Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

East Jordan Tourist Park





This township park is a wonderful secret, known mainly just to the Locals. Our grass campsite is 30 feet from the South Arm of Grand Traverse Bay, and comes with full hook-ups and a fire ring full of complimentary firewood. Great place to run the dogs and walk along the beach. Across the water from our site is the famous East Jordan Ironworks, makers of most of the iron manhole covers worldwide.



Quick Trip to Denver
I drove the picturesque hour journey (actually it took a little longer as I stopped twice for old truck pics and once for a coyote) from our campground to the Traverse City airport and flew to Denver for business.



My workshop went very well, and, of course, being in Denver, I drove Friday afternoon to visit the Grandkids. Here is a pic of Granddaughter Natalie.



Family Get Together
Saturday night was a family get together at Frank and Sandy’s cottage on Lake Charlevoix. Everyone had a great time, including, of course, dogs and kids.









Flowers





Old Trucks
Here are some old Michigan truck shots from this week.

Headlights

July 22: Holiday Park Campground, Traverse City MI
July 29-August 5: East Jordan Tourist Park, East Jordan, MI
August 6-20: Waterways Campground, Cheyboygan, MO
August 21-On: Exploring Northern Michigan

See you next week.

Tags: Old Trucks, East Jordan Ironworks, Nature Photography

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Strolls Around Markin Glen
We very much enjoyed our stay at Markin Glen Park on the north section of Kalamazoo. Morning and evening strolls gave numerous photo ops along the water and through the wild flowers.









I was walking the pups early evening when I spotted a baby raccoon. While holding the Pup leashes in one hand, I took pics with my right. All of a sudden a grey streak entered the frame—Mitzy couldn’t stand it—she jumped across the path into the black oozing muck in pursuit of the masked bandit. Jan was kind enough to give her a “mud bath” upon our return—what a mess (however, Mitzy had no regrets).

Cool Cats
Here is a shot of Gus followed by Max. Both are distinguished felines that are not only handsome, but sophisticated in their tastes.





Wednesday
After a very nice stay, we closed up camp and moved on up to Traverse City to the Holiday Park Campground on the south end of Silver Lake.





Pine Island Friends
That afternoon we met up with good friends, Jack and Dee, from Pine Island and had a very nice time catching up.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park



This section of Michigan is beautiful, but one of the highlights is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. One cloudy afternoon we took a leisurely ride through the park enjoying the scenery. Here are a few pics.











Camp Hosting
Jan and I are pursuing camp hosting again this next year, and took the opportunity while we were in the area to check out the Sleeping Bear Dunes campgrounds. We were impressed with both the campgrounds themselves, the volunteers that supported them, and the management responsible for them. We put in our applications—wish us luck!

Point Betsy Lighthouse
There are many great places to see outside the park as well. Here is a shot of the Point Betsy Lighthouse.



More Friends
The timing worked out and we were able to meet Jan’s longtime friend since childhood, Eileen, and her husband, Bob, at local landmark restaurant, Boones.

Flowers
Beautiful flowers everywhere! Here is a small selection including a bouquet that Jan created for a friend.















Old Trucks
Here are some old Michigan truck shots from this week.

Headlights

July 22: Holiday Park Campground, Traverse City MI
July 23-29: East Jordan Tourist Park, East Jordan, MI
July 30: ??
August 6-20: Waterways Campground, Cheyboygan, MO
August 21-On: Exploring Northern Michigan

See you next week.

Tags: Nature Photography, Michigan

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Hot! Hot! Hot!
Markin Glen Park was hot, hot, hot, much like most of Michigan and most of the U.S., with temps in the 100s. How hot was it, you ask? Locals were asking the direction to Hell in an attempt to find a cooler location…now that’s hot! :’>

Morning Walks
This park has nice trails that loop around ponds with swimming swans and are bordered by vivid wildflowers and flitting birds. Here are a few pics from my early morning strolls with the Pups.









One Less Rose in the Garden



On Wednesday night, Janny’s mom, Nancy Nicolen, passed away at her home in Kalamazoo. She will be missed.

Deserved Tribute
On Saturday, our friend, Ronnie Kiracofe, was honored for his decades of work leading the Kalmazoo Amateur Athletic Federation, a nonprofit organization that supports local athletics and has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to college scholarships for local high-schoolers. Here is Ron in front of the quilt he was presented at the Annual Kiracofe Softball Tournament (the longest running softball tournament in the United States).



Old Trucks
Here are some old truck shots from this week.

Headlights

July 15-17: Markin Glen Park in Kalamazoo, MI
July 18-22: Holiday Park Campground, Traverse City MI
July 23-29: East Jordan Tourist Park, East Jordan, MI
July 30-August: Exploring Michigan

See you next week.

Tags: Michigan, Old Trucks

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Sunday
Sprague Lake Hike
Early up and out as Jo and I left camp at sunrise and drove to the Sprague Lake trailhead inside RMNP (Rocky Mountain National Park). Beautiful morning as we first hiked a couple miles past the lake before taking the half-mile trek around the water. The air was fresh with the smell of high-country pines as we hiked by ourselves in the brisk 8,000-feet air. Along the way we saw deer and a Momma turkey with her young.





Trail Ridge Road Day Trip



Before 10:00 a.m., all of us (three adults and three Pups) were back in RMNP looking for critters and taking in the vistas. Soon we were on Trail Ridge Road, the scenic byway that goes up and up, and then over and around the park--a gorgeous drive with high mountain views of the snow-capped Rockies, mountain lakes, and deep green valleys. It was jacket weather at the top as we stopped and I took some photos of a herd of elk feasting on the newly sprouted wildflowers.





