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Hi, honey! I'm hoooooooooooome...

Greetings, dear reader! Did you miss me? I must confess I missed the world of blogdom...but was so utterly overwhelmed and mesmerized (do you know the etymology of that word? Fascinating...learned about it (him) while studying movies and psychology in undergrad. A French silent film entilted, "Le Baquet de Mesmer" discussed the work of one Franz Anton Mesmer...who discovered what he called "animal magnetism"...which came to be known as mesmerism...James Braid, a physician, later developed Mesmer's ideas and created hypnotism...thus the english derived root word: Mesmerized. Meaning, "to become like one hypnotized..." One never knows WHAT kind of odd-but-true trivia you will learn on my blog) I digress...

So overtaken by the beauty and peace found in the mountains and the fast-moving mountain streams...we spent a good deal of our time just driving around taking it all in...as you can see from the above sign, our vacation spot was at a MUCH higher elevation than we are used to here in flatland (480 feet above sea level) Southern Illinois...the thinner air, (although FABulous from a "no pollution" standpoint) took some getting used to... Here we are in front of the mammoth rock at the entrance to the little town known as Estes Park, Colorado. Estes is the Colorado entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park...(stay tuned for video!)

What you cannot see in the picture is that the wind is howling at about 50 miles per hour, and the temperature is a chilly 45 degrees! Brrrrr....(husband is convinced some people will endure ANYTHING for a photo...he's right! My tripod barely stood erect long enough to snap the shot!)

And this is the view from the road going into town...wow. (I said that one word alot during our time there. I was actually rendered speechless a good part of the time, which you, gentle reader, might realize is a bit of a novelty for THIS intrepid traveler!)

And more views from the road...being one who loves the beach, sea and surf, this rugged mountain beauty certainly inspires a different kind of "awe stricken" verbage. I...oddly, lacked appropriate adjectives to describe what I was seeing. "Wow" was often all I could manage...

Our first day consisted of settling into the cozy, one room cabin:

The Big Thompson River runs right in front of the cabin...the mountains are just beginning their springtime, so the river is fast moving and freeeeeeeezing cold!

A duo of daring ducks brave the fast moving, frigid elements...

And a mama and baby mountain goat climb the mountain across the road (they are close enough that I caught this photo with the zoom lens of my camera!) It's amazing how well camouflaged they are...except for the movement, they are very nearly undetectable!

And preparing for a mountain, sight-seeing adventure the next day!

Stay tuned...more photos, videos, and high elevation surprises tomorrow!

Peace! Out!



Paula