Beasts

6/6 2022

This was the day of unusual animal sightings. On our hike to Copeland Falls we came across this:

And later, while settling in for the night in the parking lot of the Loveland's Scheels, a van pulled in near us and we saw this:

Turns out the camper travels with the 2 goats, a German Shepard, and 2 chickens, all while promoting sustainability and eco living. Her blog claims goats are perfect traveling companions, but we'll have to pass on that.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Left Denver and drove up back mountain roads to the Wild Basin Trailhead where we walked to Copeland Falls. 

Lower falls

Upper falls

Fungus that causes weird cluster growth of firs

Thought I should bring our rain coats but decided not to go back the 50 steps or so - wrong decision!  Heavy rain and then pelting hail awaited us 

Charming mountain chapel

Denver

Wonderful weekend seeing folks from my Up With People days and from Matthew's college while in Denver. Stopped in at Karen William's place to drop off a gift and had a lovely visit while she made us a grilled cheese lunch. Made our way to our Boondocker's Welcome host, Bean, but found that our hitch tray was too low to get over the high curb entrance to their driveway so we decided to park on the street. Met the sweet cat Clementine who lived to be petted and later tried to jump up into the van window, startling Matthew. Headed off to meet up with Randy and Jennifer, and their former brother-in-law Mike, at their townhouse before going to the Blue Moon brewery for dinner and drinks. 

Sat morning we thought we'd go kayaking on Sloans Lake but, after getting sunscreened up and the kayaks down, we realized we had left the life vests drying on the back porch at home. Instead we loaded back up, found some downtown parking, and walked to the REI flagship store to purchase some items we needed. Then it was back to Sloans Lake to meet up with Kathy Spoon, my first roommate in UWP, and walk around the lake as we caught up. Dinner nearby at the Patio was tasty.

Sunday morning it was back to Karen's for a breakfast of buckwheat pancakes and fake sausage and more catching up.

Then we went in search of a raised hitch extender so we could stop bottoming out on every dip - success! Not so successful finding branded Gunther Toodies stuff for Nate. Met up with Julie Hedelson Thomas and her wife Jana for a taco dinner and tour of their new condo. It was a really nice visit.

Back to Bean's for the night and a visit from another friendly cat, Tituba, who startled Cheryl this time with a jump up into the van window.

Finally on the Road

The adventure has begun.  Rather than drive into the setting sun,we choose to spend the night at this lovely rest stop in Kansas,  just before the Colorado border. Lots of space between other campers, covered picnic tables with electrical outlets at some, water spigots, and a free dump station - what more could you ask for!  #alaskaadventure #retirementlife

Drive to King's Canyon/Sequoia National Parks - June 27

We got an early start to get to the park, but not before catching a glimpse of this on the Walmart door. Good intentions gone too far we think.

Went through lots of agricultural lands and the workers were busy picking strawberries.

 
The coast was beautiful. And we got to see a peregrine falcon at Pismo Beach, as well as seals and the whitest seagulls.

 

We drove along the coast on local roads, looking at housing prices (Yikes!) and enjoying the beach towns until we reached the end of the road, at Port San Luis, where we parked and strolled along the pier.

And enjoyed the seal lions.

Then back on 101 where we saw anachronisms like this.

 And the familiar brown hills.

Finally, we began to climb and the views were beautiful. So many trees were dead because of the years of drought made them more susceptible to pine beetles. Because of the fire danger, increased because of all the dead wood, we had to stop at the Ranger Station to get a fire permit for our camp stove and to be able to have a fire in a firepit. Unlike most places, they asked us to collect and burn as much wood as we could find on the ground.

Matthew found us a great dispersed campsite, just yards away from the National Forest campgrounds. While ours lacked a pit toilet and picnic table, we had the space practically to ourselves.

 We made a great dinner,

Explored our surroundings,

 marveled at the height of these trees and wondered why some grew twisted. The answer, evidently no one knows.

All before enjoying this sunset and going to bed.

Solvang and Matthew's 60th Birthday - June 26

Today is Matthew's 60th birthday!! He has chosen to spend the day in Solvang, a Scandinavian themed town.  We said our goodbyes to Sara and Ron and headed north.

Passed an ostrich farm.

Arrived in Solvang.

And had an enjoyable time walking through the innumerable tourist shops. Matthew was amused by the name of this bank.

While Cheryl was perplexed by the proliferation of psychic shops everywhere in southern California.

And we were happy to see a yule bock, although we didn't have room to bring it with us.

But most importantly we stood in line to get aebleskivers. And they were worth it. 

It may be a birthday, but work still calls so we walked to the library so Matthew could check in on his 3 online classes and Cheryl could catch up on work also. The library was small and we could hear everything that went on at the checkout desk. We were impressed with the compassion and enthusiasm of the two librarians there. They were so great with the kids, talking to them with such respect and teaching in such kind ways. And with the adults also. It was nice to overhear.

Outside the library was this gorgeous clematis vine.

And we were pleased/surprised to see Andersen's Pea Soup signs and restaurant were still in operation all these years later.

We said goodbye to Solvang and began to make our way towards Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks, enjoying the vineyards along the way.

 Tonight's campsite was a corner of the Lompoc Walmart's parking lot. Several of the other guests seemed to be living out of their cars. Homelessness is a real problem for California.