231/365 - Travel and Momentos

Yesterday, we made it to Topeka, KS and found a nice Hampton Inn to stay the night (the kids love the Hampton Inn - they love the nice bathrooms, the great pool and the queen size beds with duvet covers). I managed to book the room while we were driving on I-70, using my highly functional iPhone (I was happy I had service again, after a week of being off-line).

Even in the comfort of the Hampton Inn, I couldn't help but compare the present scenery with the scenery from a mere 10 hours before - breathtaking mountains, unspoiled nature vs. the electronic billboard viewable from the hotel room, which toggled between ads for the car dealer, the realty company and a restaurant. Guess which I prefer?

We left Topeka early and arrived back home around 3pm, giving us enough time to get laundry started and order pizza for dinner.

The kids declared - "We miss Sampson" and I agreed that I missed the mountains and horses, but we had wonderful memories and momentos:

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230/365 - So Long, Farewell

As a last parting activity, we watched the horses come down from the meadow this morning. They came booking down the hill, and a couple horses bucked. I stationed myself near a big tree, and I hid behind it as one of the horses spotted me and ran in my direction. [human vs horse - the horse will win]



Ben and Binet rounded up the horses this morning - we think they did a great job.

I haven't dabbled that much in B&W and simply used a preset in PSE. The colored version showed some noise, but with the B&W, I thought it gave the picture an old fashioned feel. [now, to figure out how to convert it to sepia - that's my next trick]

We said goodbye to our gracious hosts -
Teresa, Bob, Stephanie, Tiffany and Ben.

We drove away, leaving the Culebra range behind, onward through desolate Eastern Colorado and into Kansas.

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229/365 - Colorado Wildflowers and Family pictures

This morning brought more rain (it rained a little bit yesterday) and cloudy skies.
Erica and Scott still mounted up on the horses for a trail ride, Brian hung out in the Lodge and I went for a run in the soft rain - I took the loop from the Lodge, along the Stonewall, out to Rt 12 and around the main Ranch drive.

Along my run, I spotted several photo-ops. Once I completed the loop, I picked up my camera and set out again, this time stopping to take pictures.

Wildflowers:




The entrance off Rt 12, with the Stonewall Gap in the background:


Fence and grasses:


After lunch, the skies cleared up so it was family picture time - I set up the tripod and self timer against the backdrop of the beautiful Stonewall and Spanish peak.


And the requisite silly pose:


Tomorrow we head back to Illinois. We had a great time here and hope to come back in future years.

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228/365 - Morning Hike

We've been instructed not to venture outside before the sunrise and after sunset due to the potential to encounter bears and mountain lions. But this morning, Teresa offered to take "whoever was willing to get up for a pre-dawn hike" up to Bart's Point. All the adults staying in the lodge got up at 5:45 for the opportunity to watch the sunrise while on the mountain.

It was well worth the early morning power hike:


From this vantage point, you can see the stables below and over the Stonewall to the lake:


A happy couple picture:


The Lodge adults - Marta, Christine, Scott, Shirley, Pete and Allison


Our group with Teresa (thanks to Marta for taking the picture):

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12 on August 12 - Colorado Style

This month's 12 on 12 is coming to you from Colorado. Not quite the depiction of a "normal" day in our lives, but certainly a fun one.

As usual, I woke early today, and headed out to the woods to find something beautiful to capture in the golden morning light. Of course, this was an easy-easy task. I took pictures of stately Aspen trees, wandering fence lines before coming upon a group of deer, one that was particularly curious of me and my camera:


I ran into Chantal (Ged's wife) and she reminded me that the horses would be coming down from the meadow soon. The horses spend the night in the vast meadow and are brought down to the stables each morning by the wranglers. The group galloping out of the woods is quite a sight:




And into the stable area:


After breakfast, Erica and Scott mounted up for another trail ride - Scott is on Diamond this morning:


Erica is on Lightning:


While Erica and Scott are out riding, Brian and I went out and caught grasshoppers to be used as fishing bait. Neither of us had the guts to put the bugs on the hook, so we kept them in a baggie for Scott to deal with later (yuck!). Brian also played a game of Scrabble Slam with Marta:


The cute prairie dogs were peaking out of their holes to catch some warmth from today's copious sun:


After lunch, Scott tried fishing with those grasshoppers as bait.

Alas, still no bites.

What to do on a "hot" afternoon (it's almost 90, but really only feels like 75 because of the low humidity)? Play around in Duling Stream:

Erica and Olivia:

Most of the kids strike a silly pose!


And after dinner, the kids divided into teams for a scavenger hunt. The girls from Boston / the Netherlands - Julia, Doris and Eva - won, but everyone had a fun time gathering items like "Horse toe nails", "horse hair" and "dung" -

Fun stuff!

