Super Moon

I took these pictures of the Super Moon last Sunday night with my little ol' point-n-shoot camera. 

Rock Walls and Deep Canyons

Country song potential?

Neighbor Dave

Father and Son
Pointing to a location
That conjures up images of a memorable elk-hunting story...

Indian Paintbrush

I always like spotting Indian Paintbrush, our state flower, in early summer!  I was not disappointed when we stopped at Virgin Lake on the 4-wheeler trip. 

4 Wheeling season has begun...

This weekend marked my first outing on the 4-wheeler this summer!  Yea!  The mountain roads are dry enough to get up in the high country, so it was wonderful to head up to Dubois and north to the Horse Creek area. 

My neighbors were camped there, trying out their new camper, and invited me to come up and 4-wheel.  So, I accepted!  I'd wanted to take one of the new teachers at school on a ride, and she was anxious to have the experience.  So, we arrived at their camp about 1:00 p.m. and unloaded.

I'm on the left, Brenda M. in the middle, and Scot on the right with the new Razor.

My neighbor's son was there too, and he had just purchased a new side-by-side 4 wheeler (Polaris Razor)  that seats 4.  We all took off up the trail to Bog Lake.  About a mile down the trail I realized I left my camera in the pickup!  Rats!!  Bog Lake was beautiful...but I have no pictures.

Then, we returned to camp, I loaded up my two machines, and then four of us climbed into the new side-by-side for a tour of the Burroughs Creek Loop road.  The ride in this new machine was unbelievable... no kidding...smoothest ride I've ever had, and even the back seats were very comfortable (lumbar support and all).  I think each year the improvements on these machines are remarkable.  

Anyway, because Dave has hunted in this area since he was a kid, he knows just where to go to see all the beautiful lakes.  One has to know this area, because there's very little signage.  Some trails have a number, but others don't.  So, if I had to find my way to all these spots on my own...hmmm...I probably wouldn't be too successful.  I'd need to drive it myself and go a couple more times. 

Virgin Lake

The first high mountain lake (we're talking about 9,000 feet) is Virgin Lake.

Rainbow Lake

Dave, the ultimate mountain tour guide!

The next was Rainbow Lake.

Ramshorn Lake

And finally we wound around until we came into a clearing where we could see Ramshorn Lake, located right at the base of Ramshorn Peak.  It was getting pretty chilly by now, and it was time to head back to camp!!

But on the way, we scared a Moose and her year-old calf as we came around a corner.  We got a close look at them;  they are spectacular animals.  Both ran quickly into the dense forest cover before I could get a good picture...but I can assure you there's a "butt" shot of the Moose if you could look closely enough.

Summer Solstice

A Celebration

 From pagan origins

A tribute to the Sun

Clarity, inspiration, unprejudiced love, warmth, life giving energy

That which may be hid by clouds,  but cannot be extinguished

From the ancients at the builders of Stonehenge or 

Egypt’s pyramids

 

To cultures around the world

Mankind celebrates the goddess of the hearth, agriculture, femininity

With midsummer festivals, parades, bonfires, food, music, 

Floating fragrant flower garlands gently down a river…

Thoughts of such celebrations down the centuries entertained me

As I watched the last ray of light from the longest midsummer day 

Offer a promise of Good…in silence.

Summer begins...

Yahoo!  Today is the first day of summer!  Last night the evening the sun didn't dip behind the mountains until nearly nine o'clock, the sky above the setting sun was beautiful...and I was enthralled with the light!!  I love the long evenings of light!  I will try not to notice that the evenings will be getting shorter...until September. 

The prairie flowers on the high plains deserts are still blooming...but are nearly past their glory.  This picture was taken about a week ago and shows off the pretty yellow blooms of our arrow-leaf balsam root.  The wind was blowing, swirling the blooms.

I've got a plump little robin that has been checking for food in the grass...and he's been a very curious fellow.

Knitting....ah knitting....well, I started a pair of socks, just for something portable to take with me for an easy knit.  But I'm STILL working on the Accordion Scarf; I have 21 of 25 repeats finished, so I'm getting closer.  And I'm STILL working on the blue sweater shawl.  That's not coming along so quickly since I can find lots of other things I've been waiting to do...

Ahh...summer...time spent outside...I love it.

Gold Rush Architecture

I just spent a few days with a friend who now lives in Grass Valley, California.  This is a city just north of Sacramento.  I got a wonderful tour of the area, which was built up from the California Gold Rush days in 1850's.  Grass Valley, along with the neighboring town of Nevada City, are wonderful gold mining towns to explore.  The local mines, the Empire Mine and the North Star Mine, are two of the richest mines in California.

