153. Colorado in the spring

Week 153  June 6/6/18

We planned this visit to Colorado to be there before the blueberry deluge hits and to see desert flowers. Those things worked out. We were also around for their 8th wedding anniversary. But there was a sad turn of events too. The day after we arrived, their much loved cat, Tai, was diagnosed with lymphoma. Much of our visit was spent in various vet offices and emergency rooms waiting for test results, giving him his IV medications and feeding him through a tube. He was home most of the time, though and made comfortable in a room of his own. There was lots of worrying and decisions to be made. Finally, the day after we returned home, the decision was made to let Tai go from his suffering and take his rest.  Even though the visit didn't include the plans we had made together, we were fortunate to have been able to spend this time together and give Julia and John a bit of distraction, help out a bit and support them. What true adults our children have become, and a devoted couple as well. 

Our change in plans for this visit included some day trips. On a day when Julia was needed at work, John took us to The Wild Animal Sanctuary, a place where wild animals who have been held in captivity, often abused and neglected, can live out the rest of their lives in peace.

Humans walk on a raised boardwalk way above all the animals. Apparently this makes them feel protected because they focus on territory on their own level.

There were several bears of various types - black, brown and mostly grizzly. We also saw a Kodiak bear which was huge! Some of the bears were sadly not very content. These might sit in one place or pace over the same small track all day long. Some seemed joyful and played together. The one in this video was the most active and playful of all that I saw.

We found a few day trips that Julia and John had never done. One is the Georgetown Loop Railroad. We rode this narrow gauge train up into the mountains.

The bridge was rebuilt for safety. What a view from up there!

 After the train trip we wandered through Georgetown and got a lunch.

Near Georgetown is the Guanella Pass, so we drove the winding road up to this gorgeous spot.

I wanted to see wildflowers and wasn't disappointed.

These may be the smallest flowers I've ever seen.

 I don't know of many black flowers like this one.

Another day we drove up Mount Evans. We arrived just as a road race to the top was wrapping up, so we didn't experience the long line of cars we would have otherwise. All the racers and observers were heading out and we were near the beginning of the car line. John drove. It was a unique experience going up and up and seeing the rest of the Rockies down below!  Trees fell away, the weather got cool and very windy. Finally we got up there and had a parking space! Later travelers were not so lucky.

Here is the attractive visitor center.

To get to the absolute summit of Mt. Evans, you must follow a windy trail for a few hundred feet vertical. I had reached my limit of elevation for the day, but John, Julia and Paul trotted right up (especially the native Coloradans).They are somewhere near the left of this photo. I stayed near the visitor center and looked at the wild animals. There were quite a few bikers and I talked for a while with a couple about my age who had driven up on their motorcycle. Like me, they had had some medical issues and didn't want to climb. (Once we got back to Broomfield, by the way, I could tell my blood pressure was elevated. I was very high. I guess I should have asked my doctor for advice before going up this high, but we hadn't planned it in advance anyway.)

I think this is a mountain goat. We saw a big horn sheep too, but I'm not sure which picture it is in.

Is that the sheep? Looks like another goat to me.

Definitely not a sheep. We saw a few of these marmots in the rocks.

Many goats.