Ft. Smith Murals

The downtown of my home town, Ft. Smith, AR, is looking up these days. Old buildings are being restored and repurposed into restaurants, shops, offices, etc. and they are doing a fine job. Recently, artists were invited to town to paint murals on some of the downtown structures. We took my Dad on a tour of the downtown area to see the results. We were all impressed with the quality of the art.

 My favorite: Image is "carved" into a stucco coating

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Labor Day 2015: Table Rock Lake, Missouri

With the difficulties inherent in trying to get the entire family together over the holidays, Tami and Charlcie decided on a family week-end at another time. Labor Day worked out for everyone this year and we met at a resort near Branson. It worked out great and we had a fine time. It was the first time for cousins Liam, Charlie, and Tucker to see each other. The only regrets were that Grandpa Charley was not able to travel and be with us, and it was sooooo hot! I think everyone would like to do it again next year!

What a fine group!

Tami, Liam, Tucker, Charlie, Charlcie

Ryan, Liam, Kalen

Safety around the water

Feeding the ducks, geese, turtles, fish

Lots of time at the pool - a great pool for kids

Trip Out West 2015: On the Way Home via Cochetapa Canyon

To see some new sights out of Gunnison on our way home, we took Highway 114 south through Cochetopa Canyon. The Cochetopa River, a typical western meandering stream, parallels the highway for a long distance and then out into the prairie away from the highway. I had read about this small stream in some of my flyfishing reference books, so was interested in seeing it. I hope that I am able to get back and fish this remote and beautiful stream some day. We saw only a couple other vehicles for most of the trip through this area.

Trip Out West 2015: Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Charlcie and I have been to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park a few times and find it to be a stunning natural wonder. In all their travels, Mark and Burnis had not ever visited this amazing place, so we took a day trip over from Gunnison. We did the rim trail in the park and viewed the canyon from the many vantage points provided. We also went down the switchback road down the East Portal of the Canyon to show them where we had camped on a previous visit and also to familiarize Mark with the flyfishing opportunity at the bottom of this beautiful canyon. One of the most impressive places we're ever camped and fished.

 Charlcie on the edge

 Mark and Burnis playing tourist

 This place is amazing

 More tourists!

Checking out the surroundings for a future flyfishing expedition

Trip Out West 2015: Fly Fishing Float on the Gunnison River

Three weeks out west around some of the most iconic flyfishing locales, and the inability for me to flyfish due to my shoulder surgery. UNTIL....we met up with the Koehlers in Gunnison, where they were RV camping. We spent a few days with them and had a great time. Mark hired a guide to take us on a full-day raft float on the Gunnison River. Charlcie and Burnis went shopping. A good time was had by all. A great day on the river for the guys -  nice water, nice weather, nice fish, and nice company. I was able to participate since I could make short casts left-handed, which was doable from the raft, especially since the guide did all the hard work, including netting the fish. The only glitch of the day was a capsized drift boat ahead of us - the folks made it to shore OK, and the swift water rescue team completed the very difficult and dangerous task up righting the boat and freeing up the channel so we could continue the float after about an hour. We had a fantastic ending to the day with dinner at the Blackstock Bistro in town, where our guide Cameron was the cook for the night - everything about the place was super and the food was the best we had on the entire trip - we will return again and again.

 Getting ready to board

 Mark is set to go

 Cameron the guide is set to launch

 20" Rainbow - my best fish to end the day!

Swift water rescue team try to free a capsized drift boat

Trip Out West 2015: Buena Vista/Leadville

 Buena Vista Whitewater Park on Arkansas River

 Kayaker at the Whitewater Park

 Mural in Leadville

Concrete sculpture in Buena Vista Park

Fairplay: U.S. Pro Challenge Bike Race

A pleasant surprise! We found out about this race when folks in town warned us the highway would be closed for a few hours for a bike race. We then discovered this was the U.S. Pro Challenge Bike race - a 7-day televised affair with riders making the trip from Steamboat Springs to Denver. It so happened the road off the highway to the cabin was a great vantage point to watch the racers. This was our first experience of this nature, and we got to view it up close with just a handful of other folks from the ranch. We didn't realize what an amazing spectacle this is, but as you can see from the pics, it is quite a show. We loved the filming helicopter hovering around us a few times before moving on to other groups of racers.

The long line of State troopers on motorcycles preceding the racers

And the long line of State troopers in their cruisers

The lead pack of 5 riders with support vehicle and TV camera on motorcycle and helicopter

About 5 miles from here to Fairplay

We were told there were rougly 130 top racers from all over the world

Fairplay: Visit from Mike and Laura

My cousin Mike and his wife Laura were able to come down from Saratoga and spend a couple of days with us before flying out of Denver, back to their home in Whitewater, Wisconsin. They are always good to visit us, and we were excited they took the time for a little relaxin' with us in Fairplay. While at the cabin, we never miss an opportunity to take an evening drive on Forest Service roads up to the summit of Weston Pass. The scenery is like so much of Colorado - beautiful. And, we also are on the look-out for wildlife. On past trips we have encountered elk, deer, and even a moose. No such luck this time, but the evening was well spent.

 Laura and Mike

 Laura and Mike at our favorite old mining structure at Weston Pass

 Laura and Charlcie

 Laura and Mike

 Large plane that flew very low over our heads at the pass (no markings that we could see)

At the summit: a little breezy up there!

From Wyoming to Colorado: A week in Fairplay

We tacked on some time in the cabin in Fairplay, Colorado. I usually get to spend a lot of time fishing, but not this trip. We really did enjoy just being tourists for this visit. The cabin is so cozy and is within reach of many of our favorite places to visit. We were excited that our good friends from back home were able to visit us for the day - Mark and Burnis Koehler were touring the country in their RV and they spend a lot of time in Colorado. Since they were staying nearby, we were able to get together for lunch and a nice visit.

 Burros on the road to Weston Pass

 One of the two burros we see each visit to the Fairplay cabin

 With our friends Mark and Burnis Koehler

Antelope on the road to the cabin