Bear Country

There are several reminders here in little Lake City, Colorado that you are in Bear Country. It is tempting, especially to vacationers, to put food out for our wild bears, so that they can get a photograph. But, when you feed the bear he or she becomes dependent on those handouts....becomes aggressive (and larger) and in the end has to be destroyed. Sadly, we have seen it every summer .

Tom and I are so careful.....to heed the rules... which in the end saves the bears life. We do not have a bird feeder , we burn off all traces of food on our grill after we use it. Never leave any sort of food in our car...and keep our doors and windows locked.

Hopefully I will be able to photograph a bear for you this summer....but it will not be because we are feeding it.

* Taking a break....We are flying to Chicago today for granddaughter Hannah's first birthday. Will be back on Tuesday.

The Town

For those of you who weren't with me last year. I guess I should explain. Tom and I live for five months out of the year in the Colorado mountains...where the summers are fun...and a whole lot cooler. (than Texas).

 

Our log cabin is in the tiny town of Lake City, which was a booming mining town in the late 1800's, but only has about 400 year round residents in 2013.

 

Welcome to downtown. I promise it will soon get a whole lot livelier! There are no traffic lights in our town ,and no franchise businesses, but a whole lot of fun things to do. .

Tom and I walked this morning along Henson Creek.  There are a couple of miles of groomed walking trails there and also along the river that runs through town.

We have Colorado's second largest natural lake. Lake San Cristobal.... Say hello to my friend Robin (owner of the Northface Lodge) and her new puppy Dillon. I hope to show you a lot more of our area, over the summer...give you a peek at  our wildlife and introduce you to some of our locals.

If you are wondering why our sign says a peak experience...well, we have not one but five 14,000 foot mountain peaks in the area. Lake City...is it the best kept secret in the state of Colorado!

A Picnic

About twelve thousand feet elevation, above us to the east, is a series of four small mountain lakes ( called Deer Lakes) that cascade, one after the other down the hill. Tom and I drove up and took a picnic lunch yesterday. While we ate beside lake number two....a female moose was having her lunch too. Moose like to eat the grasses that grow on the bottom of the lake.

We tried getting closer, but she noticed us. They can run faster than we can, so we backed off, hoping she would go back to eating her lunch!

Reserve Early! Local # 1

Tom and I have arrived back in our summer home...high in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. I will try, this summer, to feature some of the interesting locals...

Meet Bruce. Bruce is a painter, (which I guess if you looked closely you could see that), and he is very good at what he does. We have a log home that we have re- stained about every three years, and on those years we start trying early to track down Bruce...because he stays very busy all summer long.

A nicer guy you will never meet. Bruce, even though I call him a local, spends his winters in a little village deep in Mexico with his with his wife (who is Mexican) and their cute little five year old boy.

The Last Day

Yesterday dawned early....and we were able to fit a few groceries into our very loaded car.....and headed for the mountains

and although it is a three day weekend here in the U.S. the road was empty. We are very remote where we spend the summer, really not on the way to anywhere.

Blue skies, empty roads and perfect temps

Our trip takes us along the head waters of the mighty Rio Grande River...notice a lot of the trees aren't out yet.

Remember yesterday we talked about where the Buffalo roam? Well, these (yes, they really are Buffalo) were just hanging out by the barn.

and then I saw it, coming off of the last pass...our highest peak( Uncompahgre) rising 14,309 feet majestically above our valley. We are home!

Amost There

We had a beautiful day on the road yesterday. Left Ft. Worth at 6am (Central Time) and pulled into our hotel in Alamosa.Colorado at 5pm (Mountain Time). Which meant, we had driven for twelve hours.... I know that is a bit too long...... but there was very little traffic, blue skies and  wonderful temperatures.

I spotted this bird at one of the rest stops. My bird book is packed away. So, if you know what it is, please tell me.

Spotted several wild Antelope, once we crossed from the Texas panhandle into northern New Mexico. My Dad use to sing a song when I was little. I think the name of it was Home on The Range. There is a verse that goes like this: Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam....and the deer and the antelope play.

 I always think of him when we spot antelope.

