Star Mountain

 

Our house in paradise

We've been back for a month and I'm finally getting around to posting. It's been spectacular, but it always is in June. The monstrous winter snowfall has created a lush green world with one of the best wildflowers seasons in years. Snow remains on the peaks and river flow is high. 

Taylor Reservoir

This is what we started with - in early June. Snow and green new growth with nighttime temps in the 30's.

Flowers in every direction: wild iris, sunflowers, larkspur, and lupine. It's heaven.

Lots of creatures every direction too. Deer and elk with their babies, hawks, fox, and moose sightings around our pond. Heard coyote in the night, great horned owl has left evidence he's back,  just waiting for a bear sighting. Our boys (the steers) are back on Star Mt. for the summer. Cowboys are everywhere moving cattle. Real western life still lives on in this part of the country.

new jeep!

The Castles

On a little trip with the new jeep- that's Star Mt. down below.

Rock climbing going strong

Enjoying all the hours even the waning sun. I'll be back soon with another post on my side trip to Santa Fe.

Walker family visit

Wonderful visit with our Charleston family: Chris, Tiffany, Penelope, and Juliet. They came over for Easter and spring break. The photo above is from our Easter brunch. And you'd never know it - Mark had knee replacement surgery 2 1/2 weeks before! Making an astounding recovery.

Of course had to have an Easter egg hunt. 54 eggs hidden in our tiny backyard.

Had one beach day, although it didn't last the whole day due to 24mph wind gusts. Sand in your face (and everywhere else) gets old pretty fast.

Yes that is a shark, a 3 foot young black tipped shark. Jules and I followed it along the shoreline. Unusual sighting for Naples. Relatively harmless and normally they don't come close to shore.

Lots and lots of pool action was had during the week. Weather cooperated except for one very rainy day. Hey no problem, just find things to do inside... Great visit -loved having everyone!

How's this for a crazy contrast! A neighbor sent me this two weeks ago.  Our area had a massive winter season. Now starts the major melting. We're back to Colorado June 2 - it will be long gone by then.

Key West Girls Trip

 Just came back from a short but fabulous girls trip to Key West. Mark's brother Paul was in town for the men's member/guest golf tournament at our club and brought Sherry and daughter Katie along. We girls made the most of it and disappeared for a couple days to explore Key West (making sure we were back for the golf awards banquet Saturday night). We made it back with an hour and a half to spare.

We stayed at an Airbnb one street off Duval so were able to walk everywhere. Saw an amazing amount of things in that short length of time.  Hit Mallory Square both nights for sunset and street entertainment and then headed down Duval. No on strip clubs or drag bars - we saw enough crazy on the streets. In bed by 10 both nights. Ha - big late night party animals.

This is self explanatory. It's an unofficial line that forms at the end of this street that starts with dawn and ends with dusk. A must do...

The lighthouse from Hemingway house. After touring the house and grounds we marched off to the lighthouse climbing every one of those 88 steps to the top. The spiral staircase gave us all a little case of the willies.

The Hemingway House is a great not to be missed stop. I've been a few times but learn something each time I go. I ended up with only cat photos somehow. These are the famous 6 toed cats that live and continue on for generations. There are 57 there now, and they are pampered to the end of their lives.

Lots of sightseeing as fast as we could move. A good friend who has a house in the Keys came down to have lunch and take us around. Thanks Pam for driving down to meet us and be the excellent tour guide! We visited lots of bars (briefly), restaurants, and had to include a photo of Katie and a lemon drop martini. She rarely drinks at all (even in a place like Key West) but the wonderful jazz club we found felt just right for a libation.

Cruise ships show up at Key West frequently but they are day stops only. Sherry and Katie hadn't seen any of the huge ships in person, so we hung out and watched it pull away. Gigantic things that somehow gracefully move through the water. The ships have to leave an hour before sunset so they don't block the view. Good regulation I think...

A great time was had by all...