Karl, Bob and I are morning “folk” – actually, I am a morning person … Karl and Bob live with me and my schedule and they are now converts.  I start coming awake, Bob gets hungry, Karl drags a bit and sometimes has a bit of a lie-in until I’m really up but pretty much we are all up with the sun.  It is my favorite time of day – I like getting up while it is still dark or at least dim and watching the sun come up with Karl, Bob and a good, strong cup of coffee.  In my stick house – my front porch faces east – here, in South Fork I face east…

Karl waking up a bit slowly – the nights here have been wonderfully cool – mid 40’s to 50ish.  Daytime highs have been barely 80ish and often it clouds up, breeze kicks up and there is a late afternoon thunder-thing…can hardly say storm as it has not really been a storm – thunder rumbles, lightning strikes in the distance – sometimes a bit of rain – that’s been it so far.  Most days the A/C has not come on until after noon and it is cool enough by 6 to open the windows and let the breeze come through – wonderful!  Also nice for the “cocktail hour” on the deck of my folks house – also facing east so shady and pleasant in the evening.  Wonderful visit… I’m looking forward to heading home but also will be sad to end this visit…

Last evening we took a drive to Creede, CO – the main mission was pizza from a place my folks like.  Creede, though, is a fascinating place – my comment was that “nothing here is normal”.   Creede was originally a silver mining town, then refuge for Denver gambler and saloon owners and now ??? – an enclave of fascinating characters, artists, original cabins – not quite fixed up – more like added on to…  I want to go back next week and hopefully get some more representative photos, but for today the following will have to do. 

This has to be the most unique fire department location I’ve ever seen – next is downtown Creede.

Cathedral Campground is a beautiful, small, Forest Service campground – free to all comers – between South Fork and Del Norte, CO.  A not bad dirt road winds through foothills, meadows of wild flowers, marshy areas ( my folks saw white pelicans here once – migrating through).  The name of the campground comes from the cathedral-type spires of rock that tower over the end of the canyon where the campground is located.  A mountain creek meanders through the campsites bordered by aspens, birch and ponderosa pine – truly a beautiful spot… and on this afternoon we had it all to ourselves:

Alone at my folks favorite spot, we let the dogs loose and they ran, chased, explored… we thought all was well between them.  However,… my boy, Karl, is a bit particular about his “space” and Kiffor is the first dog he’s been with that is bigger than he is… space was encroached on and I think we all thought they would work it out, but not – no blood but always scary and Karl thought he hurt his foot so we had some dramatic whining.  Everyone settled down and they ignored each other after but a bit disappointing as they both like the same chase game and exploring. 

We went on and cooked wonderful Cajun sausage and had our picnic.  Normal afternoon clouds rolled in with a little background thunder, but they moved on and the real storm held off until just after we arrived back at the house.  Mostly, it was one of those idyllic times in a gorgeous setting and a wonderful shared time.

a little bear – really, he was small – maybe a year old and first sighting was me looking at him looking at me through the kitchen slider…  We had margaritas for “cocktail hour” – my step-dad, Bill made them and as far as I’m concerned they were the best margaritas I’ve had in nearly forever – none of us skimped and none of us was feeling much pain by the time we sat down to dinner.  My chair at the table is the only one that has a view through the kitchen out the back sliding door.  Towards the end of dinner I noticed that Kiffor was all excited – not barking, just running back and forth on the deck and sniffing.  I turned to see what was causing the fuss and that’s when the bear and I made eye contact – there is that moment that it takes to register that there, in the back yard is a fairly large, if small for a bear, wild animal.  I ran out the front door to get my camera from the motorhome – got back in time to take the photos of the bear moving on to the neighbor’s.

Now, Tuesday is garbage day here and so the consensus is that the bear comes through on Monday evening just to see if anyone is getting ready early…

Kiffor is my folks’ dog – a Great Pyrenees/Old English Sheepdog cross – thankfully, considering his size,  he loves everyone.  Kiffor is named after an extreme skier – he was originally adopted by a young woman who my parents know from skiing – a young and talented ski-racer with a bent for the extreme also.  She had some housing problems and bunked for a bit with my folks, left Kiffor with them – “temporaily” as she worked on things… ultimately everyone came to the same conclusion – Kiffor was at home with my folks and that was best for all.  I first met Kiffor in Feb ’06 when I rv’d to Tiger Run in Breckenridge, CO and my folks, Kiffor and cat Sam (Sam Spade) came from South Fork and we skied/visited in Breckenridge.  In the photo collage below, the background, framed photo is Kiffor in Feb ’06 with all of his hair.  The other photos are from yesterday with Kiffor sporting his summer ‘do.  Kiffor and Karl had a bit of a growly start but are now ready to play.  One of the planned afternoon outings is to Cathedral Campground where there is room for a good doggie run-around so will get some “play” photos of both then.  Kiffor makes Karl look like a medium sized dog – on the other hand, Bob makes Sam look like a little kitty cat…  all things are relative!

Enjoying much cooler temps, another great view and visiting with my folks…  Temps in low 50’s overnight on their way to a high of low 80’s – nice breeze and my “spot” gets morning sun, but I’m in the shade of trees/house/garage early afternoon.  My folks house faces the same way so a nice front deck is shady and cool in the afternoon with a great view from up high out over a little valley with mountains in the background – perfect for visiting.  50 amp service (full hookups!) and the price is so right (free!!!).  Plus, as all good children do, I arrived with a bag of dirty laundry and it was delivered mid-morning fresh, clean and folded.  I did contribute some Corona to the frig but really, I am getting the best part of this deal….  Seriously, so good to see my mother and step-dad and first time I’ve been to this house.  We will do a couple of outings in the area but mostly just visit and catch up – Nice!