SUN., AUG 21, 2022 thru SAT., AUG 27, 2022
Today’s 70 mile drive to Lathrop State Park in Walsenburg, CO was spectacular! We had mountains on three sides and lots of prairie sunflowers in fields and by the side of the road. Just beautiful! We did have some curvy uphill/downhill terrain so I was giving Gary helpful driving tips…. usually it centered around him going slower. He didn’t think my tips were so helpful. Imagine that! We arrived at the State Park and were told we may want to enter the camping loop going the wrong way so our picnic table (unmovable) is on the correct side of our tiny home. Oh this will be fun, towing 40 ft going the wrong direction. First we miss the turn into the campground and had to find a place to turn around. Who do we see coming back from the same missed turn? Linda & Andy! We turn around where the boat launch area is and finally make our way back to the proper turn into the campground. We had one casualty… the passenger side mirror extension got taken off by branches. Luckily we were able to retrieve it and it was intact. We managed to get ourselves parked in our Pull Thru site, which has a nice mountain view out our back window. I’m trying not to think about leaving on Sunday when everyone else is leaving, and we have to go the wrong way again to get out! Oy. One downside of the park is that we have no cell signal. Not the end of the world… a fair trade off for these views! Linda & Andy and Cheryl & Joe are in sites nearby.
On Monday, August 22nd, the mini-pod hiked the 2.25 mile Hogback Trail at Lathrop State Park, which happens to be the first state park in Colorado, established 1962. Once again this hike was labeled as “easy.” We should have learned by now! The trail meanders first through fabulous large sandstone rock formations and then we climbed higher and over rocks to reach Hogback Ridge that forms the park’s northern boundary. Beautiful views of the Spanish Peaks or “Breasts of the World.” The Spanish Peaks are believed to be the youngest of the tall peaks of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. There was a tree at the top of Hogback Ridge that was 200 to 400 years old called “Old Man of the Mountain” a la New Hampshire’s “Old Man of the Mountain” that fell off the side of a cliff. But that’s a different story!
On the way down from the hike we were treated to a meadow full of wildflowers and glorious sunflowers which are all over New Mexico and Colorado in August. A great hike with our mini pod! In the late afternoon we reunited with Linda & Andy for Happy Hour and bird watching. We were all able to add a Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay to our life list.
On Tuesday, August 23rd, we traveled to Rye, Colorado to visit the Bishop Castle…. still under construction. Fascinating! In 1959 15-year-old Jim Bishop spent $450 of his own money… earned from mowing lawns, “throwing newspapers,” and working in his father’s ornamental ironworks business…. to buy 2.5 acres of land. The land was at 9,000 ft elevation and surrounded by San Isabel National Forest. He and his father worked 10 years building a family cabin which never quite got completed. Jim married and continued working on the cabin. People started saying “Jim, looks like you’re building a castle.” He decided he would build a castle. Offers of help came in but never materialized so Jim decided to build it himself. He’s still building with money from donations. You can wander through the castle at will! It’s 160 ft tall which is equivalent to a 16-story building. It has 3 floors with soaring ceilings and spiral staircases that take you to the top of an enclosed cage to look out. Plus outside walkways throughout. It’s wild. Gary, Joe & I managed to make it to the top. Cheryl’s fear of heights prevented her from going all the way up. But once the three of us made it to the top, we didn’t stay too long. It’s a bit wobbly up there. Doesn’t fill one with warm fuzzies!
We were at 6,200 ft in elevation when we left the campground and went up over 2,800 ft in elevation and dropped 20 degrees by the time we reached the castle. It was a pretty ride! We came, we saw, we lived to tell the tale! We probably won’t return!
Wed., August 24th, the entire pod headed out for a picnic at pretty Martin Lake here at Lathrop State Park. It was a beautiful day! We had almost 20 geese nearby and not one came over to join us for lunch. Afterwards the mini-pod headed out for a 3-mile walk around the lake. Beautiful views of the surrounding mountains including Hogback Ridge, which seemed taller when we hiked it two days ago! We also saw tons of sunflowers in bloom. An ice cream stop at the Visitors Center completed our walk! At night we all headed out for dinner at the restaurant adjacent to the golf course, also on state park property. Cheryl got accidentally doused by a beer being carried by the server. Cheryl being Cheryl was a VERY good sport about it and the server was a riot! Another fun day!
Thursday, August 25th, the mini pod headed to Pueblo, Colorado for the day. First we visited the Rosemount Museum. Completed in 1893, it’s a 37-room, 24,000 sq ft mansion that was home to a prominent banker, John Thatcher, and his family. Originally built at a cost of $61,000. It was named Rosemount after Mrs. Thatcher’s favorite flower. Their son remained and occupant of the home until his passing in 1968 when the mansion became a museum and opened to the public with almost entirely the original furnishings on display. The Thatcher family was the only family to live in the home. It is just beautiful. Built of a pink granite stone called rhyolite quarried near Castle Rock, CO about 75 miles away.
Our tour guide was a 24-year old recent college grad who was a delight! She had worked at the museum since she was a young girl and today was her final day. She was about to start her “dream job” in Springfield IL at the Abraham Lincoln Home. She was sooo excited! Adorable! And she gave us a terrific tour! No indoor photos allowed though.
After Rosemount we headed into downtown and visited Pueblo’s Riverwalk. The “Historic Arkansas Riverwalk” was built in 2000 to return the river to its historic location in downtown Pueblo after being diverted in the 1920s due to severe flooding. It was a lovely area to walk, but temps had reached 90 in the afternoon so we headed back home and coolness! A fun day! We reunited with Linda & Andy back at the campground and enjoyed Happy Hour before the mosquitoes drove us in.
On Saturday, August 27th, the morning started with mimosas and Bloody Marys at Linda & Andy’s site. Afterwards we relaxed with C&J at the beach at Martin Lake at the campground and went swimming. Delightful!
Tomorrow we move on to Colorado Springs for two weeks!
