For Camera Critters
This prairie dog at the bottom of Rabbit Hill was not at all sure he liked sharing his home territory with us.
We could hear whistles coming from the den. I think they were asking the watch"dog" if it was OK to come out again. "Is it safe? Are they gone yet?"
We soon were, leaving these busy little animals to their peaceful prairie home.
FOR CAMERA CRITTERS. Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting.
For Our World - thank you to the hosting team.
Ruins, Canyon De Chelly
Earlier this month in OUR WORLD, we explored parts of the FOUR CORNERS area that we'd missed on earlier trips. We spent time in four states — Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico — and much of the time we were in a (sort-of) different country — the semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory of the Navajo Nation.
Canyon De Chelly is the only National Monument that isn't actually federally owned. All of the land belongs to the Navajo…it is jointly administered by the Tribe and the National Park Service. Ancient Pueblan people farmed in these canyons and Navajo families still do.
Right now though it's very dry and hot in the canyons and invasive cottonwoods and other species are drinking up a lot of what water there is. Farming can't be easy.
Because of traditions handed down through their mythology, Navajo people do not usually enter buildings of the ancients. The Standing Cow ruin (above) is an exception. The foundation of this ancient round building was excavated years ago and used to construct a stone hogan. One couple lived in it while they looked after their fields. Our guide told us that the woman lived there until she died. (I will do another post later with more pictures of the Canyon's pictographs and petroglyphs.)
The Canyon with invasive Cottonwoods along the creek bed
Here are two more links with information about the Canyon.
We visit Loveland's Benson Sculpture Park * each time we're in Colorado. Our kids live nearby in Longmont and we used to stay in an RV Park in Loveland when we visited them once or twice a year . We discovered the park by accident, but now it's a ritual we can't miss. The City adds sculptures every year and we enjoy searching for the new ones — and re-visiting old favorites.
The joyful swinging girl above is one of those favorites. This picture was taken last summer – it wasn't quite as bright and sunny this year because lingering smoke from the Colorado range fires created a hazy atmosphere.
The fires aren't close enough to Longmont or Loveland to be a danger, but it is a worry. It's very dry all over the State.
But we had fun even if it wasn't quite as bright and blue as usual.
Great company and a lot of laughs. One way that you know your kids aren't really "kids" any longer is that they are just as willing to be silly as you are.
In fact, I think the silliness was their idea!
* Follow the link to see an album of our favorites.
For SKYWATCH FRIDAY
Rocky Mountain National Park, June 2012
There is nothing in the world like seeing MOUNTAINS again after you've spent months in the flatlands. It's great to be in Colorado.
Front-range view from Rabbit Hill, near Lyons
For SIGNS SIGNS at Lesley's.
We usually visit Colorado a couple of times a year. (Our son and daughter-in-law live there.) Sadly we didn't get to visit on our most recent roadtrip.
So this is a look-back to another year and another road trip when our son drove us to the top of Mt Evans. (Link here to read the old post.)
When you read the sign (click the picture to enlarge) you will see why we two lowlanders felt fortunate to make it all the way up — even by car — and even more fortunate that we were able to walk around when we got there.
Another contrast to where we live: these pictures were taken in June….when, of course, here in Florida it is very hot and humid!
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We live as much of our life as possible on the water — this look-back to 2011 is shared with water lovers everywhere and linked with NATURE FOOTSTEPS-WATER and OUR WORLD. Happy watery New Year!
WINTER: in Florida Winter means car trips to water places and boat trips on the water, with friends and visiting family.
LATE WINTER/EARLY SPRING: Boat club trips including one across Lake Okechobee to the other side of the state. We successfully navigated many locks.
SPRING: We stayed near the water as often as we could when we traveled acros the country East to West. We even saw pelicans — and kayaks — in Colorado.
SUMMER: Oregon. Sweet Creek Falls and Fern Ridge Lake.
FALL: Washington
FALL and EARLY WINTER: More watery places on our road trip west to East — and back in Florida looking forward to another year on the water!
Linking to the blogging community at WEEKEND IN BLACK AND WHITE.
Durango-Silverton Railroad, Colorado. Click here to read an earlier post about this ride, a part of our summer roadtrip.
There's just something about a train! And something about this old-style one that seems to call for black and white.
PARTICIPATING IN SKYWATCH FRIDAY. Thank you to the Skywatch team for hosting this meme, which starts its 5th Season with todays posts.
We drove the Million Dollar Highway between Ouray and Silverton Colorado before and after we stayed at Silverton — and rode the train between there and Durango.
The scenery from the Highway was almost as spectacular as it was from the train (at least for the person not driving).
Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about this portion of Highway 530.
Most of U.S. 550 in Colorado is two-lane mountainous highway. It is one of only two north–south U.S. Highways in Colorado which runs west of the Continental Divide The other route is US 491. The route travels north through the San Juan Mountains.
The Million Dollar Highway stretches for about 25 miles (40 km) in western Colorado and follows the route of U.S. 550 between Silverton and Ouray, Colorado. It is part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway. Between Durango and Silverton the Skyway loosely parallels the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
for SKYWATCH FRIDAY. Click the links! Looking at the sky is good for the soul!
After gray skies from the time we left Florida all the way through Kansas, we were happy to get to Boulder County Colorado where the sky is amost always blue.
And it stayed blue as we traveled from there through more of beautiful Colorado and on into Utah and Nevada.
We will be happy if our luck holds and we have blue sky all summer!
This post from our summer roadtrip is linked to LESLEY'S SIGNS SIGNS, the most fun place in blogland.
The old mining town of Silverton Colorado is at one end of the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge steam railroad through the San Juan mountains. Nowadays, the town exists pretty much to serve tourists…kayakers, jeepers, climbers, hikers, fishermen, and people (like us) who stay there so that we can ride the train. (Or get off the train for lunch if they started from Durango, as most people do.) The enlargement below the collage provides a glimpse of the town's bawdier past!
The Silverton Train stop (and this restaurant) are on Blair Street, which, in the old mining days, was notorious for its saloons, gambling halls, and bordellos.
The street — and the train — have been used as sets for a number of western movies.
The train brings over 140,000 passengers a year into Silverton and it loads and unloads on Blair Street, providing passengers a glimpse of the town's past history.
There are quite a few interesting shops and restaurants, as well as some saloons.
There are goodies to go (on the train ride or in your jeep).
But no bordellos.
Which is good.
