Meemo Is Back In The Mountains!

Looking over the ranch from the old airport hill.

And POOF! Powdered diet hot chocolate all over my face, down my front all over the counter and my shiny waxed kitchen floor.  Yep, I know we are back at our "cabin" in the mountains!  We have been here a week and I am beginning to get re-programed to our "high life" (as in 8500 ft. above sea level , all my 60's era friends).  I'm still puffing as I haul my laundry upstairs to the Blue Room to get washed.  My lips are getting over their dry air chappedness and I have caught my first fish from the pond so we know they didn't winter kill.

One of my favorite spring flowers, the Dog Tooth Violet

Here are some more fun adventures we have had this first week back home after 6 months on the road.  As usual the humming birds greeted us within 15 minutes of our arrival to let me know they needed their feeders put out.  The Canadian Geese are our alarm clock for a month or so before they head up to Canada.  We have spotted about 20 head of deer, mostly Does up on the ridge road and of course the antelope greeting committee was here as we came off the county road.  There are at least 2 Woodpeckers that have been pecking away on the house every morning and I have to go out and shoo them away.  Since the family spent Christmas up here without us and Thomas has been here several times over the fall and winter, I have to take stock of what is in the larder and what changes have taken place due to family members making repairs and leaving food up here.

An elk print in the mud.

My buddies, the humming birds are back!

As we come home from our winter wanderings, we have always made a stop in town at the local grocery store to pick up the basics before heading out the 25 miles to our home.  Imagine our surprise when we walked into the store and the shelves were bare!!!  Nobody managed to mention that to us over the winter.  They did have some basics but we were saddened to hear that they were in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and only could buy some basics for the last couple of months.  It does not look good for this community having a grocery store any more.  People are having to go to Laramie, Steamboat, or Granby at least 60 miles away to get their groceries.

The elk passed by here....

Signs of spring--some bear scat.

We spent a week using the staples left here and the meat brought up from Danny's and the shrimp and oysters from Rockport that we had brought up from Texas.  I made bread and we had fresh trout.  Someone had left some delicious cheesecake bites in the freezer and Mudslide and Pina Colada mixes in the fridge.  By the end of the week we were running out of fresh veggies, milk, cheese and peanut butter so we definitely needed to make a grocery run. We decided Steamboat was our closest store so we headed for City Market yesterday and picked up a couple weeks worth of food and wine, hopefully.  Bob got some shotgun shells and we picked up prescriptions at Walgreen's.

AAAh!  The buttercup up close.

 I love the drive over this time of year.  The leaves are actually out over there.  Still no sign of them here but give them a week or so.  I love the Yuppie grocery store over there, too. They have some great cheeses and lots of gourmet choices.  All come at high prices, of course.  One thing missing was the little peppers that I have written about in a previous post.  I also miss visiting with neighbors and friends while doing the weekly shopping.  But wait, we ran into two friends I used to teach with who happened to be visiting a teacher friend in Steamboat!  I hadn't seen them in many years!  I think we will be running into more North Parkers there too, as the checkout lady said they are seeing many people from over here.  They even furnished me with dry ice for the frozen stuff at no extra cost.

Spring flowers up in the trees

Back here, we had a few adventures as well.  We got the 4-wheeler out and took a ride up to the Little Jessie headgate to open it and get some water out on the meadow.  The Harvat's had beat us to it, but Bob was determined to set it right.  Since his Parkinson's Disease he has lost some of his balance(although his "miracle pills" are helping him tremendously).  I got him a walking stick and he made it to the dam but as he was climbing up on it he went over backwards.  I caught him and broke his fall a bit but he ended up in a pool of water so he was soaked but not hurt.  Nothing would do but he needed to see how far we could get up to the St. Joe headgate.  The ride was great. The buttercups and Dogtooth violets were forming a carpet  and we saw lots of sign of wildlife.  We made it to the "thinking rock" hill before we saw any snow.  About halfway up the steep hill was a huge snow bank.  It was time to turn around.
 

I love walking in spring!

A carpet of buttercups

I got off the 4 wheeler and decided to walk back so I could take pictures and Bob headed home to get out of his wet clothes. I had a great walk home, my first of the summer and got some nice artsy pictures along the way.

Crossing the Little Jessie weir so I don't get my feet wet.

There are lots more things to get done, like getting all my embroidery stuff set up, but we are pretty well set for another great summer.

I love my Dog Tooth violets!