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.

VACATIONING IN COLORADO SPRINGS

We arrived at Colorado Springs on September 26 staying at Garden of the Gods Campground for about three and a half weeks. There is so much to do in this area. This is a very central location. We have posted our favorite pictures of some of the places we visited while here.







Our Campsite was only a mile from one of the entrances into Garden of the Gods. This free city park is a great place for picnics and hikes. The rock formations are surreal.


www.gardenofgods.com






PIKES PEAK


After watching Pikes Peak from our campsite, we picked a beautiful day to drive up to the top. We also caught the fall foliage in full color. The next time we ascend we thought we would try the Cog Railroad.












SEVEN FALLS
We enjoyed a day of climbing and hiking at beautiful Seven Falls in Colorado Springs. Look close at the left side of the falls to see two long flights of stairs to the top.


www.sevenfalls.com




You can see Virginia's knee is back to normal. She would have never managed 224 stairs and three miles of trails at Seven Falls a year ago.




BISHOP'S CASTLE
Jim Bishop began building this castle 43 years ago. The Castle cannot be described, you will need to see it for yourself. Visitors have full self-guided access inside and out. Climbing the shaky 160 foot tower is quite an adrenaline rush.









www.bishopcastle.org

(free admission)










MANITOU SPRINGS CLIFF DWELLINGS



CRIPPLE CREEK
Virginia hit the $20.00 Jackpot on a penny slot in the morning but wound up in jail by afternoon.




ROYAL GORGE

The bridge across Royal Gorge is the highest suspension bridge in the world. We drove our car as well as walked across it. We also rode the Incline Railroad to the bottom of the 1,053 foot deep gorge.



We enjoyed our ride across the Gorge on the Arial Tram. It is the world's longest single span aerial tram at nearly half a mile.






www.royalgorgebridge.com



SHELF ROAD DRIVING TOUR
This is one of Colorado's many well maintained gravel roads. We have driven hundreds of miles in and around the state touring on these back roads.







BIG HORN SHEEP











While in the Colorado Springs area we also visited Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, The United States Air Force Academy, U.S. Olympic Training Complex, Cave of the Winds, World Figure Skating Museum, Miramont Castle, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Will Rogers Memorial Tower and other miscellaneous state parks and attractions. We had fun keeping quite busy each day. We are headed South.

SUMMER PICTURES

We enjoyed touring on our days off. One of the near-by places we liked to visit was Rocky Mountain National Park. After crossing the park from Grand Lake to Estes Park we returned to the Alpine Visitor Center via the nine mile one-way gravel, Old Fall River Road. There are many points of interest along the way including the Chasm Falls.







Old Fall River Road begins in the Endovalley and ends at the Alpine Visitor Center, at 11,796 feet.











GEORGETOWN NARROW GAUGE RAILROAD




On our second visit to Georgetown, Colorado, we decided to take the narrow gauge railroad ride from Silver Plume to Georgetown and back.






We had a choice of sitting in an open or closed car. We chose the open car and sat in the back for the best views.



Included with our ticket was a tour of an old silver mine, the Lebanon Mine, one of the mines that established these towns in the 1800's.



One of the treats of living on a National Wildlife Refuge is the critters we saw on a daily basis. These Sage Grouse stopped by once or twice a day to visit. The Refuge staff nicknamed them "Lunch" and "Dinner".
Other frequent sightings: Moose, Elk, Badgers, Magpies, Bluebirds, White-tailed Prairie Dogs, Pronghorns, Ground Squirrels, Ducks, Geese, Beavers, Coyotes, and ever present Swallows



The Three months passed all too quickly. When the Aspen changed color, we decided it was time to go find out where the Swallows went. We are headed South.

WORKING AT ARAPAHO

Our work truck, a 2011 Ford F250 4 X 4
Once a week we take the truck out and get it REALLY muddy doing water flow readings (CFS) at the many flumes located within the Refuge irrigation network.



North Park Phacelia is an endangered plant found only in Jackson County, Colorado. It is found in less than 10 locations with two sites having significant numbers, both found within the Refuge.
Our project was to conduct the annual plant survey. To accomplish this we located 100 preset monuments using a Garmin GPS unit along with a metal detector. Once the monument is located we lay out a PVC grid. We then count the phacelia as well as all other plants within the grid.



We spent a morning last week helping the biologist capture and band song birds. Several kinds of birds were captured in large suspended nets. To the left is a Yellow Warbler.







The birds are measured, weighed, sexed, banded and released.






To the left is the biologist holding a Warbling Vireo


Just outside our kitchen window is one of many Refuge Tree Swallow houses. We have enjoyed watching the birds raise their babies and now the family enjoys sitting on our hanging flower basket.