Headwaters of the Rio Grande and an Amish Dinner

We celebrated Ron's 59th birthday by taking a trip up to the Rio Grande Reservoir, outside of Creede.  We are very lucky to have met Joe and Cindy, campers here at Alpine Trails RV Park. Joe has spent a lot of time in the Creede area, so we didn't even need a map! Our first stop was at the scenic North Clear Creek Falls, past the community of Bristol.

Drought conditions have the water flow cut back.

As we travel down the jeep road, it was easy to see where the wildfire they had a few years ago was.  The scarred area is bright and green with aspen trees.  We can't wait to see the fall foliage! Next stop was Road Canyon Reservoir, down FSR 520.  FSR 520 is a scenic 18 mile gravel road that runs along the Rio Grande River.  In the wintertime this is a popular ice fishing lake.  The reservoir is located in the Rio Grande National Forest.  Elevation is 9,270'.  This will be an excellent reservoir to bring our canoe to.

Geese

Pretty views on the drive

The road less traveled.

We kept on down the trail to our destination - the Rio Grande Reservoir. This is the headwaters of the Rio Grande River.  It's just beautiful here!  There are campgrounds and creeks too.  We are looking forward to coming back here and pitching a tent and launching our canoe.

Look at that rock overhang!

You can see how low the lake level is.

One of the big things to do if you're in this area is to stop at Freemon's in Bristol.  They are reputed to have the biggest and best hamburgers!  And they serve ice cream and make milkshakes, malts and floats.  We stopped for a look around, but just didn't have a big enough appetite for all that food!

The next day at the park, many of the campers gathered to celebrate June birthdays and anniversaries.  Homemade ice cream and cake for all!

Homemade butterfinger ice cream!

There is an Amish community settlement of about 30 families outside of Monte Vista.  Friday was their Amish School Dinner.  It was fun and interesting.  They live off the grid, but they have built beautiful homes, many of which are solar powered.  This was our first time to visit an Amish community and I found it very intriguing.  They served a great meal!  I think the highlight was getting your choice of pie - I chose peanut butter and it was the best I have ever had. Other choices were pecan, blackberry, peach or apple.  And they served it with a bowl of homemade vanilla ice cream.

Cranking away making home made ice cream!

Check out that homemade peanut butter pie and ice cream.

The absolute best fried pies ever!

Quite an assortment of buggies.

And horses

We caved in and bought a dozen of their fried pies. Oh yummy!!!!!! I don't think I've ever had one that tasted this good!

Colorado has about 8 wildfires today.  Here's a picture of the smoke you can see from the fire that has closed Hwy. 160 at La Garita Pass.

You can see this fire.

The sun was sure orange masked in some smoke from the Durango fire.

The smoke sure makes for a vibrant sunset.

It is very dry here.  They need their monsoon season to start quickly!  The winds in the afternoon really kick up. If you go ATV riding, you really get dusty.  We are looking forward to more jeep rides next week!  Until then...…