We have a short three hour trip today. We chose to stay in Alamosa because it has the last supermarket before the mountains, where there aren't any. Actually, come to think of it we don't have a lot of room for food....oh dear!

On The Road Again

It's time! We are headed back to our house in Colorado.....today. 

One of you made a remark that we were like nomads...and I guess we are.

We put what we could live without for the next five months...into the storage unit, where the rest of our belongings reside.

and this is what is left.

It must go into the car...along with two sets of golf clubs and an ice chest. I keep sneaking things into this pile when Tom is not looking..shhh

No, that is not a box of wine. Liquor (and wine) boxes are great for moving ....they are sturdy.... yet small enough to pick up. We have also discovered that packing clothes in plastic blanket bags is also  good idea (they hold more).

Happy to report...that we are welcome to rent this comfortable/convenient apartment when we return in October. Our house will probably not be finished until the new year.

I will see if I can find anything along the road to Colorado to share with you. Once I spotted a pasture with camels in North Texas....and no it wasn't when we were over tired!

 Summer Here We Come!

More from the Art Show

On our way out of The Ft. Worth's Arts Council Museum...we came across this room. I should have read more about the artist. He or she had to be from Arizona.

 

The Road Ahead (I think we were recently on this road :)

 

The Sunset

 

I understand the vegetation...but maybe not the musical note?

 

I promise to do better next time (and tell you about the artist).

Art Show

We were invited to and Art Reception at the Ft. Worth's Arts Council last night. Seems all of the paintings by amateur artists in this museum are for sale.

 

First of all, I got a kick out of the parking garage

 

The first painting to catch my eye was this one titled, On The Ranch

Yes, a lot reminded you that you were in Texas.

 Although this was titled, Fishing Boats Thailand

 

Couldn't help but like this guy

 

While I thought this bordered on crafty.

Our friend Kerry who had three paintings in the show. This one a study in the use of blacks, whites and grays.

Kerry is a neighbor here, in Ft Worth, our realtor and also a neighbor in Lake City, Co. The evening was elegant with wine and hors d'oeurves and a view of downtown Ft. Worth from our hilltop location... that I forgot to take! Thanks Kerry for a fun evening!

Houston.....again

I know, I know...we seem to be living between two cities...We drove back to Houston one more time this week. One of these days Tom will be finished with these dental procedures...or we will find a new dentist where we live...in Ft Worth.

We stayed this time with our dear friends Jenna and Phil....who have this cozy sitting area at one end of their kitchen...a place where I have had many a cup of coffee and wonderful conversations.

Jenna had baked an Apple/Praline bread to welcome us....I took this just before we finished it off the last three slices. She loves to bake...and experiments by trying to take the fat and high calories out of baked items. She sure did a great job on this loaf!

Gardenias were blooming in their yard and she had some floating in bowls ....making the house smell wonderful.

Our beautiful....and comfortable guestroom was waiting

 

and an equally amazing guest bath..

Thank you Jenna and Phil ...we had a wonderful time!

If You Can Stand One More!

I simply had to show you this one old kitchen. Since I love  green depression glass.

and this cool old sink

but...remember The Old Home Supply?

These folks on the tour, had purchased a large section of old  windows and used it to decorate in their entry way.

 It reminded me of one of my daughter's weddings. Their reception was in an old house. We hung three old casement windows on the porch, with table assignments painted in each window pane.

Home Tour ...again

I know you think I am stuck on the home tour and guess I am....

Many of the things in these old homes are in need of replacement....like this heating system

This ceiling for sure

a once modern air conditioner

along with this stove...which surely replaced one that was fueled by wood.

Why one place even had the old Kitchen House in the backyard....although not for long...it's looks like it's days are numbered.

Home Tour (4)

I love it when they try and save some of the old lighting fixtures when restoring these homes.

 

I guess it could have been a reproduction ....but it looked authentic to me 

as did this one

 

and these floors (which had me swooning) were certainly worth saving..

Home Tour (3)

Nearly all of the homes had claw foot bathtubs...which of course was correct for the time period

as was the pedestal sink

 

This tub had a useful tray across it

this one was missing feet...and also looked very small.

but this was the first time to see a claw footed shower. Have you ever seen one?