Atlantis

View from our room - lots of fish, sea turtles, and rays down there

 This is one giant pictorial of our Atlantis adventure. A year and a half in the planning. A family celebration for our 50th wedding anniversary. It was great! Only thing missing were Heather and family. Alas, circumstances just didn't align for them to make it. Missed them on this trip for sure.

Tiffany and Chris on one of the rides. Hi shark...

This is Chris after one of the high slides. Oh definitely not for me.

Sacred Space with 7 women sculptures at one end of the beach

the famous rope bridge

So much to do in every direction. Atlantis is enormous with water, water everywhere. Lots of water slides, lazy river ride, and the ocean right there for access.

Aquariums galore. It's mind boggling how many sea creatures live there - 50,000!

Dolphin adventure! It was an amazing experience. Most of the dolphins at Atlantis are Katrina survivors. This was Cherie who is 38. Very sweet.

Then there was the food. There are some wonderful restaurants at Atlantis and we took full advantage. Fish (Jose Andreas) was group voted as number one and Nobu a close second. The iconic throne photos had to be thrown in of course. Princesses indeed (and Penny and Jules were called that all over the resort). Wonderful special trip. Memories to last a lifetime. And that's a wrap.

Lovely family visit with Lisa and Charles

 

Anthracites 

The wonderful weather is in full swing now. Rivers are still high with the snowmelt and cattle come in soon.

Larkspur - so pretty but so lethal to cattle

Glacier Lily

The wildflowers are bursting forth by the day. This is the first wave with many weeks of more kinds blooming throughout the summer. Gorgeous!  

Our first company of the summer. Lisa and Charles came over from Santa Fe for a brief visit to see us and have a break. New Mexico has a terrible fire that's gone on for weeks causing millions of dollars of damage and not under control yet. Scary stuff.  Happy we could offer a reprieve here at Star Mt. So much fun had in a short time! Golf, shopping, Secret Stash, and an attempt to go over Ohio Pass. The entrance gate up the pass was open but we only made it half way. Snow only cleared so far. Yup, snow stays a long time at 12,000 feet. 

Old one room schoolhouse for mining town of Baldwin

Old mining town of Baldwin that became Star Mt. Ranch

Pregnant elk outside our fence

Scenes from Star Mt. It's a pretty great place to be. We are leaving for awhile though to have a special trip celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary with family at Atlantis in the Bahamas. I'll post after we get back.

Solace in the beauty of the mountains

 

The startling flip flop of mountain weather at this time of year. This is part of my everyday morning walk and I've been enjoying the peaceful rustle of the aspen leaves "quakies" and the animals who wander by. Quite the change below.

Can you believe!! We got off lightly with three inches which melted quickly. Parts of the rest of the state got up to two feet. Craziness late in May. 

The horses are all fine, just taking a little snooze

red tail hawk

Wildflowers are out and animal activity is everywhere. We think the elk have already started birthing but they pick special and hidden places away from humans. We're keeping our eyes out.

Some sadness in the midst of this magnificence. My mother recently passed away at 94. It was mercifully quick and we celebrate her long and full life. She will be terribly missed.

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Spring in the mountains

 We've made it back to Star Mt.! It is early spring here with snow on the peaks and patches of snow on the ground still. Temps still regularly go below freezing so we cannot plant flowers or herbs yet. The aspen trees are leafing out by the day and the first wildflowers are popping up. It is an amazing time of year to watch.

The Castles

Carbon Peak

The deer and elk are out in full force. These are pregnant females with their year old calves and fawns who will give birth in a month or so in our woods. The dads are nowhere to be seen at this time of year.

Crested Butte is very quiet since it's still off season and look at that snow! The winter snowfall was good but we'll still need decent rainfall through the spring/summer to not fall short. We are part of the western states that suffer from drought depending on the year. Water is a very precious commodity here. Crossing fingers for some drips from the sky.

Dusky Grouse

Heard coyote calls in the night, birds are busy making nests, and more smallish creatures (chipmunks marmots, ground squirrels) are appearing every day. A very special place on earth and we're excited to be back.