Ione and Manfred Woog

On the west side of Allan's house live neighbors, Ione and Manfred Woog.



They also have a sandstone cliff in their backyard ...

and some lovely gardens.



Manfred is originally from Germany and a bit of a 'crazy scientist'. But he is also a gardener and very proud indeed of his garden's production.  His favorite crop is his golden raspberries, a berry I have never seen or tasted before. I know why he is so proud, they are delicious!

Ione stays busy being a friendly neighbor plus keeping up with Manfred's latest adventure. 

You see, Manfred has a cave in the sandstone that he has turned into a laboratory.

  

And I got an invitation to go inside.

At first it seemed like a standard office, though in 'slight' disarray.

A Rock Star.

Then I spied this...he wasn't kidding about 'creating stuff'. 

The cave actually went back much further than the office...

and occasionally I wondered about the construction.  (Note the onions from the garden that are hanging to dry.)

Manfred tried to tell me about some things he has invented but he was talking to a science illiterate.  When I let it be known that my 12V system in the RV was acting up again he jumped at the chance to cure my problem.

The one thing everyone learns when they tackle anything in the RoadTrek is that there is no room to work--and whatever is wrong will be impossible to get to unless you are a contortionist. 

But Manfred found one thing that was very, very wrong.  It seems a fuse had received an extra large jolt of electricity--and caught on fire!  

The RV could have burned up!

I don't know when, or where, or even why.   I never smelled smoke.  The only clue was that the 12V battery had ceased to gain or hold a charge unless I was plugged in to shore power.   Manfred replaced the fuse and the 12V is working. But could it happen again? 

 

The Woogs were a delight and Allan is very lucky to have such fun neighbors.  And I was pretty lucky to meet this 'mad scientist'.

Steamboat Springs

I was soon to learn the amazing impact skiing has had on the state of Colorado in the last 40 years as Allan and I took a drive the 30 miles to visit this ski area.


Steamboat Springs is only one example of the transformation that has taken place on the western slope in the last 40 or 50 years.

The Yampa Valley was the summer hunting grounds of the Ute Indians for hundreds of years. The   Ute and Arapaho tribes also visited the area for its mineral or “medicine” springs considered sacred places of physical and spiritual healing.

Early French trappers gave the town its name because the sounds emanating from the natural hot springs sounded like steamboats.

During the gold rush miners flooded into the area and the old west influence can still be seen.

  Then, sometime during the early 1960s, skiing became a sport instead of a means of transportation.

The above statue is of resident and professional racer,  Billy Kidd, in his iconic western hat.



I was informed that Steamboat Springs produces more Olympic and World Cup medalists than any other town or city in the world.  I could see all around me, athletes in training.


It was a good day to take the lift to the top of the mountain for a bird's eye view of the town.
50 years ago steamboat was a western town with a ski lift.  Today it is a chic , cosmopolitan resort with plush hotels, townhouses, 

and mega-mansions.

The valley is filling up and the overflow is extending into towns as far away as Craig.

Allan is a member of the volunteer ski patrol and he proudly gave me a personal tour of the entire operation (sans snow of course).

To be able to go to work on a regular basis with a view like this--Wow!  

And any town that can do the following gets my admiration...

In 1993, the City Council of Steamboat Springs, Colorado conducted a poll of its residents to choose a new name for the bridge that crossed the Yampa River on Shield Drive. With 7,717 votes, the winning name was "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". The bridge was officially dedicated in September 1993, and James Brown appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the event.


According to Allan this very large and very expensive house right beside the ski slope has been under construction for two years now.  The perfect McMansion?

Thanks for the tour, Allan.  I can tell you know how to enjoy life.

The Glen Sherman Park and Museum

We only planned to say 'hello' to Allan's collector friend and do a quick 'run-through' but ....


I was immediately struck by the copper claw-foot tub with the beautiful, highly polished, rolled lip.  'The Collector' found this in an old farm house nearby.  It hardly looked used--Saturday baths may have been the exception instead of the rule at that farm.

As we entered the Collector's enormous barn/museum we were  met by a bank--the whole bank.

His collections included these license plates, a whole evolution of chain saws, arrowheads, stuffed heads, some potato heads...and a Hupmobile!

Article from "Saturday Evening Post" printed in 1920s...

"The growing tendency to consider a car's possible second-sale value, is frequently a deciding factor in favor of the Hupmobile.
Buyers know--by what they hear, if not by actual experience--that The Comfort Car does "stand up" in really remarkable fashion.
They also know that owners, almost to a man, hold their Hupmobiles at considerably less than average depreciation."

The Hupmobile

Kitchen stuff...  

Resting spots.

A treadle sewing machine.  (I wish I had one today--they would sew an awesome stitch.)

I don't know...

He allowed me to scratch his tummy without even opening an eye. If he hadn't been purring I would have thought he was stuffed.

WW1 and WW2 paraphernalia..

 

One-armed bandits...

An early camper.

Early mass transit to Steamboat Springs.

Allan says he sees something new each time he comes here.

A Jeep Pickup!

For sister, Jo.


For cousins, Andre and Jamie.


Many years ago, when the coroner was called to collect a body he came with a hearse and a woven basket to carry the body from the house to the vehicle....


Hence came the phrase, "He's or She's a basket case!"  Thanks, Allan, for that bit of trivia.


This was so elegant.


Just when I thought I'd seen it all, I came across this gigantic rock,


Covered with petroglyphs!  There just seemed to be no limit to what 'The Collector' might add to his collection.


Museum donations could be deposited here....


or here!

If you ever get to Craig, the museum is on the very eastern edge of the town.  Please take a look--and plan several hours at least.