Smart Elk Don’t Become Food
This year Noah entered the draw for either a deer or an elk tag, and actually received an elk tag. Yay! In Colorado, large game hunting licenses are distributed via a lottery draw, so there’s no guarantee you’ll get one. So you can imagine our excitement, and the tag was for the first season (rifle).
Noah’s dad flew out to go with and spend some quality time with his youngest son. I stayed home with Logan and attempted to get my child to sleep at a decent time so I could concentrate on homework.
After a week of hiking up and down mountains, sleeping in the camper, and trudging through snow, the guys saw plenty of deer but few elk. Unfortunately, the elk had not really started to come down from their high summer grounds. Thus, no yummy elk steaks will grace our table this year. 🙁
Hopefully, next year Noah can get another tag and have better luck. At least he got to enjoy some time with his dad and Logan got to spend a couple of days with Grandpa.
It’s that time of year again
Fall entered Colorado, and two week’s later we had our first snow. Yup, it’s that time of year again. The forecast was only for a dusting, maybe we were lucky, on grassy surfaces. As often is the case with Colorado weather forecasts, especially of the white variety, I wasn’t going to hold my breath. However, I was very much surprised when I let the dogs out on the morning October 4th and saw not only large flakes falling from the sky, but a decent coating of the white stuff all over my lawn. I was even more surprised that morning when I had to brush 2″ of it off my car before I could drive to work! Incidentally, there was zero, zip, zilch accumulation at my work, 20 miles away. I didn’t even see any snow fall the 8 hours I was there.
Well, be that as it may, we started our snow season off with a decent 2″ of heavy wet snow. If you want to follow our snowfall season, and keep up with how much we accumulate between now and May (yes our “winter” lasts that long), bookmark this page: Snow Totals 2013-2014
The Camper’s Inagural Trip
Labor Day weekend equals a prime opportunity to take our camper out on for it’s first foray into the mountains. Since we’re (me more so than Noah) new to camping in Colorado, we have been selecting a different area each time we go camping. In May, we went to Granby. For this trip we went to Yampa River, near Craig and Steamboat and invited some friends to come along.
If you pay attention, you may also notice some changes we’ve made to the inside of the camper since we purchased it. And no, we didn’t get a new truck. That one is a rental, ours was in the shop for an extensive repair.
And of course, more spectacular sunsets!
The Pitter Patter of Not So Little Feet
Meet the newest edition to our family: Hurricane!
Hurricane, is a purebred pointer puppy we rescued from the local Humane Society. She is rambunctious, full of energy, but has the sweetest disposition.
Sand Creek
You know what’s comforting in Kansas? When a collection of storm chasers are staying at your hotel…and there’s a tornado watch. Thanks, Kansas!
Ready to leave tornado alley and return to the sanctuary of our mountainous land, we headed back into Colorado. But before returning home, we made one more stop, in the middle of nowhere at Sandcreek, in Kiowa County.
The Sand Creek Massacre, a precursor to the attack at Washita in Oklahoma, was another unprovoked massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. These tribes were peacefully encamped on their newly assigned lands in eastern Colorado when a militia comprised of of some 700 white men, attacked on a snowy morning in November 1864. The tribal residents, at the time, numbering around 100, were mostly women and children. Their lives were not just abruptly ended, but their bodies were mutilated and maimed, all in the name of Manifest Destiny. Reading the accounts of the massacre were stomach turning.
The National Park Service, in collaboration with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, have made an effort to preserve the area and ensure the sacred ground is honored and respected. In fact, the area is so revered that visitors can only look down upon the massacre site from a bluff.
If you want to read more about the genocide of the American indians, I recommend Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. You’ll never think of American history the same again.
Fort Larned
Fort Larned was established in 1859 to offer protection to travelers on the Santa Fe Trail from hostile indians. Operation of the Fort ceased in 1878, after travel along the trail was greatly reduced due to the transcontinental railroad and the reduction of indian attacks.
Nearby the Fort, we drove to where the Santa Fe Trail crossed part of Kansas and where you can still see ruts in the ground. We were told by rangers at the Fort, that from the air, it’s easier to see the length and detail of the trail remains. Definitely something neat for this19th century history buff to see up close and personal!
A Kansas Day for Logan
Well, hello there, Kansas!
We would have had Logan pose in front of this sign, but he was asleep at the time. Bummer.
However, he has been such a good sport going along on all of our bus driver field trips, we decided to do something he would particularly enjoy – going to the zoo!
Apparently, in August, in Wichita, most people go to the zoo early in the morning before it gets hot. Several bottles of water and ice cream cones later, we understood why.
Kansas weather was also not as nice to us Oklahoma weather. I did not appreciate being up half the night paranoid that the severe thunderstorm ravishing Wichita would turn tornadic.
Farewell Oklahoma!
Dear Oklahoma,
Thank you for the wonderful storm free weather and fantastic history lessons. ‘Til we meet again!
A Bombing Memorial
Where were you at 9:02 a.m., the morning of April 19, 1995? Given that in California, that would have been 7:02 a.m., I was probably getting ready for school completely oblivious to what was going on the middle of our nation. However, that fateful morning, a bomb was detonated in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City and would forever be known as the Oklahoma City Bombing.
The grounds where the federal building once stood have long been cleared, and in its place resides a peaceful reflecting pond, beautiful flowers, well maintained lawns and a chair for each person that died as a result of the blast. The tone is quiet. The mood is somber.
Also present is a survivor tree. This tree is a pillar of strength, once set ablaze, a result from the bombing, now stands tall and strong.
Another feature outside is a wall of tiled art, sent to Oklahoma City from school children across the country. There’s a large chalk area for visitors to contribute a saying or drawing, paying tribute to those that perished.
Next door to where the federal building once stood is a museum. Although, well put together, I was thoroughly creeped out. There was a recording of the sound of the bomb detonating, picked up from a meeting in a nearby building; there were artifacts – computers, glasses, car keys, a child’s teddy bear; there were news broadcasts from all of the world replayed on multiple televisions; and stories from survivors – such as that of a woman who was conducting a meeting only to have all the people sitting around the table in front of her, including the table vanish as the floor disappeared and she was left sitting on the edge of a precipice with only a small tear on her dress. There were also pieces of concrete and an I-beam from the rubble; and photographs of the victims, photographs of all of the children. That really got to me – the thought of losing Logan – especially from an act of terrorism. Towards the end of the museum tour, I had had enough mentally and emotionally. I needed out and I needed out fast. I could barely handle walking past the room featuring a photograph, memento and bio on each of the victims. It was too much.
Back outside the museum, there’s a chain link fence that was used to block off the disaster zone. Now, it’s an active memorial.
Across the street, is a statue of a weeping Jesus. Moving.
