As good as it gets…….Part II

Besides golf and family dinners, the group found time to enjoy the Colorado outdoors in the best way.   The younger crowd spent one afternoon at the Bach'ler Stables in Ouray.    Resident cowboy, Mr Fence Post, was the quintessential cowboy.    Bowlegged, sideburns, spurs and a never ending stream of colorful  cowboy colloquialisms kept everyone smiling.   Some of us came out to the stables to watch the process of picking horses, saddling up, and his gentle  (and sometimes more abrupt ) instructions.    He tied rain gear on the back of the saddles and Mason asked if it was for him or the horse !!

Mason couldn't stop smiling riding Rascal...

Andy was more reserved and cautious….

Fence Post came by his name because his mother said he "was dumb as a …….."

Jenna watched the process with Roxie and made some helpful suggestions to the girls.    Fence Post said he sure wished she was going along …..  that was all the encouragement she needed.   Despite white pants and new Keds, she climbed on her horse.    She had a horse  in her younger years and is very comfortable in the saddle.   Roxie didn't go.  

Couldn't resist capturing this view of Becca…….

Dr Miller was agile as well as she mounted her 'mouse-colored ' horse…that's what Mr Post said he was but I forgot his name.  

Jon showed fine form on Snoopy….

Moving on out…………  it was a two hour ride up the side of the mountains, traversing some narrow shelf trails with stunning views of Ouray and the San Juan Mountains.   Andy and Mason said it was their favorite time of their vacation.        We did a family trip to Ouray 26 years ago and went on a similar ride…..Jon has pictures which I may or may not share someday.    We were really young !!   

On another day,  a few of us drove up to Yankee Boy Basin outside of Ouray.     This time of year, it is resplendent in wildflowers.    There are also the Twin Falls.    The lower falls used to be featured on the Coors label.  

I did get a flower guide book but I still have a lot to learn.   The small white flowers are a form of geranium and have fine pink lines on the petals.   The bright ones are orange paintbrush.

I found a small cluster of white columbine on a hillside.     They are a bit more rare than the blue ones.  

Sneezeweed is everywhere and adds so much color to the fields.   It is toxic to animals.  

We were at 11,000 + feet.    I especially like the raspberry colored paintbrush.   

Mostly, we take pictures of the face of the Blue Columbine but the other views are just as magnificent.    It is the state flower of Colorado and it is illegal to pick them.    Interestingly, it is said that they represent unfaithfulness in women and deserted lovers in men.   So, it was considered in bad taste to give a bouquet to your girl.   I prefer to think of them as just a beautiful flower.     On my walks, I see them in gardens in many hybridized colors.    But it is best to see their magnificence in the wild.
 

Mike, Jenna and Lizzie in front of  the upper falls.    Jenna captured this aspen sunflower with a busy bee ….. with her phone.    Perfect.  

 

It was the best of times…….

All 16 of us.     Amazing what started with two teenagers who  met over 55 years ago and made it official 50.5 years ago.   We are SO proud of each and every one of them.    A very successful, creative, motivated and hard working bunch.   And so very nice as well.    (well, except for the one on the far left at the bottom….she has her moments )

 We spent a week together.   They came from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Vancouver, Washington, Hermosillo, Mexico and  Newtown, Connecticut.     The cousins, young and old, got to know each other once again.   They played Mexican train and golfed and rafted and ate together and enjoyed the break from responsibility.       It was the best fulfillment of my long overdue dream.     Thank you for letting us be the luckiest parents and grandparents.

 Have you seen the Coke's in the stores with names on them (a tribute to Service members).   They searched for everyone's name and were only short a couple.

No gathering is complete in Colorado without going Jeeping…..Mike had his, we had ours and Jon rented one for a day.    We headed up Ophir Pass, which is pretty tame but makes for a nice off -road trip from Ouray to Telluride.     This was a potty break…..ladies to the right…guys to the left is the standard rule and no peeking.

  

It is peak wildflower season and the columbines were picture perfect.

 At the pass, it was a bit chilly for Kelsey, Nick's wife.

 Beginning the ride down to Telluride.

 We passed thru stands of magnificent aspen……..

…forded a couple of small streams.   And had lunch and the gondola ride in Telluride before heading back .    Jon and Mike and Paul and some of the kids opted to take Imogene Pass trail back….it is very rough and longer than Ophir so the rest of us took the paved route.

I have a ton of pictures and stories to share but this is all I can muster for today.    Everyone left this morning.    It was much too quiet for awhile but then the installers arrived to put up the new shutters , finally…….     Talk soon…………….

Weekly update……...

 I've shared this sculpture  before…I think….   This is Mike, the Headless chicken who actually was a real live chicken who lived 18 months until he choked and died while being fed with an eyedropper.   He's memorialized on Main Street in Fruita Colorado ( near Grand Junction ) where we met up with the Geary family from Danbury, Connecticut  on July 4th.  

 Nancy is just the most special person and I do believe that she is the daughter we never had !!    We met working at the hospital many years ago and now she and Mike have 4 wonderful grown up kids.    From L to R…..Moi, Paul, Sean (wants to be an elementary teacher)
, Nancy, Shannon in the back ( I was there when she was born and gave her the first bath !), now 17 and Captain of her sport teams.    Then Michael, a meteorologist and super nice guy.   Matthew on the Rt, has one more year to be an electrical engineer but really wants to fly !!    OOPs, where's Erin, the eldest ??
Here she is, on the Rt …..she is, like so many her age, trying to figure out what happens after college.   They flew into Denver from Connecticut and headed west.   After our hearty breakfast they headed for Moab and then on to Bryce and Zion before going to Las Vegas.    We have hopes they will swing by on their return.
 

