Saturday Sept. 10th
We drove home a totally different way. We drove south on I-25 to Casper and then took Hwy 220 over Muddy Gap Pass to Rawlins. Then we picked up Hwy 130 to Saratoga Springs. This little town has a hot springs and Shively Field …. There are more private jets there then anywhere I’ve ever seen. It’s unreal. It must be all the gas and oil production going on in the area. There are some amazing ranches in that area, too. One ranch seemed to be thousands of acres and continued over the border into Colorado. Absolutely beautiful country. Wyoming and Granby
Once we crossed into Colorado we picked up Hwy 125 through Walden and on south to Granby. By the time we got south of Walden it was really dark. We had the impression of heavily wooded slopes and a curvy canyon as it was 35 mph the whole way. It’s a good thing that we going so slow as the deer were all over the place. One decided to hop right in front of us for quite a ways. She was hopping on all four feet like a rabbit… she had the funniest looking gait. She kept looking over her shoulder, like she was checking to see if we were coming along. We finally got through the curves and drove into Granby and parked at our church, Lord of the Valley.
Sunday Sept 11th
It was wonderful to spend Sunday with our church family. We hadn’t been there since after Easter. It was especially meaningful to be there on the anniversary of 9/11. It was great to see old friends and visit.
Our daughter Alisha and son-in-law Billy spent the weekend at Grand Lake (just up the road) so they came by on the way back to Golden. We had great hugs all around and told them we’d be in Golden in a couple of days because we were going to do some fishin’ before heading down the hill.
Sunday afternoon we drove over to Hot Sulphur Springs to check out the river and go to soak in the hot springs. It was wonderful just to kick back and soak and enjoy the mountains. The river looked really nice so we decided to come back on Monday to fish.
Monday Sept 12th
We had a great time fishing on the Colorado River headwaters. I got skunked (as usual) but Jim caught a couple and boy was the water cold….I fell in and got pretty wet. But it was fun. We decided to head back to Golden on Tuesday.
Tuesday Sept 13th to Thursday Sept 22nd
Well, we are back where we started from, 8800 miles later!
We spent a very busy time in Golden catching up with our kids and grandkids. We had 3 months of mail to deal with, errands and shopping to do and lots of opportunities to babysit. Kalyn is in 5th grade this year. I can hardly believe it! Ethan is in 2nd grade and Allie is going to preschool 4 days a week and 1 day in ballet. She’ll be 5 in December ….they grow up so fast! And we have more family to see in Phoenix…. Can’t wait to see how they’ve grown; especially our newest grandchildren, Jack (10 months) and Daisy
(9 months).
Friday Sept 23rd
I’m sitting here in the motorhome at Tarryall Reservoir looking out on one of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve had this summer. And the fishing has been great, too. Only now we are fly fishing so I have a whole new set of rules to fish by. Thank goodness there are no trees or bushes along the shore to grab hold of my fly! When spin casting I only had to cast out once and slowly reel the lure in. Now I have to cast out a totally different way at least 3 times, putting out more line each time, pull the line in slowly and do it all over again while standing in cold water up to my waist while my boots sink into quicksand muck that will never let me go. Thank goodness there aren’t any mosquitoes! I love fishing …I really do! I actually had a fish on my line today but he escaped before I could get him into my net. Jim caught his limit of 4 and my limit of 4 so we are having fresh trout for dinner and for breakfast. It has been a great day of fishing! Our son, Jeremy is supposed to come up tomorrow with his boy Ethan and my granddaughter Allie, to spend the night and fish. Should be fun.
Saturday Sept 24th
It’s Jeremy’s turn to learn to fly fish! I get to babysit. Of course, Jeremy is a natural, catching his first fish practically on the first cast. He and Jim both caught 2 in the afternoon and again in the evening. Hey, as long as they clean them, I’ll cook them. Allie and Ethan are having a great time playing in the willows and on the beach, scooping up fish heads and snails and other great treasures! Tarryall is a beautiful lake, with little beaches along the shore and plenty of campsites … and no fees. I wrote about it in our 1st blog 2 years ago. Can you believe it…. On Monday we’ll be married 2 years. It seems like just yesterday! We have had some amazing adventures in such a short time. Pictures of Tarryall
Sunday, Sept 25th
We’ve met some great guys here at the lake. Jim is retired air force and spends most of the summer up here fishing. He had great tips about where to fish in the area and recommended we try out Antero Reservoir about 30 miles south on Hwy 285. So after the kids leave today, I think we’ll pack up and go into Fairplay for some beer and aluminum foil and try our hand down there.
Later in the day:
Antero is a lot starker than Tarryall with absolutely no trees or willows or vegetation at all except for grass. Our friend Jim said that there were lots bigger fish in this reservoir, but not as numerous, so it is more of a challenge. We got all set up and were out on the lake just in time for a storm to move in…the wind was really whipping up the lake and it felt like we were fishing in the ocean surf! We waded back in to wait out the storm and Jim went out later. He should have listened when Jim told him to put 8# test tippet on his reel because he had a big one and it flipped over and took his line, hook, fly and all!
Needless to say, when he got back to the coach, the one that got away was the topic of conversation and we re-rigged our line with 8# test!
Monday, Sept 26th
Jim finally caught a nice fish today, but it has been a challenge. I think we will be going back to Tarryall tomorrow, as it is more fun there. Pictures of Antero
Tuesday, Sept 27th
We drove back to Tarryall and pretty much have the entire lake to ourselves. It is really hard to describe just how beautiful and relaxing this lake is. Jim was out fishing until way past dark and having a great time.
Wednesday, Sept 28th
Boy, what an adventure today. We drove around to the other side of the lake and hiked around to the inlet on the west side of the lake. Before you can get to the inlet, you have to negotiate marshy areas and mud flats. We tried to take a shortcut and I got stuck in the mud on those flats. I sunk pretty deep, I guess because I wasn’t moving as fast as Jim (all that mud on the bottom of your boots weighs a ton!). I finally had to pull my foot out of my boot and crawl up onto the flats…..then get in mud to my elbows and finally pull my boot out. I finally had to pull my foot out of my boot and crawl up onto the flats…..then get in mud up to my elbows and finally pull my boot out. YUCK! We decided to go farther into the reeds and try and find some more solid ground.
We finally made it across to the inlet and the hike was definitely worth it. I actually caught fish! On a fly rod! All the way into the net! (of course several got away) We still brought home 6 really nice big rainbows.
Thursday, Sept 29th
We would love to stay several more days and fish but we are out of toilet paper and fresh water, so we are heading down the road to Phoenix. We are going to stop in Montrose on the way to Ouray, so Jim can see a part of Colorado that is my absolute favorite spot. The fall colors are really beautiful and we are really lucky to have hit them at their peak … the weather has been wonderful, also.
Monday, Oct 3rd
We are in Ouray for a couple of days to do some jeeping and to enjoy the colors. I lived in Montrose for 18 years and I love this whole area. We moved away in 1998, but I love to come and visit. Unfortunately rain has cut our stay short and snow is in the forecast so we are off tomorrow. We did get some great fall colors pictures on the road to Yankee Boy Basin. One of my favorite places to visit is closed on Mondays, but I’m including a link to the historical museum of Ouray. It is an amazing place where history is both preserved and brought to life. Their website is really cool: Ouray Historical Museum
