Fairview RV Park

I took a walk in the park the other day. The park is so huge, 407 sites, that a person could get lost, or at least get quite a bit of exercise! These scenes are just below the upper level where our rig is parked. The fall colors are beautiful.

This little cabin is used to house exercise equipment for the campers. There is a pretty pond beside it, to the right in the picture, with a table and bench.

And here is the pond. The fountain is running continuously. I wonder if it gets cold enough here for the spray to freeze.

The pond comes complete with ducks! Hence the sign in the first picture. I'm imagining that in the spring and summer there are lots of ducks and ducklings and maybe some geese. Today there were only these 2 mallard couples swimming around. They were quite friendly! City ducks used to being fed, I'm surmising.

The park has 4 levels. The first level has the entrance, the office, the swimming pool, laundry, restrooms, meeting room, and is where the off-season overnight campers are put. Heading back up the hill from the pond (it was a short walk after all!) I pass the second level where these long-termers are staying. The spaces are neat and well kept and the RVs are newer models, the park standard.

Time to go back home, the end of my walk — climbing the incline to the first level where we are parked. That's my 'house' showing through the trees! I have decided that on the next sunny day I will take my iPad and maybe some duck food and sit by the pond. I hope my feathered friends will be there!

Around Town

Mr. Keith and I took a Sunday drive just around Cheyenne to check out some places we'd earlier driven past. In late April we visited the Botanical Gardens, but the grounds had not been planted yet. This time there were lovely plots of flowers everywhere. I didn't take any photos of the flowers, not sure why, but we did love this walkway through a swampy area next to a tiny, reedy lake where some boys were fishing. The signposts had little blurbs about life in the marsh. It was a delightful place to walk, teeming with dragonflies and red-winged blackbirds along with other wiggly critters in the deep grass.

There is a larger lake near the Gardens, also. Small groups of people, adults and kids, lined the rail fence with their fishing poles propped up, hoping for a catch. I liked this view of some of the many ducks and geese keeping cool on a hot day. Old, gnarly willow trees shade the shoreline, and huge cottonwoods add to the beauty of this place. I've read that the cottonwood is the Wyoming state tree.

The Wyoming Governors' mansion, built in 1905 at a cost of $33,000 and used to house the Governors and their families through 1976, is a commanding sight. It's open to the public, restored to its former glory to the tune of $1,000,000, and is right near to the majestic State Capitol building, which we will tour on another day. The tour guide showed us a video about the history of the 4 story mansion and then left us alone to wander through the rooms as we liked. Here's a funny - I've begun using my cane when I know we'll be doing lots of walking, just to give some stability to my old arthritic hip, and when she saw it, she told me I could maybe just make it up to the second floor but not the third floor or the basement because the staircases were narrow and steep. Hmm - throw me a challenge! The stairs were indeed steep, but we had no trouble, and it was well worth the climb. The rooms are beautiful. I especially liked the grand piano we found in the library!

Hunger pangs hit us after our visit to the mansion so we headed for fast food. Frequently we will each want to visit a different restaurant. Mr Keith chose Taco Bell and I preferred McDonald's, so we drove through both, got tacos for Keith and an Angus burger for me, and headed down to Holliday Park where we ate and watched the large population of Canada geese and these domestic white geese, with a few Mallard ducks mixed in. I wish I had been quick enough to snap the hilarious sight of about 50 Canada geese following a little boy who was tossing pieces of bread to them. He truly was the Pied Piper! I did put my camera into action when these white beauties came up to the car. They quickly gobbled up the remainder of my hamburger bun, squawking loudly the whole time. We will come another day with plenty of bread crumbs and let ourselves be entertained by these seasoned moochers. There is lots to see in Cheyenne, enough to keep us busy for the rest of the summer!

Denver's Riverfront Park

Denver is known as "The Mile High City", but since we've been working in Colorado I've wondered why the little prairie towns to the east actually have a little higher elevation than Denver. I think the reason is that Denver was built along the Platte River, which created a valley between the prairie and the Rockies. This is the mighty Platte, right near downtown Denver, from one of several walking bridges crossing over the river. There were lots of people out enjoying the warmer, sunshiny weather, many walking their dogs. These folks on the shore were letting their Labs swim in the river. It was fun to watch.

Here is Mr. Keith, out on one of several rocky causeways positioned to control the flow of the river. He is looking at the iPad, just to strike a silly pose. Better not drop it!

I am standing on the walking bridge. Notice the colorful apartment buildings right on the river. If I were to live in Denver (and could afford it!) I would chose this view of the Platte.

I love this picture of mallard ducks dozing on a sandbar. Doesn't it look like a face? There were pigeons, gulls and Canada Geese all enjoying the warmth, the water, and the folks on shore tossing treats to them.

We found a hotdog vender on the overlook of the confluence of the Platte River and Cherry Creek. Couldn't resist having a hotdog for me and a Bratwurst for Keith. I shared bits of my hotdog bun with a lone pigeon who was brave enough to come close.

This is the hotdog stand, set up with everything one could want on a dog, Polish, Bratwurst, and just plain hotdog. Both our choices were very yummy and the atmosphere made them all the better.

I love this photo of the enormous apartment buildings all around the park, with their glass reflecting the winter sky. What a view they have — skyscrapers on one side and the Riverfront Park on the other.

As we headed away from the Park on our way to the Cherry Creek Mall we saw this amazing sight. I'm not sure what it represents. These 30 foot high figures are near the Performing Arts Center, so perhaps they are dancers. Beautiful! They seemed to be waving good-bye to us at the end of our pleasant day in Denver.