Tag Archives: museums

Travels, Volunteering

20180918 Yet Another Property:

2 Comments

We keep looking for a piece of property to settle on when we tire of this wandering life. The operative terms that we focus on are:

1. Equally inconvenient for both our children. ie. Show no favoritism.
2. Somewhere to store our stuff.
3. A place where we can do pretty much as we please.
4. Temperatures in the 70’s most of the year.
5. Close to doctors.


This new prospect looses in two out of the 5 categories. Today’s temperature is 89, and the doctors are far away and over at least 3 major passes. It is over 7000 feet elevation, in southwestern Colorado. It has a functional house, plenty of room to park RVs, (several,) with direct access for all right off highway 151. And best of all it has water frontage on the Deloris River. The name of this place is Slick Rock, Colorado.

Slick Rock is a real place, although the post office was closed in favor of the one in Egner a few miles south. SlickRock is known as a processing plant for Uranium and Vanadium. Hot Stuff; really, like radio active hot.

On second thought maybe we should let this opportunity slip through our fingers.

Tonight we are tucked into the Outpost Motel and RV Campground in Dolores Colorado.
We are still in high country, 6974 ft in Dolores, and there are ominous signs just everywhere. The Aspen are turning golden colored and we saw a flock of Western Bluebirds milling about smartly as though ready to start a long journey. All it would take is a little “Winter Weather Reminder Dust.” on the tops of these 9000 Meter peaks around here to get me to retreat to the South-Lands.

Still, the rugged San Juan Mountains in mid Colorado are quite spectacular. Wayne and Karen Hall took us to the heart of the mountains and a high mountain lake to soak in the beauty. I certainly see why they love the area. The gallery of photos shows the little fix-er-up-er in Slick Rock, some golden Aspen and a quiet lake behind the 1938 CCC constructed Chapman Dam…with who? Karen swimming in it. Also some quick shots of Box Canyon Water Falls in Ouray and one of the Galloping Geese in Ridgway. These from this morning’s explorations.

To get to see the photos follow this link:
https://www.dinsmore-enterprises.com/2018/09/20180918-yet-another-property/ ‎

Gallery:

Wayne at Merideth Store

CCC Medalion from 1938
CCC Medalion from 1938
ChapmanLake with Karen Swimming
ChapmanLake with Karen Swimming
Box Canyon Water Falls, Ouray CO
Box Canyon Water Falls, Ouray CO
Nice Restorsation of a Smaller Galloping Goose, a Buic
Nice Restorsation of a Smaller Galloping Goose, a Buic
Lever Action Car Jack, Chain to stop car, and water spout
Lever Action Car Jack, Chain to stop car, and water spout
Hard Working Volunteer
Hard Working Volunteer
bicycling, Travels

20180821 The Great Mountain Journey aka Rocky Mountain High:

1 Comment

Today is Tuesday, August 21, 2018, and Judy and I are going to make an extended trip around and through the Rocky Mountains including the states of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and end up in Texas for Thanksgiving. Now this is not to be the “All American Vacation,” where you can look at your watch and say “Oh! it’s Tuesday, we must be in Denver.” Instead It will be a “Meandering.”

The NP Wallace Idaho Depot Museum
The NP Wallace Idaho Depot Museum

Here is my definition:
Meandering Vacation: To drive a hundred miles or so and find a place to stay. If there is interesting things to do, stay a couple days. Then pack up and do it all over again. Have a general idea where you want to end up, but make your decisions on where to go based on chatting with fellow campers and your bucket list.
Agents Desk looking into the Ladies Waiting Room
Agents Desk looking into the Ladies Waiting Room

Peeking into Agent's Office from the Ladies Waiting Room
Peeking into Agent’s Office from the Ladies Waiting Room

Today’s goal is St Regis and we are going to ride the Hiawatha trail tomorrow. We will be following in Judy’s dad’s wheel ruts as we traverse Lookout Pass. Pat Starr drove for PIE and liked to bid the Lookout Turn or Missoula Run. The Lookout Turn had the Spokane and Missoula drivers start at the same time and meet at the top of Lookout Pass. They swapped trucks and returned to their home base. Home every day. The Missoula trip went all the way, layed over for rest and returned home the next night. Home every other day.

How my Blog works:
I upgraded my website this weekend. It is acting kind-a strange, however. I installed a new reCAPTCHA routine so I can open up the comments function again. However, I did not get the defunct reCAPTCHA removed properly so if you just make a comment and then try to post it, the new reCAPTIA gets trumped by the ghost of the old reCAPTIA and you can’t leave a comment. However if you are a member and you have signed in, you get shuttled around the whole reCAPTIA thing and your comment goes right in. Trouble is, the reCAPTIA guards the registration too. If you are already a member you can comment, everyone else will have to wait until I figure out what to do.
I expect to try a number of styles for the web pages themselves, feel free to leave comments either here or on Facebook. I will continue to post a text only version to e-mail. I have recently been posting a link on my Facebook page also.
Ending note: We have stopped in Wallace to visit the historic NP Wallace Depot. I will write a few highlights and include a photo and then send this Blog to the publisher.
The Wallace Northern Pacific Depot museum was built in 1901 so it is 117 years old. It has been moved several hundred feet and across the river to make room for I-90.

Prince Albert in a Can
Prince Albert in a Can

It is beautiful and very worth the time to stop and see. W took up three full on street parking stalls right on the main drag. We spent a good hour in the museum. I still think the Ritzville NP Depot museum has done a better job of representing the look and feel of a railroad depot. Wallace has too much stuff displayed out of context. Besides, they forgot the crowning touch. Ritzville has a genuine Prince Albert Tobacco tin jammed down behind the telegraph sounder. Every depot when I was working the Northern Pacific had the exact same thing. An empty Prince Albert Tobacco tin wedged between the sounder electro-magnets and the wooden back of the sounder box. This is thought to amplify the sound of the telegraph so you can read the code easier.