I am sure that the one or two of you reading along are just itching to see some photos of site 617.
I won't make you wait any longer.
Here they are!
From the road:
Don't miss the rusty grill lid (I don't think you can). That sure makes this premium site worth the jack!
And, for good measure, here are a couple of shots from the loop:
As you can see, this site now has a beautiful rail fence. Very nice! I hope to stay here one day. They need to make the fence higher, though. People can still swipe your burgers off the grill.
Next, we continued our looping on the 1600 loop, where we noticed that someone has forgotten to mow the grass at the Fort:
A castmember set up this rental tent on Friday:
Some folks showed up and camped there on Friday and Saturday night. They left Sunday morning. It looked like they had a good hot time.
Here we are in the 1900 loop:
The 1800 and 1900 loops have been re-paved since April. The roadway on the 1900 loop was widened (look at how the driveways now extend into the loop):
Same deal in the 1800 loop:
It is good that the loop roadways have been widened, but this results in the available pavement for some of the sites being shortened by a foot or two. So, maybe this is not a good thing. For me, I will continue my efforts to avoid ever being assigned to the 1800 or 1900 loop.
Here is something that I noticed on my last visit, and meant to take a photo, but I didn't get around to it. This sign, at the four-way stop, gives the direction of the Fort Apache Playground. This presumably refers to the playground outside the 300 loop entrance, which used to have a Cowboy/Indians theme. It has not been referred to as the Fort Apache playground on any Fort map for a long, long time, and there are no Native American design elements to it any longer:
Most of the signs around the Fort have been replaced in the past year or two. This one may not be here very much longer.
Here we are in the 2000 loop, where we find this visit's recipient of the TCD real man of genius award:
Please take a moment to study the effort that went into setting up this campsite, including the satellite dish. I salute this camper! Way to go, my friend!
Here's something else that I have noticed before, but never photographed. At the second 2000 loop comfort station, there is a wide, paved driveway that leads up to the comfort station. Right next to it is one of those fake concrete stumps that are used for the utilities on the 2000 loop. See?:
I guess this used to be a campsite. But, they made it into a driveway for the comfort station. Weird. None of the other comfort stations have driveways.
A couple more shots from the 2000 loop:
Our next stop will be the Tri-Circle-D horse barn:
I was wondering where the Calliope project stands? Weren't you? Well, you will find out in my next post!
TCD