TWIN LAKES, COLORADO

Sometimes when we are working we almost forget where we are. Then you stop and look around and see the mountains.

Mount Princeton after recent snows.

The snow had never left but with the recent snows the peaks are covered again. Today and tomorrow are days off so we decided to do a short day trip again. We headed toward Leadville but turned off on Hwy 82 heading toward Aspen. Just a few miles down the road we came to Twin Lakes. We tried to get some pictures but it is just so difficult to capture the vastness of the scenes we are viewing.

Twin Lakes with Mt Hope in the background

According to Wikipedia, the town of Twin Lakes, near the base of Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado at 14,440 feet, has a population of 171, and is at an elevation of 9,200 feet. It has a General Store which seemed to be getting stocked up for the season. The Coca-Cola truck was there along with another truck unloading supplies. The village Visitor Center still had a closed sign on it. I guess we were just a few weeks ahead of the busy summer tourist season. Sharon likes it that way. We don't have to hassle with traffic or crowds. We just meander and do our thing.

Visitor Center behind sign

Twin Lakes General Store

We drove twenty miles up the highway before coming to a "Road Closed" sign. I don't know what elevation we reached but Independence Pass is over 12,000 feet and we had gone a lot higher than Twin Lakes. There was quite a lot of snow. We must have been getting close to Independence Pass because we saw a sign that said it was closed. We kept seeing signs saying no vehicles over 35 feet so, don't bring your RV guys. We also saw several groups of mountain goats or mountain sheep, I'm not sure what they call them here. As Sharon says, "Whatever". I kept thinking we would see elk, bear, moose or some kind of wildlife other than the goats.........we did not.

ROAD CLOSED

It was another scenic ride so close to Snowy Peaks RV Park. It reminded us again of where we are and how many awesome sights are within a short drive. I'm sure we haven't begun to see the many attractions, but we are seeing some and found a fun way to spend our afternoon off. If you have a chance to come this way and you enjoy mountains, there are some magnificent sights to see.

Mountain snow with frozen lake at bottom

              WHEREVER YOU ARE IN YOUR LIFE AND TRAVELS, ENJOY THE JOURNEY.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A WORKAMPER?

Workampers perform a variety of chores. We have only worked in four different RV parks but each one has some similar jobs and some jobs specific to that park.

Sharon has worked in the office at each park and each one had a different reservation system. Sure, there are similarities, but there are differences which must be learned too. Having a lot of phone experience with customers has definitely been a plus for her. Just being able to keep from getting rattled when multiple things are going on in the office is a learned skill. (I don't want to do that).

SHARON AT SNOWY PEAKS OFFICE

Mowing, raking, cleaning, mopping, painting, and escorting RV's to sites are common at every park. At this park we pump propane (not all parks sell propane) and pump out sewer tanks. Some sites are water and electric only so, once a week (more or less) those rigs must have the "Black tank" = Sewer, and "Gray Water" = galley and shower water tanks emptied.

I am told it is an "easy" job and it's not a big deal to hook on a hose, start the pump, and open the valve. :) Today, it wasn't that easy. The pump was hard to start, the handle on the gray tank was broke off, the sludge in the black tank wouldn't flow, until their hose broke and then it did, all over. Yuk, what an odiferous mess. I almost gagged. Ok, Owner Mike says, "You did gag". Alright, I have a sensitive gag reflex. Don't laugh, if you had been there, you would have gagged too.

GAG ME

How about a glass of tea guys?

My mentor and instructor Gary did not gag, but stayed right with it. He did not flinch but cut the broken hose, got the adapter on the end of it screwed on and hooked up again.

MY WORKAMPER MENTOR-GARY

The hose/tank was frozen and/or stopped up and it took a lot of flushing from inside and out to get things pumped out. FINALLY, this "easy" job was done.

What a learning experience. The only redeeming part of this adventure was that the young lady in her tight, black, stretch pants seemed to really appreciate our efforts. In fact, she invited us for tea. However, after the mixture of fluids we had just seen, no one was interested in swallowing any liquid.

THANKS GUYS

Thanks Gary and Mike, for showing me how to pump out the tanks. If this was your worst experience with it, maybe next time will be easier.


            WHEREVER YOU ARE IN YOUR LIFE AND TRAVELS, ENJOY THE JOURNEY.

SPRING STORM

In what profession can you be wrong time and time again and no one cares or calls you on it?? In fact, people are often happier when you are wrong.

IT'S TOO DYNAMIC

For three days the weather service predicted a snow storm with up to a foot of snow for Chaffee County and Buena Vista, CO. Most of the locals said it wouldn't happen but the forecast became more ominous each day. I woke up early and got up at 5:30 to take Sophie out and shovel her a spot to go do her business. Much to my surprise, there was no snow on the roadways and only three inches or less on my truck and in the grass. Sophie had no problem prancing through the snow and finding an appropriate spot. In fact she led me on a merry little walk about the park before deciding she had enough of this winter/spring white stuff.

MAY 12,2014 SNOWSTORM

Although the weather service was way off on the snow, they were right-on with the temperature. This morning it was 26, as they predicted. If they can be right two nights in a row, the low will be 22 tonight and 18 tomorrow night. Too cold for the middle of May..........right?

Some of you may get another blog email with only a picture. I sent one to blogspot with my cell phone and for some reason the text did not appear. So, I'm doing another one with my laptop. Hopefully, this one will all show up with the text.

I know this storm is heading east and I hope all of you in that direction can stay safe and avoid some of the bad storms heading your way. If a bad storm is forecast from the weather service, it is difficult to know if this is one of those times when it will be right. To be on the safe side, take it serious and be happy if they miss it again. After all, these are "dynamic" storms and can be very serious.

dynamic-(of a process or system) characterized by constant change, activity, or progress. Oh, maybe as a weather system characterized by constant change. Well, I see, no wonder the weather service has such a time being right. :)

I don't think anyone here cared that we missed a big snowstorm except the school kids. And that's about the way it has always been. Anyway, hang around a few days and you will experience real spring temperatures with "plenty" of sunshine.........if this is not one of those "dynamic" weather systems.

Plenty- a full or abundant supply. This is a weather term which I have noticed TV weather people using the last year or so.

Vortex-a region within a fluid where the flow is mostly a spinning motion about an imaginary axis. You can plainly see how the weather term "polar vortex" came about this winter, right?

Well, my lesson on weather terms is over. Stand by for News!


              WHEREVER YOU ARE IN YOUR LIFE AND TRAVELS, ENJOY THE JOURNEY.