While We Can, Part 2

Well, break's coming to a close, so before we're sucked back into schoolwork, let me quickly share another little excursion we took in our free time-to Boulder, CO!  We've been there for fun day trips before, and there's a lot to like, including possibly the most amazing kite store in the entire world (note-this is a photo from last spring-we're still waiting for leaves on the trees).

However, there's only so many times you can stroll through the same downtown before it gets a little dull, so this time we headed for the hills!  Near the famous "Flatirons" (the foothills outside Boulder), we found ourselves at the Colorado Chautauqua Association and an open space area with tons of hiking/strolling trails. What a cool place (check out this stock photo of the not-too-shabby dining hall)!

CO and WY are famous for receiving more than 300 days of sunshine per year, but somehow most of the other 65 seemed to fall during our spring break.  However, we were treated to a few fleeting hours of blue-ish sky during our trip, and it sure made for pretty scenery and happy hikers!

We got up close and personal with the Flatirons, and were also treated to a stroll through the woods...

...a glimpse up the foothills towards Fort Collins...

...and quite a view of Boulder (wow-look at all that sprawl!).

Anyway, it was a nice little diversion from work, and we'll have these views in mind as we hit the books again.

While We Can, Part 1

Well, Charlotte and I are on spring break, and so we've been out on a couple occasions for some exploring.  On one of our trips earlier this week, we headed to Hutton Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  We were looking at a Google Map of Laramie, realized it was only about 15 minutes away, and so off we went!  As you can see, 15 minutes outside of Laramie is quite different from 15 minutes outside of our hometowns back East!

Anyway, a bit further down the dusty road, we arrived.

At first, it looked like we were going to be alone in some rugged, beautiful, and incredibly frigid terrain!

Happily, though, there was a lot going on out there on the high plains.  Charlotte spied this giant tumbleweed passing by (how much more Western can it get?!?)...

...I was in heaven as I found myself surrounded by literally thousands of cacti (a precarious heaven, though-those thorns are brutal!)...

...and tons of beautiful horned larks swooped around.

Best of all, though, we had noticed lots and lots of burrows throughout the refuge.  Pretty soon, the inhabitants started to pop out to survey the intruders!

All in all, Hutton Lake NWR is a pretty neat spot, and just goes to show us that we've got a lot of exploring left ahead!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hey all!  Charlotte and I are on break!  This means that we have a chance to regroup, catch our breath, and hopefully do some things that are worth posting once again.  It's been a while, but we hope you've had a great few weeks, and that you're having a great St. Patrick's Day as we speak!

Here in the West, we're being treated to a dry late winter/early spring, which means there's already a 1,000 acre wildfire burning just a couple miles away.  Here's the view from near our Fort Collins house.

Thankfully, the firefighters weren't hibernating, so everybody's homes are expected to be alright.  And that's cause for celebration!  You know what else apparently is?  St. Patrick's Day!

You wouldn't expect a city with almost a dozen breweries to miss this holiday, and it didn't.  Everyone was in good cheer yesterday!

We even had the chance to see a couple celebrities from CSU: Dr. Temple Grandin and "Cam the Ram," our cheery mascot!

Anyway, we hope you all enjoy the rest of your holiday, and we'll talk to you again soon!

Winter Still Continues!

Before the weekend ends, we thought we'd share a few photos from our latest excursion to the Medicine Bow National Forest.  We were happy to discover today that, in addition to the amazing cross-country ski trails that Charlotte's been enjoying, there are also some pretty well-maintained snowshoeing trails!

It's not quite the same as snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park, but the views are pretty good here, too.

Well, that's about all we have to say on this matter.  I guess we'll close here by wishing you all a great week (and by including the obligatory self-photo to prove that we were actually there)!

Winter Continues!

You might be wondering whether we have any snow on the ground here in the West.  The current answers are as follows:
-Fort Collins: not really
-Laramie: some (just enough to make it pretty)
-Medicine Bow National Forest: AWESOME AMOUNTS OF POWDER!!!

Or at least that was the latest report from Charlotte, who headed out with some friends yesterday.  Remember those free ski trails I mentioned a couple posts ago?  

We miss all of you (and the East Coast) like crazy!  Admittedly, though, living 10 minutes from a national forest does have its perks!

Rocky Mountains

Well, enough already about Medicine Bow National Forest.  We've mentioned that it's close to Laramie, that it's beautiful, and that we enjoy hiking, walking, etc. there when we're able.  This past weekend, Charlotte and I decided instead to use our place in Fort Collins as a mountain home base.  That's because, while we'd never taken advantage of this fact before, Fort Collins is only about an hour away from Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP)!  You get there by driving through the town of Estes Park, which, as you can see, has some decent views of the park.

Anyway, we didn't have all day to sit in Estes Park and look at the pretty mountains-we had new snowshoes to test out!!!  Fortunately, this time of year, RMNP has not only amazing mountains, but also a LOT of snow, so we were in luck.

The "official" snow depth measurement at our particular trail was 28", but do you see those hiking poles Charlotte is holding?  It was at least as deep as those (we just couldn't push them down any further without losing them)!

Anyway, the scenery and experience was nothing short of amazing.  We got to snowshoe across three frozen alpine lakes...

...including one fed by an active glacier at the Continental Divide.

We ate lunch nestled between a boulder and several feet of snow, while adorable mountain chickadees landed on our hands (unfortunately, we were unsuccessful at snapping a photograph).

And, of course, we were treated to some amazing mountain views.

Anyway, it just goes to show that you never know what you'll find when you go exploring in your backyard!  As for this "little" find, I think it's safe to say that we'll be back!