Wings of History, San Martin, Ca

Discovered an airplane museum in San Martin, Ca.  Gary and I had gone to San Martin to return an item at Camping World when we saw the sign for the museum.  Didn’t take long to go through the museum, about 30 minutes.  Great museum with private airplanes that were built from kits

 

Very small plane with very small engine.

part car, part helicopter.  Built in Mexico, it did manage to fly for about 5 miles.

side view

This is the front part of a plane which was owned by Ray Charles.  The museum could not afford to move the whole plane, so front half had to do.

Museum hours:  Tue & thur  10 to 3

            Sat & Sun   11 to 4

donation $5

www.wingsofhistory.org

Bent’s Old Fort Historical Site

Great place to visit to see how forts played a role in Manifest Destiny.  Bent’s fort was started by 2 brothers along the Santa Fe Trail.  The fort became a stopping place for pioneers on the trail and was a successful trading adventure.  Mexican laborers came from Taos and Santa Fe to build the fort for the Bents.  There is a great short film that talks about the history of this wonderful fort.

Buffalo hide press used to make bundles of the hides for easy transport.

store

Gunnison Wood Carving and Car Show

Beautiful day in the park.  Mom, Dad, Gary, and I went into Gunnison and were rewarded with getting to see the chain-saw wood carvers at work on one side of the road and the car show on the other.

Gunnison Pioneer Museum

The Gunnison Pioneer Museum is well-worth visiting.  Cost is $7.  The car section was very good.  The only thing I did not like was that the items were not identified.

dynamite warmer

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, North Rim

The sun was shinning so Gary and I drove the 52 miles to the north rim of the Gunnison.  Sure was a pretty drive.  We enjoyed the day and the beautiful scenery.

camel rock

snake in the road

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Gary and I are in Gunnison, Colorado staying at a Western Horizons Campground, Blue Mesa.  We were here our first year out and went to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, however, it was raining when we got there so we did not get to take very many of the walks to see all the park has to offer.  This time, it was a very sunny day and we were able to walk out to the various points and see the canyon.  On the way to the park, we stopped to see the Dillon pinnacles, just a spot on the side of the road.  Very enjoyable day.

Dillon Pinnacles

Gunnison River, 2300 feet below the rim

Painted rock.

I’m always amazed at the different types of trailers motorcyles pull behind to store their possessions.  Thought these were unusual.  Do these remind you of coffins?

Rocky Mountain national Park – Day 5

Went to Lilly’s lake today.  Gary did some fishing and I took a walk with the ranger led group about flowers.  Great info.  Some of the photos in this Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 5, come from different areas of the park.

The ranger stopped to talk about this flower and we noticed a yellow spider crawling up onto the leaves.  Once it got there, it folded up the leaves and hid underneath.  If you look closely at the folded leaves, you can see part of the spider.

This otter lives in Lilly’s Lake

Lilly’s Lake

Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 4

Day 4 in the Rocky Mountain National park was another great day.  We wanted to cover an area we had not seen, so we headed for sheep lakes.  We found out why it was called sheep lakes as 2 ewes with their lambs were around one of the lakes feeding.  Gary set up the spotting scope and we really got to see them up close.  We like to invite people to look through the scope, especially the young-uns.  It’s great to hear the reaction of the kids when they get to see through the scope.  After the lakes, we decided to travel Fall River Road.  Great choice.  Got to see some waterfalls.  It is a one-way road that ends up at  the Alpine Visitor Center.  We stopped there for lunch and sat at a table where we could watch the elk on the mountain.  Then we traveled back home on the Trail Ridge Road and since the weather was clear and the construction had moved further down the road, we were able to make some stops we had missed and to see a lot that we had missed.  I think I’ve worn out the words “wow” and “awesome.

Sheep lakes with 2 ewes and lambs.

Chasm falls

This marmot was eating something in the road and would not move.  We had to go around him.

Rocky Mountain National Park – Day 3

A wonderful day 3 in the Rocky Mountain National Park.  We went to the Moraine Park section today.  Hiked around Sprague Lake, up to Alberta Falls, and around Bear Lake.  The wild flowers were blooming which added to the beauty of our hikes.  Gary fished a little at Sprague Lake but wasn’t able to hook one.  There was a wedding going on at Sprague lake while we were eating lunch.  I could sit at one of the benches all day and watch the mountains change colors as the clouds moved across them.  When we were kids, mom would take us outside in Missouri and have us try to figure out what the clouds looked like.  I saw an elephant, birds, and numerous other animals in the clouds today.

Sprague Lake

Alberta Falls

This is the picture used for the Colorado quarter.

Bear Lake