Friday, August 21, 2020

Wildfires and Forest Fires and an RV Trip

 Right now - there are 10 fires burning in Colorado. None of them are very close to us, but the smoke - on any given day, can drift along the valleys and low spots and get to us.  It does awesome things to the skies at sunrise and sunset.  Our governor has banned ALL campfires and outdoor fires for now.  Many of these blazes are being fought with little or NO containment.  

DH and I recently took a short RV trip to Creede and Gunnison, Colorado.  I noticed that the forests that we drove through were SO dry. I realize this whole state could go up in smoke in a snap. 

Our first stop was Creede. Co (about 3 hours west from where we live).  We met up with relatives and stayed at a lovely RV resort - Mtn. Views.  Here are a few photos from there.


(Brothers Gary and my DH Gene)


I took a few photos going over the passes we traveled in the Rio Grande/Forks area of SW Colorado. The forests there are full of beetle kill pine and very, very dry.



ON the lighter side, we took some time to rent a pontoon boat and go fishing for the day on Blue Mesa reservoir in the Curecanti Recreation area.  We are not big fishing people.  Best we did was 4 Rainbow Trout and put them all back in the lake.  We had a fun day, it was hot and the wind came up near the end of our travels from one end of the lake down to the other (about 13 miles each way).  The campgrounds were crowded and the highway, which was nearby in our sight - had an unusual amount of travel due to the rerouting of the I70 corridor from the fires. Made for an 'not so familiar' noise all night.  Chaco, our dachshund, was with us,  He rode in the boat - his first boat trip.  He did great, but stayed in the shade the entire time - sleeping.  He is 17.



It was nice to make this trip.  We are usually hunkered down on our ranch - avoiding being around people for now.  We did social distancing and mask wearing.  I feel we were not amongst people at all and did extra cautionary things like wiping down surfaces especially on the boat rental and staying out of places that seemed sketchy. Having an RV is a good way to get away for a short trip.  Our 34 foot Monaco Cayman RV is 15 years old but still runs like a champ and has adequate space to make you feel like you are at home. We tow my Jeep Wrangler behind, so if we need to make a trip to town, we can.




  

2 comments:

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Your trip looks fantastic. Getting out on the water, fresh water especially, can renew one's spirits. Sleeping on a boat in the fresh air sounds great. It is sad about the beetle kill. Prayers the beetles stop

Pattie Wall said...

Thanks for the comment. Only had the boat for the sunshine part of the day. Beetles only multiply more and more...they lay their eggs under the bark of the trees. Living in Alpine environment we used to have to cut down infected trees, put logs under plastic with insecticide on logs...over time it would destroy them so they couldn't migrate to healthier trees. The forest service used to come out and mark sick trees so they could be cut down..they could tell they were sick, even before they showed the effects of the beetles.

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