Note - I took way more than 12 pictures today. To view the rest of my pictures from today, check out my August 12 Flickr set.

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Campfire Night

Marta and Christine bought the fixings for s'mores so we had a campfire.
Since there has been little rain, Teresa and Bob (who run the Bar NI), set up the fire engine (yes, there is a small one on the property) just in case. Pete and Allison's kids, Bryan and Olivia put out the fire at the end of the night with the big fire hose (the back pressure caused them to flail about at first, then they got help from their parents).

Some pictures from our evening:

Marta and Alex:


Christine and Colleen:


You can't have a campfire without campfire songs - Bob provided the tunes:


And lent Ged a spare guitar:


The music transported me back to my youth, with songs from the Eagles (7 Bridges Road, Take It Easy, Desperado and Hotel California), Crosby, Stills and Nash (Southern Cross) and Pure Prairie League (Amy). We also sang "Wildfire" - an appropriate horse song.

I know the kids didn't know any of the songs, but they were too busy making and eating their s'mores and poking at the fire.

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226/365 - Trail Ride up Stonewall

Some of the pictures from today's Trail Ride up to the top of Stonewall:

Brian gets to ride Sampson:


Erica is on Lightning, Scott is on Dusty and I am on Godiva.


We walked through a vast meadow area before ascending up trails which previously served as logging routes. You build an appreciation for the horses, as the trails are steep and rocky. The view at the top is spectacular:

The Culebra peaks serve as the beautiful backdrop.

On the way back through the meadow, the two Spanish Peaks can be seen in the very far distance:


A great way to spend the entire morning.

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225/365 - Lost Lake Remains Lost

Note - tonight's post will be "backwards", with events of today recounted in reverse order. Why? Just because I feel like it. So there. [Really, it's a technique used in TV, so why not in blog media?]

What a nice treat after our full day - deer hanging out at dusk, right by the Lodge:


So we failed at finding Lost Lake. We know where we took a wrong turn on the hiking trail as we retreated back to the Jeep. The kids decided to call it "Loser Lake".

[But we passed on the information about the hiking trail to the other families visiting the ranch. They turned our failure into success by finding the elusive Lost Lake.]

At the beginning of our hike -


Before the hike, we drove the Jeep for about an hour through winding and treacherous trails. We almost got stuck at one steep pass, but Scott gunned through the rocks. Those Jeeps are amazing 4 wheelers. En route, we passed through The Meadow, where we stopped for a short rest:


When we started out on this afternoon's adventure, the kids were enjoying the Jeep ride (not so much at the end of the day - 3 hours of 4 wheeling through rough terrain gets hard on the body)


We spent the morning getting oriented on the horses (sorry, no pictures). Then Erica and I played various card games while Scott drove to the Picket Wire Store where he picked up some lures. He hoped these guys would be effective with the fish in the pond.


I woke early and attempted to run out to Rt 12 and back. I made it about a half mile before I almost passed out from lack of air. The lungs are not used to the altitude. But it was a glorious morning, nice and crisp at 40degF.

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224/365 - Kansas to Colorado

The West part of Kansas is flatter than the East part, more in line with what my mind had conjured up as "Kansas". We took the scenic route (the Santa Fe Trail) after Hays, leaving the Interstate HW behind in favor of the little highways that wind through all the little farm towns. Kansas' rich connection to agriculture became apparent as we came upon grain elevators in each town - each structure towering over the road, like a crown jewel. I decided to take a picture of all the grain silos on our route (OK, I do admit I missed one here or there - they all start to look the same). Of course, I won't post all of them here, but you get the idea:


We passed by a windfarm in Spearville, KS. I find these structures amazing and I was so busy snapping pictures of the wind mills that I didn't get a shot of Spearville's grain elevator:


Finally, we crossed into Colorado, but it looks just like Kansas, except more desolate. No crops and no grain elevators. We drove through the Comanche Grasslands where the terrain changed from flat plains to hilly plains:

The distance between towns stretched to 60 miles, with each town marked by a sign and an occasional shack. Not a place you want to break down or run out of gas.

We reached civilization at the town of Trinidad, about 30 miles from our final destination. Here the terrain turned hilly and then mountainous as the Spanish Peaks appeared along the way.


Passing the Stonewall gap, we reached the Bar NI Ranch, nestled between the Stonewall gap and the Culebra Peak. We spent the rest of the day exploring the grounds and the lodge.

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Colorado Sneak Peak

A quick sneak peak from our Colorado adventure. We have limited connectivity, so this may be it until we get back.

The view from the back porch, where I presently sit:


We tried to find the "Lost Lake". Unfortunately, we didn't succeed, but had some fun trying.


See you when we get back!

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