The Mason's Big Neon Sign

I was driving home from Creede to Del Norte, and was keeping a eye out for an interesting subject for a night-time photo, to practice my photography skills.  The southern Colorado skies are very dramatic, as well as the weather, scenery and etc.; plenty of great photography opportunities.

Suddenly, I happened onto these unique neon signs, on the hillside, in the darkness.  They stood out like a pair of lighthouses in a dark harbor! My guess is that they are about 20' X 20' and are about 400 yards off the highway!  

MASONS, MASONS, MASONS!  (Would you imagine there were masons around here?  Why don't they put up a sign somewhere?  Like neon, on the hillside, above the lodge?)

The obvious question is, what are these signs for?  Do they attract Masons?  Do they indicate where the lodge is?  I would think that if one belonged to the secret society of the masons, then one would know where to find more Masons,  or am I all washed up?  I don't pretend to know one thing about them, but I think they have rockin' signs on the hillside over the lodge!  Kind of a point of interest marking an otherwise blase ride into South Fork from Creede.

Wow!  These were huge!  The only way they could be more splashy and brash would be if they were flashing on and off!  Now that I have suggested it, maybe they will be flashing the next time I drive by!  (I hope I am not offending any Masons!)

and....I TOOK A PHOTO IN THE DARK!  Hooray!  I am learning to be a better photographer!

This is the Top of the World

Here is a photo of the top of the Rocky Mountains.  A wonderful friend, Dale Hannegrefs,

This is Lance on the left and Dale on the right. 

took us in his four-wheel drive pickup for an all-day trip along Engineer Pass, American Basin and Cinnamon Pass.  We started in Lake City, Colorado and followed the alpine Loop.  It was nothing short of breathtaking!

There are 52 peaks in Colorado that are approximately 14,500 ft high!  We were there, looking out across the expanse, and looking these peaks right in the eyes!

This is the steepest hillside!  I think this kind of road is called a shelf road.  One side goes straight up the mountain and one side goes straight down, and down and down into the valley 1500 or 2000 ft below!  It was scary, no, terrifying to ride on the downhill side of the truck. I loved to look down and squeal with fear!   Sometimes while looking out the window, I could not see the road  beneath the truck!  Or the bottom of the canyon, for that matter!  It was very thrilling!   Dale is an old hand at these roads and a very cool driver! The stick you see is a marker used to tell where the road is when it is covered with 25' of snow.

Even though this was June 25th, there was a surprising amount of snow.  The weather was glorious and warm enough for T-shirts. It is a very thrill to look at these peaks in the distance and to realize that we are the same altitude as they.  Mankind is insignificant indeed!

Camping Chic - How to Look Better on Less

As I have explained in previous posts, I live in a small space, a 22 ft RV to be exact, and sometimes  I don’t have electricity.  My water usage has to be limited to what I can carry in my holding tank and by the proximity of potable water.  I sometimes go days without an available shower (I will explain later,) let alone a blow dryer!  But am I piggish about my person?  Nope, I am too smart and resourceful for piggishness!  You see, I and my husband, Lance, travel around the National Parks and Forests, and place a priority on FUN!   This lifestyle, unfortunately , is not conducive to preening and primping; but it can still happen with a little brains, ingenuity, and planning!  Of course, even the word pretty is an illusion, and subjective at best, and everyone has a different idea of what looking good really means. Being clean and neat has fewer definitions.   House dwellers, with all the comforts of home have differing standards; some are neat-nicks and some are, well…  slobs about their personal toilette!

Over the last few weeks I have learned a few things regarding looking good under adverse conditions, or should I say, staving off the inevitable ugliness as much as possible.  I am willing to share my regimen because, although I have many strikes against me from the my choice of lifestyle, and a dearth of beauty products, I can overcome many tough beauty challenges.  At the very least, with the following suggestions, anyone can minimize the pain of the ugliest of ducklings.

Starting from head to toe:

• Wash your hair when it is dirty!  If you don’t have much water, or if sometimes you have no water at all to shampoo your grease ball hair, minimize the difficulty by having less hair in the first place.

  

  You get the idea!  Short!

