On Wednesday, October 21st, I drove to Colorado Springs to spend time with Andria's family. Gail flew out to join me in Denver on the 29th. The following post covers the time up until Gail came out.
The first night, I stayed in an unremarkable part of Flagstaff, Arizona. The next day, I made it to Santa Fe, and had time to walk around this gorgeous city.
The Georgia O'keeffe Research Center was striking with the turning leaves, and beautiful sky.
I walked up Canyon Road with its more than 80 art galleries.
The last light of the day.
The Pueblo style of most of the buildings blends well.
Sculpture garden.
On Friday, I made it to Colorado Springs, and the Williams/Johanson household.
Nora's class was all given a kit for making bread over the weekend. She launched right into it, making a loaf and cinnamon buns for the family, and another loaf for charity. She did a fine job!
I was honored that Stella quickly sought me out.
Saturday morning, and the view of Pike's Peak from the deck.
Magpies seem to be scattered all over the area.
Sunday, we went to the zoo, which is small, well run, and family friendly.
We fed lettuce to the giraffes, whose tongues would make anyone smile.
The reptiles were creatively housed. Note the gator in the pool.
Susanna bravely feeding this giraffe.
They seemed to enjoy being scratched, too!
The giraffe whisperer doing her thing.
We all got in on the action. Soren searches for the right giraffe.
Two lion cubs wrestling with a pumpkin.
The zoo is on a steep mountainside. It has great views of the city below.
Nora feeding a budgie.
Soren enjoying a budgie of his own.
The river otters were doing synchronized swimming that was mesmerizing!
The kids said enough to walking and opted for this ATV. (It was non-functional).
We ended our zoo visit with a ride on the ski lift.
On Monday, Andria drove Susanna and me out into the country to see her horse friends, and the area where she is taking riding lessons. We fed these three "paints" carrots.
Susanna warmed up to these beautiful horses, and fed them carrots.
What a good looking threesome!
Gentle horses!
Susanna got to test out her umbrella she got at the zoo. We later did a rain walk together.
On Tuesday, I took an afternoon hike in the nearby mountains, reaching an altitude of about 9,300 feet. I stopped to admire this waterfall on the way to the trail head.
Pretty stream and fall colors.
This area is steep and rugged.
The trail climbed and crossed this slide area.
I passed through this aspen grove before turning back.
I took a little hike on Wednesday at Garden of the Gods, about 20 minutes from the house.
I found great hiking trails south of the main features with few people.
If you're wondering "Where's Dave?", he had to work PM shifts and sleep through much of the day. Don't worry, though, he will make an appearance on the next post. Tomorrow, I meet Gail in Denver - wahoo!!!
1 comment:
You got such beautiful pictures!! The horse-lips and giraffe tongues are a nice complement to each other. Seems we'll feed almost anything that moves.
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