Hope every is having a great Summer. We know the weather everywhere this past summer has been just crazy. The flooding in Texas, over 100 people dead, flooding in NY, NJ and NM and probably many other places. It’s tragic. We have some wildfires out here in Colorado and now California again. The sad news of the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park; up in flames…. The historical lodge and Visitor Center has been totally destroyed. The lodge was rebuilt in 1936 because of a past fire that destroyed it back then, now destroyed once again. It will be a long while before it gets rebuilt again. I am sure the funding is not looking good for many of our National Parks.
These rainbow fish are considered our pets. The size of some of the rainbow fish that this fish hatchery has range from 6 inches to 20 inches. Some in the picture below are some of our biggest. The nets over the raceways for to keep out the eagles, blue herons and ospreys. The trucks are taking fish out of the raceways and putting them into the stocking trucks to take out and stock over 53 lakes in Colorado.
We have been to music in the Park, went to the Flower Trial Gardens in Fort Collins.
Jodi and I are doing great here at the Bellvue-Watson Fish Hatchery. We are going to miss this place because we have had a great time working here and with such awesome staff for the past two summers. We want to thank Chris and Steve who run the hatchery for having us volunteer for the past two summers. Loved it. Thank you… and we are now heading to Sierra Vista, AZ for the Winter. We were here last year and had a great time and that is why we’re here again this summer. We went to Rocky Mountain National Park 3 years ago and we went again this year. We had a great time. When we went last time we got caught in a snowstorm coming off the mountains of the Rockies, and was very scary, but had a great time just before the storm. This year we went a little farther into the park, since we did not have bad weather. We did climb to an elevation of about 12,000 feet to the highest point in the park. We saw much more of the beauty of the Rockies this time.
Here are a few Pictures of the Garden of the Gods that is just outside Colorado Springs. This is a very interesting place. We visited Garden of the Gods just before we got here to the Bellvue-Watson Fish Hatchery.
We are heading to Lake Pueblo State Park, CO in a few days, then eventually heading south to our Winter location in Sierra Vista, AZ., Vista View RV Resort. Arriving on the 1st of October. We plan on being there for the next couple of winters. We plan on about 4 to 5 Winters or maybe for many many years to come. We shall see. We love this RV Resort. The people are great, the staff are great, and they have lots of fun activities. They have a fitness center, a nice swimming pool, Jacuzzi, and mountain view all around us. The summers for the next few years we plan on heading up north to see Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas and maybe Washington and Utah again. It starts to get real hot in Arizona in May and June, so we will pack up and head up north. Our Winters will start about October in Arizona and last till about May or June every year. That is our plan for now. We shall see. We do hope all is well with everyone and please drop a comment or two and stay in touch, so we know you are doing great. Thank you for following us and stay safe and healthy….
Hi Mark n Jodie, sounds like you had a fabulous year. We are doing great. I volunteer at Spooner one day a week just to stay connected to the backcountry. This season the Marlette dam was taken out and is being replaced. The contractors are supposed to be done by October but I think they will need a time extension. All of the trails from north canyon road are closed to the public, and around Marlette Lake due to heavy construction traffic. When they finish Marlette, they will redo Hobart lake dam.
We miss you guys,
Byron & Carol
Glad to hear from you, Do hope you two are doing great and staying healthy!! For some reason I am not getting notifications that people like you are making comments, so I can reply to them. So I am sorry if I have not replied to some of your last comments in the past. I will keep looking and try to find out why I am not getting the notifications. That is great that you are doing Spooner once a week. Good for you. We do hope some day we will hit that area again before we can’t any more. We shall see. We plan to head out to Wyoming next summer to check out the Tetons!! We shall see. Stay in touch, Thanks for following us everywhere we go…… Mark and Jodi
We are glad we helped in many ways to help take the load of stuff off your back to focus on other important things. Stay in Touch and stay safe.. We will miss you guys. Hope to be able to stop by next summer to say HI!!!!
We love hearing about your adventures and seeing your beautiful photos! I love visiting fish hatcheries, so we are particularly interested in your work there. We are doing fine, but haven’t been able to travel much as we are getting my mother settled in her new facility. We are happy with this one, so expect it to be long term. Not having to worry about her will free us up to get out a little more. Hopefully we will be able to meet up with you out west sometime soon! Take care and keep having fun!
Byron Hibshman September 5, 2025
Hi Mark n Jodie, sounds like you had a fabulous year. We are doing great. I volunteer at Spooner one day a week just to stay connected to the backcountry. This season the Marlette dam was taken out and is being replaced. The contractors are supposed to be done by October but I think they will need a time extension. All of the trails from north canyon road are closed to the public, and around Marlette Lake due to heavy construction traffic. When they finish Marlette, they will redo Hobart lake dam.
We miss you guys,
Byron & Carol
admin September 6, 2025
Glad to hear from you, Do hope you two are doing great and staying healthy!! For some reason I am not getting notifications that people like you are making comments, so I can reply to them. So I am sorry if I have not replied to some of your last comments in the past. I will keep looking and try to find out why I am not getting the notifications. That is great that you are doing Spooner once a week. Good for you. We do hope some day we will hit that area again before we can’t any more. We shall see. We plan to head out to Wyoming next summer to check out the Tetons!! We shall see. Stay in touch, Thanks for following us everywhere we go…… Mark and Jodi
Terry James September 6, 2025
Thank you both for all of your hard work this summer!! There are many projects that we would not be able to tackle without your help!
admin September 6, 2025
We are glad we helped in many ways to help take the load of stuff off your back to focus on other important things. Stay in Touch and stay safe.. We will miss you guys. Hope to be able to stop by next summer to say HI!!!!
Christine Eckermann-Ross September 6, 2025
We love hearing about your adventures and seeing your beautiful photos! I love visiting fish hatcheries, so we are particularly interested in your work there. We are doing fine, but haven’t been able to travel much as we are getting my mother settled in her new facility. We are happy with this one, so expect it to be long term. Not having to worry about her will free us up to get out a little more. Hopefully we will be able to meet up with you out west sometime soon! Take care and keep having fun!