Chama-Toltec Scenic Railroad

The Chama-Toltec narrow-gauge railroad runs for 64 miles between Chama New Mexico and Antonito Colorado. It crosses Cumbres Pass at an elevation of 10,015 feet, making it the longest and highest such railroad in the country. Built in 1880 to tap the booming mining business in the area it operated until 1951. Since 1970 it has been operated as a tourist attraction by a joint Colorado/New Mexico commission.



We decided to take the train from Chama to the half-way point and back rather than goingall the way to Antonito because that looked like the most interesting part and because we didn't want to leave the fur-kids cooped up in the RV for too long. The train that day was a "double-header", meaning that it took two locomotives to pull it up the mountain. They put the second locomotive on when there are more than eight cars - we had nine. The second engine droped off after the train completed the steep part of the climb.



Much of the grade going up is at 4 1/2 percent. That does not sound like much but it is steepest grade that trains like this can manage. The boilers are coal-fired and require manual stoking. The two-man engine crew must shovel continuously all the way, taking turns. The engines could be converted to use automatic stokers but they cannot be modernized because they are registered historical objects.



The scenery was magnificent, with lots of brilliant fall color.



The half-way is at at place called Osier Colorado. It was once a small but thriving community but now consists of nothing but a few of the old buildings including the depot, which houses a dining hall where we were given a good hot lunch of turkey and meatloaf, with a wide choice of desserts. After that is as down hill all the back to Chama at 15 to 20 miles per hour.

The Fur Kids

Allow me to depart from the sight-seeing reports for a moment and tell you about our traveling companions.

We are accompanied by three fur-kids; a 12-year-old Himalayan cat named Peekaboo, a three-year-old puppy named Mr. Zax and a brand new kitten named Kiki. Peekaboo is a crabby old lady that sleeps in the closed most of the time but the two youngsters are very active, get along beautifully and are great fun. Here they are in one of their quiet moments, snoozing in the lounge chair at 60 miles per hour.

Rocky Mountain National Park 2008

We visited Rocky Mountain National Park for a few days last fall and liked it so much we made reservations for a full week this year. The park is located just outside Estes Park Colorado at an elevation of about 8,500 feet. Fall is a favorite time of year there because of the turning color in the aspens and because it is rut season for the elk. We were a little early for the color but the elk were magnificent.

Our camp site in Moraine Campground overlooked one of the large meadows where the elk gather for their annual mating ritual. We could watch them from the site or go down to the meadow for a closer look. One morning we were awakened by bugles close by and found a herd right outside our window.

There were several dominate bulls, each with a harem of females, plus a lot of younger or smaller bulls waiting for their chance. The typical larger bull is a "six by six", meaning that he has six points on each side of his rack.

Occasionally there is a fight for dominance between bulls but they are usually short and end with no serious injuries. The females seem to have a "boys will be boys"attitude and pretty much ignore the whole thing.

We had a little adventure while there, taking the nine mile Old Fall River Road
up to Fall River Pass at 11796' elevation. This is the original park
road over the pass, completed in 1932. It is unpaved, narrow and
winding, but not too difficult. As it turned out the most harrowing part of the drive was the 25 mile return to camp on the highway. We had neglected to watch our fuel level and were running on fumes. Fortunately it was down hill all the way so gravity brought us home safely.

Sand Sculptures - Harrison Hot Springs BC

After the Washington kite festival we went north to the village of Harrison Hot Springs in British Columbia, host to the World Championship sand sculpture competition featuring some of the planet's best sand artists. The village is located on a beautiful alpine lake about 50 miles north of the US border and 100 miles east of Vancouver. This year's event was held on September 2 through 7. We arrived a week early and stayed for a while in nearby Sasquatch Provincial Park. It rained every day but by the time we moved down to an RV park in town for event week the weather had decided to be nice.

The lake-side competition includes events for solo, pairs and team carvers. Entry is by invitation only. Competitors are paid all expenses including travel, plus appearance money and the chance to share cash prizes that this year totaled 64,000 Canadian dollars. It was reported that the number of entries this year was the largest of any sand sculpture event in the world.

Construction of a sand sculpture starts with the setting of large forms that are filled with sand and densely compacted. Forms are stacked to achieve the desired height.
The forms are removed one by one to expose the blocks of sand. Carving begins at the top, with the lower forms used as work platforms. A variety of tools including masonry trowels, spatulas, makeup brushes and soda straws (for blowing away loose sand) are used.

When the blocks of sand have all been shaped additional carving and decoration is done around the base. The finished work is sprayed with a mixture of water and white glue that preserves it for several months.

Some sculptors think "outside the box" and extend their work below the surface. This one called "Deep Sleep" was my favorite and won the People's Choice award. The logic behind the concept eludes me but it is an amazing work.

The detail on this figure, just part of a large sculpture that included two other figures, is amazing. The wire protruding from the top of the head is to keep the birds off.

You can't have a sand sculpture event without sand castles. This is one of several.

The title of this piece is "Delivery".

Here is the First Place award winner in the solo division, won by a young artist from the US whoes name I will add later.

Joani and I throughly enjoyed our first sand sculpture event and hope to do more of them in the future.