I should mention that we are not experiencing an inordinate amount of repairs. Imagine a house, with all its systems, plus a vehicle, with all its systems, plus a towcar. Take them all out together and shake them for twenty-five thousand miles a year. A few repairs once or twice a year are to be expected. No problem. Just part of life on the road.
St vrain
We’ve left Taos. We’re back in Colorado. Drove north, up our newest favorite highway, Colorado 159, through the oldest town in Colorado, San Luis, Established in 1851. Right turn at Fort Garland on Highway 160, over La Veta Pass, past Lathrop State Park, planning our lives as we go. On the freeway at Walsenburg, and a straight shot north through Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, skirting Denver on the 470 toll road, and back to St Vrain State Park, our address for the next week. A week ago, it was “move out of the house week”. All last week while we were gone was for work crews. The hardwood floors got repaired and refinished. Some cracks in walls and foundations got repaired and repainted, but not before we had an engineer come in to make sure there were no structural issues. The basement got scraped, patched, and painted. The trash got hauled. The spruce tree got spruced up. The wasps got wiped out. The fence got moved 18”. This next week is vehicle repair and maintenance week, but not until Tuesday. Today was shed day. Several years ago we rented a shed to hold all the stuff we didn’t want to throw away, but didn’t have room at the house to store. No junk. Nothing to throw away, but a lot of stuff to get rid of. Lots of extra RV stuff from the various RVs we’ve had over the years. Bicycle racks that still work, but didn’t stand the test of time for us. Same with traveling barbecue grills. A Satellite dish setup. Two windsurfers with all the sails and gear to go with them. Two float tubes and flippers. Perfectly good neoprene waders (we both have gore-tex waders now). Stuff we like, but don’t have room for on the road. The shed is empty. It’s all gone. All gone except for the bicycles and boats (and the racks to carry them). Two mountain bikes and two 14’ flat-water kayaks. We can carry the boats and bicycles on the Jeep all at once, but that makes it a little hard to get other stuff in and out of the Jeep. We probably want to relocate them to Texas, but don’t want to carry them around on the car for months in the meantime. As soon as we figure out the boats and bicycle logic, we can get rid of the storage shed. The Broncos won their game. CU (my alma mater) beat CSU (in overtime). I got my birding binoculars back (freshly tuned up by Wild Birds Unlimited). Hugs from friends and family. We enjoy the occasional Colorado sunset.
Taos
High desert. Seven thousand feet. Situated on a gentle slope amidst fragrant fields of sage. To the east, higher mountains. To the west, a grand vista over the Rio Grande valley. Another donkey cart path town, like Santa Fe. Streets twisting and turning through Old Town, meeting at all sorts of odd combinations. Not a square block to be found. A vibrant place. A charming place. And the occasional sunset.
Along the way
Have you seen that sign on the back of construction trucks hauling dirt and gravel down the highway at sixty miles per hour? It says: Stay back 200 feetNot responsible for broken windshields Have you noticed that at that print size you can’t read the sign until you’re within 20 feet?
Wild kingdom
A ladybug meets an unfortunate end.