Colorado - Part 1

I know - I haven't posted anything for over a month...so fire me.  Actually I have been in a flat mood, malaise, down, what ever you want to call it, but now I am climbing back up the ladder and feeling good.  Right now as I look out my window, we are having rain drops and dark clouds, which are heading southwest.  I was sitting outside watching the lightening, some very spectacular cloud to ground strikes, and listening to the rolling tympani across the sky.  The birds were flying everywhere, and as I watched, a hummingbird lit on a branch, and came to rest.  It is rare for me to see them that way.  Such a tiny thing, and so beautiful.  They are very plentiful here, coming up from Mexico and further south.  Soon they will be making their way back.

My trip to Colorado was wonderful.  Just four days gone - what a spectacular drive into the Western Slopes.  I didn't take any pictures going to Redstone, where I was staying, because I was driving the Million Dollar Highway.  It is spectacular and for some, very scary.  A two lane highway, with no guard rails, narrow lanes, very tight hairpin curves, sheer drop-offs on both sides, going up to about 12,000 feet or more.  It is called the Million Dollar Highway because it is said that each mile of it cost one million dollars.  While on it, we had a thunder and lightening storm with heavy rain.  Matilda was very brave, and got through the tension with no apparent after effects.  As for me,  I just loved the scenery.

After I settled into my room, I went to find where Joe and Louise, and Jeff and Jean were staying.  I backtracked about six miles and took the road towards Marble.  More about that later.  Louise and Joe no longer camp where Jean and Jeff camp.  But they have come to the same spot for 36 years, Joe coming for 38 years.  I always told Louise that I wanted to see where they went every July for 36 years, and now I have.  The campground where the action was is in a national forest, and the Crystal River runs along side, for the convenience of the trout fishing crowd.  Jeff, his daughter Julie, and Joe are all trout fishermen.  And I had the pleasure of Jeff grilling me up a trout he had caught that very day.  Yum!

Here is one picture of the Crystal River...

 
And here are the cast of characters I went to see...some of you will recognize two of them!

Jean is next to Louise, and is her younger sister.  I haven't seen  Jean for many many years.  Jeff and one of their daughters, Julie, I had never met before.  They haul a collapsible trailer which is really neat inside.  More room than I thought they had.  As happy as they look, they had just lost their only brother Ron, a week before they were getting together.  He died of a heart attack while vacationing with his family in Minnesota.  

Louise and Joe and I drove up to Marble, Colorado, about 10 or 15 miles from the camp ground.  What a fascinating place it is.  It is called Marble because in the mountains exist marble quarries which have pure white marble.  I believe Louise told me that it was of a finer quality than that of the Carrerra quarries in Italy.  We drove down to where the marble is brought down and stored.  A big crane was actually picking up a huge piece of marble from the flatbed truck as we walked over...

Joe is over looking at small pieces of marble that are put in boxes for people to take with them.  I picked up two of them in a box in Redstone, and they are now with my rock collection which Matilda protects from burglars...The crane takes the block and carries it over to where it will be stored after it is inventoried and marked...

The numbers are hard to read in this photo, but the first two numbers are the year - the next numbers indicate its place in line.  Or how many blocks have been cut before it.  The woman guiding in the block has put timbers on the ground for it to sit on, then she will put in pink magic marker, the tonnage, and then using stencils, spray paint the year and its number.  The initials under the number indicate the quarry.  Some of these block say "made in the USA" because they may be shipped out of the country.  

There is one block, a huge block, which sits by itself on a flat bed, which is sinking into the ground.  It is going to be the new Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery one day.  Apparently the present tomb is cracking and will need replacing.  When it is to be done, it will be shipped to Carrerra, Italy, where it will be carved, and then reshipped back to the USA...here is the the huge marble block...

Beyond where Joe and Louise are standing are the remains of the marble factory...

We walked down to the Crystal River and to the bridge which leads up to the quarries.  We weren't even going to think about driving up there! The Crystal River has been the recipient of numerous slabs of marble that have fallen off the trucks through the years...

and the signs on the bridge are cautionary tales at their best...

While walking back to our car, I saw an old piece of rusty equipment sitting under a tree and in high grass.  On closer inspection, it was an old road grader...mmm!  I wonder if it is for sale.  I know a couple of people who like old equipment.  One of them lives in Elkton...

When we left the quarry site, I was given a grand tour of the town of Marble.  It is an old and very small town, but it has a post office, and a library, and a charter school.  There are artists in residence and most of the town's roads aren't paved, but it doesn't matter to the residents.  Everywhere one can see pieces of marble in folk's yards, some carved, some just broken or unwanted slabs.  Louise said there was a carver's workshop going on in the town, which happens every year.  We stopped at a lovely gift shop, with huge carved marble pieces outside, and smaller pieces inside, along with some very beautiful jewelry and other things.  I really liked these two pieces outside - one of bears, and the other, puzzle pieces...

This is the end of Part 1 of my Colorado adventure.  Part 2 will be written and sent tomorrow.

Life is getting better!
I love you,
Sally