Durango, Colorado: August 4, 2014

Our friend Cheryl was right at home with the horse sculpture.  She lives on several acres in Bulverde, outside San Antonio, and has four horses.  She brought us some of Ace's manure for Papa Tom's tomato crop last Spring.  Good stuff!

How could we resist the chocolate factory?  Papa Tom got three chocolate-covered cherries; Cheryl and I went for truffles and mint covered in dark chocolate.  Decadence!

Stopped at the James Ranch for cheese made with raw milk.  And look!  What book is that on the shelf?

Lunch at the Steamworks, our favorite Durango restaurant.  Our first visit must have been about 10 years ago.  The years blur together!

Chimney Rock National Monument: August 3, 2014

What unique rock formations!  They protrude 1,000 feet above the valley floor.  Much, much larger than they appear in this photo.  Chimney Rock is between Pagosa Springs and Durango, Colorado.  The Anasazi lived in this area from about 900 A.D. to 1100 A.D. before moving on, possibly due to climate change.  We visited the site because our friend Cheryl, from Austin, was taking an Anasazi pottery class for the several days that we were in Pagosa Springs.  The class made pottery the way the Anasazi did; Cheryl said it's very difficult to paint designs with a yucca stem!

At the edge of the trail to the Chimney Rock.

Pueblo ruins

Papa Tom taking a photo of me while I'm taking a photo of him

Papa Tom, our friend Cheryl, and tour guide Susan descending from the uppermost pueblo.

View of the valley from the pueblo.  As far as is known, the 200 years that the Anasazi resided here were very peaceful.  The view would have allowed them to see anyone coming from very far away.  Archeologists believe the only interaction among area peoples was peaceful, for trade and festivals, for instance.

Mesas, far away.  Archeologists posit that the pueblo dwellers could communicate with each other via fire/smoke signals for up to 90 miles distance.

Top of the trail.  The chimney rocks are very far behind me, much larger than they appear in this picture.  Turns out there are chimney rocks in Nebraska, Oregon, and the Carolinas, to name a few other places. 

Williams Creek trail: August 3, 2014

Folds of rock along the Williams Creek trail in the San Juan National Forest, about 25 miles outside Pagosa Springs.  The trailhead begins at a campground for people and their horses.  The horses were whinnying to each other from their corrals when we arrived.  Some riders were on the trail with us.

They aren't in the photo, but I'm talking with two hikers and their dog Darwin about other great hikes.  Remember: Conundrum hot springs off a trail outside Vail.  Another year . . . .

How deep will the snow be after Labor Day?

Pagosa Springs, Colorado: August 2, 2014

Started the day with latte and mocha latte at the Pagosa Springs Bakehouse.

Stopped at the Farmer's Market in hopes of finding fresh goat cheese.  Sold out!

Princess the grizzly lives at the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Park.  She was taken in at 10 months old after her Mom was shot and killed while raiding an Alaskan village.

Do you see the bobcat enjoying the sun?  He reminded us of a big ole house cat!

The elk dropped his antlers.  They're more than 3 feet tall!

This emu was found galloping through the streets of Pagosa Springs.  I don't know how he was caught.  Emus can run up to 40 miles per hour and have a 9-foot stride! 

The bearded dragon was spikey on top but had a very soft little belly.

We checked out the Williams Creek trail for a hike the following day.

Summit and sleet at over 11,000 feet

The Continental Divide trail extends for 3,100 miles from Mexico to Canada.  We traversed a few miles of the trail just north of Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

The trail is marked periodically.

Papa Tom and wildflowers, on the trail.  He carried the very heavy canteen of water.  Thanks, Papa Tom!

Touching the clouds

The hills are alive . . . . doesn't this make you want to twirl and sing like Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music"?

The trail crossed a meadow.  Find on the way up; not so fine on the way down, when it was raining, sleeting, and lightning, and we were the tallest things running down the mountain!

Wild daisies?

Jacket was too warm; switched to vest.  But it was about 48 degrees later in the hike.  Brrr!

Logs can be your friends on the way up and down.

We took a spur off the main trail to get up higher.

Mountain strawberries: tiny and tart!

Near the summit

Papa Tom made it!

Papa Tom's Thor pose!

Enjoying the view

Thanks to Papa Tom's mountain hiking experience, he knew to bring rain gear for us.  We needed it on the hike down, when we were rained and sleeted on.  The sleet stung like being pelted with rock salt!

Continental Divide: August 1, 2014

Papa Tom stands on the Continental Divide just north of Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  The Divide is so-named because rivers east of the Divide flow to the Atlantic (some via the Gulf of Mexico) and rivers west of the Divide flow to the Pacific. 

Do you see the little chipmunk peeking out from behind the boulder?

Westward Ho, Clovis, New Mexico: July 31, 2014

This is for our friend Greg who loved the Westward Ho in Las Vegas, Nevada, before it was torn down.  We couldn't resist stopping for a photo of the Westward Ho in Clovis, New Mexico, to send to him.

First stop: Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap, Texas: July 30, 2014

So a couple of years ago, Papa Tom found out that the best burger in Texas, maybe in the nation and the whole wide world and entire universe, is made at the Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap, Texas, about 20 miles south of Abilene.  So, of course, our first stop on the way to Colorado had to be for dinner at the Perini Ranch.

Corn in the garden, right outside the steakhouse.  No cows in the corn though; they're being turned into burgers.  Wah!

Everything's bigger in Texas, including the Perini Ranch mascot.

The statewide ag teacher convention was in town.  One of the teachers jumped out of her pickup and asked if she could take a photo for us.  Very sweet!

And grasshoppers too!

Jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon.  Yep!

Papa Tom's long-awaited Perini Ranch burger. 

Papa Tom's peaches: end of July 2014

Papa picked the last of the peaches before our Colorado trip.  We made sorbet with Knudson's lemonade and ginger ale:  no sugar added.  The drinks are sweetened with white grape juice and the peaches went well with the flavors.  Thanks, Vita-Mix, for blending everything up so well!

Yum!  We didn't make sorbet with all the peaches: had some fresh ones, made peach salsa (basically regular salsa with peaches added), and took a few on the road to Colorado with us.