Time Really Flies, Part 2

We finally got Roger's mom moved and somewhat settled in her new home, but it's going to be quite an adjustment--for ALL of us! It's so different and we're still amazed at how involved the "state" is in people's lives once they leave the comfort of their own homes. For example, she was no longer ALLOWED to remain in Assisted Living for her own safety (according to the state), but at the nursing home the "state" has ruled that bedrails are not allowed because people have the "right to fall". So people with severe risk of falling can't have a rail on their bed but I'm not allowed to ride in a car without a seat belt!!! Who actually MAKES these asinine rules anyway?

OK, I'll step down from my soapbox for now and continue with our summer's travels:

While we were in Leadville, our group decided to make a day trip to the Central City and Blackhawk casinos. Since we were going to be "in the area", Roger and I suggested that we make a side trip to Mt. Evans via the highest highway in the U.S. (at least that's what the Atlas says). We had camped at the base of the mountain many years ago but hadn't been back since so we hoped it was impressive as we remembered--It WAS! Here we are at Echo Lakes near the campground we stayed in back then:
Here's the top of the mountain (elevation 14,632 ft) and a shot of the view from the top:

On the path where we took our daily walks by Turquoise Lake, we found a tree that appeared to be growing a mesh bandage. None of us had ever seen anything like it and never found a Ranger or anyone who could explain what it was--looked exactly like a fish net covering a bad scrape on the tree, but was actually part of the tree bark! If anyone knows about this phenomenon (or why my pics that were right on Picasa are now back to sideways on Blogger!), please explain to us.

After we left Leadville we went to Cripple Creek for a few days. The RV park there wasn't great, but was just a block from downtown and the casinos. We gambled a little, found a great (and cheap) place to eat at Bronco Billy's casino, and toured the area around Cripple Creek including the drive to Eleven Mile Canyon. This was part of the Phantom Canyon road to Canon City that Roger and Bobby rode their bikes on:
Eleven Mile Canyon was our first introduction to camping in Colorado back in the early 80's so it was fun to return after so many years and relive those days (and nights) of van camping. Our current rig probably wouldn't even make it through the rock tunnels to the campground, but it's still as beautiful as we remembered.

We returned to Eagle Nest for about a month before it was time to head back to family. During that time, we made a few trips to Taos, to the Espanola casinos, and around the countryside...we didn't take many pics since most of those places can be seen in last year's posts or photo albums (see links on the right of this page).

Some new pics have been added to our "Friends Along the Way" album so if you know some of the folks we hang out with on the road, or if you'd like to see some of those you hear about, check them out. As someone recently said, "Friends are the family you meet along the way" and we wholeheartedly agree!

Since we'll be pretty much land-locked for the next few months, we probably won't be updating the blog much, but if anything of interest happens we'll post it here and put a notification on my Facebook page.