Retaining wall building

As we were planning on staying here in Eagle Nest until mid-October, John decided to lend a hand here in the park three days a week to help with park projects.  By doing so, that will help cover our cost of our extended stay here until we leave.  While John is working, I have projects here in the rig that I have wanted to take care of for a long time and will use my free time to get them done.

First project is building a retaining wall out of railroad ties.  The owner, Bruce, is wanting have rain runoff drain better while at the same time, lengthen out a few sites.  This has been a big job and after three days, it still is not complete.  The four guys (Bruce, Bill, John, and Rick) working on the project have been dog-tired each night with muscles they didn't know they had being sore.  Bill, has a work truck with a hoist on it that they have utilized for moving the railroad ties in to place.  All agree that hoist has been a blessing as the railroad ties are very heavy.

As the work is being done right outside our rig, I have been able to watch the progress, that is, when I haven't been busy doing my inside stuff.

Here are a few work in-progress pictures:

Bill and John

 Bill and Rick

Rick using the post-hole digger.

 John and Bill mixing up the concrete for setting the railroad ties

After three hard days of work, the guys are off for two days and will be back working on the retaining wall on Tuesday.  Collectively, I think all of their bodies need the rest.

Cimmaron Canyon, fall colors, visiting friends

Went in search of a childhood memory today.  Some of our extended family resided in Springer, NM and during a reunion circa 1960 to 1963, we all drove up to Cimmaron Canyon for the day.  The only real memory I have that left a lasting impression was this large log had a trough that had water from a stream running through it.  I remember how cold the water was and how neat it was that we could drink the water (that was then, I wouldn't do that now).  Anyhow, we heard there is still a log (not the same one from the early 1960's) so we went in pursuit.  Thanks to Rick and Y, we knew the general area where the log could be found.  Sure enough, we located it.  Not as I remembered or recall from family photos.  The new log is not as big in diameter because in family photos, the adults didn't have far to bend to get to the water.  This log trough is manmade while the original was natural (I think).  The water was cold though so that part of the memory holds true.

We noticed as we drove through the canyon that fall colors are beginning.  In another month, the canyon should be really beautiful as you drive through it.

Later in the day we had a visit from fellow bloggers/friends, Art and Connie.  They are spending a few days here in Eagle Nest before heading on down towards Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival.  We had a nice visit getting caught up.  We just never know where or when our paths will cross again but from past experience, we know they will somewhere down the road.  Safe travels you two.

Goose Lake

Went on a jeep ride with Rick and Y up a forestry road to Goose Lake.  The distance was a little over 7 miles and it took an hour to get to the lake.  It was, at times, a very bumpy ride. However, the reward came with a view of a very pretty little mountain lake.

Y had brought some stale pecans to feed to the local critters.  Boy, do they know the routine as we almost got overrun with critters all looking for the good eats.

 

If anyone knows what kind of bird below is we would appreciate you letting us know.  We saw these in the area where we workamped for two summers in Custer and then saw them again at Goose Lake.  We have not been successful in identifying them with our bird books.

Nice shot of an incoming of our unknown bird.

Here we are up over 11,000 foot elevation and my phone rings.  The call got dropped shortly after it started but it always amazes me at where you can get a call these days.

Rick and Y say that they have seen mountain goats across the lake but no such luck this trip.  We just got to enjoy the mountain splendor.

On the way back down the mountain, we did spot some deer which is always a special treat.

Great day spent with terrific friends.

Tough Mudder - Squaw Valley, CA

This is a big shout out to our daughter, Melissa, who along with her team of four others (Kelly BFF, Ryan, Jason, and Brandon) completed the NorCal Tough Mudder competition held this weekend at Squaw Valley, CA.

So what is Tough Mudder?  Well, it is a 10 to 12 mile obstacle course that is designed by the British Special Forces to test strength, stamina, mental toughness, and most of all, camaraderie.  Tough Mudder is a fund raiser for the Wounded Warrior Project.  It is noted on their website that the NorCal event raised more money for the Wounded Warrior Project than any other event to date - way to go NorCal!  The website also states that the NorCal event is rumored to be the steepest Mudder so far (Melissa believes it LOL).  A link to the Tough Mudder website is here and can better explain what it is and what is expected of the participants.  They claim that on average only 78% finish the event and we can proudly say our daughter is one of them!  Click here to access a page that shows the course along with explanations of each obstacle.  Can I say again, how much in awe and how proud of our daughter we are - WOW.

We spoke with Melissa this evening and boy is she sore, black and blue, and extremely tired. She said it was the hardest thing she has ever done but what an experience.  We told her that if she ever had doubts about being able to do something ever again, she could just cast them aside because she knows she is one TOUGH MUDDER!

Here are a few pictures from the event (thankfully taken by Jason's wife, Lisa):

Start line (Melissa is in green)

One of the obstacles

Finish line

Exhausted and filthy but what a sense of accomplishment plus a cold beer to enjoy.  The orange headbands were awarded to all of the finishers.  Personally, I think they deserved medals.

Sleep well our lovely daughter and hope you have a good stock of ibuprofen for all the aches and pains tomorrow.  We think you rock Melissa!

