A Great Saturday and an Happy Easter

I hope you had a happy Easter.  Around here on Saturday we fired up the smoker and cooked up Ham.   While I had the smoker going I put on some Trout and we had it for lunch.  Seems like we spent most of the day cooking.  We sure enjoyed the meal.  Clark and some other friends of ours came over to join us.

On Easter Sunday we loaded up and headed out for a hike.  Clark came with us and we headed down to Brush Hollow and walked along the lake.   Had a great time and got a couple of nice bird pictures.   We saw a Red Hawk and an Osprey.

It was a really nice hike and nice that we could all be together.  I wish the weather would have been a little warmer.  It was cold and glad that we were bundled up.  After our hike, we drove to Penrose and had a late breakfast.

Good Times

Dynomite! Wait, no I am not talking about the 1970's sitcom with Jimmie Walker.  I am talking about the awesome day we had today.  Last night I loaded the truck with my fishing gear, a couple of chairs and out frisbee discs.  We were planning to head down towards Canyon City but didn't have a firm plan on what were going to do.

We left the house early and our first stop was Brush Hollow

Reservoir.  Brush Hollow is just northwest of Penrose.  It is reported that it has a wide variety of fish (Bass, Trout, Bluegill and more.  I have never had a lot of luck fishing it, but them I am fishing from the bank and not from a boat.

I ended catching bluegill today.  I caught four and had a lot of bites that I missed.   I wasn't fishing for them was looking for something bigger, but they kept hitting the worm.  The lake was way up for this time of year so it was difficult to get out to the deep water.

We hung out for a while and then decided to move on.   We loaded up everything in the truck and headed out.   We soon found ourselves and the Beaver Creek Wilderness Area.  I love going here, and it is not heavily used.  It is a rough and rocky dirt road to get to it.  The road is narrow and difficult for vehicles to pass each other in most areas.   On our drive in and out, we didn't pass anyone.  When we arrived at the parking area, there were only two cars.

After loading the pack and getting Pebbles ready we made our way to the trailhead and took the fork in the trail to head towards the creek.  Along the way, we came across all type of wildflowers that were in bloom.  The creek was running high and fast.  Pebbles was busy chasing all the grasshopper jumping around and sniffing everything out.  

I took a small pole and some artificial bait with me in the backpack. On the hike, I would stop along the creek and throw out a line.  I ended up catching 3 small trout.   The biggest was maybe 8 inches long.   I let them all go, to be caught another day.

Once we were back at the truck we drove over to Florence, CO.  and had some lunch and then walked through a few antique stores.  I didn't see anything I needed but did see a couple things that I would want.  Didn't get anything but had a fun time looking.

Scouting

Saturday, Clark and I headed out about 11:30 AM on our way to scout out our route for our hike.   
Our first stop was at Brush Hollow reservoir.  We dug out the fishing poles and fished off the bank for about an hour.  No luck so we moved on. 


Made our way over to Phantom Canyon drive.   Our plan is to start about 5/miles in, where the dirt road begins.  We kept track of our distance on the way so we could start looking for camping spots at about mile 11 and beyond.  As we drove we found a place to pull over and eat our lunch.  We hung out and goofed around the creek.  Pebbles loved it and she even got into the creek to cool off.  Clark chose to use the log cross the creek.   We tried to get Pebbles to follow up but she wasn't up for it.

We found a great spot, but we will have to get a full 15/miles in on day one to get to it.

We are going to be sleeping in hammocks instead of a tent.   This will be a first for me.   Today I set up my hammock so I could see what is the max distance I can have between trees.

The spot we found is off the road a bit, and there are some great trees that we can tie up to.   We stacked some rocks for a fire pit and we spotted some good wood close around for us to use for our fire.

We continued up the canyon and ended up in Victor, CO.  We stopped in town and parked in front of a beer joint.   Went in and had a cold beer and sat and talked about our plans and things we will need to pack with us.

Then we headed over to Cripple Creek to hit one of the casinos.  Clark had never gambled on a slot machine so we thought we should give it a try.   I think he dropped $20 in and he ended up walking away with $52, pretty decent for a first timer.

We got back to the house just after 6 PM and grabbed Candy and went and had some dinner.   Now that we have driven the route I am even more excited about a trip.

Back Home

Greetings all, been a couple of weeks since I posted anything. So let’s see since my last post I have been I Florida, Kansas and Colorado.  I spent the week in West Palm Beach and then over to Tampa.  Then I flew over to Wichita KS, and spent the fourth of July with family.  Had a couple of days off which was nice.

Had a great time visiting with the Family and even got a little work done around the house for my parents.  Both the boys made it this year and brought their girlfriends.    We ate way to much food over the weekend and on the Holiday.  Shot off a bunch of fireworks.

One evening we all went out to dinner at Connie’s Mexico Café.  This is a favorite of most of the family. After being on the road for nine days I was glad to be back home.  

Yesterday we headed out and did some fishing.  Went back down to Brush Hollow and then over to Florence for some lunch and a little more fishing.  I didn’t catch anything but we had a great time.  Took Pebbles with us and she had a blast.  She was chasing Chipmunks and Rabbits.

Today I worked over at the shop and made up another birdhouse.  Not sure what we are going to do with it.  Used some old fence wood that I had and top that my Dad had picked up when he was out garage selling.

I did some watering and pulled weeds.  Cleaned up my mess from the project today as well as the last one I was working on.   Man it get's dirty quick from the sawing, sanding, grinding and so on.

I started laying out my next project.  I am planning on making up a large flower cart.  This should be pretty cool when done.

Fun in the Sun

So we did get our asses out of bed early and went fishing.  We left the house just after 6 AM.  We headed down to Brush Hollow and had a line in the water by 7:15 AM.  I am sorry to report that we or at least I didn't catch anything.  Candy read while I was fishing.  We took Donkey with us today and she had a blast.  She found squirrels, rabbits and lizards.  She was going ape shit most of the morning chasing critters around.  She was grinning from ear to ear today.

This is the second time that I have fished this area and not caught anything.  Lot of fish were jumping but I didn't hook anything.  I fished for about two hours and spent a good time laughing at Donkey as she was chasing what ever she could find.  She came across a squirrel and it ran towards Candy, I thought it was going to jump in her lap.  I packed up and then we headed down to Canyon City to stop at a quilt shop and get some lunch.

While Candy was at the quilt shop, I filled the truck with gas and then hung out waiting for her to finish up.  She wasn't long.  We grabbed some lunch and then headed out to see if we could find a place to park and eat in the shade.   We found a great spot and were able to park along the Arkansas river.  Man it was running fast and furious.   We got Donkey a burger and she was pretty happy.  Candy was walking around and taking some pictures.  She got a nice picture of a monarch hanging out. 

Donkey got out of site and then I heard a splash.  We started calling her and after a couple of minutes she came running.  She must have jumped or fallen in the river.  She was soaking wet from head to toe. She is lucky she didn't get swept away.

Our dogs name is Pebbles, but she has put on a little weight and she looks like Donkey from the movie Shrek.   I guess today with my green shirt, this would make me the Ogre.  She is a great dog and she had a blast today.  So did Candy and I, it was nice to get out and get away from the house.  If we would have stayed home I am sure I would have been working on the yard or cleaning house.  We got back to the house around 1 PM.  Once we got home I headed out and ran over to the shop and did some cleaning and worked on another rotary hoe tiller wheel project.  I plan on giving this one as a gift.  Then came back to the house and worked on cleaning up the garage.  It is still a mess from our remodel project.

Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring.