Stacer Days: Colorado Day 9

Day Nine: Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The rain started at around 3:00am that night and didn’t cease until 4:00pm. We hung around the house for a while to see if it would let up, but I could tell by the clouds that the rain would be with us for a while.

Adam did a few "iPad puzzles"

So, we slowly packed up and got in the car and headed north. It wasn’t until we got to the intersection of highway 149 and highway 50 (at the Blue Mesa Reservoir) that we decided to turn left and head toward Black Canyon of theGunnison National Park. We drove about twenty minutes beside the reservoir and the rain kept getting harder and harder. Alan was uneasy with our decision and eventually turned us around back toward Gunnison. We figured if we got all the way over to the park (another fifty miles) and it was still raining so hard, which the weather patterned indicated that it would be; we wouldn’t be able to see anything at the park. That park is mainly scenic overlooks down into the canyon, so if visibility was low, it would not be worth it. So we drove back to Gunnison, found the nice warm Subway and had lunch.

After lunch, on the way out of town the rain slowed to a sprinkle so we thought it would be good to stop at one of the many little parks along the reservoir and let the boys get out and run around a little bit, just to stretch their legs and burn some pent up energy. After several tries and muddy sink holes later, we pulled in to “Neversink” Park. We saw a trail leading down toward the river and checked it out. It was still raining a little but the boys all put hats on and I grabbed my rain jacket. It was perfect, the trail ran along the river and it was comprised of crushed granite, so it was not muddy. On the other side of the trail was a fenced field with eight or so horses and a mule. One of the horses was taking out his id on the others and riling them up. Every now and then the horses would take off running the whole length of the field. It was neat to watch. They looked like wild horses. So, a level nice trail, a pretty river on one side and a field of frisky horses on the other; made for a nice leg stretch break. The boys took off running most of the time and Alan and I even chased them a little, which they thought was fun… they don’t see me run much anymore. There was a bridge and a side creek… neat place. With such a unique name, we’ll remember that one for future leg stretches. Funny thing, neither one of us took a phone or a camera... so I've got nothing but that story.

Once we got home and unloaded, the rain stopped for a while and Alan decided to go fishing. The boys and I bundled up (it felt cooler and crisper outside) and took a long walk around town and landed back at the town park playground.

"Town" from the far side of the park.

Boys headed for the playground.

So far this trip we have walked down there mainly in the morning so it was nice to sit out there in the afternoon when the sun isn’t bearing down. I sat in the comfortable bench and watched them play. This time they were searching for other kids who might head for the playground and pretending to protect their turf. There were a few kids, but they were locals just moving through the park on their way to somewhere else.

Proof that Mama was there.

Some dark clouds chased us out and back to the cabin for supper. Before it got too dark though I took a few photos that Alan and I had been meaning to stage. Every year we've come to this cabin we have a photo of one or both of the boys standing out front. I wanted to reproduce that...