Wool Festival and Other Delights

The reason that we scheduled our vacation at this particular time of the year was so that we could be in the right place at the right time.   I've been wanting to attend this festival for years, expecting that the destination would be as awesome as the festival itself.  And we were not disappointed.

There was a large barn of local and regional vendors with wonderful fiber, yarn, and merchandise.  Yes, I made a few purchases but I'll share that in a later post.

This handsome guy was just begging to have his picture taken.  Rather majestic looking, isn't he?  What else would you expect from a cashmere buck?

This festival had a diverse population of animals;  llamas, alpacas, paco-vicunas, goats, rabbits,  and of course, sheep. 

It was not a large festival and we were able to see just about all the exhibits in a couple hours but we decided to just hang out for the day, have lunch there, and enjoy the beautiful setting.

Besides where else could you go to be entertained by llamas on an agility course?

On our last day in the mountains we decided to do some hiking in a different area of the park.  It was like winning the lottery!

In addition to the never ending, gorgeous scenery, we were once again in the right place at the right time.  These fellas decided to come down from the mountains and crossed the trail where we were hiking.

The mountains were beautiful as well, but you can see what made the biggest impression on me that day.

As I looked back through my previous blog posts, I noticed that I neglected to include pictures of another wonderful sighting from a previous hike.  So I'll end this post with some pictures of Moose at Sprague Lake.

In the Clouds

Friday we started the day with a tour of the historic Stanley Hotel.  It is reported to be a site with lots of ghost activity, but our visit proved to be uneventful as far as spirit activity goes.  Still an impressive place to see.

After stopping back at the campsite for a little lunch, we decided to set out on Trail Ridge Road and head into the mountains.  This was where we stopped, the Alpine Visitors Center, and then headed back down, stopping at many of the pullouts to take in the views.

This is the tundra where the growing season is very short.

But if you look closely, you can find signs of life.  The wildflowers were just starting to appear, all small and close to the ground.   

I still haven't gotten tired of these spectacular views.

Here you can see the trek across the tundra to get the the rocks.  And if you look closely you will see that there are people on top of those rocks.  Yes, we climbed them as well.

On the way back from the rocks we spotted some more alpine wildflowers.

I'll leave you with one more shot of the spectacular views as we made our way back down the mountains.

Saturday we will be attending the wool festival so stay tuned knitting friends.

Scenes from the Saddle

We took a four hour trail ride yesterday to the top of Beaver Mountain.  We traveled on rocky mountain trails, through forrest areas, across meadows with wildflowers beginning to bloom, and had gorgeous mountain views the whole time. 

The view from the top.

  

The horses get a rest at the top.

Our trail also included several interesting water crossings.  Lucky for me, I had a smart horse and I stayed dry.  Others cannot say the same.

We were also treated to lots of wildlife sightings along our ride, but as you can see, we really didn't have to go very far to see elk.  This guy decided to take a rest along the road just outside our campground.  

I try to post every night, but the internet service is not reliable, and sometimes so slow that I can't upload pictures.  So if you're a faithful follower  of our adventures, be patient, and keep watching.  

Ever-Changing Views

From one extreme to another, all in one day.

Kansas, before setting off yesterday morning.

The view from our campsite upon arrival yesterday.

A scene from today's excursion. 

Continuing Westward

We've left St. Louis behind and are headed west.  It was 104 degrees when we landed for the day .... somewhere in Kansas.  I sure am looking forward to heading up into the mountains tomorrow and seeking out some relief from this heat.

The first couple of days on the road I was knitting on a lace project.  But trying to follow a chart and keep track of stitches while bumping along the highway didn't seem like an efficient way to use my knitting time.  Switching to something more travel friendly seemed to make sense and I have been knitting along on a sock with a simple slip stitch rib on the front.  Part of the motivation for this project is due to my recent acquisitions from the Loopy Ewe and the need to burn through some of my sock yarn stash so I can move on to the new yarn.

That's two skeins of Bearfoot on the left, a wool mohair blend with jewel-like colors that aren't apparent in the photo.  And two skeins of Woolmeise on the right.   I'm anxious to see what all the hype is about.

And as you can see there were a few other items that found their way into my shopping bag as well.  The yellow needle inventory card was a free gift and it was all packaged in the lime green Loopy Ewe cloth bag upon check out.  Another bonus!  

Off to plan tomorrow's adventure!

Highlights from the Road

Natural Springs Resort -- a nice place to spend the night after a long day on the road.

Our sight-seeing destination for day two!

SCORE!!