"It's a Twister, It's a Twister!"

Auntie Em, Uncle Henry???

So.... heh heh...... I decided to head out to a local (well sorta local) geocache at a Cemetery in Peyton.

What?       I am picking out my plot SOMEWHERE....lol

I drove to it, and seems like its Private Property?? I Never heard of a "closed" cemetery at 6pm...
I went over to the little Fire Dept down the street and asked about it, they told me it was fine to go in, just close the gate after I leave.

Got the geocache, and saw this... thought of my Dad (Not in THAT way... geez). My dad buys fishing lure's.

Then started to go to a second cache and wanted to take a shortcut....

This guy was a stubborn as.... well You get the idea.. as many times as I yelled to him....

...he would not smile.

Ok, so now its starting to rain.....   and Getting bad.  Wind coming at my car sideways and hard, and Now pea sized Hail...
But... I am on  a bendy road, so I push on.  Now marble size Hail...
Rain in sheets from the side... Branches down on the road...

If I opened the passenger side window... I got soaked... so I couldn't capture a photo... it was Pitch Black too....
Blue skies on one side, black on the other.....

I was freaking out,  The sound was deafening.

I took shelter from some of it near 2 large trees...
Then.. 15-20 mins later -  It vanished.....

What was that????  What did I experience????

YES FOLKS = I was in a small TORNADO!!!!

OMG!

Looking backwards of the area I was near after I had drove off....

Saw this... and yes, It's raining again HARD... 

"There's No Place Like Home,  There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home!"

and to leave you w/ a 

funny photo for the finale

Where's my "Get out of Jail Free Card"??

Over the river, and through the woods.

Not to grandmother's house... but to ancestor's homesteads I found....

Ok, Today was the longest trip by far...Colorado Springs to Salida, CO! That's 100 miles! Not to mention all the back roads, high roads, and off roads, and winding roads........ 

"Where we're going we don't need roads"... 

Oh yeah........ we do.

Ok, so to start... I woke at 6:15 am...

headed out at 7:30 am, forgot my purse....

re-headed out at 8:15 am after returning home....

Canon City (pronounced Canyon)

Took that train, not today, It's worth every penny!!!  

I would love to take this helicopter ride someday... 4-8-12 minute trip at $10-$11 a minute.

Ok, I was trying to snag 12 or so geocaches... and 1 was at the gate to "SKY LINE DRIVE"

Sounds .......cool.... No???

Didn't find the cache... and no where to turn around... so Up to the Sky Line Drive I shall go....

BAD Move Keri!!!!

This road has no sides in some places... on either side... so you are suspended like on a road... I SWEAR!

and if you do get to a turn off ... Looking down....

I white-knuckled and prayed all the way to the end... and on 1 turnoff...

I called my Mommy!!!!

NEVER AGAIN!!!!!

Cool "Holy" Rock...hee hee

Along Rte 50 and the Arkansas River.

Now I headed past the Royal Gorge.... why Bore you all again... and headed to Salida....

These were.....somewhere... I forget now where.

Tried to find a geocache here.. 

Look at the dead center of the photo
(where the short tree is)

it bends to the right... this is a road to what was once a homestead.

Click on photo to make larger, red star is where I parked and walked to the area marked by yellow pin.

I didn't find the cache
(I didn't find 11 of the caches I planned to get) 

But I did find the remnants of
a mountain lion's kill of a deer....

TIME TO GO... I aint Dessert!!!!

 Air Mail!!!

I Love old R.R Tracks....

Stopped to have some lunch and snag yet ANOTHER cache which was also missing but I got a great burger / fries / peanut butter cookies for puppy, and a strawberry Sobe!!! Mmmmm

On The Road again...

On CR 69

I found these on a homeowners property, he came out as I was pulling up... 

He granted me permission to take these pics.

Cool Guy From Texas!!!

Scamp needed to stretch his legs, I needed to pee.... 

He got his paws wet... and a belly full of the Arkansas River....

 Robison Mansion

8 PM I am home, Puppy's sound asleep, and 2 hours later (as I type) my body is still "vibrating" like I am on the road still.... 

BAD FEELING!

...And the Rockets Red Glare.....

the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

 Happy 4Th of July...............Happy Independence Day.

Thank You to the men and woman fighting for our Freedom and to those who have served.

Where the deer and the antelope play.....

Well, Hello there!

I decided to make a long trek out to Simla, CO today.
No definite plan on what to do, just winging it.

I packed a backpack with my geocaching tools - pen, list, GPSr, and swag (stupid useless stuff to leave in a regular cache.)  Puppy stayed home today, so at 11am-ish I headed out.

Snagged a couple geocaches first... (Geocache - A treasure hunt using a GPS, satellites and coordinate's from a website to find Tupperware or ammo boxes and even film canister's w/ log books to sign)

Sample of what a Geocache looks like

Calhan, CO
I decided to stop here and visit the "Cadillac Jack" antique shop.... Mama Mia this building is huge and filled w/ the weird and Unusual! PERFECT! The owner was so nice, and talkative!
Stayed about 30 minutes, and got too hot.... so back into my car w/ A/C blasting.

I loved this lil guy, he tried to race me in my car... I  just barely beat him.

X- Marks the Spot?

Can I get some privacy...I got's an Itch!

Simla,CO

I did a Geocache in this motel of little log cabin's. The property owner knows about it. She greeted me as I pulled up to her office. I showed her how a Travel Bug works (little trinket that has a dog tag attached by a chain, Tag has a tracking number on it, where as you can see where the item has traveled, like a "Where's George $1 bill). We also talked about her book, my blog, and New England... she was soo sweet! If it hadn't been 97 degrees w/ no shade, I'd have stayed longer.

Snagged 2 caches while here, one of them in a cemetery (Colorado Spirit Quest series.)

This was on some guy's property...

Matheson, CO

I Stopped to photograph this -

 and this.

Decided to keep going to Limon, and got another few geocaches. I called my mom after a quick snack - Water, and Twinkie's! Ok, sugar level replenished. She mentioned a Train depot and museum... COOL!

Took me a while to actually find it, and had a malfunction w/ my camera.

I did salvage a few shots....

 I stayed long enough to sit at a R.R. Crossing and watch a mile long train pass and then a few more shots along the way. I also placed a geocache in Calhan at a Cemetery.

Time to head home....... BUT......

A cool storm came through Fountain, so I chased it.....

Pretty sweet! It was a Full bowed Rainbow, and I went all the way through it... like a Gate....

9 Hours later, and nausea's from the heat... I am home. I am just about out of ideas of day-trips, feel free to make a suggestion... Bear in mind I have an old car... a 97 Tracer that is not able to trek too far. 

No 4x4 in it either....Only mild paved and smooth unpaved roads allowed. Til Next time.. Thanks for reading!