A Full-time Life

Category: Colorado

  • COLORADO CRITTERS – ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

    We saw this magnificent and iconic Rocky Mountain Elk near the entrance to the National Park when we were in Colorado last month.    

     

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     Such a photogenic state — and Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the best parts of it.   

      Later that day, when we were leaving the Park, we came across what seemed to be whole family of Moose (mooses?  meese?).

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     We had seen quite a few  Moose during our summer trip to Alaska —  and we'd  spotted them a few times in earlier years in the Yellowstone area and elsewhere. But never  a whole family group.    Geoff and Lisa, who live so near RMNP that they visit often, said this was the first such group they'd seen as well.  

     

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    And it was great to get a decent picture of a bull.    A young one obviously, but still  there are horns!   Of all the moose we saw in Alaska,  the only male was a large one that walked right through our campsite in Talkneeta while we were filling our water tank.  No camera of course — (It was pretty darn exciting there for a minute or two though).     

    But it's always better with a picture.

     

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     These Colorado moose were a richer dark brown color than those we saw in Alaska.  HERE is a link to my favorite Alaska sighting for comparison.  (Another Mama Moose with her very young calf.)

     

    SHARING the wonder with SATURDAY CRITTERS (Thank you Eileen) and to NATURE NOTES (with thanks to Michelle).  

  • SKYWATCHING ACROSS THE COUNTRY

     

    Our morning skies have been beautiful lately. All the way from one side of the country to the other.

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    Sunrise over the (no)Lake on Thanksgiving just before we put the RV into winter storage mode and headed over to our daughter and son-in-law's home for the family Holiday celebration.   We flew to Denver early the next morning. 

     

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    Blue skies at Loveland's Benson Sculpture Park during our visit in Colorado.  

     

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    And pastel morning skies on our first full day back home in Florida.  

     

    We had a wonderful Autumn with our family in the Pacific Northwest and in Colorado and an easy and uneventful flight back to our Canal Cottage home for the winter.  And we are counting our blessings.

     

    Shared with SKYWATCH FRIDAY and SCENIC WEEKENDS.

     

    Thank you to Yogi, Sandy, and Sylvia for SWF and to Gemma for SW.

     

     

  • A WINTER ‘HIKE’

     

    It was 20 degrees F when we visited Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this month.   Three guesses which of these hikes we chose:

     

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    I'm sure our Colorado son and daughter-in-law could have done any … or all … of these, but they were kind and went easy on the old folks.  

      

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    Of course 256 feet is more than far enough to see beautiful scenery in this National Park.   Here's  Bear Lake after our "long" hike.

     

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    Signs like the one in the middle picture don't seem to be too effective.  "Thin ice possible" is kind of waffly.  Pretty much anything is possible at any time or anywhere, so I think people tend to ignore these warnings.   Obviously these  people (strangers) weren't worried about falling through the ice.  

     

     

    Sharing with OUR WORLD on Tuesday, with thanks to Lady Fi, Arija, Gattina, Sylvia, Sandy and Jenn.

    and with

    SIGNS SIGNS on Thursday.  Thank you to Lesley.

  • BACKYARD SIGHTSEEING

     

    There's never a dull or unphotogenic moment when we visit Colorado.  We don't even have to leave the house to give the camera a good workout.   

     

     

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    We've seen foxes in Geoff and Lisa's (almost) backyard on previous visits, but this time the resident wildife was this large herd of white-tailed deer.

     

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    Cody, one of their Aussie shepherds, enjoyed helping Geoff scope out the deer.

     

     

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    As always, our hosts took us to a bunch of other lovely spots during our (too) short visit, but we only had to look out their windows to enjoy this Colorado wildlife.

     

     

     

    Sharing with GOOD FENCES and SATURDAY CRITTERS.

    Thank you to Theresa and to Eileen for providing these two great sharing opportunities.

     

  • HALFWAY HOME (Beautiful Colorado)

     In real time, we are all the way back home in Florida after our snowbird migration.  And it's great to be here.  But it seems to take a week or two every season to get things back into ship-shape at the Canal Cottage.   And none of those organizational tasks make very interesting blog fodder.

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    But happily we split our cross-country journey  by spending a few  days with our son and daughter-in-law on Colorado's beautiful front range.  

    And, as always when we stay in that beautiful state (and with those beautiful people), our visit was loaded with photo-ops.

     

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    And also as always when we stay in that beautiful state, the temperatures fluctuated wildly.  You never know what to expect from day to day in Colorado.

    But we knew enough to pack our mittens and we got outside every day.   