Meanwhile, backing up to last weekend, Paul entered the area PB tournament, held in Delta ( 20 miles up the road).   Teams from around the area came and the 2 day event was quite successful.    Paul and his partner, Tina, came in 2nd in mixed doubles !!   Here, P is moving fast towards a return.    As he's done before, he hangs the Go Pro on the fencing and records the games, then sends them off to the players,  who are delighted to be able to critique themselves.   Here at Cobble Creek, they just resurfaced the tennis courts and gave the PB players their very own dedicated courts.    We play on Thurs and Sunday mornings and we're trying to get a ladies'  group started.    I'm really not getting much better but I enjoy the group.   

  

Otherwise, the week is about the same as others…… PB, golf , dinner out with friends, and house stuff.     We've joined the Monday night Couple's Golf…..9 holes, followed by dinner at the Club.    Weather is perfect at that hour even if the golf isn't.    

 

 Not sure what this fluffy little bird is but he is the male in his bright plumage and his partner  is drab but busy. ( no comment ).  They are constantly flitting around and hanging on the grasses out back.      Landscaping is to start on Monday and the wild plants will be gone but hope they like our yard just as well.  

The TV is finally hung up and it's very easy to watch from that angle.    Still no window coverings but we are hoping for installation of the shutters by the weekend or a few days later.    Most of the furniture is in place but the walls are quite bare.    I'm tired of making decisions and spending too much time internet shopping  (did I mention that we have NO stores here )…..     We've been looking at patio furniture but it needs to be of the heavy metal type due to the winds that roll thru.   Also don't want any cushions because of the dust.   Of course, everything is picked over this time of year.  

We're making plans and getting excited because the 2nd Miller Reunion is occurring next weekend ( 12th-19th)……Of course, there will be pictures !!

Why we live here…….

We finally took a break from the house stuff and local activities and headed out for some exploring.   We drove over to  the Elk Mountains and made a nice round trip thru the scenic byways and small towns   This area is popular for hunting and fishing and outfitters are eager to take you out.  

 

We had no trouble finding deer.     In this shot, we had to wait while 4 bucks ambled across the road.   I wonder if it's unusual to have bucks hanging out together……..we saw other deer as well but none of the feminine gender.   Maybe they were home tending the children.  This buck had only one antler.

We also drove over to the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP.    The south rim is closer to us but we had heard that the other side was more dramatic.    We found this short trail with a small  pamphlet guide in a box at the beginning with markers along the way.
 

Few wildflowers along here except for the cactus flowers.
  

The trail was relatively flat and led us to the rim where the views were breathtaking.   I'm never sure if I should trust the engineers who decided to make observation outcroppings that seem to balance in mid-air.   I don't like heights as well.

It's hard to capture the dimensionality of the views but this is the Painted Wall, a massive structure rising from the gorge floor where you can see the ribbon of the Gunnison River.

The Gunnison was running wild and full.    You could hear it as you started on the trail and I'm sure it was deafening if you were down on a raft.     They do have rafting tours of the gorge but this year, the runoff is very high and dangerous so it will be awhile before the tourists can sign up .

As we continued our drive, the wildflowers became more abundant.   Still no columbines…probably mid July or so.

There are 3 dams/reservoirs in this area.     That is the actual color of the lake and the surrounding mountains.    In the distance  are the San Juans.

The next day, we joined the Cobble Creek Hiking Club.    The hike of the day was to Spirit Gulch.   It is south of Ouray and the trail head starts at 10,000 ft.    It is listed as Easy/Moderate with a distance of 4-6 miles roundtrip.    There were about 11 of us , plus 3 dogs.    We've found that there are various hiking levels in the group and altho we started out together, the more ambitious and eager souls, quickly moved out ahead.     The rest of us enjoyed the views.

The trail starts out level for a brief distance and then starts to climb up an old mine road.    ( it is currently closed to vehicles.)

We expected stream crossings but not of the depth and strength of the current.    Altho the pictures don't do these justice, the water was very cold, quite deep, full of oddly shaped rocks and very forceful.    No one fell in but we all had very wet feet.     There were 4 wide streams to cross.    At first we gingerly picked our way  but by the time we hit the 3rd one, we just waded in.   And then we had to ford the streams on the way back.

We had lovely views of Red Mountain the entire trek.

There is an old mine up there and a few dwellings scattered about.

Spirit Gulch.  Some of the group continued up on the trail to the upper right.    But the rest were happy to enjoy a respite from the climb and enjoyed the view.   At over 11,000 ft the air gets pretty thin unless you are just lounging in your cabin.

Above tree line, the flowers are smaller.   No columbine on this trip either….still too early.

Heading back, there was a small alpine lake.  Red Mountain again above us.    We climbed to about 11,500 in all.

Coming down was slow as the road had loose rocks and was slippery.  
It was a great day and about 4 miles.    We ended it with a well-earned lunch at Kate's in Ridgeway.   We'll take you there for a good meal when you come out.!     We'll also take you to Spirit Gulch if you want……..