Here's the historic Holbrooke Hotel.  I'm guessing there are lots of stories to be told from within these walls. 

The tour of Nevada City was very interesting.  The streets are narrow, winding, steep, and you wonder if the "gal" in the GPS could really be of help here. She might be in "recalculating" mode most of the time. Some streets didn't even have signs.  I think it would take a lot of time to get familiar with getting around on these streets!  But the architecture was really great to look at.  Lot of Victorian style homes.

The house in the picture above was built on the river, although the river sits considerably below the house.  From the street, you enter the house on the 3rd floor, and then, go down to the other floors. 

A most interesting tour! 

When shopping for yarn...

The sign says it all...

Last few minutes at the Wool Market

As Julie and I were leaving the fairgrounds area of the Wool Market, we were stopped by a young lady.  She asked if we were familiar with the mascot for Windy Valley Muskox.  Julie said she was, and we noticed the young lady was holding a stuffed Muskox in her arms and also had a camera around her neck. 

Next thing we know, she said she noticed we were carrying bags from their shop, and she wondered if we would be willing to pose for a picture with the mascot to post on their Facebook page.  We said, Sure!"  So, here we are...

Julie is holding the Muskox.

Wool Market, p. 3

Saturday morning Julie and I still had not made a final decision about whether to go to the Wool Market before heading home or not.  Oh, what the hey!  We're here.  We'd nearly spent our wad.  But we hadn't seen EVERYTHING.  So, we decided we'd go to the Market...but limit ourselves to an hour or so, and then get back on the road home.

We are sooooo glad we did.  The Windy Valley Muskox booth was wonderful.  We both bought some Qiviuk yarn...so soft.  We got a blend (45% Qiviuk, 45% Extrafine Merino Wool, 10% Mulberry Silk).  I got one ball for a short scarf; Julie got two balls for a long scarf.  It was on sale...and we were pretty thrilled.  (100% Qiviuk runs nearly $90 a skein! A blend, on sale, was much more enticing for the pocketbook!)  I also purchased up a ball of pima cotton.

1 ball of pima cotton on the left, 1 ball of Qiviuk yarn on the right.

While we were walking around, we saw several of our Wyoming friends.  So that was cool.

I also saw a vendor that had an entire wall of tailspun in almost every color, so I had to buy a few yards.

We saw some yarn that was made from a Paco-Vicunas, and we were curious what the animal looked like.  So, on our way out of the Market, we decided to stop in the tent that was showing them.  It turns out they are a rare type of alpaca.  We got to pet them and also heard them hum.. which is the noise they make.  Cute. Not annoying at all. 

They were soooo cute.  Their big brown eyes were adorable.  We got to pet them, and they were quite calm, even with all these people milling around and wanting to touch them.

The day held one more surprise...

Wool Market, p. 2

 Both Julie and I signed up for 2 days of knitting classes.  Julie took "The Language of Lace," which was a 2-day class.  On Thursday I took "Cables, Twists, and More." Friday's class was "Knitting With Beads."  We were very pleased with our choices and learned a lot of new techniques and tricks. 

Thursday was all knitting...but we were invited to a reception at the Art Center in Estes.  On display were some very artistic wool garments and wall-hangings. 

The buildings and tents to the right in the background housed the Wool Market.

After classes on Friday, we were surprised to find out that all the "students" were invited to a special opening of the Wool Market, located at the fairgrounds.  That was exciting!  So, the shopping...and spending...got underway.

I found some washable wool at a very affordable price to make another sweater shawl.  The colors are rich, and the yarn is soft. 

Lots of alpaca yarn was available...and I couldn't resist...picked up two skeins.

As long as I'm showing off the new additions to the stash, I need to come forward and show what I bought at My Sister Knits.  The shop was in a carriage house behind the main house.  It was so beautiful, we could hardly stand it.  We could have been very comfortable knitting in the garden!!

Because we arrived very close to closing time...both Julie and I were compelled to purchase something, thankful that the gals kept the shop open long enough for us to browse...and drool...and buy.

I bought a pattern and yarn for a neck cowl. 

We assumed we would be spending all Saturday morning shopping at the Wool Market.  However, since we were able to go all through it Friday night, we discussed leaving for home Saturday morning. Well,  there was one catch...Julie did not get to visit the vendor she most wanted to see: Windy Valley Muskox.  We don't know why they were the only ones not to show up...but that was the case.  So, we debated back and forth...was it worth going back the next morning or not? Was it also possible we missed seeing something the first time through?   OH....decisions....decisions.