Salmon Ranch - Mora, NM

We took part in a tour lead by Leroy and Lois on Wednesday to the Salman Ranch were we picked raspberries.  I think it was a case of pick one, eat two or three.  So tasty!  As it had been raining on our way to the ranch, the raspberries were freshly washed.  We all came away with a better understanding as to why berries are so expensive to buy at the market.  

Our bounty - 3 1/2 pounds of raspberries:

We have been having a lot of rain lately.  We've been told that September is one of the best months to be here as the weather is usually wonderful.  Not so much this year it seems.  We have been here three weeks now and every day it has rained; some days more than others. I just wish some of this moisture could make it over to Texas where they need it so badly.

Speaking of Texas, we are happy to report that both of Rick and Y's children's homes were not harmed by the recent fire in Bastrop.  We are so happy/relieved for them but feel for the ones that lost everything.  Seeing the aftermath of the fire on the news is simply heartbreaking.

John helped Rick with replacing the pump in their washing machine yesterday.  We were told it was quite the chore and rather challenging to work on in the small bathroom.  Y and I wisely went to the rec room and put a puzzle together leaving the guys to do their thing.

The evenings have been spent playing Pegs and Jokers in the rec room.  There are four couples playing and we have been having a good time.  So far, the gals are behind but another night like tonight (gals won 2 out of 3 games) and we can get caught up. 

Sunshine Valley, NM and San Luis, CO

We headed off this morning in a two-car caravan lead by Leroy and Lois to explore the Rio Grande Gorge in the Sunshine Valley.  Leroy's grandparents settled in the region so he knows a great deal about the history of Sunshine Valley.

From there, the eight of us headed to San Luis, CO for lunch.  San Luis is Colorado's oldest town and was developed under the Spanish empire.  After walking through the oldest building in Colorado, we spotted this 2-D mural; I thought it was pretty neat. 

Most people just drive through San Luis without a thought.  I know we did LOL as we headed to Eagle Nest. One thing to stop and check out is The Stations of the Cross.   You can get to the chapel/shrine from a meandering half-mile path up a hill in town or you can do what we did and drive up to the chapel.  The path and area around the chapel has 12 bronze sculptures that depict Christ's last day.  The pieces are beautiful and moving.  The craftsmanship in the inside of the chapel was wonderful.  Well worth stopping for if you are in the area.

As a few of us left the chapel, we got to see a black bear hustling across the grounds where some of us had just been walking a short time before. That sighting was definitely a bonus.  

The drive home provided us with some raindrops and some great views of a rainbow or two.  Gorgeous.  

The closer we got to home, the more ominous the clouds.  It wasn't long after we got home that it started to rain; stopping and starting.  After getting home after playing cards with Rick and Y later in the evening, it rained really hard along with thunder and lightning.  

What a nice day we had.

What we've been up to

We've gone off-roading with Rick and Y.  They took us to Greenie Peak for some beautiful views of the Red River Valley and ski slopes, Midnight Meadow, and tried going to Cabresto Lake but the road was closed for construction.  After lunch in Red River, we headed up to Goose Lake but had to turn around half way up due to heavy rain, hail, and lightning.

As we traveled along, Rick pointed out a couple of interesting homes; one of which was made from a caboose.

On another day, we visited the DAV Vietnam Veterans Memorial to pay our respects and which turned out to be a very somber experience. Construction of the chapel was started by parental love over the loss of their son during a battle near Con Thien, South Vietnam and grew into something so much more.  You can read more about the Memorial here.  

After lunch in Angel Fire, we returned to Eagle Nest and John took me up the road he road on his bike up to Idlewild.  Along the way, we watched a coyote slink across a field full of resting cows.  As the coyote approached the cows, each one stood up and watched the coyote go by.  We also got to see him/her make a full out run towards some prey (probably a prairie dog) that he missed.  We are so easily entertained LOL.

On September 1, along with Rick and Y, we headed towards the town of Mora and visited the Victory Ranch Alpaca Farm.  We were too early to feed the Alpacas but got to see and pet them up along the fence and meandered through their gift shop/store with all their Alpaca products and yarns.  Here is the sweet face of one of the Alpaca's:

From Mora, we headed towards Taos with a stop at the San Francisco de Asis Church.  

From there we had lunch at Taos Outback Pizza.  We bought pizza by the slice and boy, were they huge and tasty, too!  Then we headed to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge for some photos and after a stop at McDonalds for some cold drinks, we headed home.

John and I ventured out yesterday to the Cleveland Millfest (music, food, crafts) held at The Cleveland Roller Mill Museum which is a 3-story adobe, water-powered historic flour mill that runs only on Labor Day each year.  The tour we took was interesting but grew so large with people, that it became hard to hear what the docent said and to see what she described.  Still is was very interesting and we learned a lot about the mill and the milling process.  We also had very good Indian Tacos topped with green chili.

Most evenings are spent in the Rec Room here at the park playing cards or Pegs and Jokers and socializing - good fun.  Rick and Y's friends here have been most welcoming which makes one feel good.

Stressful times for Rick and Y as their son and daughter's families had to be evacuated yesterday early evening due to massive fires near Bastrop, Texas.  So far their family homes are safe but the fire is still raging out of control.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by the fires.