petunia’s growing from pots and hanging baskets all along Main Street. We were so glad they were able to keep that project going. We were told they were three miles long and over 1,000 pots.
Our next overnight was in Rangeley, CO where Olivia met
her match. The host had on more turquoise than Olivia. She has arthritis in each finger so by wearing rings on each no one notices her misshapen fingers.
This Rangeley Camper park is sponsored by the city and county. It was under huge cottonwood trees and had electricity with water and dump available.
Monday, August 29 we cleaned house and washed.
Tuesday, August 30 as we were leaving Olivia walked over to the community garden of Rangeley which was next to the campground. Two ladies were there to allow u-pick vegetables. She came back with a grocery bag full of tomatoes and cucumbers. Yum!
We bit off more than we wanted to chew by driving all the way to Aspen. The forest camp we had targeted was near Maroon Bells, but it was full, so we drove through the town and all the traffic to Difficult Campground five miles east of town. The campground was ok, so we settled in.
Wednesday, August 31 we headed to Maroon Bells, but first on the agenda was Fred’s cappucino. We had to drive about 20 miles to find it. There were only two filling stations in Aspen and they do not have those machines. If fact it was the third station before we found it.
We were close to the town of Basalt when cappucino was found so we drove out Frying Pan Road where we saw the red
On up the
Frying pan river we saw more cliffs following the river along with us. At lake
Ruedi we could still see the red cliffs. Aspen’s yacht club is on this lake. We followed the road another ten miles visiting campgrounds along the way.
When the pavement ran out we turned around. We know the gravel road goes over a Pass and ends at the west end of Turquoise Lake near Leadville. We started up from that side last year but the road was too washboard to tolerate. In fact, we didn’t make it a mile, so we knew not to try to go any further.
Heading back to get our picture of Maroon Bells it started raining so we didn’t make that drive. Instead we stopped at the library and grocery store then headed to the trailer.
Thursday, Sept 1, we left in the car to see Maroon Bells, third time is usually the charm. We arrived at the entrance gate and were turned down as they do not allow individual entrance between 9-5 due to over emissions. Ok so we went back to the bus station where we were told we would have to buy tickets to go to see the mountains, when we have senior passes to national and federal lands. This flew all over Olivia and even though she really wanted to see these mountains with the sun on them, she refused to buy a ticket. We left there, went back to the camp, packed up and left this hotsy totsy place. Guess we will never get to see Maroon Bells! We did see them last year, but the sun was setting behind them and the pictures were not very good. This was the whole reason we went to Aspen!
We drove south past Redstone and to the turn off for Marble where we found the last spot in Bogan Flats Forest Campground. The hosts had just received a call opening site number 6. It was not the prettiest spot but in a good location and since this was Thursday before Labor Day weekend we took the spot.
Friday, Sept 2 we went exploring hoping to make a loop with four passes. We stopped just a few miles away in Marble to see about Cappucino and while visiting at a Marble shop with a yard full of sculptures we found no Cappucino. We also found the first pass was too narrow for our vehicle.
So we prowled around the little community of Marble. This marble is
of the same quality as the marble in Italy that Michelangelo worked with. In fact it is shipped to Italy and Ecuador. It has been used for the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
We drove to the 
end of the road on a one lane narrow gravel road. We could see the blocks of cut stone sparkling in the distance. Below the marble was
crystal creek.
The top of the mountain showed
where it had been cut away.
On the way down we could 
look back to see the cut marble.
The town of Redstone was having a farmers market so we drove up to see what they had in store. Before seeing the market we stopped to see the
“coke” ovens. These “beehive” coke ovens were constructed in the 1890’s to carbonize or “coke” coal mined in coal basin for the Colorado fuel and iron company. A narrow-gauge railroad, approximately 12 miles long, brought the coal down grades exceeding 4% from the mine to Redstone. The coke was shipped to Pueblo.
Coke is made when special coals are heated to drive off volatile matter and moister in the absence of oxygen. Coal was charged into these ovens from the top and after charging the ovens were sealed for 48 hours. After is was withdrawn it was quenched with water.
The town of Redstone originally existed because of the coke ovens. It was a company town, constructed solely to house the men who worked the ovens and their families. After decades of not being used, these historic coke ovens had deteriorated. To prevent further degradation, Pitkin County began
restoring and stabilizing these landmarks.
We bought some strange looking tomatoes and a chocolate croissant then headed back to the trailer.
