Colorado Springs and Roots Report

It's been almost a week since we arrived at Cheyenne Mountain State Park outside of Colorado Springs, and it's been a whopper of a weather week. Fellow full timers and bloggers Hans and Lisa, of Metamorphosis Road are here too and they just did a great job of summarizing and describing, so I'll refer readers to their post, appropriately entitled Wet and Wild and Beautiful.

Rick, Lenore, Lisa and Hans at Bristol Brewery

We've had lots of rain, thunder and lightning, wind, hail, snow and clouds for our week here. 

The trails have been a little too muddy to hike much. The mud here is clay-like - thick and sticky. Within minutes you've got an extra pair of heavy clay boots. Some of the higher trails are not too bad.

We never know what we're going to wake up to next. 

Some mornings we even see Cheyenne Mountain above us.  (Yes, it's the location of the fictional Cheyenne Mountain as in Stargate and the actual Cheyenne Mountain as in NORAD.)

We try not to let weather change our plans too much, so we put on our Alaska gear and did some sightseeing. One stop was the Garden of the Gods, just outside of Colorado Springs.

The park is free, dog friendly, and heavily visited. We had a hard time finding any parking even with the volatile weather.

Rain and hail started just as we were leaving. 

The Western Roots Report

My great aunt Lula and great uncle Roy Davis (on my mother's side) lived in Colorado Springs for many years, so it was one of those places we visited on our family summer road trips out west. I knew that they lived on Tejon St. but had only a general recollection of what their home looked like. I remembered it as a three story Victorian home, with a porch, some typical architectural detail and a side driveway. I recalled the back yard distinctly, having played in it a lot, but wouldn't be able to see that from the road.  We drove up and down Tejon St. one day, but I couldn't identify the house.

After doing some research online I found a website about the Old North End Neighborhood with a list of historic homes. The Roy A. Davis Home was one of them, and it gave the exact address! So on our next trip down Tejon St. we found the house.

It was just as I remembered it, once I saw it.  The Old North End Neighborhood has been preserved beautifully. The inside of this house was what I remembered most vividly though. It had been dark, and decorated in typical Victorian style with velvet upholstery; heavy, carved wood furniture; Oriental rugs; and fringes on the lamps. The most remarkable room in the house was Uncle Roy's library. He was a hunter, forged in the image of Teddy Roosevelt.  His library was filled from floor to ceiling with animals that he had shot. I believe there was every mammal and large bird in North America somewhere in that house, and most were crammed into that spooky library. There was even a bald eagle soaring frighteningly over the main staircase.

Roy A Davis

My Aunt Lula was a social worker, and did disaster relief work for the Red Cross.  I believe these pictures of her might have been from somewhere in the South after a flood. 

"On a wrecked beach where all kinds of wreckage washed up" - Lula Hall

Lula Bob Hall, circa 1914

Lula Bob Hall, circa 1914

I also found an article online from the Colorado Springs Gazette, 1967, that announced a civic citizenship award presented to Roy A. Davis for his contribution to the community over the years. He apparently was a member of the Colorado legislature, belonged to all the local clubs (Rotary, Elks, Old Fellows, etc.) and was a great promoter of social welfare programs. I imagine Lula and Roy may have met through their community welfare work. 

But this is how I remembered Aunt Lula and Uncle Roy from our visits to Colorado Springs.

Lula and Roy Davis, circa 1960, Colorado

Next I'll report just one more sightseeing visit here before we move to the Denver area, if it hasn't been washed away in the rain and flooding they've been having.

For now I'll close with this nice picture that Metamorphosis Lisa took of us after dinner.  Thanks Lisa!

Two Unique RV Parks: NRA Whittington and Sand Dunes Swimming Pool

Sometimes we stop at campgrounds for unusual reasons. Mostly we're looking for nice big sites, comfortable amenities, good views, a dog park, walking trails, water, interesting towns nearby, and all that. But I found two RV parks that piqued my interest for completely different reasons. 

