2022: A year of many house-sits

Knowing the weather could turn nasty along the obvious route of going north from Ocala, FL then taking Hwy 70 through Kansas (we even had sleeping bags in the car just in case), and because we didn’t want to take Hwy 10 for the umpteenth time, we compromised on Hwy 20. Then we decided to try the “wide yellow roads” on the atlas. They turned out to be well-maintained four-lane roads with less traffic, way fewer trucks, and only the occasional stop light. Though slightly off the beaten path when it came to hotels and restaurants, we did not find it an inconvenience. Having allowed six days for the trip and with no bad weather on the horizon, we made two detours in Mississippi: first to drive a portion of the Natchez Trace Parkway and see the impressive Emerald Mound site (the second largest Mississippian Period mound in the U.S.), then a half-day at the Vicksburg National Military Park. We eventually ended up on Hwy 30 and then north on Hwy 25 to Thornton, CO on the north side of Denver. 

Emerald Mound Site.

Vicksburg National Military Park. Union cannon behind revetments pointed towards the Confederate lines at the upper left.

Our host Gary called us the day before we arrived to report that a large wild fire had begun earlier in the day and was approx. 8 miles west of his home. Even though it was being spread by 150 mph winds, he thought that his location was in no danger. Luckily, he was right and the fire was out by late the next morning though, sadly, not before burning hundreds of suburban neighborhoods to the ground. Gary took us for a drive around his area and then out to lunch, by the end of which the first “big” snow of the winter was just starting to fall (only four inches that day). He gave us the tour of his townhouse, introduced us to Maxie and Paddy, his friendly 10-yr old cats, finished packing his car and was off to stay at his friend Donna’s before they started their drive to FL the next morning (only 1 ½-hrs south from where we had just driven from). 

On the warmer days of 45-degrees or more, we enjoyed many visits to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge, just twenty minutes away. This used to be a U.S. Army chemical weapons manufacturing facility that underwent a costly environmental cleanup to remove pollutants. It is now restored to almost 16,000 acres of beautiful prairie lands where more than 300 species reside including raptors (we love seeing the resident bald eagles!), deer, raccoons, coyotes, white pelicans, black-pelicans, black-footed ferrets, black-tailed prairie dogs and bison.

Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge Mule Deer.

An American Bison. One of around 200 on the refuge.

A Black-Tailed Prairie Dog with the Rockies in the background.

Only a mile way is the East Lake #3 Nature Preserve with a trail just over a mile long around the grasses and pond. During our first walk there we spied a pair of coyotes! Another day we watched a great horned owl perched in a tree not far from its nearby nest. Though the Rocky Mountains appear very close, they are about an hour away. They are striking and we never tire of the view. Though a portion of Rocky Mountain National Park may be open during the winter, we have been twice before and didn’t visit this time. 

East Lake #3 Nature Preserve

A frosty morning walk around the nearby preserve.

Other outings included driving the Peak-to-Peak route, both north and southbound; walking trails at a couple of other State parks including Barr Lake and watching a Kestrel as it skillfully hovered while seeking prey; seeing the Red Rocks amphitheater and nearby Garden of the Gods rock formations; the Manitou Cliff Dwellings (relocated and historically reconstructed for preservation); touring Dinosaur Ridge to see fossilized footprints of various species (the most in the world!); touring the Morrison Natural History Museum and using hands-on rock cleaning tools (and did you know that turtles love the color red?); visiting the grave site of Buffalo Bill on Lookout Mountain (on a much too cold and windy day); taking in the Denver Art Museum including the Whistler to Cassatt exhibit; and the amazing Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Taking the nearby light-rail train in to the city and then a city bus to the Nature and Science Museum was quite the experience when, for a time, we thought that the last train might not be coming. Turns out it was just really late. It had been a really long wait for the return bus on a very cold night, too. 

Manitou Cliff Dwellings. Because they have been relocated you can walk inside most of the structures.

The famous Red Rocks Amphitheater.

There are some incredible formations at the Garden of the Gods.

The spines of eroded rock in the Garden of the Gods.

Garden of the Gods balanced rock.

Dinosaur tracks. They are rubbed with charcoal for better visibility.

An in-situ dinosaur bone.

The controversial grave site of Buffalo Bill Cody.

Some favorite restaurants were Tamales by Sarah near the Arsenal, Tamale Kitchen near Denver along the non-highway route, First Watch and Heaven Dragon in Thornton, oh!, and Bob’s Atomic Burgers in Golden. The first week of January we were finally able to meet-up with our friend Dot (also met her in Cuenca) for lunch at the Gaylord Rockies Resort before she and a friend left for vacation in Guatemala and then Ecuador. Our friend John invited us to listen to Josh Blackburn, his favorite local musician, who plays every Sunday afternoon at The Alley in Littleton. It’s a great little downtown and we had so much fun that we went again before saying goodbye to Gary and his two very sweet kitties on March 1^st.  

