ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

Night time temperatures finally rose above freezing, so we left Glenwood Springs, Colorado (vowing to come back) and headed for the town of Estes Park, just outside Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a relatively short, beautiful uphill drive along I70 and through the impressive Eisenhower/Johnston Tunnel. In the 1950's, gold was discovered as the tunnel was being dug and the mining of it paid for the entire construction project. When we stopped at a rest area right after the tunnel, there was snow everywhere. Although the spring melt had cleared much of the road area, a big mound of snow was still piled to the top of the restroom windows, making us wonder just how deep the snow gets up there in the winter.

At 11,000 ft., this plateau also contains archaeological sites from Ute Indian settlements. Tribes would trek from the plains of Kansas to this high altitude each summer to enjoy the crisp, cool air, frequent rains and bountiful game. It was their version of air conditioning in the summer!

When we arrived in Estes Park, we were pleased to discover that our campsite was right along the Thompson River and we were literally two minutes from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Doug was able to step out of his trailer and fish for trout right off of our picnic deck while Coco basked in the sunshine.

It was great to be back in Estes Park, where we stayed for our honeymoon. At that time, it was July and the mountains were capped with snow.  Now, it was May and most of the mountains were blanketed in snow, which made for a whole different experience of the Park. In fact, the higher portion of Trail Ridge Road was still closed. We were in awe of how there could be magnificent panoramic views of a winter-like wonderland, while at the same time, it was close to 70 degrees during the day at the lower altitudes.  

There was a variety of views and perspectives to behold everywhere you looked. 

Wildlife grazed everywhere. The rare sighting of a moose in the distance made us wish we had a zoom lens, but Sue managed to capture his image anyway. A family of Elk grazed directly across from our river deck every evening, barely noticing us humans.     

  
Doug happily painted snowy vistas at places we had visited during our summer honeymoon, creating entirely different paintings. 

 "Hallet Peak"

16x20 

   

"Avalance Alley" 

16X20 

"Long's Peak"

20x27

"Aspen Spring"

16 X 20

We originally reserved our campsite for earlier dates, but then bumped them forward in order to wait until nights were above freezing. Because of this, we could only stay four days due to incoming reservations. We found another campground on the other side of town. This one was on the side of a beautiful small mountain with plenty of hiking for Sue and Coco. Doug was happy to be closer to Thompson Canyon, one of his favorite painting sites. Unfortunately, there was a flash flood there in 1976 which killed 144 people, making it the deadliest disaster in Colorado's history. In 2013, a flash flood occurred again, but thankfully most everyone was evacuated, although eight perished. As we drove through the canyon and town, the trail the flood waters left behind was clearly visible and there was still some debris. This gave us a tremendous respect for the resilient townspeople who had rebuilt once again. 

"Thompson Canyon Light" 

16 x 20

"Big Thompson Falls" 

12 x 20

"Big Thompson Flow"

16 x 20

At this writing, we have actually been back in Pennsylvania for about 2 ½ weeks. The trailer is unpacked, the house is back in order and it’s almost as if we never left. Almost. But there’s something different now about “home”. After two years of extended travel out West in our RV, we’ve come to realize that we actually have two permanent homes. Our trailer has become as much of a home base as our house. We are less attached to our material possessions and would leave them behind at the drop of a hat for another opportunity to “hit the road” and head West. In fact, we will be doing just that every year from now until we can’t or don’t want to do it anymore. At the same time, however, we cherish our time back in Pennsylvania. Being gone for extended periods of time makes us appreciate, not only our family and friend connections, but also nature in our home state. We find ourselves more inclined to notice the  subtle beauty that surrounds us and Pennsylvania does not disappoint. When we left on Feb. 20, there was melting snow from a major storm. When we arrived home on June 2, a wonderland of fresh colorful blossoms greeted us as Spring was in the middle of putting on a great show.

On that note, we have come to the end of our 2016 RV Tour Blog, but not the end of our travels. Next year, we'll be going to Hawaii for two weeks at the end of January (we'll have to leave Conestoga Lite and Coco behind).  At the end of March, we load up and head West again, highlighting Sedona, Yosemite and Redwood National Park for Doug's Plein Air Workshop series, along with other beautiful stops along the way. For more information about Doug's workshops both in Pennsylvania and out West, visitwww.dougtweddale.com.

Signing off until next year .........

GLENWOOD SPRINGS SURPRISES

It was new and refreshing to see lush green mountains again after leaving the red and orange bluffs of Zion and the Arches.  

