...so, bulls don't swim... do they?
Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative ~Oscar Wilde
...so, bulls don't swim... do they?
"Yield"
~Because I Can - Chief Biscuit
"Red Bull Running"
~ Always Carry a Spare - Chief Biscuit
~El Toro - Princess Banter
"Oh Mickey!"
~Oh Mickey, You're So Fine in Lavender - Starshine
~Mellow Mickey - Chief Biscuit
~Finding Minnie - Princess Banter
Gateway to the Garden of the Gods
Kissing Light
A matter of perspective
Looking back at The Garden
Climbers resting along the way
Shadow of Laughing Bear
Leaving the Garden of the Gods
Hope you enjoyed the brief tour, there is so much more than that what I've shown.
Scarlett & Viaggiatore (who learned that his roar was MUCH louder when it echoed off of the rocks)
The beautiful Beast. Note that it is almost as tall as the doorway behind it that is three steps up from the ground. It is inconceivably heavy.
Robert the Bruce looks at Mr. Sainted and they both sigh and start heaving and shoving the beast toward the truck. The bed is much too short. Tailgate down. I brought rope, thank the Lord. After much work and near death, the beast is loaded into the truck. Mrs. Sainted Lady looks at me and says (as we are standing amidst a museum of miscellaneous items in the storage unit)... 'do you want this Santa? I'll give him to you right now for ten bucks.' It is July and I am looking at a large Christmas decoration.
Santa is a mountain Santa. Furry fur coat, skis, snow shoes, canoe, the works. He's ready for winter in the Rockies. He's not little either. 3.5 feet. Yah whatever, I'm here, we'll put him in the truck.
I hug Sainted Lady in utter gratitude and we drive to the gate, where my Wonder Aunt, Worlds Best Uncle and Fun Cousins will meet us. We follow them 20 miles down the road to their home, they take us to a wonderful dinner at a secret hideaway and then make banana splits for us to enjoy on their back deck under the new chandelier.
Worlds Best Uncle made the chandelier, it is constructed of a ladder that Wonder Aunt used to climb on as a child, metal buckets, and those little hockey puck under cabinet lights. They have it hanging from the rafters of the covered deck with bailing wire... it is the best deck chandelier I have ever seen.We leave smallville after this brief visit, and a couple of quick photos on an old rusted tractor. We are off again. We talk to my mermaid in Glenwood and she agrees a BBQ is in order. We stop at the cabins in the mountains on our way home to indulge in natures best and one of my dearest friends company, and we discover that this place is the ideal home for Santa. He fits in here like a hand in glove. And truth be known, looks like several of the local men.
While here, we see the longest enduring rainbow I have ever seen in my life... over 30 minutes. I plucked the largest dried up dandelion EVER ~ the kind with the little helicopters all over it that when blown into the wind will give you a wish... and gave it to the mermaids, along with the Santa, and after a nice relaxing visit there, we head back to Denver.
En Route we see an old fire truck from the Idyllwild Fire Dept. and I cannot resist keeping a photo of this!
We made it back safely, and very early in the morning. With only the rental truck keys in our hands, but with a fun, crazy, memorable and wonderful weekend in our back pockets. Everything wound up where it should have been.
My sincere thanks to:
Sainted Lady and Mr. Sainted
Robert the Bruce
World's Best Uncle and Wonder Aunt
Mermaids both
Budget rentals
With a promise not to be so silly for at least a little while...
Scarlett & Viaggiatore (who laughed all the way, and loved the friends and family)
To LMNoonan at the Failed Painter, who is a great artist, excellent writer, incredible mother, and an inspirational photographer, and she binds all of that together with charm, grace, and compassion. She is a tapestry of feminine wonder and a wondrous mystery.
To Starshine, who has been sharing her step by step journey to the altar with her beloved ESuitor, and has finally (June 30th) tied the knot. She is a woman of deep faith, true honor, boundless love, delightful happiness and what's more than all of these, she is a member of the sisterhood of red-heads. GO RED. Blessings and best wishes on your new life, for every morning you awake to find that your dreams have come true, all my best to you.
All of you are Rockin Girl Bloggers... and it is my privilege and pleasure to have befriended each of you. It is with gratitude for past thoughts shared, and in anticipation of many more wonderful smiles and laughs to come, that I bestow this award to each of you... and a double hit to all the girls in my list who already have it, you have it again from me.
To Sognatrice, thank you once again, kind lady, yours is the blog that has been a light for mine to follow. Grazie Bella, Grazie Mille.
Scarlett