Josh Blackburn

Shortly after arriving in CO, though I didn’t know we were looking for more, Steve secured a second CO house sit for late March, this time in Durango near the NM border. That nixed the chance to see our friends in SD because their travels and ours will overlap. What to do with three weeks of gap-time? Well, friend and former co-worker Tuula and her husband Mick in Grand Junction, CO reached out and invited us for a few days. We’ve not been to that part of CO before and it was good to get to know them better. We had so much fun with them and they took us to several beautiful and interesting places, including Colorado National Monument and Black Canyon of Gunnison, neither of which we’d ever heard of before. Black Canyon was still closed due to snow so we could only look in to the canyon near the visitor center.

Meantime, the snow kept falling in the mountain ranges and we had to stay an extra two days before there was one day of clear weather for everyone to get where they needed to go. Most passes were either closed or requiring tire chains so we drove north and took Hwy 80 in WY and then south back in to CO to Ft. Collins. Though we drove through a few sketchy areas of heavy or blowing snow, those were short lived and the travel really wasn’t bad at all. The worst area saw a couple of semi-trucks that slid off the road. We arrived safely at the home of our friend Jenny, who hosted us for the rest of our gap-time. We met and last saw her in 2015 and we all enjoyed catching up. One day we had warm enough weather to cook ribs on the grill. Jenny took us to a couple of state parks, one where we watched Golden Eagles soaring and flying to and from their nests high in the rock face. Traveling with binoculars was a good decision for this has been a trip full of wildlife viewing.

This accident had just happened. The plow truck stopped in front of us and the semi’s truck driver was walking around his vehicle accessing the damage.

For those who know the geography of CO and think we were crazy to do all that driving, we did it that way because there wasn’t time later to stop in Grand Junction between leaving Durango and our scheduled arrival in OR. We heard Durango is gorgeous mesa country and that’s for sure. It is also only 2-hrs from Chaco Canyon, a place that Steve has longed to see. Though the house sit was close Mesa Verde, we’d been twice before. We were only in Durango for eight days and the morning after we arrived I awoke with a very sore throat and ended up sleeping fitfully until 2pm. The next morning I wasn’t feeling much better and starting to cough – was a chest cold coming on? – so I went to a nearby clinic to nip it in the bud. They offered a nasal swab that tested for Covid, the flu, strep and something else. Forty minutes later they told me I had Covid (my second time and, yes, I’m vaccinated and boosted and always wear a mask) and gave me prescriptions for an antibiotic (my lungs sounded sketchy top to bottom) an inhaler and a cough suppressant. I informed our hosts right away and, thankfully, they and their family they were visiting in AZ were all fine.

We both quarantined, though Steve got tested and was negative, and on day six he made the trip to Chaco himself, arriving early and practically having the place to himself. After all the coughing I’d been doing I just didn’t have the energy to walk around ruins. Apparently he picked up a nail while in NM, maybe on the very long washboard road in to Chaco? – and no tires that matched ours were available in the area. The hole was in the sidewall but we got it patched and, luckily, it held until we got to OR. We checked the air often and because it seemed to lose air once in a while (turned out to be temperature and altitude issue) we purchased an air pump, just in case, which we’ve only used once so far. The day before we exited CO we took the stunning drive along the Million Dollar Highway from Durango to Silverton.

This is called Pueblo Bonito. It is the largest complex at Chaco Canyon. There are many pit houses (kivas) located here.

This is an example of the building technique beginning in the 800s AD. Stunning!

Durango has a train ride you can take to Silverton. We didn’t take the train but the museum housed in the complex was excellent and free of charge.

We drove over the mountains on the Million Dollar Scenic Highway. There was still a lot of snow along the way.

This is a reservoir near Durango with a drastically low water level.

Outside of Grand Junction is yet another place of scenic beauty in Colorado. This one is called Colorado National Monument.

A male Mule Deer checking to see if we are a threat to his harem.

Now nearing the end of our two-month stay, we can report that the weather has been similar to what many had told us it would be: occasional snow that would melt in a day or two (not really and certainly not after 8” of snow); periods of cold temps with almost always sunny blue skies and days in the 40-50s in-between (that’s been about right). This last week, after a week of 50s-60s, we’ve been in a deep freeze of feeling like ~8 below zero for three days. Like most places, when it’s cold there’s almost always a breeze if not downright windy. Next Monday, the day before we depart, the temperature will be near 60 again and we plan to walk the Triceratops Trail in Golden. 

In late February, Steve secured a second house sit here in OR, rounding out the month of April. We’ll write about OR and more next time. We enjoyed spending two weeks in the desert on the east side of the Cascades in Redmond to where we are currently, in Albany, on the west side of the Cascades and just an hour from the wild coast. On May 2nd we’ll move on to a house sit for the month of May in Sequim, WA near the Olympic National Park. Are you out of breath yet? It sounds like a lot to me, too, as I now write it all out! Looking forward to all of it, though.

We will return to CT sometime in August and that may be our next update. For now, I’d better put this to bed and let Steve start choosing the photos to accompany this tome. May we all have a healthy year! 

A preview of scenes near Albany, OR.

https://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm

https://www.nps.gov/natr/learn/historyculture/emeraldmound.htm

https://www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/rocky_mountain_arsenal/

https://www.colorado.com/history-museums/dinosaur-ridge

https://www.visitgolden.com/outdoors/hiking/triceratops-trail/

https://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm https://www.joshblackburn.com/