeter Trail going the opposite direction from yesterday. We walked to the walk-in sites to get on Perimeter Trail. The trail took us along Dillon Lake shores to the marina or what is left of the marina. We hiked through trees and out in the open. The trail was easy to moderate. There were a lot of benches along the trail but they were wet from the rain last night. There were a few sailboats still in the marina area. They have a long walk to get to them, probably a half to a mile long. We saw a couple of bicyclists going to them. From where we were we saw a tractor with a boat trailer going to the boats. The driver backed the trailer for a bit then stop to check out how far he had to go to get to a small dock. We watched him for a little while. It looked like he was going to get a boat out of the lake. We took Perimeter Trail to Frisco Adventure Park. When we got to the park we got off the trail and walked around the park. Some areas were under construction. It was a super adventure park.

Pine Cove Campground from the Perimeter Trail

Sail Boats at the marina

Ski chair memorial for John H. Brewer on the trail

Tractor and boat trailer on the walkway to the sail boats

Frisco Adventure Park is a great facility with a lot of activities to do. We saw a couple of guys on the skateboard park. The summer activities are biking, skating, disc golf, hiking and running, horse-drawn chuck wagon rides and camping. The biking area consist of dirt jumps, a pump track, slopestyle, dual slalom courses and mountain bikes trails. The winter activities are snow tubing, skiing and snowboard (beginner skiing and snowboarding hill with surface lift), Nordic sports (27 km of cross-country ski trails and 8 km of snowshoe trails), sleigh rides (horse-drawn sleigh rides with dinner option) and sledding hills. It has a beautiful day lodge. 

Frisco Adventure Park Day Lodge

Skateboard Park

Surface lift 

Nordic Center

Pump Track

Horses/Mules for the chuckwagon rides

After walking around Frisco Adventure Park we got back on our hiking track. We took the Phat Loop Trail for a half mile until it intersect with Peak One Trail. We saw a couple of runners on the trail when we were hiking. It was a great hike. 

After lunch we rode the motorcycle three miles to Frisco. It's a cute touristy town with a lot of shops, restaurants and espressos. 

Larry parked the motorcycle at the Frisco Historic Park and Museum. It is a gorgeous facility and well kept up. The gentleman, who greeted us was very friendly. He explained there were nine structure around the park, which tell the history of Frisco. We walked around the park and the structures were very well maintained. The museum was in the old schoolhouse (Circa 1899 Schoolhouse). We had a great time walking around and facility and learning about the history of Frisco. The trees were wrapped in fabric art from local artist. The buildings we walked through were Frank & Anne Ruth House (Circa 1890), Frisco Jail (Circa 1831), Niemoth Cabin (Circa 1931), Spring House (Circa 1900), Wood's Cabin (Circa 1860), Prestrud/Staley House (Circa 1899), Well House, Log Chapel (Circa 1943) and Bill's Ranch House (Circa 1890). There was a cute sculpture of a Native-American girl and a Bear and a tee-pee. There was a covered stage area and a few picnic tables for people to enjoy the park. Frank & Anne Ruth House was about the how Anne Ruth fought for Women Rights. You can dress up in different hats and clothes, that were wore in that era. Wood's Cabin had displays of the general store. The other buildings had displays inside about the history of Frisco and how the people lived and survived during that era. The Prestrud/Staley House is a house where two families lived together. We had a great experience. 

Frisco Historic Park & Museum

Sandy Hayward Needle & Wet Felting and Pat Larson Quilt 

Historic Museum entrance (1899 Schoolhouse)

Standing in front of my house (Frank & Anne Ruth House 1990)

Ruth House entrance

Frisco Jail (1831)

Niemoth Cabin (1931)

Bear and Native-American girl

 

After doing the self-tour of the Historic Museum we got back on the motorcycle and rode it to the Frisco Park. It was a small beautiful park with a few sculptures. One sculpture was "Ski For Light, Art For Sight" has two cross-country skiers portrays a sighted cross-country skier leading a visual impaired skier. There was a plaque explaining history of this event, which started in 1963. This event gives thousands of visually impaired people a chance to ski. They still have this event every year around the United States. Another sculpture was big horn sheep. After walking around the park we crossed the street to have ice cream at Abbey's Coffee. We shared two scoops of ice cream (strawberry cheesecake and butter pecan). Then we walked back to the motorcycle and drove back to the campground.

"Ski For Light, Art For Sight" by William Barth Osmundsen

Frisco Park sign

Abbey's Coffee Sign

Strawberry Cheesecake and Butter Pecan ice cream

When we got back we visited with our neighbor from Kansas. We had left overs for dinner.

In the evening we read. I did a two mile walk around Peak One Campground.

I played the daily event, which was Event: Free Cell Adventure of 20 games. It took me 2 hours, 3 minutes and 7 seconds to complete, which put me in 9th place in my group. I ended up doing 16,500 steps. 

We had a super day.