Blog One, Dates: May 16 – June 19, 2022

We bought our RV Lot on August 19, 2021, at Mountain Views RV Resort (MVR) https://mountainviewsrv.com/.  Our first-time visit and reservation were for a two-week stay in the rental area of MVR, arriving on August 15, 2021.  It’s a common saying we have heard from other lot lessees, after less than one 1-week on MVR’s rental side, we felt so comfortable, had already met several people, the scenery is unbelievable, and all it took was seeing Lot #229 posted for sale on the MVR Office’s Bulletin Board, and before we knew it, we were lessees.

It is not our nature or habit of buying anything, especially an investment like an RV Lot, something we had never even considered, so quickly.   Everything just came together, smoothly and easily, we were a lessee of an RV Lot.  A seasonal resort, open May 1 – October 1.

The 2022 Season, our first full season as a lessee, began on May 16, 2022.  We watched the weather from home in the Dallas area, waiting for the consistent overnight temperatures to get above freezing before heading to Creede, Colorado. 

On our arrival in Creede, it was a sunny day with temperatures in the 70s.  Although, the distant mountains were still covered with white snow. Karen had brought several hanging flower baskets which were already fully established and blooming, ready to decorate the outside of our new lot.  They had been in the hot RV for a couple of days travel, so it was nice to get them hung up outside in the sunshine.   Unfortunately, the overnight temps got down in the ’30s, putting the hanging baskets into shock.  The leaves were wilted and it was obvious they needed to get back indoors.   Bill made a makeshift pole across the top of the RV shower and we had plants stacked all inside the shower. 

 

The back of our Lot had an uneven hill with dirt that had eroded over the years, leaving it unsightly with some wildflowers but mostly weeds.   Many of the RV sites with similar hills behind their lots are stacked with boulders that look natural and nice.  However, we learned it would cost more to cover our hill with boulders than just rebuilding it into a flower planter box.   Here is a photo of the hill when we purchased the lot, and photos of our lovely flower planter box which was built during the off-season when we had left in the 2021 Season.  Karen sent several ideas for the rebuilding of the hill to one of the owners of MVR who was responsible for the landscaping.  He would send updates with photos as the work progressed.  Our work was cut out for us to plant perennials in the newly built flower planter box, clean out the heavily weeded flower beds on the sides of our lot, and start fixing the RV lot up to meet our likes.

 

 

 

Top row prepped flower planter box; second row: left and right, plants loaded from North River Greenhouse, bottom four photos are planting, final with mulch not shown. Bill shows a large rock along with tons of other rocks that supposedly are in the topsoil laid for planting.

It was a consistent 4-weeks of hard work, with calloused fingers and hands, so tired we just dropped by the end of the day.   The soil in the new planter box was supposed to be topsoil, ready for planting, but it is not the type of topsoil we were used to planting. We learned many of the Lot lessees have used rubber mulch in their flower beds that last longer.  It is our goal to make our RV lot as low maintenance as possible, so we can enjoy the time we spend here instead of working it several weeks every season.  So we ordered 52 bags of rubber mulch from Home Depot, the closest one located in Durango, CO, 124 miles from Creede.  Gas prices were so high, that we felt the $79 delivery charge was well worth paying to save the hassle of driving to Durango, loading our truck/trailer up with the rubber mulch, and driving back.   An 18-wheeler truck delivered the mulch, meeting us at the front gate at MVR, using their forklift, as well as loading some of the mulch up on our ATV trailer, it was delivered to the back of the RV Resort, to our lot.

 

 

 

We learned that it is not recommended that you plant anything in the ground in Creede until June 15, there were a few snow flurries on May 29, our brother’s birthday.  However, the nursery wanted us to pick the plants up, and we had consistently good weather starting the first week of June.  We picked up all of our pre-ordered, pre-paid plants from North River Greenhouse (NRG) out of Alamosa, CO on Saturday, June 5, and against all advice, spent all day Sunday, June 6 planting all the perennials in the newly built flower planting box.  Margarite, our friend, and our neighbor got right out there with us, helping us plant all the new plants. 

There is a gym for lessees that has a hot tub/spa and showers that is conveniently located just down the road from our Lot. We took all of our showers for several weeks there because our shower was full of hanging baskets.  

 

 

We were the few earlier arrivers at MVR and the deer were freely roaming all around our lot. One evening a large, healthy-looking deer was standing up close to our RV, Mayah was sitting on the back of the sofa looking out and saw her first deer up close. This was a sign, all the newly planted flowers were getting sprayed with Liquid Fence!

