Life on the High Plains

 We recently went up to North Cheyenne Canon in Colorado to do a little hiking. There's a beautiful trail up there called Seven Bridges and yes, it really does cross seven bridges. Helen Hunt Falls. This is a popular hiking and mountain bike destination in Colorado Springs so you have to arrive early to find a parking spot.  We had no trouble finding a spot, but by the time we left the lot was full and cars were circling waiting for folks to leave. From the parking lot it's about a 3/4 mile walk on a dirt to get to the trailhead.  Then the trail turns off to the right and follows the North Cheyenne Creek for several miles.  The waterflow is especially fast this time of year because of the mountain snow melt. We stopped at the first bridge for a selfie. We had both dogs with us and this one, Aspen, loves to jump in the water. My hubbie has been recovering from a bad muscle injury and he thought he was ready for this hike, but he started feeling a little twinge so we d...

I've been told that I am not doing a great job of blogging lately.  Sad, but true.  I lead a very boring life so there isn't much to blog about.  I'll try to hit some of the highlights of May. On the morning of May 13th I went out to the barn at about 6:00 to feed the horses their breakfast.  This guy, Doc, was stomping around his stall and was very agitated.  I thought he was just being picky about his food, but then I decided to take a closer look.  He never turns down a meal.  Whoa...what's going on with the right side of his snout? As a horse owner who lives on the high desert of Colorado I had a sneaking suspicion that we were dealing with a rattlesnake bite.  We called the vet and woke her up.  Initially she said she would come out to our place, but then called back and asked if we could just bring him into the clinic.  I agreed that was a good decision because I knew Doc was going to need lots of IV fluids and medicine to make it ...

Today I go to the archives for my Skywatch Friday post.  For the first time in many years I'm not going back to work in Yellowstone National Park (YELL) as a season ranger.  I thought I'd share some of my favorite spots. This is the Grand Prismatic Spring.  Beautiful multi-colored hot spring that is the largest in YELL.  As a ranger I've seen tourons walk and even ride their bikes across this area.  (The stories I could tell.) There's an overlook you can hike up to to get this stunning view. This is the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. One summer I hiked up to the top of Mt. Washburn.  Stunning views from up there too. Here I am in my ranger uniform ready to great visitors. The best sunset in the park (in my opinion) is at Lake Yellowstone. Am I missing this magical place this season?  You bet I am, especially my co-workers. Linking with Skywatch Friday!

Let's see...what has been going on this week. Irv felt good enough to go out to dinner on our anniversary so we made our way downtown to a very delicious steakhouse.  The folks there did a good job of making it special for us.  (Above is the bag they put our complimentary dessert in to take home...we were too full to eat it there.) They have the very best French onion soup!  Loved the presentation in the small cast iron skillet.  After a delicious dinner Irv's leg wasn't up to walking back to the car so I went and got it and picked him up outside the restaurant.  Upon reaching my car I was greeted with another surprise...a $25 parking ticket. Here's Irv the next day sitting outside the court referee's office at the city court to contest the ticket. Our city uses the Park Mobile app for the meters downtown.  We had paid, but we reversed the numbers and letters in my license plate in the app.  Luckily, the referee could see the issue and waived the $25 f...