Nucla Trip, with all it's beauty.

Had a few days off over the weekend, and so we got to go home to Nucla and see Mama, my sister Barbie and hubby Larry were also there from Farmington, so it was a great time.
Ayngel and Ed and kids also live in Nucla. Ayngel is our niece, who is a busy author about to finish her second book, and has many award winning squidoo articles.

Heading there (100 miles away) is always a treat.... so many beautiful things to see as we go along.  This year has been a "dry" year as far as snowfall, not nearly what we need yet, but for what we do get we are thankful.

So, as we headed up over 9 mile hill, and through Unaweep Canyon we could see there was a slight dusting of snow on the tops of the mountains, and the fields still had snow on it, so we did not get to see deer and elk herds there.  But it was beautiful.  The dusting of snow just brought out the cliffs and all the beauty.  There were rock climbers out at the beginning of Unaweep, (this will give you detail ) they are there rain or shine, enjoying the sport. We went past Driggs Mansion, and it is still partially standing under Thimble Rock and still very beautiful. Looked a lot like the picture in this link.  The link is from another blogger in years past, however the correct story is the wife came to the mansion, but in 6 months wanted to leave as she was so isolated. 

Here is a picture of it right after it was built between 1914-1918.

Our favorite water fall was still silent, and full of ice, all though with a few more days of the 40's and 50's that we have had it will be running.

Here is a few Springs back... isn't it beautiful?

Then we come to Gateway.  If you have not heard about Gateway and what has happened to it, it has become quite a place, called Gateway Canyon Resort .  It is beautiful as you can see.  In these pictures you can see the canyons around there and the farm land around as well.  Our son-in-law Micah was on the first building crew that helped build it, and he enjoyed it alot.  They are now adding to it.  Looks like more guest space or perhaps help lodging.  If you are a fan of antique cars it boasts of one that cannot be beat. We love it. 

Here is a picture we took of the scenery from the parking lot in a past visit.

After leaving Gateway which is about half way home, we headed into the beautiful red canyons that seem to stretch up to the sky forever. As we wind in and out of the canyons I wonder what stories they have to tell. We go past many mines that once were busy with Uranium, and past Urivan, nothing is left of the city that was there... my Mama used to play in a band in the the dance hall there, past the petroglyphs, and the flume and onto Mama's house.  I will share these places with you later, so you can see how special they are as well.

It was such a great visit.  It made me realize that it had been way too long between our "Nucla Breaks".  Again I realized how blessed I am to have found my family and be a part of their lives.  See my ealier post, "A Tale of 2 Mothers", for that story.

Did not see any deer until we were on our way home, 1/2 mile from our house, a 2 point buck, headed into a farmers field! That's Colorado for you!

Hope you all had a blessed Valentines!  My honey took me to Red Lobster and I was spoiled rotten!

Hugs xxx