     

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     And whether it was 20 degrees or 45, those beautiful Colorado blue skies were always present!  

     

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     Our blue skies this week are a little warmer, but we wouldn't have missed our stopover in the center of the country for anything.

     

    Sharing this post with OUR WORLD on TUESDAY.  Thanks to the hosting team.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • (not exactly a) MEMORY of FOXES*

     

    * (Our memories, but not my pictures.)    These are guest photos by our son Geoff, who said it was OK to  blog them.    

     

    Whenever we visit Geoff and Lisa we always look forward to watching the fox den in the vacant lot next-door to their home. 

    From the  picture window or the side yard,  we have watched the fox family  – two adults and (in different years) different numbers of kits.    But I have never been able to get good pictures.

     

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    So we were delighted to get these pictures (taken early last month) by e-mail.   Geoff says that they are now seeing a litter of six emerging from the den.   

     

    Fox play

     

     

    Bittersweet memories, because the lot (which has been vacant for as long as  G&L have lived there) is now slated for development.  There's a nearby greenbelt where we've also seen foxes,  so this den will probably relocate somewhere there.   I hope.

     

    Sharing with Eileen's SATURDAY CRITTERS.  Thank you Eileen.

        

  • LOVELAND MEMORIES

     

     

    A Friday Flashback for Valentine's Day  from the romantically-named city of Loveland Colorado.

     

     

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    Make a Wish!

     

    May all your days be filled with joy.

     

      

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    Both pictures are from Benson Sculpture Park in Loveland.

     

     

     

    Linked to SKYWATCH FRIDAY because beautiful blue Colorado skies are ALWAYS worth remembering and always worth linking to that lovely meme.  Thanks to Yogi, Sylvia, and Sandy for hosting.

  • TWO MOONS

     

    We were staying with our Colorado kids the night of the June Supermoon…and when it began to get dark all four of us looked but didn't see any sign of a moon.  We decided maybe the still-smoky skies would keep it hidden from view.


     

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     So we played games and visited and then Bill and I headed upstairs to bed.  And looked out the bedroom window to see this.  (And yes, I went racing downstairs in my PJs to tell Geoff and Lisa and we all went outside to look.  But I was in such a hurry to let them know that I forgot my camera, so the only shot I got was this one through the bedroom window.)

    (The "extra" moon is a reflection in the window, but I liked the way it looks.)
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    We were here at Fern Ridge Shores the other day for the July moon, which I guess was just an ordinary full moon, not a super one.   This time, we spotted it well before it got dark.    And it cast a beautiful golden light on our shallow lake.
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    Just playing with settings on the camera… standing pretty much in the same spot.
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    Really, I think any Full Moon is super!
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    Linked to SKYWATCH FRIDAY, with thanks to Yogi and Sandy and Sylvia, the host team.

  • GLORIOUS GLASS

     

     Geoff and Lisa introduced us to Glassworks Studio and Gallery, one of their favorite shops in the town of Estes Park.  We loved it too. 

     

     
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     We enjoyed watching  the creative process happening right before our eyes as the craftsman worked at the furnace.  

     

     
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    There was only chicken wire between the "audience" and the artist, so he was able to talk to people and answer questions.   He's working in very hot conditions!

     

     
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    Hard to pick a favorite.

     

     
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    But, for a change, we actually got out of our usual window-shopping mode and bought a  glass bowl with colors that will be perfect in our Florida cottage.    A practical and beautiful souvenir that will remind us of Colorado and the great times we've had there!

     

     

     

    This stop on our recent roadtrip is linked to the blogging communities at Mary's MOSAIC MONDAY and to   OUR WORLD TUESDAY  — with thanks to Sandy and the rest of the OW team (Sandy, Sylvia, Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, and Jennifer).

  • COLORADO SKIES

     

    We always look forward to our first sight of the mountains as we arrive in Colorado.  This year, the skies weren't as crisp and clear as usual  and so the moutains were just faintly there in the distance.   There was still smoke in the air from the terrible fires near Colorado Springs.

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    But  happily it  was clearer when we reached our destination (our kids' home).  The picture below is Golden Pond near where they live:

     

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    I always love this walk.  Both because the pond area is so  lovely and because the flat,  relatively easy walk helps me get acclimated to the altitude.  (There are excellent paved walking paths.)

    Below is another picture from our latest visit to  Rocky Mountain National Park.  
     

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    This is the way we like to think of the Colorado sky.

    I hope it will look like this  from now on — with no more smoke!

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    Sharing the skies from last month's roadtrip with the participants at SKYWATCH FRIDAY.  Thank you to Yogi and the SWF team.