Monday



Mountain Hike
I had Jerry and Mitzy on the Lily Mountain Trail by 5:30 a.m. We watched the pre-dawn skies as we hiked the two miles up the steep trail toward the peak of Lily Mountain. The trail information called it “strenuous,” and they were quite accurate as it gained over 1,000 feet in elevation. It was a wonderful hike, but I was happiest when it was over.

Old Trail Ridge Road
Later in the morning we left the Pups to rest in BERT and headed back into RMNP. This time we took the Old Trail Ridge Road, a nine-mile, one-lane, bumpy, winding dirt road that weaved its way up to the Alpine Visitor Center--a nice and slow scenic trip that gave another perspective to RMNP. Right before the end of the trip we were rewarded with a group of a half-dozen mature male elk grazing right by the road. Naturally, I got out of the car and took a few pics.





Tuesday
Lake Gem Trail
Early morning we drove to the 1.7-mile Lake Gem Trail. Very nice hike through the forest surrounded by boulders with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. We were rewarded by viewing Gem Lake at the end of our uphill journey.

The Stanley
After a pleasant lunch outside at the Stanley, the world-famous historical site and hotel, we took the Ghost and History Tour. As you have guessed, not only was the Stanley the basis of the movie The Shining, it is haunted. If you are staying in the area (and not RVing), this is the choice for lodging.





Wednesday: Independence Day
Change of Plans
Janny’s Mom took a turn for the worse, so we decided to head to Michigan early. Hence, we drove to downtown Denver to drop Jo off and then continued on to Parker to drop off Charlie, the pug we had been babysitting. Then we returned back to Estes Park.



Thursday
Early Departure
We were on the road by 6:00 a.m. taking 34 East along the Big Thompson River. We saw a couple bighorn sheep ewes along the way.

Across the Plains
After 80 miles or so, we picked up I-76 east then I-80 east as we rumbled through eastern Colorado, across Nebraska, and into Iowa.

Old Trucks
Here are some old truck shots from this week.

















Wonderful week.

Headlights

July 8-12: Travel East
July 13-14: McHenry, IL
July 15: Homer Glen, IL
July 16-17: Travel
July 18-?: Traverse City, MI
???

See you next week.

Tags: Wildlife photography, Old Trucks, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Sunday
We hung around our campground in Larkspur until we could confirm that our next campground would be open.



The soon to be notorious Waldo Canyon fire had started the day before and was spreading like (you know what) wildfire. Cheyenne Mountain State Park is located just a few miles southeast of Waldo Canyon, so during our stay we had views and smells of the smoke from this growing fire.

Our good friend, Suzanne, flew in to camp with us and meet up with our other RV buddies from Oregon, Kathie and Gary. Here is a shot of, from left to right, Kathie, Suzanne, and Jan.



Monday
Morning Hike
Upon checking with park rangers, I learned that there had been a recent bobcat sighting, so early morning Suzanne and I did a three-mile hike on Blackmer Loop and Cougar’s Shadow seeking out these cats. The only critters we saw were a doe and a fawn deer, but a nice hike nonetheless.

Royal Gorge



After a late breakfast, the five of us drove south on 115 then west on 50 through Caynon City to the Royal Gorge. Over our couple-hour stay, we drove and walked the bridge plus took the tram.









Tuesday
Zoo
Although close to the fire, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo had not been closed, and we arrived shortly after the gates opened and just in time to help feed the giraffes.





Will Rogers Memorial
Above the zoo is a winding road that leads to the Will Rogers Memorial atop the mountain. Very tastefully done, the wall murals tell the story of this area of the West, and the photographs give a visual interpretation of one of America’s most famous icons. From this vista point we had a good view of the fire as well, and we watched the planes making drops in the hope of containing this cantankerous beast.











Wednesday
Sunset View of Fire
Sitting outside we enjoyed our first powerful sunset of the week.



Canine Courtship
We were pup-sitting Charlie, the distinguished pug of the Helman family. This fun-loving bulldozer of a pug fell head over curly tail for Gary and Kathie’s elegant Madeline. Here is a shot of this canine courtship.



Thursday
A Change of Plans
Originally our plan called for spending two days in the Pike National Forest. However, the wildfire took this option off the table, and we were lucky enough to be able to extend our Cheyenne Mountain stay a couple of days. We stayed close to home, though, just in case an evacuation was called.

Friday
Old Truck Shoot
Late afternoon we drove east of Colorado Springs out into the prairies in search of old truck photo ops. We were in luck--see a few of these shots toward the end of the blog.

Saturday
Hike
Jan and I were on the trail at sunrise for a three-plus mile excursion through wooded areas, and down across Prairie Dog Towns.







Pick Up Jo



We timed our departure out of Colorado Springs to pick up Jo in BERT at the Denver airport. It worked great--we swung through the Southwest departure area just as Jo walked out the door into the sunlight. From there we got back on the interstate, and headed west to Estes Park.

Old Trucks
Here are some old truck shots from this week.

















Wonderful week.

Headlights

July 1-4: Mary’s Campground, Estes Park
July 5-7: St. Vrain State Park
July 8-12: Travel East
July 13-14: McHenry, IL
July 15: Homer Glen, IL
July 16-17: Travel
July 18-?: Traverse City, MI
???

See you next week.

Tags: Nature Photography, Wildlife photography, Waldo Canyon Fire, Cheyenne Mountain, Royal Gorge