First, the National Rifle Association Whittington Center, near Raton, New Mexico.  

The main entrance to the NRA Whittington Center. Those are flags of all 50 US States.

There are cabins and an RV park on the property, very similar in style to a state park. It's primary function however, as you might guess from it's name, is as a comprehensive and high quality shooting range.  While both Rick and I are in support of the Second Amendment in principle, we are not gun enthusiasts by any means.  We are not NRA members, and have no particular position on the NRA.  We were mainly curious about the place. 

Entrance gate and offices

The Whittington Center is an impressive 33,300 acre property in the volcanic foothills of northern New Mexico. It is backed on one entire side by hills and mesas, giving all the ranges a safe bumper, or safety zone, or whatever you call it.

One of the many shooting ranges that we could see from our site.

The directory.

Another shooting range.

Clay pigeon range, I believe.

Another shooting range

The views in every direction are grand and there is lots of wildlife to see as well. We saw large herds of elk, deer and pronghorn. But we didn't see anyone shooting anything on any of the many ranges. We were just one of a few RVers and that was about it for activity at the Whittington.  

Our pull-through site with great views

"Home, home on the range"

Another view from our site

They offer multi day classes in many kinds of shooting skills, and access to the ranges for NRA members. I don't think we'd come back to this location just for the RV Park, but sport shooters or gun enthusiasts might find it an ideal spot. 

Our next stop was the Sand Dunes Swimming Pool and RV Park, a very remote location 23 miles from Alamosa, CO. We came for the hot pools. They have a very nice campground with three sections for partial hook-ups (water & electric), dry camping and tent sites. 

The laundry/bath house was near new and super clean, with two full, very comfortable, warm, private  bathrooms with showers.

Everywhere there is evidence of the hot springs that feed the pool. The place is surrounded by wetlands created by the springs, with abundant small wildlife living on and in the water. The water that comes from the water spigot at the RV site is hot. All the grass and trees are irrigated by the fresh warm run-off from the pools. 

Oh, and the whole place is very dog friendly. Dogs are even allowed in the pool and picnic areas without a leash, and can swim in the warm run off streams (below), though not in the pools themselves. Big extra points for all that.

Again, we were practically the only folks in the campground for most of the week.  Not so at the pool though!  It was hopping with the local folks, from morning 'til night every day of the week. Bus loads of kids came from the local schools for lessons. Mature folks came to swim laps and exercise. Families with kids of all ages came in the evenings and on weekends. We did find a nice quiet time between the adult lap swim and the open swim, between 9-10 AM most mornings.

The main pool was olympic-sized and divided width-ways into three sections for diving, lap swimming and shallow playing. 

The water was kept at about 100 degrees. It comes out of the earth at about 108 I believe, and is cooled by various sprinkling methods throughout the day, depending on the air temperature. 

The run-off from the constantly filling pool is used for a little stream, waterfall and water slide.

There are also various recreational facilities, such as basketball and volley ball courts, and plenty of lounge chairs and picnic tables.

In this protected area there is a large therapy pool with jets, a good restaurant... 

...and a wading pool for kids.  There's even a swim suit spinner. (Ever seen one of those? That's it just off the right side of the above picture - about the size of a drinking fountain.)

They just opened an adults-only section called The Greenhouse, with four hot tub of various sizes and shapes, a sauna, and a refreshment bar (non-alcohlic at the moment). Everything about the whole place was clean, freshly painted, well maintained and demonstrating thoughtfulness for their customers. The pools are open year round and must be a real blessing for cold locals in the midwinter months.

As an extra added bonus, there were great views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Great Sand Dunes National Park, with dramatic skies reflected in the surrounding ponds almost every day. 

The Sangre de Cristos reflected in the nearby warm ponds of the protected wildlife areas.

Virga over the Sangre de Cristos

I really like finding some variety in the ongoing stream of RV parks we live in. I've heard of a dog resort RV park called Four Paws Kingdom Campground in Rutherfordton, NC. What a great idea! How about an animal rescue place? Or a zoo? Or a zip-line, sky-diving and climbing wall center? Or a craft or photography school? A riding stable? A snorkeling RV park?