At 6:00 pm we drove back to Redstone for their art show reception. It was in a big tent with many vendors and free wine and appetizers. We were impressed with several of the artists including one who had done a picture of aspens in this area. She had painted it on about a dozen stretched canvases then fastened them together. The total picture was not rectangular, but random sides. It sold quickly for $550.
At this event several ladies passed by with appetizers on a tray. One lady had taken photos of the display art, then taken to a copy center and placed the art work on one side and recipe on the other side. They sold those 22 post cards as a package for $20. I bought one package to show ECAA as an idea for a future show. Some of the artwork was last year’s, some as she knew in time to put in from this year’s show.
Arriving back at the trailer Olivia looked up to see
Muddie’s painted sky of the evening.
Saturday, September 4 we took an exciting, nerve racking trip. We drove into Paonia over McClure pass, to get gas and were surprised to find an 
an orchard and garden with a U-Pick sign. Everything was $1 a pound. We stopped and picked 26 pounds of
peaches and tomatoes.
We back tracked a few miles to the road to Crested Butte. On the way we crossed Kebler Pass and
Ohio Pass.
Crested Butte was having a
street fair and we enjoyed walking along between the tents and the
sidewalks. At one blocked intersection someone had thrown out about a 
dozen hula hoops and all ages were enjoying them. Good entertainment between shopping. Under some of the tents were the Friends of the Library with boxes of used books and a couple of other organizations had garage sale/antiques for sale. Good idea to throw into a street fair.
Now to repeat our drive. Fred says, “it was a dam rough road.”
Yes, it was rough, sometimes worse than others. The highlight for Fred was when he ran over a squirrel. It actually surprised him.
The sun was better for pictures on the return trip. We crossed back over
Kebler then we traveled for miles in an
Aspen forest. Some were beginning to turn. Too bad we will be somewhere else when they have turned. This would be an excellent place to see the gold leaves.
We passed what we called
Mt Ruby, as the trail sign pointed her way. We followed her
base half way around her from east to west.
Next we viewed the
Ragged Wilderness Area before returning to our campground valley over
McClure Pass. The light spot on the top side of one mountain was the marble quarry.
Sunday September 4 we attended church at the 
Marble Community Church where we heard a very interesting sermon comparing Deuteronomy 18 to our present country.
After the service Olivia met one of the members who had made the meatballs for the art show. They were different from any meatball recipe we have ever had. We started talking about art associations. Olivia told her about ECAA Plein Aire. She was familiar with the term but didn’t know of this program. Olivia promised to have some information sent to her, both for some of their artists to potentially attend and for them to maybe sponsor one there. We met a couple of Texan’s at the show who summer in this area. Who knows where that might lead.
Back at the trailer we quickly packed up and moved to Crawford, CO and the state park there. This is about 20 miles north of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.
Our supper that night consisted of three different types of tomatoes. One had a purple skin, the second looked like a tiny watermelon and the third was a regular red one. Yum!
Monday, September 5 we drove south about 20 miles to the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
The canyon has been a mighty barrier to humans from time immemorial. Only its rims, never the gorge, show evidence of humans, not even by Ute Indians living in the area. One of the first to explore the depths of the gorge stated, “Our surroundings were of the wildest possible description. The roar of the water...was constantly in our ears, and the walls of the canyon, towering half mile in height above us, were seemingly vertical.” The
painted wall is the trade mark of the canyon.
“No other canyon in North America combines the depth, narrowness, sheerness and somber countenance of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.”
this Awesome Gorge! Fred says he ran from the 
edge as soon as the picture was taken.
Across the gorge we could see thevertical streaks of minerals and the 
flat surface that is a favorite of climbers.
Every view had a
different picture as we walked along the canyon rim.
About this time we met a couple from Manhatten, NY. Each stop we talked some more.
At 
Big Island view we learned more about their vacation to see canyons, arches, Mesa Verde and Durango.
By this time Fred was staying in the car and letting Olivia look over the edges with the NY couple. Sure enough there is a
river down there.
At the
kneeling camel she took their picture.
By this time they said they were going to the campground for lunch, would we join them. Yes we would. We found they are
Rita and Mark. She is a physical therapist and he is an attorney. We had a great visit comparing notes and talking about Big Bend which is on their agenda for April.
We really enjoy meeting new people from all walks of life. By the end of our visit we had another set of instant friends. One of the extra nice features of traveling like we do.
On the way back to the trailer we stopped by
Needle rock that looms over the valley we where we were staying.
We love hearing from you and what’s going on in your life so email us by clicking on
Olivia@bobheck.com or Fredharrington@yahoo.com
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