Although we had to delay our trip to Rocky Mountain National Park due to sub-freezing weather, we found a wonderful alternative at a lower altitude and warmer temperature. Nestled between Aspen and Vail, we discovered the town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado.   

Glenwood Springs is an old pioneer town, established in 1883 and originally named "Defiance". It was a typical western frontier town with it's share of gunslingers, gamblers and prostitutes. President Teddy Roosevelt spent an entire summer here and stayed at the Hotel Colorado. One of the major attractions is the naturally occurring mineral hot springs. Back in the days when tuberculosis was prevalent, the town became a health spa destination. The high altitude and dry climate helped those suffering from this disease and the hot mineral springs were thought to be curative. Doc Holiday, the famous gunslinger who was friends with Wyatt Earp, took up residence here hoping for a cure. Unfortunately, he was not cured, died at the age of 36 and is buried near the town. A bar in town bears his name and shops carry souvenirs honoring him and the legend of the shootout at the OK Corral.

Glenwood Hot Springs Resort lies in the center of town and was established in 1888 as a health spa. It exists today as a hotel resort with large, natural hot spring pools of varying temperature. We spent one afternoon drifting lazily from one pool to the next, giving our travel-weary bodies some much needed rest and rejuvenation. 

It wasn't all paradise at Glenwood Springs. We selected a campground that had high ratings on the internet, but was not what we expected. We were reminded that booking an RV site online is like buying a box of chocolates - you can never be completely sure of what you'll get. What was supposed to be a quaint campground nestled on a hillside was really RV sights slanted sideways at an almost vertical angle. The uphill walk to the showers and bathroom would be rated "difficult" in any hiking guide. Once you reached top, you realized cleanliness is not next to Godliness, but apparently mold is. We spent one night there (no showers) and couldn't pack up fast enough to leave the next day. Fortunately, we did ultimately find paradise at Glenwood Canyon RV Resort a location truly nestled in the beautiful green mountains, right along the Colorado River.

The same kind of intermittent rain we experienced in Moab followed us to Glenwood Canyon. The days started out warm and sunny, but a surprise thunderstorm was always just around the corner. This was a challenge for Doug as he ventured out to paint, but he managed to dodge the raindrops and maximize his painting during the dry weather.

Doug's sister Deb and husband Mike were still traveling with us and we all drove to nearby Rifle Falls State Park, where the falls were gorgeous! 

Naturally, Doug painted the scene, including the rainbow! 

The whole county surrounding Glenwood Springs is alive with frontier history untarnished by tourism. The valley and surrounding mountains are mineral rich and have been mined since the 1800's. We visited the town of Redstone, which was built by a company to make coke for steel production. Nearby coal was mined and placed in coke ovens that have been preserved and still line the highway today. A railway line was put in place and used to transport the coke when the ovens were active. During WWII, the rails were removed so the steel could be re-purposed. 

Next to Redstone, the town of Marble sprang up to house the workers that mined marble from the mountains. The Crystal River flows down from this area and beside it lies an old wagon trail that was used for transporting cut marble.
If a piece of marble broke, they would just throw it on the stream bank and leave it there. As you drive along this stretch, you see chunks of marble dotting the stream bank and can imagine the wagons hauling their load. 

Going into this unique town is quite an experience. Everywhere you look there are huge blocks of marble, discarded fluted columns, statues and carvings. Every house seems to have their own special marble creation. No telling how many buildings nationwide have been fitted with floors, steps and facades made from this beautiful white marble. 

In addition to the rich history of the area, Doug found unique vistas to paint. He went up to McClure's Pass at 8,900 ft. and covered in snow. Many of his paintings show snow-capped scenes from this area.

Speaking of snow-capped, we looked ahead at the weather in Rocky Mountain National Park and were pleased to see it had warmed up some over the past three weeks. Deb and Mike are heading home and we decided to forge ahead to the higher altitude and glorious vistas of Rocky Mountain National Park. After all, we have Conestoga Lite to keep us warm, as long as the lines don't freeze. 

TUSCON, ZION AND BEYOND

We traveled from the breezy coast of Monterey to the desert city of Tuscon so Doug could attend the 5th Annual Plein Air Convention and Expo., sponsored by Plein Air Magazine. Fortunately, it was the middle of April and the weather was beautiful, in the high 70's. The desert was alive with colorful spring flowers and there were different varieties of cacti literally everywhere! 

As many as 900 artists of all media types attend the Plein Air Convention each year. Highly respected and internationally known artists, such as Albert Handell are invited to give demonstrations and conduct workshops. This was the first time that Doug attended this prestigious convention and he was not sure what to expect.