  Get your hair cut to a super short cut!  Simply get over the impractical idea that your hair has to look a certain way.  It doesn’t!  Also, nobody on earth gives a darn about your hair!  This is a sad truth, so admit it.  Do what is practical to be clean and neat.  The key is a good, super short hair cut.  Don't take me so literally as to buy clippers and give yourself a crew cut.  I don’t mean to be that practical, but get a cute woman’s haircut. I like a bit of sideburns.   This haircut works OK without a blow dryer, so don’t settle for a kind-a-short haircut because then you'll be tied to a blow-dryer, and if you have no blow dryer, a kind-a-short hair cut looks the shitz!  You know when a short haircut grows out just a little bit and gets flat on top?  You want to put off  this problem as long as possible, so just get a super short 'do in the first place.  Then get a little mousse or gel to shape it if you want to, but the priority is that it needs to look good au natural!  That is the first thing!  In short (pun) your hair cut needs to look good without the use of a blow dryer and it needs to be able to shampoo in ½ gallon of water! Period.

The benefits of this kind of haircut are legion.  You can wash it in a lake, sink, fish gut trough, or if  none of the above are available,  you can wear a cute hat, if you have a cute hat.

Here are my hats! 

Actually, it's a scarf tied around my head!

My favorite!

I don’t wear a regular baseball hat because that is what my husband does, and I can’t afford to like a man.  It is bad enough to have a super short haircut but a ball cap adds insult to injury and is not an asset to me.   I like the engineer style hat, like Che Guerra wore.

Another benefit is I can be fearless and wear a turban type thing.  The key to pulling this look off is to pretend it is the livin’ end and that you look fantastic.  And, by the way, that is The 
Secret to looking good anyway.  (You can get away with iffy fashion statements if you do it them with confidence.  This is a recurring theme, so take note.)

• I have olive skin and am of a certain age, so I have dry skin, tending toward wrinkles, and I tan super easily.  I just spent a month in Arizona and noticed that Arizona ladies look brown and wrinkled.  They also look happy and healthy.  For me, I like to be tanned but want to avoid the alligatoring of my skin.  I use a sun block if I know I will have an  my face exposed.  Everyday I wear a foundation with sunscreen, as a matter of course, and then I wear a hat for obvious shade, but also that my poor nose doesn’t turn into a brown fig!   I already have freckles and sun damage on my cheeks so I don’t want to make it worse.  As far as smile lines and crows feet go, who really cares? Nobody.
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• Wear earrings. (See first photo)  All too frequently, the best thing a girl has going is pretty ears, so if this is the case, go with it.  Allowing empty ear holes is a waste of a good opportunity to spruce up a little!  Cute, yet tasteful earrings are a must. Wear minimal ones, or even diamond studs.  They are a nice touch and always terrific!  Do not wear big, gobby, cheap and flashy earrings. (No shoulder dusters. They never look great, they just look cheap.)   The key is to be streamlined and tasteful, and with your short hairdo, stud earrings look great. 
•  
• Wear colors that look good on you.  It is great to have the camper chic style a la REI or Cabela’s, but if you don’t look good in beige, don’t do beige, or camouflage, or the like.  I am a Winter color girl,  WEBSITE and being such I look washed out and wan, like I am going to die, if I wear beige near my face.  So, when getting dirty and grimy is unavoidable, don’t make it worse by wearing something that you look crappy in in the first place.  Grime happens so the right color looks better grimy than the wrong color.  It  really is very easy to look good, even in your play clothes.  I personally think the  well-worn- out look is a good look,  as long as it is in good repair and is worn out from honest wear, from actually living the life!
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• Make sure your pants fit!  Buy the right size and wear a belt.  Belts with some stretch look good and they hold your pants up, which makes the butt fit and keeps the crotch from sagging.  Who says that you have to wear baggy play clothes?  Make sure your pants are long enough if they are supposed to be long!  Fit is so important! I am a too fat chick, and fat looks like fat no matter how slim (pun) you slice it, so I can admit it and get over it!  I make sure my clothes fit so that I am sure to look like a too-fat lady in nice fitting clothes.  I don’t want to look like a fat lady in wiener skins! Come on ladies!  By the right size!  And while we are toughing on touchy subjects, a quick aside: If you are a man with man-boobs, do everybody a favor and wear a shirt!
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• I love my red hiking boots!  Enough said! 

