Mustangs, etc

I was reading Sunday's Denver Post and they had this big article about the "wild" mustangs in this country and how the BLM (Bureau for Land Management) is considering euthanizing some or selling them to the slaughterhouse.

You may or may not know this about me; I love horses. LOVE them. Want one desperately. When I was *much* younger my parents paid for me to have horseback riding lessons - just so I could be around them. We didn't have the money or a place to keep one ourselves.

In this article it stated that there were 4 wild horse sanctuaries in Colorado, the largest being the Sand Wash Basin in NW Colorado. This sanctuary holds 460-ish horses and it's a days drive from here. Having no new news on the movers we decided to check it out.

Wow.

Aside from the horribly desolate land they chose... I mean could they have found worse land for these horses? It was a wonderful experience. We actually got quite close to several of the horses.









We also saw other critters...
A coyote




Elk


Prairie Dogs




And on the way back we were treated to a few rainbows...




And a shepherd's wagon

Today...

Dad and I drove from Ridgeway to Telluride, back to Ouray and over to Silverton... then back to Ridgeway. Lotsa driving. Lotsa scenery. Lotsa fun.

Bridal Vail Falls - Telluride, CO


Ouray, CO (one of my favorite CO towns)


Red Mountain - Between Ouray and Silverton


More chipmunks because let's face it - they're cute!


In Ouray, in the middle of the main street... in someone's yard... two young bucks. They didn't mind the people, the cars, the Harley's...


And the one thing that's hard for me (about living in Colorado)... Everywhere you go there are dogs... Dogs... DOGS! People walking with them, driving with them... in stores... lots of stores have free dog biscuits for your dogs when you bring them in the store.


Ah well... one day.

Picture time...

So dad and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park. Below you'll find a few critter pics... and of course the mountains.

A chipmunk


One of my favorite critters, a marmot:


They're kind of like beavers, but with different tails and they live in rocks.


These little guys are called pika (one of Dad's favorite). They also live in rocky areas and they're so fast it's really hard to get a good picture of them. I did my best.




The mountains...




And you can't go to Estes Park without visiting the famous Stanley Hotel (from The Shining)...


Update on the movers... my stuff didn't make it on yesterday's truck, which means... well it means: who knows when my stuff will get here.

Right now we're in Ridgeway (at a hotel) and so I have an internet connection. We're going to explore Ridgeway and Ouray tomorrow. This is my absolute FAVORITE area in Colorado... well in the U.S. (so far) I haven't been here in 11 years, so I'm excited to go exploring again. We had dinner tonight at The True Grit (inspired by the John Wayne movie which was filmed here). There was an OLD cowboy going around and singing at tables. He was quite a character and he sang us a couple of songs he wrote.

I am missing MN and my friends there. My routine and the comfort level. Colorado is familiar in some ways, because almost every vacation I took as a child was here. But not to the area I'm living in and since it's been 11 years since I've been to Colorado a lot has changed.

P.S. I'll post more pics later... after I've taken them!

Still alive...

Made it to Colorado. Dad has been helping me a LOT with fixing up my apartment. Lots of little projects. We spent all day yesterday in Denver and today we're heading to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The movers won't be here until sometime between Saturday and Monday... *sigh*

Ah well... gives us more time to run around Colorado.

Will write more later... using a public computer atm... won't have my internet hooked up until next Monday.

Whirlwind

Let's see... Friday (the 11th) Aya and I took a day trip to Duluth to pick up my new bookshelf (made by a friend), got my new phone, ate at the Olive Garden (num) and window-shopped at the mall. That night I had a Trivia Night/Goodbye Party at my place. Loads of fun.

Last Monday was my last night of Trivia. I will REALLY miss that. It was always a blast and I love the guys I played with.

On Wednesday I participated in an Active-Shooter Training for the local Task Force. Essentially it was a training exercise for the Task Force involving me pretending to be dead and/or a hostage. I was show with paint balls and these weird fake bullet things that hurt worse than paint balls.

Thursday the movers came and picked up all my worldly goods... I stayed with Aya Thursday and Friday nights, hung out with friends and ran errands.

Aside from that I've spent the past week saying goodbye to people.

Now I'm in Nebraska, having thoroughly traumatized my poor kitty. She does NOT travel well. 12 hours on the road today and another 8 hours tomorrow.

Ah Joss...

1/3 of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is out and it definitely made me chuckle. I wonder if anyone else thinks it's funny? Or if I just happen to have the same sense of humor as Joss Whedon...

*ponder*

In any case the 2nd part comes out next Tuesday and the 3rd part comes out the following Tuesday. So... By July 29th I'll know how it all ends.

Moving

So they have sunblock (for kids) that goes on one color (for complete coverage) and then the color fades. They even have colored putty (for walls) that fades to white.

WHEN will they come up with rolls of box tape that change color when they're torn? If they could make the edge of the tape change color when it is exposed to air I wouldn't spend half my day searching for the end of the tape...
*sigh*

I'm almost completely packed.
I've got my new cell phone, my new PO Box, and I'm in the process of saying goodbye to friends.

Hilarious, but unrealistic

At least in my case.


Get Fuzzy

I'm glad to see Bucky getting a taste of his own medicine!

However, my kitty runs when I open the closet door where I keep the vacuum cleaner. She's so oblivious to everything else, but she HATES the vacuum cleaner. *ponder* Maybe it hurts her wittle ears?

Joss Whedon

So I pretty much love everything Joss Whedon has done... well almost... but the stuff I love I like... REALLY love... like to the point of being obsessive... So yeah, I'll be one of the first ones to watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. And even if it is truly 'horrible' I will still love you Joss.

I want a kiwi

Get Fuzzy

Officially Official

I received my diploma yesterday.

That's a GRRRRRREAT feeling!

Full circle

My first Fourth of July in Minnesota involved going to Walker to watch the fireworks (they have the best I've seen - lasting 20-25 minutes). Then I went to Aya's family reunion, where I was warmly accepted. I remember it being a cool day and I was actually cold sitting by the lake in Walker. That was a HUGE factor in me wanting to move up here.

This year, my last Fourth of July in Minnesota, I did the same thing. I've tried a few fireworks shows since moving here, but Walker is still the best. And Aya's family reunion was just as welcoming.

I spent the rest of the weekend packing and hanging out with friends. I've got less than two weeks left and it's almost crunch time.

This is the last week of teaching for Upward Bound and this afternoon I'm supposed to go on a Pontoon ride... if the weather holds.

Hey Harry Potter

My UB kids were singing this and I had to look it up for myself...

Hey Harry Potter (Hey There Delilah Spoof)