DAY THREE: A SOUTHERN ADVENTURE IN SEARCH OF TROUT

 Follow that truck!

 We explored the bear camp at Gladstone Mine

 Lots of new projects over the summer

 A snowy hike to the upper mine

 Down the mountain to grab a bite to eat at the House Rock Kitchen . 

 And wet a line at the House Rock on the Arkansas river 

A nice pronghorn buck along the road to 11 mile.

Sun setting on a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend in Colorado. 

DAY TWO: THANKSGIVING!

 Beau and I got up early Thanksgiving morning to try our luck fishing the shoreline at Palmer Lake.  But, with temps in the low 20*s we didn't last too long.  So, we decided to get the blood pumping and do a hike.

 Not too far down the road was Spruce Mt.  

Spruce Mt is a large tree-covered mesa

 The morning sun heated thing up

 We scrambled around on the rocks. 

 Exploring the bear cave.

 A quick rest and then it's back to the house to start cooking for Thanksgiving.

 Back at the house Beau made a batch of twice baked potatoes and a baked chicken.

I threw together a raspberry vinaigrette to dress the salad.  

And if you as me I think we did pretty well.  

It was tough being away from Susie on Thanksgiving but was great being able to spend some time with Beau.

DAY ONE TWO BECKERS FISH DECKERS

 The Deckers section of the South Platte river holds approximately 3,000 fish per mile and sight fishing opportunities abound. 

Beau has gotten pretty good a flipping the fly rod his grand pa Becker would be proud. 

 I know I am.  I took off right after school and drove through the night.  I got down to the Springs about 7:30 am the next morning

 We hit Deckers with high hopes.

 No luck fishing but Beau did spot a Gopro on the bottom of the river.

 I found a coors can

 We stopped by the range to ping a few cans.

 No trout but we're eating pheasant tonight. Better luck tomorrow.

BREWGA

 Trying to teach an old downward dog a new trick.

Troutberculosis :( I'm Hooked!

 What a great thing to do on a beautiful November day

 The DNR stopped stocking back in the end of October

 But there is still a few in the stream.

 Neither Mart or I was too well prepared for this outing.  I had just one little panther martin and Mart had just a few odds an ends.  His gear was in old slim.  So, he had to roll a few rocks to find a fat crawler.  

 Mart had teased one and it got his bait.

 While I was lucky enough to hook a second rainbow.

As the shadows grow longer and daylight savings time kicks in it's important to do as the Doctor orders when you get a bad case of Troutberculosis.

Magic Triangle Run

 Saturday AM Susie and I ran over to Platteville WI so she could do a book signing at the Driftless Mkt.  While Susie worked I went over to visit brother Steve, Debbie and Loren and have a cup of Joe.

Then we worked our way down river traveling cross country to Galena IL the check out main street shops like the Greatful Gourmet and Outside the Lines.  Stopping briefly at an antique shop in Cuba city WI. 

 We sat along the levee  across from Grant park on a beautiful 72* Saturday

We continued South out Black Jack road just across the river form our home in Bellevue.  We caught Jimmy and Sweet Pea at home and sat in the pine needles in the sunshine enjoying cold beer, sweet apples and fresh Wisconsin cheese curds

We continued our trip South crossing the Mississippi river at the Savanah /Sabula bridge back North to the Green Island bottoms and cross country on the gravels back home.  

Just  what you need to clear the mind.