HANGING OUT

Denis and I use two cameras.  He has a small Nikon Coolpix with an wide optical zoom and I use a bulky Nikon D5100 digital camera.  I think I may need another lens for birding but for now I think the bird pics are pretty good for an amateur.   Yesterday we forgot to download my pics and I had some nice shots that I'd like to share with you.  Any birders out there? 

Mountain Bluebird

I looked through my North America bird book and cannot identify this mystery bird - anyone?

Western Meadowlark

I like this shot with the three calves - no hump, so they are younger than two months

People brought carrots to feed this little guy - so gentle for a wild burro

Don't you love how interested they are in us?

Til tomorrow, thanks for stopping in.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

Entrance to the Park - $20 fee but free for us seniors

It's our first visit to this park and we got here early to be sure we found one of their first-come first-served campsites. As luck will have it, we found a perfect spot that someone just pulled out of five minutes before.  They tell you no rigs longer than 30' but this spot fit our 38' coach with room to spare.  With no hookups we were set up in a matter of minutes and ready to explore.

First stop at the Fall River Visitor Center to stamp our passport and check out the biggest/best park gift store we've seen yet.  Because there was a chance of rain we decided to drive around the park and look for wildlife, hiking trails and overlooks.  We covered a lot of road today.  Starting from the Aspenglen Campground we drove along the Trail Ridge Road and Bear Lake Road, through a very quaint town and Estes Park back to Aspenglen.  I always say we see the best wildlife from the car and this drive was no exception.

These little chipmunks were everywhere

Colorado Bluebird

Ryan and Denis talking about kayaking the rapids

We spotted herds of mule deer but this one posed for me

Everywhere we drove we saw herd of Elk - so exciting

We stopped here for Ryan's coffee

I ended up buying a Himalayan Salt Brick

This hotel was used in the movie Dumb and Dumber and The Shining

They Elk are not intimidated by a camera but they keep an eye on us

Can you believe how close they are?

Thanks for stopping in.

HUMMINGBIRD FESTIVAL AND SEVEN FALLS

On the way to Seven Falls we saw a sign for the Hummingbird Festival.  Intrigued, we changed direction and stopped at the festival.  It was at the Starsmore Discovery Center in Colorado Springs.  We missed the talk about hummingbirds but caught the show with the skunk, ferret, prairie dogs and American Kestral Hawk.  The locals set up booths selling their wares, everything from glass blown hummingbirds to healing oils.  We met Austin Box, an artist, warrior, adviser and mentor.  He was born in 1930 and grew up on the Southern Ute Reservation in Ignacio, Colorado.  At age 17 he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served for 21 years.  He was a very interesting character.

They had five different local bands playing all day

This guy was on the edge of a busy road ... I hope he got home safely

Yes, that a cute little skunk

Western Hognose Snake

American Kestral Hawk

We still had time to visit Seven Falls and ride the in-mountain elevator 14 stories through solid Pikes Peak granite.  Seven Falls is the only waterfall in Colorado to make National Geographic's list of international waterfalls.  We walked about 250 steps to the top of the Falls.

Entrance

The dynamited the tunnel to the elevator

Those are the stairs we walked up

Climbing

Pretty steep

Chilly day with off and on rain showers

Nice view of the Falls

Quick stop at Walmart before heading home to make steamed rice and salmon.

Our high altitude headaches are gone, the rain is almost gone and life is good.

Thanks for stopping in.

GARDEN OF THE GODS

Yes, there really is a National Natural Landmark called Garden of the Gods in Manitou Springs, Colorado.  It's a 1,350-acre park with 300-million-year-old rock formations.  The visitor and nature center was very interactive and informative.  We stayed long enough to have a bowl of tomato soup with a corn muffin at their balcony cafe overlooking the Park and Pikes Peak.  Then we drove through the park stopping at view points along the way and hiked along the Siamese Twins Trail.

This poor guy was hit by a car 

Pikes Peak view from the Visitor's Center

Denis is trying to keep this balanced rock from falling

Mule Deer

Trading Post - we bought two Colorado coffee cups and a charm for my bracelet

Are they wild dogs or coyotes?

He was posing

Peeking through Siamese Twins

Siamese Twins

Next stop was Costco to pick up some supplies.  You've got to love Costco with their free food samples and huge variety of stuff.  One little boy was in a tent crying because he didn't want to go home yet.  His mom said they like Costco better than Disney.  I believe it.

We have a new favourite restaurant.  We had a gift certificate for Romano's Macaroni Grill and found  the service, atmosphere and food was excellent.

Shrimp with angel hair pasta, spinach, pine nuts and mushrooms

Peach Torte for dessert was fabulous

Dinner was not the end of the day for us.  Denis got tickets for a symphony in Colorado Springs Philharmonic at Pikes Peak Center.  It was a tribute to John Williams with his music from Star Wars, ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hook, Jurassic Park, Catch Me If You Can, Jaws, Harry Potter, Schindler's List and War Horse.  They had people dressed up as Indiana Jones and some of the characters from Star Wars.  It was fun.

We were in the nose bleed section but it didn't matter because the acoustics were fantastic

Sorry for such a long blog but we had a very long, fun-filled day.   I enjoy sharing it with you and hope you enjoy it too.

Thanks for stopping in.

Capitol Reef National Park

Not a bad night's sleep at Walmart once the parking lot sweeper finished his job.  We drove our 160 miles to a Coast to Coast Park just outside of Capitol Reef.  Nice small park with full hookups facing a beautiful mountain range and so very quiet.

Yes, this park is out in the middle of no-where

Campground office, home and a store to buy jewelry or antlers

Our picture window view

Our neighbors

Here we are - did someone say isolated?

After setting up we took a ride to the visitor's center to stamp our passport, view an orientation movie and get a trail map.  Then we drove along the Scenic Drive to view the Waterpocket Fold landscape.  Waterpocket Fold = A giant buckle in the Earth's crust stretches across south-central Utah.  This vast warping of rock, created 65 million years ago by the same great forces later uplifting the Colorado Plateau.  We saw colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisting canyons and graceful arches.  We also saw herds of mule deer.

No fees due to National Park Week

Mule deer like hanging out in the orchards

Unique to the area

Majestic

Got back just in time to steam some rice and salmon in my new rice steamer, added some garlic broccoli and we had a nice late dinner.  Denis made us a nice green salad all by himself and it was very good.

We're excited to hit the trails tomorrow (which one will we choose?)  I hope we have time to stroll along the historic streets of Torrey.

Found where we'll be going to church

St. Anthony's is right down the street from where we're staying

Thanks for stopping in.