Does anyone know about other unique RV parks? We'd love to hear. 

Exploring My Western Roots

Wonder where I get my cowgirl inclinations?

My mother, Maryon Hoyle (aka Kelley and Hall) circa 1940

Part of my agenda for this summer is to explore some places that I used to visit with my family when I was a young girl living in NYC. What seemed like every summer, my mother, father and I would make the long drive back west to visit their families in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Now I have the opportunity to go back to those places and although my family is no longer living there, I remember some of their homes and some of the landmarks surrounding them.

 In 2011 we started the revisitations in Big Arm, MT, on Flathead Lake, where my maternal grandfather, A.D. Hoyle and my grandmother used to summer at one of the local RV Parks, and fish...a lot. (Wonder where I get the RV inclinations?)

Peggy & A.D. Hoyle, Big Arm, MT

We continued the revisitations last time we were in Albuquerque, in 2012, by finding the small housing development that same grandfather built about 60 years ago. There's even a Hoyle Rd. in the neighborhood!

Now we are in the San Luis Valley where A.D. Hoyle and family lived in Monte Vista, CO. I've never been here before, so it was more about discovery than revisitation. With the help of my Uncle Robert Hoyle (on the phone with Google Maps), we found the five acre farm and the home that A.D. Hoyle built almost 80 years ago. We tried to take a few drive-by shots of the farm without alarming the young men hanging out in the yard.  (I wasn't sure they were the Ancestry.com type.)

The Hoyle ranch, about 70 years later

Robert described what his father did there on the farm in Monte Vista as "miraculous" - feeding his family through the Great Depression while holding down a full time job as well.

The extended Hoyle Family on a picnic, Monte Vista, CO.
(My mother, Maryon, second from right end, back row, between her mother and father.)

With Uncle Robert's help we also found another home were grandfather Hoyle and family lived, as well as the home next door where my great grandparents Emory Dent and Ida Hoyle lived.  Just amazing.  (The little boys playing in front of the house were pretty excited about us taking a picture of their house, with their mother's permission of course.)

Among our family photos I found this picture my great grandfather, identified as being in the San Luis Valley somewhere, so perhaps we're looking at the very same landscape now.

Emory Dent Hoyle. Monte Vista, CO

Our next stop will be Colorado Springs, for more family reminiscing...

Playing at the Great Sand Dunes National Park

What? A totally dog-friendly National Park? Amazing!

Well, to be completely honest, dogs must be on a leash at all times. So you didn't see these pictures of Honey running around with a loose leash, did you? All the pictures you saw looked like this one:

...with Honey pulling wildly on the leash. OK?

The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is located at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, on the edge the San Luis Valley, in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.  The park protects the tallest sand dunes (750 feet) in North America, which cover an area of 19,000 acres. It's a kind of remote park, not close to a lot else of interest, so it's not too heavily visited.  

The sand dunes themselves are pretty darn cool, but the stream running at their base is probably the coolest thing about the whole park.  The Medona River is seasonal, created by snowmelt from the mountains and running only in the Spring and early Summer.  It is wide and shallow, and runs between the parking lot and the dunes, requiring wading for all who want to walk up the dunes. Fun! 

The water is fresh, perfectly clear, and surprisingly warm. I guess it has a long way to run in the sun before it gets here.

Honey has not taken to the water yet, but luckily she has taken to sticks. It only took one to get her running in and out of the water like a Retriever. 

It's the kind of place you could spend hours playing, and many families (some with dogs) were. The weather was about 70 degrees and sunny - a perfect day - and all three of us were happy to play in the water and the sand until we got too hungry. There's a nice picnic ground right next to the parking lot. Honey didn't really want to leave. 

Since we're in the area for the week, staying at the Sand Dunes Swimming Pool and RV Park (more about that later), about 30 miles away, we plan to come back again, maybe at sunset for some more play and pictures.