We finished our last work week, Labor Day weekend. We said good bye to all of our work camping friends and hit the road! We drove two very long days to get to Arlington, Texas but we made it safe and sound. We are settled into Treetops rv park which is where we have stayed before. It is almost like coming home! But I have jumped ahead. We had many days of just hanging out at the park, but we also hit the road twice more. Once to Aspen again and then Cripple creek another day.
Our trip to Aspen was specifically to hike the Maroon Bell area. The Maroon Bells are located in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, (near Aspen), and are considered to be the most photographed peaks in Colorado. You have to take a shuttle bus to reach the trail head unless you go before 8:00 a.m. Or after 5:00 p.m. We took the shuttle bus up with Remi on our lap. It was the first time he has been on a bus and he did very well. Everyone wanted to pet him and he was very nice about even though somewhat nervous. The hike up was beautiful and we even found a little trail off the beaten path that led to a beautiful waterfall! I can se why it is so photographed here. My iPhone does not do it justice.
Our other trip was to Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek is a small ghost town in the mountains that now allows low stake gambling. It was once a very large mining town that eventually all but died because of the bust in gold mining. It has a new take on life with the gambling. We use to go up there from time to time when we lived in Canon City. We didn't gamble but looked around a bit and shared a delicious ice cream!
On the way home we stopped at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. I'll be honest, that stuff doesn't really thrill me that much but it was close so we stopped in. We didn't stay long as they wouldn't allow dogs on the trails and we couldn't leave Remi long in the truck. So we did a fast walk through and got on our way.
I also met up with an old friend of mine from when we lived in Canon City. We use to work together when I was running a non profit program called Baseline Training. We hadn't seen each other for about 15 years. We had been very close so it was great to see each other and catch up. We did a little hike together in Buena Vista and had a BBQ back at the rig. She sells a health/weight loss supplement called Plexus and is doing very well with it and of course she works full time as a counselor too. I am considering joining her in this endeavor but I just haven't decided yet! It would be an easy fit with our travels and a way to possibly supplement our travels. We shall see!
Here are a few photos we took around the park.
Our time so far in Texas has been hectic. I quickly hooked back up with the marketing group I worked with here before, Interactions Marketing and got a day at Costco marketing some products. Aka, hand out samples and tell folks about the product. Easy money and really fun. We also hooked up with a company called County Fair Foods and signed up to be vendors at the AT&T sports arena. Meg does it and we thought it would be fun way to make a few bucks. We sold soda, water and Gatorade at the Dallas/San Francisco game. Poor Cowboy fans! It was sort of sad seeing their sad faces as Dallas got spanked once again! We didn't make much, but you have to suffer through two games of selling snacks before you can move to alcohol. As you can imagine, that is where you make the money. Meg sells margaritas at $16 a pop! She made $165, we made around $50 each. Who wants soda for $5 when a beer is $8?? So, hopefully after this Saturdays UCLA/Texas game we can move over to alcohol. If not, my vending career will end. I also have 5 more Costco days scheduled so that will bring in a bit at $17 an hour. I wish I could get that work everywhere. It beats the heck out of scrubbing toilets at Rv parks! I am also going to be a Mystery Shopper for Doctor offices. I just got that gig today and I need to do some online training before I start. It sounds kinda fun snooping on Doctor offices and reporting on their customer service. I'll update you in the next blog. We are certainly finding many ways to make a buck. And there seems to be plenty of work if you hustle a bit. The recession is over in Texas, no doubt.
It is great seeing Meg! We have been to one game and we had her and her two best buddies over for dinner tonight. I love feeding hungry kids! Ha, young adults I should say. We also have both gotten to the chiropractor which includes a massage which we both needed desperately! Our time here will go quickly and they are even saying a cold front is moving in!! I hope so!
I love reading about your adventures and am taking notes on places I want to visit. My favorite picture is of Sean and his friend, Skeleton. :)
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