50th Anniversary Trip - Day 12: Old MacDonald Had a Farm

We were slow to get moving this morning.  It was cooler than the other mornings in Colorado but no one was complaining.  We leisurely ate breakfast and talked until around 11:00 a.m. when John and Linda packed up their tent and camping supplies.  Their permit expired at noon so we made sure to be headed for Ft. Collins by that time.  Carol and I were on a mission to find the screen door latch that had broken at the beginning of our trip.  We had checked at the Council Bluffs Camping World but no luck.  The Camping World in Loveland, Colorado was much bigger and so we hoped to find the replacement part.  We were sent from the Camping World to a larger RV dealer called Lazy Days RV. This was a huge dealership who actually sold Fleetwood (our manufacturer).   Success...we found the part.

We went to John and Linda's apartment and then drove to a Mexican Restaurant called El Concina.  They wanted to take us out for supper for our 50th anniversary.  The food was excellent and the interior of the restaurant was beautiful.  The menu was very different from other Mexican restaurants.  It was a very nice meal.

After we ate, John took us to the Harvest Farm where he works as an "Intake Counselor."  Basically he works with the new men coming into the program for their first 30 days.  The farm provides room and board, opportunities for training, counseling, etc. for men who are recovering alcoholics and drug addicts.  They are able to house 72 men.   Men come into this program from all over the country.   We met men from California and Mississippi.  It is a working farm with a herd of beef cattle.  The food produced is either sold and the money helps support the program or used to feed the homeless men in the downtown Ft. Collins.  This program has been at the farm since 1985. Besides the animals and the crops from over 200 acres, they also plant a large garden.  The men work the farm, gardens, and animals.  John likes his job.  We are very glad for him.

John in his office at Harvest Farm.

A farm isn't complete without farm animals.   There were lots of goats.

There is a herd of beef cows and a few milk cows.

Of course, there are pigs and although I didn't take a picture, there are chickens.

No farm is complete without a farm dog.  As soon as we stepped out of the car, this one appeared.  He was very friendly.

After the tour of the farm, we took John home to his family and  returned to the motorhome.  We are relaxing the rest of the evening and plan to drive to Rocky Mountain Park tomorrow.  It was a nice day weather-wise.  I think it will be cool sleeping tonight.