The agenda was packed full and the days were long, beginning at 6:30am with an artist's marketing boot camp, and ending at 9:00pm with final demonstrations. Some time each day was set aside for plein air painting at various sights around Tuscon. It was quite a sight to see 900 artists descend on a state park with their easels. There was always a rush to find the best views near a shady spot. 

ON THE ROAD TO PHOENIX (20 x 27)

CATALINA STATE PARK, TUSCON (16 x 20)

All in all, it was a wonderful and inspiring experience for Doug and he already registered for next year's convention in San Diego, CA . He met many new colleagues and learned a great deal from the demonstrations. One of the invited demonstration artists, George Gallo, happens to enjoy painting in Bucks County and wants to connect with Doug to paint there sometime. Coincidentally, he has also been a guest at Yolanda Gurries' home in beautiful Garrapata, where we stayed just the week before. In addition to his artistic talent, George is a screenwriter with over 50 scripts to his credit. He lives near Los Angeles and wants Doug to visit and paint with him there.

We were excited to go to our next destination, Zion National Park, where Doug taught another workshop. Last year, we stayed in Rockville, about 30 minutes outside of the park. This year, we booked early at a wonderful RV park surrounded by bluffs, right in the town of Springdale, which is only two minutes from the entrance to the park. Doug was able to walk out of the trailer, face any direction and find a beautiful scene to paint. 

 Doug's sister Deb and husband Mike and their dog, Baxter, joined our RV tour. We all returned to "Blondie's Diner", where we first fell in love with Buffalo Burgers. 

Coco and Baxter made great travel companions: 

The weather was unpredictable, varying between 65-70 degrees with sun and 55-60 degrees with rain showers. Rainy weather came and went each day, so we became experts at dodging the raindrops. Apparently, a cold snap had impacted the entire southwest and temperatures were colder and wetter everywhere. One morning we woke up to snow on the bluffs, a rare sight in Zion and unique painting opportunity for Doug.   

 SACRIFICIAL  MOUNTAIN (20 X 27)

The rain storms actually brought the whole canyon to life. When the sun was out, the bluffs reflected the light brilliantly, having been freshened up by the rain. Colors became more vivid and shadows more dramatic. 

Green vegetation thrived in this weather, complimenting the bluffs to complete the magestic landscape. The river flowed and churned with a dull roar, eagerly transporting the new waters  downstream.

Doug enjoyed capturing the richness and beauty:  

THE NARROWS (22 X 22)

AFTER THE RAIN (16 X 20)

CANYON MAKER ( 22 X 22)

FALLS AT THE NARROWS (20 X 27)

MORNING LIGHT ZION (16 X 20)

SUNDANCE ORCHARD (16 X 20)

TABERNACLE AT THE NARROWS (22 X 22)

NATURE'S PAINTBRUSH (16 X 20)

ZION STRATA (22 X 27)

The next destination on our journey was supposed to be near the Green River in Wyoming and then on to Rocky Mountain National Park. In light of the "cold snap", we checked upcoming weather and discovered that nights were still below freezing in those places. In fact, even Denver had about 9 inches of snow. As you may recall from our prior blog, RV water/sewer lines and freezing temperatures are not the best companions.

We decided to skip Green River and still head towards Rocky Mountain, staying further south for a couple of weeks to let it warm up a bit more. Deb and Mike were still traveling with us and all decided to go to Arches National Park (still in Utah). 

The rock formations at Arches were really extraordinary - completely different from both Zion and Sedona. Most of the formations are made of soft red sandstone deposited 150 million years ago. A salt layer underneath the overlying blanket of rock rose up over millenia, forming domes and ridges. Over time, parallel fractures in surface rock eroded to form "fins". The arches were formed as the fins were eroded completely through.  

Some looked like Egyptian statues: 

And then there was Jabba the Hut: 

Always intrigued by unique rock formations, Doug had a variety of new creations to choose from: 

WINDOW AT ARCHES NATIONAL PARK (20 X 27)

BALANCING ROCK - ARCHES NATIONAL PARK (20 X 27)

ALIEN AT ARCHES NATIONAL PARK (16 X 20)

ALIENS AMONG US - ARCHES NATIONAL PARK (16 X 20)

Weather has finally started to warm and we are heading out of the desert and into the mountains. Our first stop will be Glenwood Springs, Colorado for a week and finally, Rocky Mountain National Park. Let's hope the warm weather continues!