June 12-22, 2022 Fort Collins, Colorado

 95 and sunny. We made it back to Fort Collins. 

 Driving east on I-80 with a tailwind. One last fill up. With the tail wind we got 10.1 mpg!

Woo hoo, welcome to Colorado! 4 hours of driving and then 4 hours of unpacking the bus, up and down stairs in 95 degrees to our place above the garage. We are whooped. Sunset a couple days ago. We both have killer colds. Tested neg for covid, so just sick and my back is still killing me, so not much activity. 

The city  threw a block party so we could meet with city people in .the park 1/2 block away. There was drinks, snacks, games, police, fire etc. people. The Fort Collins Police command post and me sitting in the SWAT armored vehicle. We got to see some really high tech drones. 

 

John got to visit with former coworkers and I got a tour of a fire truck at the city block party. It is always reassuring that we have dedicated officers and equipment protecting us. The right half of a gigantic thunderhead last night at sunset.

The left half of the same cloud. There was a big storm south of us for hours last night, nice lightening show. Flowers in Old Town Square Fort Collins.

We had dinner on our deck.  The weather was lovely. We have been having the same homemade chicken soup for days. Each day we add something else so it seems like a different meal. It  must be helping, our colds are much, much better. I am gong to have to start selling some art, I am running out of room to put it. Baskets on the dining room table.

Baskets on the chest of drawers. Baskets in the living room with a couple of older glass pieces I made.

I finished  Rainbow Dance. It is combed glass I made at the glass expo in Las Vegas in May, but I finished it off by slumping it into a bowl mold. I am going to try some more with this technique. I bought this new wet tile saw so I can cut thick pieces of glass. I am working on a pattern bar technique.

The sun setting on me cutting pattern bars in the backyard. The pattern bars before cutting.  I arranged the pattern bar slices in molds and fired them.

This is how they came out, top side and back side. I did not have enough glass in the top two , so they did not fill the mold. Meanwhile John is BBQing cauliflower steaks to go with bbq pork and farro pilaf. They came out yummy.

I slumped last night. The River piece that I made at the glass expo was flat when I brought it home, I slumped it into the wave mold. Trying to decide where to mount it on something, or leave it as is. I also slumped the two not round pattern bar pieces. 

June 10-11, 2022 Fort Bridger to Rawlins, Wyoming

 High of 85 and sunny.

Entering Wyoming we had to have our boats checked for aquatic invasive species. We passed. Drive by shot of the the Great Salt Lake, welcome to Wyoming, golden banner and wild iris, statue of Jim Bridger, and the sign for Fort Bridger State Historic site and museum. we passed the turn off for the Golden Spike National Historic site in Utah, it is where the transcontinental railroads from the east and west met. A ceremonial golden spike was driven in to it on May 10, 1869. 

We are now camped at Fort Bridger RV camp.

A few more rows on the masterpiece today. It is about 9 1/2 inches across. Beautiful, historic downtown Fort Bridger, WY. 100 people live here. 

One  of a handful of businesses in downtown. You can get liquor, beer, gas and groceries here. The blacksmith shop is temporarily closed now. 

 

Old wagons. Jim Bridger trading post, you can get appliances, groceries, souvenirs, root beer floats and fireworks here.  I looked in the window and it looked like mostly souvenirs. 

Fort Bridger State Historic monument. I didn't go in, it looked like it would take all day to see it. New cabins, $1.00 and up is also part of the monument.

Cool looking 5th wheel with 2 patios. It is 50 feet long- with the porches inside and 71 when it is attached to the truck. Sunset tonight.

89, sunny and wind with up to 45 mph gusts. Another long day of driving. Fortunately it was a tail wind and we got 10.7 miles to the gallon driving to Rawlins.  We are now camped at Western Hills campground in Rawlins, WY. I finished adding needles to the masterpiece. It is 9 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches. I have to touch up the stitches around the beads and do something to the center. 

A few signs around the RV park. The bottom is the miniature golf course. The bus is in the middle of the photo at Western Hills Campground. 

Light on the hills and virga to the south,

Sunset. 

June 8-9, 2022 Glenn's Ferry, Idaho to Snowville, Utah

 High of 80, cloudy and rainy.

We crossed the time zone line. Boo. I have enough trouble getting up in the morning and now we lost an hour. Fuel at Farewell Bend, Good bye Oregon, hello Idaho. We are now staying at Y Knot Winery, We drove the Oregon Trail all day today and a mural on the water tank at Glenn's Ferry. 

We are at the Y Knot winery for the night. The tastings here are not person to person, you buy a flight of 5 wines that you choose and have no server describing the wines to you. We didn't really like them and did not buy any. 

The bus at Y Knot winery at Glenn's Ferry, Idaho. Nice view. The remnants of dinner in the vineyard. I made Italian sausage soup, served with home made bread. 

Sunset tonight. We filled up the tank in Twin Falls, Id. Only $5.59 a gallon. Welcome to Utah, we are staying in Snowville, UT, a ferruginous hawk. We past the sign for Miracle Hot springs, with alligators. 

High of 87 and mostly sunny. A long day of driving on the flat, dry plains of southern Idaho. All of downtown Snowville, Utah. Being an old ski bum I thought maybe the town had lots of snow, but it is named after Lorenzo Snow, who was president of the LDS church in the late 1800's. Town has about 170 people in 1.5 square miles. Two gas stations, a motel, Mollie's cafe, with home cooking and the RV park we are at and the church. 

We are at Earp and James RV park tonight.

Next door is this log cabin. The bus at Earl and James RV park. 

The masterpiece is starting to take shape. The dichroic star fish I fused is very sparkly in the sun. Looking from the RV park at town. 

Dinner tonight with a tractor. Evening light on our view.

Sunset tonight.