  

  I neglected to clean the dust off them before I took the photo!  These are Teva Rika Peak

• I almost always wear a necklace, and I make it a chunky one for outdoors.  It looks stupid to be seriously overdressed, but I like to have on a piece of jewelry simply because it is girlish. 
  
  And I  can’t afford not to look girlish since I am big and strong naturally, with course dark hair, have a square jaw and rather strong features.  And then when I get grungy, and sunburned on top of all of that I begin looking like the man next door…so I try to do the girlish things that don’t cramp my fun. ( I would never wear high heels camping  That is for bimbos.)
• I try to keep my hands looking nice.  Nails filed and trimmed, wear a ring or five, and light nail polish if I have the time.  Light looks better when it is chipped and showing some wear and so looks better far longer than a darker colored polish. 
  
  
  
  
  
  I always keep polish on my toes, because again, it is feminine and I have pretty toes. Tee-hee!  Go bright on toes because I think it is pretty to have red peeping out of your sandals.  Dirty feet scream  that I am dirty all over so I make sure to wash my feet in a bucket every night.  I grease my feet with heavy Eucerin cream before bed so that my feet are soft.  I hate cracked heels and they look like trailer trash.
• 
  
• Wet ones or baby wipes are good for washing everything when in a pinch.  Hot weather and tromping around outdoors, and pottying in less than perfect circumstances, call for wipes.  They are discreet and invaluable.  I am not a pottying snob and will never let a bodily function come between me and a fun time so, be prepared by stowing a few in a zip lock and throw them in the backpack.
• 
  
• Use lotion so that your skin stays nice.  Don’t get dry and flaky.  Wash in a bucket of warm water with a mild soap and get mostly clean.  I read a book called Glass Castles, and the protagonist says that one of the important things her mother taught her was that you can get mostly clean in a cup of water.  I agree, but I like at least a half gallon.  I will pack that much with me if I have to.  Um, underarm deodorant, chap stick and tooth brush too.  I never wear mascara in the boonies, because it is just too hard to get off without making black raccoon eyes.  I can’t afford to have black under my eyes, and it never looks good when it gets wet and runs down my cheeks.  I feel it is too much hassle and I pay too big a price for black eyelashes, when roaming outdoors in the sticks. 
• My guilty pleasure: I have a Mio rotary facial scrubber  under the sink in my RV.  I use it to keep my face clean and exfoliated and my elbows and knees soft... when I have electricity.

So, in a nutshell, this is my standard toilette and what can do to stave off the uglies.   I get a few compliments and quite a few favorable comments.   I still want my husband to think I look snappy if I can't  be gorgeous.  I am just vain enough to be tickled when someone says that I look good in my grubbies.  It is worth the few concessions it takes.

Cool artist's studio in Lake City, CO

I am so envious!  This is the coolest art studio ever!

I love this roof!  I am certain when it is in bloom it is magnificent!  The lady is cleaning out and  planting flowers in the garden in the foreground and the artist himself was inside painting the 

walls.   They are getting ready for the tourist season  (summer) in Lake City, CO. 

Lake City is an artsy little mining town, similar to Creede, only more remote!

Here is a link to Lake City.

http://www.lakecity.com/

Click and take a look!  I could live here if it wasn't so darn high!

Random Artwork on Riverwalk, Creede

Lance and I took a walk in to the town of Creede from our RV Park, only about 3 miles round trip, just to get a little badly needed exercise.  We were delighted to see these random acts of artwork along the trail.  It looks like someone simply painted these few rocks and placed them about every hundred yards along the river walk.

I love it when someone waxes creative and then shares with everyone!

And these were under water!  I am happy they photographed well.

Here are some shoes gracing a storefront on mainstreet.  I guess one could call it art!

Mountain Views at the Rivers Edge RV Park and RV Resort

This is home until July 2, 2015 -

Critique:

It is very beautiful here at this park.  This is the entrance and look at the lovely rainbow!  Yes it is rainy this time of year.

