Well time just gets away and I am forgetting to keep up with the doing’s and going’s here. So lets see what I have in the picture list.
I had hired a ???? landscape ??? guy almost 3 years ago now to move some bushes and put in the stairway (barely visible in the background). Well that was a total and complete failure. He said , yes we can move the bushes… likely they would have done much better had he pulled up a big rootball but they just dug them out and moved them, to top that off they never came back to finish up the stairs so I had to hire someone else to tear out what they did do , clean it up and then do it right. All my checking gave the first guy good reports but in reality a deeper check showed he had problems in previous locations and was not licensed to do all the things he said he could do. oh well, I filed a complaint with the county building and BBB , but never heard back. to that end the bushes moved, 2 died and the thrid was looking pretty bad so out they came and a better contractor hired to make it look nice…
We searched all over and found 4 pine bushes we liked a lot better althogh they are way smaller than what we had and what they are next to but they will make nice low shrubs at some point.
The new contractor, cleaned out the area nicely, got the holes ready for the bushes and we put them in..
With a nice gravel bed to match the other areas in front of the house and drip watering system to keep them going, we hope. Anyway it looks good now.
We made our monthly trip back to OKLA and damn it rained and rained and rained. I did get a little work done but not much, which is ok, I don’t work too hard anymore anyway. The pond in the back of the OK house is full, and has been flowing over the spill pipe for weeks..
Yep it was raining still and you barely can see the top of the spill pipe left center..
It was raining so much there that when we left on Wednesday we got stopped at Blackwell, we were going to stop anyway, but I-35 was closed due to flooding in Kansas. Water over interstate 35…. so our choice from there was just head west. Hwy 81 was also close so we kept going west… then veered off to Liberal Ks, hadn’t been up that road in a long time so we tracked that way..
Along that way we spotted the “original – food truck”…
Although this one doesn’t move much anymore… across the street I spotted an unusual collection..
Difficult to tell in the picture but a bunch of old Pedal cars..all in great shape
A Little further down the road the City Hall… not sure it has been used in some time.. but started out in 1886..
We got back in time for cold and snow… but it didn’t last long here and for Mothers Day Sherrie and I took a drive to look around in an area we had not traveled before, We grabbed a sanswich, some drinks and headed up Mt Herman road then into Woodland park – now that part we have done several times… but then we went north of woodland park and veered off on County Road 78. A back road into West Creek… At the start of the we passed through some RedRock people..
Well monuments or what ever, odd statues in the open area…
a bit further spotted this old ??? drilling unit… or post-hole digger?
I would assme from the condition of the tires it hasn’t been parked there for a real long time of they would have rotted off by now..
This area is a big burn scar. not sure when the fire was , likely 10 years ago or a bit less from the regrowth and size of some of the new pines… but still has relics of the burn.
Two cabins that didn’t make it. but there are several that did and some new ones being put up…
It was just past these that we again turned off on FS- 3… a bit of a rought road and probably best for smaller vehicles, jeeps, and 4 wheelers… we passed numerous back country bikers and a few 4 wheelers on the road. We were stopped checking the map and looking at some nice beaver ponds when a guy on 4 wheeler stopped, advised that we shouuld again veer off on FS 364 as it would top out on the ridge with a great view of PIkes Peak and others an he was right… He said he had had open heart surgery just 6 weeks ago but was back out 4 wheeling now and feeling fine…
The trail up FS-3 crossed the little stream several times. lots of bumps and rocks but never needed to kick in 4-wheel…
From the top to the west was Signal Butte… interesting cone that has a trail to the top and I will have to come back with time to make that trek this summer..
I fuond this burnt out stump interesting. it cleaned it out to just the shell…
surely it wasn’t helped?
then off to the SE was..
Pike Peak but the clouds were hanging around the top so the picture was not as nice as it could have been..
Back to the north from this ridge..
hard to see but cow elk on the move, alone as far as we could see but the calf might have been hiding out there.
Around the corner a bit ..
a different view of Signal Butte… You can actually drive up to the base of it and the trail to the top probably is less than a mile, maybe less than half a mile from there… for sure need to make the trip back for the walk to the top as the view up there would be incredible..
Once we came out of this we hit a well maintained gravel road back down into Florisant and lots of houses, cabins and trailers, etc. We headed home from there , yet another hour drive but was a great day out in the mountains…
Last night I attended the local Palmer Divide Photographers meeting… they had a presentation on action pictures and I could see I need a lot of work on my pictures to be in their class but hey the meeting is free and they are much better than I so I might learn something…
That is a catch up of some of the things we have done, but not all. just what I had proof of…
WD0AJG