My Sunset Years

 I departed from the "Small Acre Farm" around 4 PM. After crawling in traffic through Estes Park, and still ending up in the wrong lane 2 times, I arrived in the Glacier Basin campground around supper time. Estes Park was a cross between Leavenworth and Las Vegas. What a contrast to the park, minutes later! And, yes, that is a power line coming straight through my campsite! It turned out that Glacier Basin is right at the hub of two bus lines. Despite 90º heat, I was determined to have a short hike. I took the northern bound bus to the end of the line at Morraine Park. It was still a 3/4 mile hike to the trailhead. I enjoyed the valley floor scenery, but I gladly accepted a ride back to the bus stop. Too hot!!! After breakfast in my tent due to a small rain shower, I headed for the other bus line. The most popular destination was South to Bear Lake. It was crowded, but it did not impress me. So back to my car and off to cross the park to my campsite on the west side.  It was ...

The original inspiration for this trip was the announcement of a 3-day fiber arts workshop in Fort Collins, Colorado. This event was created and hosted by Tedi Jansen and Toot Gradisar. Well, Toot is a woodworker and helped us make fiber-related tools. There were several guest instructors and many workshops to choose from. I decided on wet felting, botanical dying, and blue (and green) dying. The workshops were in their barn, which doubles as their house. No problem with the heat except for my fridge chest! They also raise Finn sheep. My wet felting workshop taught us how to make a cobweb shawl.  On Saturday, a group of 12 of us were exposed to 4 kinds of botanical dyes. Logwood for purple, Himalayan Rhubarg for gold, Cochineal for red, and fresh indigo for green. We also harvested flowers from TeDi's garden. Tedi supplied us with silk ribbon, a silk scarf, an ounce of wool yarn, and a cotton dishtowel. Play away!! My last workshop was called "Blue" but it included overdy...

 I learned about a 3-day wooly workshop in Colorado that happens every July. I also had friends camping in Idaho slightly before. I put together a plan to go out to CO via Montana and Wyoming, and returning through Rocky Mountain National Park, Utah and City of Rocks. Timing was based on approximately 5 hours a day driving, and the hope of stops at interesting sites as well as a few back roads. It came together in pieces, and sometimes with hope for a large dose of luck.  First night - Fort Spokane in eastern Washington. All reservations in unknown places are a roll of the dice. It turned out my site was away from the "popular" sites and the clusters of families. The next morning I went to see the historic site of a military post and later (1900-1907) a boarding school for Native American children. Only two buildings are left. One is a barn with a museum inside. There is also a walkway around the property.  The next two nights were with "Sunshine Friends" at Bell Ba...

 A year has slipped by. 🙀 Update on animals....Two Rhode Island Red hens have survived and they now have a wonderful coop, half in the shed and half in a very secure run. They still have ratty pals.  Pippi finally passed on the 5th of July. Now Abby has turned 14 (maybe) and sleeps a lot. The vet thinks she has breast cancer. She is still wagging her tail and getting into garbage. The very wet spring weather has reduced the visits to dog park. Also she seems to have some sciatica and getting into the car is more difficult. I had two winter trips. One to my favorite house in Mazama (Methow Valley). That was cross-country skiing. Three weeks later a group of 5 gals rented a house in Leavenworth. Oh what fun! We did a day of snow-shoeing but it was a semi-disaster for me. Somehow I kept tripping and falling. I gave up and opted for a little cafe with great coffee and scones! The best thing in the past year was my college gang celebrating our 80th at Vassar, in October. I paired ...

Almost one month in...Good weather means working on the yard and outside of house. Good news is - I found a handy couple - former students of mine!!! And, they live just up the road. They will start helping me next week, which means I need to get the garage in order. I am so happy I have a garage - overflow flexibility! Last week I went camping with Rena, Dave and the girls at Cape Disappointment. I tried out my new idea of a tent attached to the car. It was great until I went to bed in the car. My mattress scheme was too minimal - waking up several times in the night with arms and legs numb. The next night I added Rena's Thermarest. So comfy, but it made my bed too high off the road. I used a crate as a stool with fear of crashing though it. And, every time I sat up, I bumped my head on the roof. But I did sleep well! Pippi had several days of not keeping her food down, but she is back to her "normal" self now. She is 22! I take Abby to the dog park almost every day. Lat...