Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Bears in Tucker Ponds

We’ve had bears appearing in Tucker Ponds Campground since July.  Recently the camphosts set up some Wildgame cameras around the campground to see if they could catch some wild in action.  Look what came through.

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First bear
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Pretty good size
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Is this a different bear?
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Dumped the cleaning products in can
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I see you!!!
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Tipped over the dumpster
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This bear a lot bigger
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Looks like this bear has been hit with rubber bullets before.
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Got pretty close to camera
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Pretty close walk by

We have very good camphosts in Tucker Ponds who are not upset by the bears.  They think there are three different bears coming through. All campers are informed of the bears upon arrival and the camphosts educate all campers about living with bears through literature provided by the Department of Wildlife and the Forest Service.  With the great care our camphosts are providing, we have been able to keep the campground open and the campers safe.

The Wildgame cameras also caught a few other interesting wildlife.

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Deer by day…..
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and by night.
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Fox checking things out
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“ah, that looks interesting”

Hope you enjoyed a night at Tucker Ponds and the wildlife we have up here in Colorado.

Remember, you are loved.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Catch Up

There are so loose ends I need to tie up, so to speak, before it all gets away from me.

We only have two weeks left in the season and I have at least four blog posts I am in arrears.  Then there are several photos I’ve taken that don’t make up a blog post but I still want to show them to you……so here goes.

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I thought this was a really cute photo of Poncho and Chorizo (Molly-that’s Beanie and Weenie to you) taken from the back.  They had spied a chipmunk and were watching it intently.

 

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Here’s the chipmunk they were looking at.  Cute little fellow! Several campers “train” these guys to come and get peanuts (raw and unsalted, of course). They will start placing peanuts by their feet, then on their knee and soon they are eating peanuts out of the camper’s hand. One camper went as far as putting peanuts in his shirt pocket and this one chipmunk would walk right up his leg and up his chest and literally climb into the camper’s pocket to retrieve a peanut.  All you saw was a bushing tail sticking out of his pocket like a handkerchief!  Chipmunks are a continual source of entertainment in the campgrounds and are great substitutes for comedies on TV.
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Here’s an itty, bitty homemade camper that stayed next to us one night. You can see how small it was. Two people slept in it and the man was way over six feet tall.  Don’t know how they managed, but they did.

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We went to Alamosa the other day and were in time to see the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad train repositioning.  This is a steam engine that is used for tourist runs from Alamosa to La Veta, Monte Vista and Antonito.  They have many novel trips like one for Mother’s Day, Polar Express around Christmas, concerts in La Veta with a train trip thrown in, etc. The owners are very innovative and it is a big tourist attraction even for people staying in our campgrounds here in South Fork.
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CIMG7966Here’s a photo of Jim Mossman fixing a drawer in our rig that had broken. He’s laughing because he is wedged in between the bed and the drawers.  He has bad knees and can’t rest on them to pull himself up. So he’s basically saying “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”.  I couldn’t resist taking a photo before my Jim gave him a hand.
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This is one of our regular Sunday afternoon potlucks with our camphosts.  That’s Lynn and Linda Drain in the foreground with the Mossman’s in the back along with Jim and all the puppies.

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CIMG7969 Leslie and Kathy came and camped with us last week.  They are from the Denver area.  When I stopped and chatted with them on my rounds, they mentioned it was both their birthdays.  After wishing them a “happy birthday”….twice…. I plotted an idea.  I invited them over to join us for “happy hour” at 4 p.m. and then I went to the store and bought a cake mix and baked them a birthday cake….you can see it by Leslie’s left shoulder there.  Boy, were they surprised!  I love doing unexpected surprises like this.  I just ask that they “pass it on” and do something spontaneous for someone else some time.
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The other day while in Alamosa we were driving down a side street in town and look what we saw sauntering down the road?  Deer have become very prevalent in Alamosa.  In fact there is a sizeable herd living out by the golf course north of town.  The deer have no fear of humans and bed down on front lawns all over town. 

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We had a great surprise yesterday when our friends, “The Two Lindas” drove 2 1/2 hours from Durango just to surprise us with a visit.  They work for a company that publishes maps for campgrounds and they are doing jobs in the Bayfield and Durango area.  They just recently bought a tricycle and wanted to see how it operated on the open road, so they took it for a ride to see us!

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The bike is very nice.
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I think Jim is Linda B.’s favorite guy.
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On the way home.
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And away they go!

They are coming to stay with us for a few days later this week and we will be so happy to have them around again.  Last time till next year, so I’ll have to spoil them rotten while they are here.
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This is Walker and Indy….the Mossman’s dogs.  Unfortunately, our dogs won’t play with them as our dogs aren’t very social, but they have all agreed to not kill each other and just ignore one another when they are together.


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CIMG7989Here we are last night peeling shrimp in preparation for making Coconut Shrimp with a pineapple/habanero chutney.  But then I forgot to take a photo of the finished product….dah!!!

 

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Later on in the evening Jim brothers, Ron and Don, came by to visit.  They were spending the weekend at their cabin up the road.  It is always nice to have them come by….we don’t see enough of them.


Lastly, here is a cute little “vehicle” ???? I saw in Monte Vista one day.  Talk about claustrophobic!!!!!!
Cute vehicle Well, that’s it folks…..that’s all the odds and ends of photos I’ve taken that can’t stand alone for a blog post.

I’ll really try to post the other four posts I have of a few trips we made recently.  That’s in between raking, emptying fire pits and my daily swishing toilets.

Remember, you are loved.