Goose Banding, Rodeo and a 4th of July Hike

We accepted an invitation from the State of Colorado to help with the annual Canada Goose Banding effort at Walden Reservoir. Kayaks were used to herd over 600 geese into a corral.
This was possible due to molting season, the geese were unable to fly. The geese were then separated by banded or unbanded and goslings. The banded geese were recorded and released. The unbanded geese were sexed, banded and released.

NORTH PARK NEVER SUMMER RODEO
The girl on the right is Taylor, the Rodeo Queen. She also is one of the YCC (Youth Conservation Corp) Summer employees at the Refuge.
Don't let her girly looks fool you, she grew up here in Walden on a ranch and is a hard worker. Taylor also competes as a barrel racer in the rodeo.




In this picture of the barrel racing event you can see the smoke rising in the distance as one of the many Colorado wildfires burns. This one is in Poudre Canyon about 50 east of Walden. Poudre Canyon runs between Walden and Fort Collins.

Having received our ATV Certifications this past January, we are putting them to use in our work here at Arapaho NWR. On this particular day we were using the ATVs to haul obsolete fencing, removed by the YCC, out of the back country for recycling.

BIG CREEK FALLS HIKE
On Independence Day we took a five mile hike in the Zirkel Wilderness Area with friends and fellow volunteers, Carolyn and Wally.






The Wyoming Ground Squirrels, who live all around us, enjoy eating the spent petunia blossoms. We enjoy watching these busy little critters. Sure glad the hanging flower basket is out of their reach.



While updating our BLOG, we looked out our back window and spotted three young moose.
What a joy it is to live on a National Wildlife Refuge. We were able to take a picture of one before they ran away.

Getaway to Baldpate Inn

We left our trailer behind and took a three day/two night adventure through Rocky Mountain National Park and Boulder, Colorado.
Through the park, we shared the road with "Ride The Rockies" bike rally, made up of 2200 bicycles. Good thing it was a Thursday, so traffic wasn't too heavy. We parked our car at the Moraine Visitors Center and took the free shuttle bus to the Bear Lake Area. We hiked around Bear Lake and then to Alberta Falls. Although Rocky Mountain NP is a heavily used park, we found only a few people on the trails that day. Once we arrived at Alberta Falls we realized we had taken this same hike over 13 years ago when we visited in 1999.
Researching places to stay, we found the Baldpate Inn. This rustic lodge built in 1917 is 7 miles south of Estes Park. At over 9,000 feet elevation it is adjacent to Rocky Mountain NP and has 12 guest rooms.

Room #2 was our home for this two night getaway. We had a nice large room with a king bed, a couch, antique dresser, tables and lamps. It had a sink, but the bathroom was down the hall where there were three with old fashioned tubs and two with stall showers. We were supplied with terry cloth robes to make the journey down the hall. We were very comfortable here and slept with the windows open above a real wood burning fireplace.

The restaurant was open to the public for lunch and dinner. They offer a soup & salad bar. Each morning the guests are served a 3 course breakfast consisting of fruit with homemade muffin, quiche and bacon, followed by a homemade cinnamon pecan roll.
The Key Room contains the worlds largest key collection, with over 20,000 keys. Included in this collection is a key from Mozart's wine cellar, Westminster Abbey, the Pentagon and Frankenstein's Castle.
We were required to wear hairnets (and beard nets) while touring the Celestial Tea Company in Boulder, Colorado. After the tour we could have all you can drink, sampling their over 70 different tea products.
We also visited NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) and Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art. These are all located in Boulder. We enjoyed The Mall, a brick paved section of Pearl Street, closed to traffic. After dinner we drove up Mount Flagstaff for a panaramic view of Boulder.
On day three we took the long drive home by going south on Scenic Hwy. 72. Great views of Long's Peak, Meeker Peak, Evan's Peak and a beautiful drive down the unpaved, "Oh, My Gawd Road" to Idahoe Springs.

Sunday Church and a Snowy Range Tour

Zion Lutheran Church, Laramie, WY, was our church home last year and again this summer. It is a 152 mile round trip, but well worth it. Pastor Shawn Kumm is an excellent pastor as well as bible study leader.
After church we took an even longer way home via WY130. After a delicious lunch at the Old Corral Hotel & Steak House in Centennial, Wyoming, we continued on through the Snowy Range.

The sky was clear with temperatures in the 30's and wind gusts up to 40 mph at the top. Medicine Bow Peak at 12,013 feet is the highest peak in this mountain range. Amazingly, we can actually see the Snowy Range on most days out our dining room window, from over 80 miles away.

