Changing Colorado weather

In just a few days,
our hikes went form this

to this

Cool, eh?

This is not a day

for expresso on the porch

We're up at 9,670 feet

in south central Colorado, in the Sangre de Cristo mountains once again.

And, while there is snow in the taller mountains
















and there is a nightly frost 

there still is a lot of yellow, 
and even a few green aspens remaining.

It seems strange for the end of October.
But it must be the numerous early freezes and snow falls 
that has brought about such a late change in colors this year.

Going West once again

We left Arkansas before the colors changed this year 
and headed for Colorado, past Trinidad, just north of the NM sate line on IH 25.

As we headed up Highway 12 towards Cuchara and La Veta,
we were surprised to see their colors are changing late.

Here we are at the Segundo church, the second in a series of coal towns
west of Trinidad, on "The Highway of Legends".

While the long car ride can be tiring,

Colors just kept getting prettier along the way.

And now.... the rest of the story

Imagine: 

as you sit and enjoy 70 degree weather in mid October...

lots and lots of fresh water lakes.

Arkansas just seemed too good to be true.

So, we did a little digging. And found 3 things that ruled out our moving here:

1) Temperatures in July and August reach 100 for a few days.
And humidity is in the 80s to 90s.
Quite a bit like Texas...but with fresh water.

2)  And, this really burst my bubble:

http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/retirement/T055-S001-state-by-state-guide-to-taxes-on-retirees/compare.php?ids=4-6-32-44-5#zTb8YcWuQodD8ORw.03

... a comparison of State Taxes.

It's hard to give up an additional 7% of your retirement income,
even if it's to live in a fresh water paradise!

3) But, the deciding factor was when we saw 2 of these fellows crossing the road, 
within 3 miles of each other:

It doesn't matter if you get experts to tell us these > 3 inch creatures are completely safe.

There is NO WAY you will ever get my wife to hike these Arkansas trails again.

Living on the water in Arkansas

With so many lakes around AR,  can you imagine.....

having your boat docked right behind your house???????

Yes, that's the view from where we are staying.

And at only $ 110 per square foot......Arkansas sure is tempting!

What to do in Hot Springs.....

While we don't necessarily need it to cure our livers,

we hope a trip to Hot Spring's Bathhouse Row 
will perhaps cure some other "impurities" in our system.

And, if that does not work......

maybe a consultation with Zoltar will give us some good advice......

on how to bet on the ponies.

Visiting "The Natural State"

We are on the road again, this time visiting:

With 51 inches of rain a year, there are a lot of water things to see and do.

And, while the colors will suddenly change in November,
you can already see the beginning of Autumn.

At the beach, we wondered what made people do the things they do.

LIke.... 

why do they drive a relatively new truck through the salt water?

Or...

decide to feed the birds, when there are hundreds of them,
ready to join in a free lunch.

Or...
why they decide to spend the night on the beach,
when there's a storm in the Gulf?

While most got away, many had to leave their campsites due to the suddenly rising water.

But, what really surprised us...

was how people decided to walk through high water that formed a lagoon, around the portable toilets.

What's there to do along the Gulf

There are a  lot of fun thing you can do at North Padre and Mustang Island........

like fishing off the jetties,

taking a dip into the waves,

or paying attention to the birds,

maybe trying to figure out the specific source of these foot prints,

or just taking a look at other beach life.

But....
the most enjoyable thing to do at the beach is...

watching your your dog play in the water!

Having fun in Mustang Island

We left Colorado about 2 weeks ago.
And after being in the "city" for this long, we decided to head for the beach.

So, we went to Mustang ISland State Park, on a barrier island just outside Corpus Christ
and next to the northern-most tip of North Padre Island.

This video form the official site of the park, describes it best.
So here it is for you "internet travellers" to enjoy.



Ready to join us there?

A Colorado Autumn "walk" with your banjo-strumming friend

We made a YouTube slide/video of our old autumn pictures.
You might have seen many of these pics form a prior blog.

But, if you have nothing to do...
pretend you are out for a walk with your banjo-strumming friend, in early October,
back in the days of the "Wild West" along the Sangre de Cristo Montains of southern Colorado.