This RV park has two parts: The resort area has spectacular lots for sale and they are
Be-au-tiful, along the headwaters of the Rio Grande. Because they are owned and not rented, the folks with he mammoth RV's worth 100's of thousands of dollars, maybe a million, have spaces here with they modify to there liking, with hot tubs, outdoor bars, elaborate landscaping and the like.  It is amazing and certainly out of our league!

After checking in at the passcode secured gate,  you drive the above promenade to the office to formally check in.  The "haves" are quickly winnowed from the "have-nots"  (meaning us) and we made our way to the RV Park area, which is much more run of the mill RV fare.  We have a graveled space, with full hook-ups, reliable internet, and access to laundry, showers, and clubhouse.

There are pros and cons to this place, like all places.

Pros:  Great scenery, great clubhouse with tables, pool table, events and activities.  The laundry room is ultra clean and modern with plenty of machines.

The grounds are great, even splendid on the RV Resort side.  The whole place is very secure and well run. Post office boxes to receive your mail.  Fully staffed office!

Cons:  Man is it expensive!  We pay $525.00 plus electricity, and the washers and dryers are 2 bucks each!  Ouch!  And, we get the distinct feeling that we are on the wrong side of the tracks.  It is obvious!  It reminds me of the Carol Burnett sketch where she is the flight attendant on a commercial airline, and Harvey Corman is an upper crust rich guy in first class, and Tim Conway is John Doe   in coach.  I am certain that you, dear Reader, can imagine the hilarious antics that that famous  threesome could enact given that set-up!  Somehow I feel a bit like Tim Conway!  Maybe it is just me, probably is.  It does come to mind though!  Each day, every minute,

That said, I am enjoying our stay here in this park!  Would I recommend it?  Certainly, but only to wealthy  strangers to whom appearances mean everything .

Now that I having said that, Lance disagrees.  He doesn't give it a thought and thinks that we with smaller rigs, are parked far fromt he office to give the impression that they are  very full and have a busy park.  Maybe somewhere in between  is where the truth lies.  Probably is.

Here's the link: you decide and let me know with a comment!
http://www.mountainviewsrv.com/

Freemon's ( Most Excellent Burgers)

 When asking the locals about the what to do and see in Creede, Colorado, the first thing they say is The Reportory Theater, and the next thing they mention is Freemon's.  We will hit the theater next week, but this week we decided to try out Freemon's and see for ourselves just why Freemon's is a must see destination spot around the area.

Freemon's is located on highway 149, about 16 miles away from Creede, and on the way to North Clear Creek Falls (fodder for another blog.)  At first we drove right because there was no sign indicating we had arrived, and we didn't know what we were looking for.  Off to the side of the road was a low slung log building, with a front porch and plant steps.  On the screen door were posters, flyers and announcements for every yard sale, funeral and fundraiser for miles around, but the door was open in welcome and we went in.

 Inside the place was abuzz with activity.  A line of a dozen or so locals were waiting to order from the menu on the wall which bore only a few choice;, hamburgers, cheeseburgers and  beer battered or waffle fries.  I think there was a grilled chicken option for the discriminating diner!  There were folksy people crowded around the handful of tables, all chatting and guffawing as if they all knew each other, and they likely did.  It was a very home town establishment.  

   

Here is a random table of locals.  These guys were on their way up to the Falls  and had to stop for a burger.  They loved that I took their photo!

This is my bacon cheeseburger! I took a bite before I remembered to photograph it.   It had a toasted and buttered bun, the good kind like you get from Costco,  a large patty well cooked, bacon, lettuce, tomato slice, pickles and a mess of fried onions.  The fries were especially good, but I don't know why...they just were!

This is the front porch that was devoid of people due to rain.  It would be wonderful in the sun!

Freeman's also sells a few groceries, mainly milk, eggs, bread,  and match's; that kind of thing.  There was also the predictable shelves of handicraft items, made by the locals that appeared to be in little demand.  Obviously the good burgers were the draw.      

On the way back from the Falls, we made a return stop at Freemon's for ice cream,  They are known for their good ice cream.

This little lady, Sarah has been working at Freemon's for 6 years.  She's  enjoyed her 50th wedding anniversary...and she is still scooping creamy ice cream and frying great hamburgers.  Freemon's was was definitely worth the drive..