Adorable Alpacas and an Assortment of Animals!

 When we first signed up with Harvest Host 
I wanted to stay on an Alpaca farm.
 Near Durango, Colorado we found one 
 and it was fantastic!

35 acres with over 70 Alpacas.

They were just sheared last week. 

Very curious and cute.

This one doesn't look so happy.

There were lots of animals on the farm including 

this African Spur Tortoise who was very active 

and he loved eating his banana. 

Several babies.

It was a great time to experiment with some night

 photography for two reasons. One, I was still awake 

and two, her farm is miles away from other light sources. 

Scott stayed up and saw the Milky Way!

From Durango we headed to another one of our favorite

locations to stay, Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument

 just north of Taos, New Mexico. 

We have been here several times and have never 

seen the Big Horn Sheep. 

Here are a few that visited us in the early morning. 

And then later in the afternoon, two more surprised 

us by coming up from the gorge side 

which is only a few feet from our picnic table!

After a nice visit in Taos, New Mexico with Skye

 we headed to Cochiti Lake in Pena Blance, NM

and stayed at the campground for several days. 

These are my first lightning photos, 

which I am so excited about, because it is hard 

to do without special equipment.

We spent a day in Santa Fe and went to the

 farmers market. Caramel Pinon Nut ice cream

 was fabulous along with a pastry that we split!

 Also picked up a sage stick with dried flowers 

because we love the smell of sage.

 You can't get away from it in New Mexico. 

 

In Albuquerque we went to the Anderson Abruzzo 

Balloon Museum but the most interesting thing was the 

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center 

It is a must see if you ever go to Albuquerque!

If you have followed us for a while, 

you may remember that we went 

to the Santo Domingo Pueble Feast Day in NM

 but you are not allowed to take photos. 

At the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center they had

 a dance at 11:00 am and photos were allowed

because these are not ceremonial dances. 

Corn Dance performed by

 the Kallestewa Dance Group (Zuni).

Rainbow Dance because they know the importance of rain. 

Deer Dance because they are thankful

 for a good hunting season. 

The leader of the group was so pleased that his 

son wanted to be taught the traditional dances.  

They go around to schools, 

and many places to keep their traditions alive. 

What a treat!!

 

Beautiful Colorado!

 It is surprising how many times we have driven right through

 Grand Junction on our way out west and never stopped.

We missed seeing the Colorado National Monument.

Another lizard, but wait there is more!

You do have to pay attention to those signs

 that show rocks falling.

We were only a few minutes down the road 

 when we saw the Rangers coming to clean it up. 

That was a close one!

Look at the length of this male Collared Lizard. 

Fantastic colors!

I think he has had enough of me snapping photos of him!

Palisades peaches looking good but too early 

in the season to buy.

 We stayed at a winery through our Harvest Host program.

 It was a beautiful view overlooking the valley and orchards. 

We camped along the Uncompahgre River in Quray, Colorado

and enjoyed watching the wildlife, even a beaver. 

Another cute animal photo.

Columbines 

Elk in the meadow on our way into Telluride.

Just look at all the calves!

Beautiful Telluride from the Gondola.

Solitude at its finest! See the red cabin.

We believe that is Lizard Head sticking up 

in the San Miguel Mountains at 13,119 feet. 

Unbelievable view so we just put out our chairs 

and sat here for the day. 

Life is good!

Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks

Iconic view of the Grand Teton Mountains

Jenny Lake

Another view as we hiked around part of Jenny Lake.

The Chapel of The Transfiguration was built in 1925.

Named appropriately from Luke 9:28-36 where Jesus

 was going into the mountains with Peter, James and John...

This is the amazing view behind the alter

and a refreshing place to pray.

We arrived at just the right time at 

Lupine Meadow Trailhead to see them in full bloom!

On to Yellowstone where it was interesting 

to watch the Bison roll onto its back in the dust. 

Hayden Valley is one of our favorite places to 

park and watch the Bison. 

Bring a full picnic basket and enjoy just sitting here.

Don't miss the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone!

Afternoon showers

that made for an interesting low rainbow.

We were thrilled to see a mother bear with two cubs! 

Sorry for the blurry photo but the ranger was blowing 

his whistle telling everyone to keep moving so we couldn't stop. 

Wonderful to see so much wildlife in one area. 

Pronghorn at the north entrance near Gardiner.

Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces at the North end.

As we were walking back to the van,

 I caught a snake out of the corner of my eye.

Of course, I screamed which brought other visitors 

over to see what was going on. 

He was pretty long (5-6 feet) 

and only about 20 feet from the parking lot.

Geyser

Shedding his winter coat. 

As we were heading south toward Old Faithful

 all traffic stopped for about an hour. 

We thought maybe there was an accident but 

we found out that there was a herd on the road 

and the Rangers were carefully getting them to move

by using whistles.

So cool to see the baby calves! 

One of the Rangers said that sometimes it takes them

 four hours to get traffic moving again. 

About a half hour later we were stopped again for an hour. 

Oh boy! We were a little more patient but

when we finally got up there, it was construction.

Traffic was nuts and there were so many people. 

So glad we have been to 

Yellowstone before so we skipped several of 

the main sights because there was no parking. 

Another group of Pronghorns. 

We hope these photos inspire you to get out to see

the National Parks or bring back memories 

when you were there. 

Remember to bring lots of patience!

Check ahead of time if you need a timed pass,

or if there is construction going on in the park.