The turnout to Mirror Lake was closed due to a snow drift. Although the mountains in Colorado were rather dry of snow, there was plenty here.
Stopping at Lake Marie for a brisk walk, we continued on to WY230 through Riverside/Encampment and back to the Refuge.

Return to Arapaho NWR

We arrived back at Arapaho NWR on May 31 after a 3 day drive from Texas. This year we are joined by our good friends and fellow volunteers, Wally and Carolyn. We have volunteered with them before and look forward to working with them here.

We returned, as did the Tree Swallows from Mexico. We enjoy watching them raise their family.

We noticed the mountains have very little snow this year, compared to last. As a result the rivers are very low with many of the irrigation ditches dry as a bone. This part of Colorado appears to be in a drought now.
One of the first jobs was working at Mortenson Lake NWR counting Wyoming Toads, an almost extinct species. We didn't find any toads, but we did find this interesting nest containing Red-winged Blackbird eggs, along with two brown headed cowbird eggs.


After we got settled, we spent a day driving Cameron Pass to Poudre Canyon (Hwy. 14) all the way to Fort Collins and back.




We had our first moose spotting of the year.




In Fort Collins we had a nice lunch at Austin's American Grill in the historic downtown district. After lunch we took a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.

We enjoyed the special selection of beers in the Hospitality Room. We tried three beers each plus a 4oz. taste of the new Wild Blueberry Beer. This is considered more of a dessert drink. Kurt loves blueberries, Virginia, not so much. We tried Leffe, Landshark, BL Platinum and of course, Budweiser. As a side note the tour guide mentioned that the state of Texas consumes more Budweiser than any other state. Soooo after consuming a quart of beer each we were all set for the long twisty turny ride back home!!

NEW SHOES FOR THE HITCHHIKER

NEW WHEEL AND TIRE ON LEFT, OLD ONE ON RIGHT

Since we experienced a tire failure in June of 2011 and the tires were now over four years old, we decided to upgrade. The Goodyear G614RST tires and 16 inch wheels that came with our fifth wheel were running at 94% of capacity at maximum pressure. We found 17.5 inch wheels and Goodyear G114 tires sized 215/75R17.5H at http://www.trailertiresandwheels.com/. This change increased the load capacity per wheel from 3750 to 4805.

The tires arrived mounted and balanced with new cups and lugs. Since the new tires are 2/10 of an inch smaller in diameter than the old tires, even with the larger wheel, they fit in the footprint with room to spare.

Return to Lake Lavon

We started north on April 1st from Santa Ana NWR in Alamo, Texas. Our first stop was at Potter's Creek Campground at Canyon Lake. This is a very nice/new Army Corp. of Engineer Park just north of San Antonio.
Our four night stay allowed us plenty of time to visit San Antonio's Botanical Garden, River Walk and the Witte Museum. The weather and the view at our site were outstanding.

















We arrived at East Fork Park on the shores of Lake Lavon, Wylie, Texas, on April 5.
We are once again volunteering with the Army Corp. of Engineers. Our current project is painting park gates and pipe fences at some of the various corp maintained parks around Lake Lavon. This is our old stomping grounds. It is nice to catch up with family and friends. We plan to be here until the end of May.

WINTER 2012 UPDATE

We returned to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge on December 1st. This is our third year volunteering as Refuge Operation Specialists for the Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR.

On Valentine's Day we flew to Cabo San Lucas, Baja, Mexico for a relaxing week of fun and sun. The weather was perfect. We stayed at a time share condo, Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach.
We were surprised when the resort upgraded us to a Super Presidential Suite. This gave us an extra large balcony complete with Jacuzzi. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean we watched hundreds of grey whales migrating north to Alaska.






We really enjoyed our time together.




Virginia turned 60 this year. Our daughter, Kelly, along with our granddaughters, Hannah and Julia drove down from Austin to help us celebrate this milestone year. It was a quick visit but lots of fun for everyone. We packed a lot of activities into the day.



After purchasing fresh oranges and grapefruit for the family, we headed east toward South Padre Island. Port Isabel Lighthouse was our first stop. Hannah tells us it was 42 stairs to the top. We had a great lunch at Blackbeards on SPI. Then at the World Birding Center we got to see an alligator along with many different kinds of shore birds. We went across the street to the beach so the girls could jump in the waves.
The temperature of the water was a very cool 68, but with the warm weather the girls didn't even notice. It was a delight to watch them enjoy the ocean. We then ate the picnic supper we brought along. This completed a perfect Birthday.