 

On Thursday, June 9, we celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary by having a nice dinner at The Antlers Restaurant https://www.antlerslodge.com/. There is live music on Thursday evenings, played out on the patio with the serene ambiance of the Rio Grande River gently flowing outside along the patio. There are cabin rentals and RV lot rentals at this park, and it’s close by to MVR.   

It was time to finally relax and enjoy our time in Creede with the majority of the big projects completed for the 2022 Season.  Monday and Thursday nights, Bill enjoys playing Poker with the men at the Elk Lodge at MVR.  Some of the wives of the Poker players play Mexican Train in the Bear Lodge at MVR.   Karen’s played once, having to relearn the game after not playing it for several years, but she also has volunteered with the Creede Repertory Theater in town on Thursdays.   Friday nights is Bingo at the Elk’s Lodge, not the same as the Elk Lodge at MVR, but an actual meeting location for the Elks Association.   Bill was asked to join the Elks and has submitted his application for approval.  People are always inviting others to join them on Side-by-Side trail rides, and there are many different trails, we have only hit a few. Bible Study on Tuesday evenings, church service on Sunday mornings at 8:30, and there is a craft day for people who enjoy crafting.

The Resort hosted a free concert on the lawns.  It was John King, a country music musician, John King (johnkingcountry.com). Many of us had never heard of this group, but he was really good and it was an enjoyable evening.  He started out by saying he has concerts in several locations across the country, but he has never played with such a beautiful backdrop.  It was a beautiful evening with perfect temperatures.  

We met several couples last year but have met more this year.  Our next-door neighbors, Bob and Margarite have invited us over several times for appetizers, and to meet visiting friends of theirs and we continue to build our friendship with them.  A few couples across from our Lot have been very kind to us, inviting us to take Side-by-Side rides with them, and invited us to a birthday party with several other lessees at the Resort.

One of the most fun days we have had since arriving this season was going with friends we met last year, Sue and Terry Cooprider, along with Cathy and Scott, their sister and brother-in-law, who were visiting. We took our Side-by-Sides up to Wheeler Geologic Area Wheeler Geological Area (southfork.org).  It was our first time on this trail.  You trailer your Side-by-Side to the entrance of Pool Table Road, parking in a large parking lot at the bottom of the trail.  It’s an approximate 14-mile Side-by-Side ride up to a point at Wheeler Geologic area where you then hike the rest of the way as you can not drive beyond this point.  We had all brought a packed lunch and ate lunch sitting on a log, before starting the remainder of the trip which is a hike uphill to see the Hoodoos.  It is only approximately a half-mile, but it is uphill at a very high altitude.  Fortunately, Karen brought her walking sticks.  She used one of them and Sue used the other of the pair of walking sticks.  The walking sticks do work in assisting in keeping your balance and helping with an uphill rocky climb.  It was so worth the ride and hike.  It was an amazing view, one that can only be appreciated by travel with a Side-by-Side and a hike. 

 

 

It has been said by many of the people at MVR that the trails are dirty to ride because there has not been any rain in Creede.  The red dirt just flies everywhere when you drive them, so when traveling as a group, you keep a good distance between them, so you are not eating the dirt of the person in front of you.   Also, recommended you wear a gator around your neck which you pull up to cover your face when riding the dirty trails that help keep dirt out of your nose, mouth, and ears; eye-wear to protect your eyes.  It took rinsing all of our clothes out in the shower, before washing them in the public laundry room, the bottom of the shower was so thick with the dirt from our clothes.    Yes, and with all of this, it was a fun day!

 

 

 

 

Sunday, June 19, we received much-needed rain. It rained off and on all day long. Today was also the first-day church service started back up in the MVR’s Elk Lodge, which we enjoyed attending. And, today is Father’s Day, Bill will be recognized as the wonderful Dad that he is. Michael Knight, www.micahelknightlive.com Country, and Gospel musician gave a wonderful Sunday evening concert held in the MVR’s Elk Lodge. He has a talent for taking a country song most people know and changing the lyrics to Christian lyrics. One of our favorites he did was the Chris Stapleton rendition of “Strawberry Wine,” where he inserted God’s love is sweeter than Strawberry wine and made other changes reflecting Christian lyrics with the same tune as Strawberry Wine. Michael Knight had his cute 9-year-old granddaughter sing “Old Rugged Cross” with him, and she had a cute voice to accompany him.

Midway into the concert, the beautiful double rainbow was brought to the audience’s attention by a few, and we all stopped to take photos, then the concert continued.

 

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with our brother and sister-in-law who live in Kountz, Texas.  We learned on Friday, June 17, that our sister-in-law, Kathie Spivey, who has been going through treatment for non-small cell Lung cancer, has been admitted to the hospital in critical condition.