Wednesday, May 2, 2012
We got up this morning and really did not want to leave our dear friends' place, but need to get on the road .... darn it!  We will do our darndest to get back for a longer visit.  It is just so beautiful and peaceful here.  As long as it isn't too cold.

This is the house Ron & Anna designed and built

The living room

Anna said that there was a herd of elk at the their the night before we got there.  Sadly, we saw several deer on the side of the road who had been hit by cars.  Ron also told us that vultures are protected here !
Ron has two horses that he rides (not both at the same time!) and he makes saddles ... by hand!  He got another special order while we were there.  Anna is quite an artist, too.  She "turns" wood and makes artistic pieces by handstringing or sewing beads onto them.  She has 3 pieces entered in a show this month.

4 of Anna's pieces ... they are hollow on the inside and beaded on the outside

This is my favorite piece and it isn't even finished yet!

We finally headed out to Colorado Springs to visit my cousin Jimmy and his family.  Before we left Wyoming, we saw a small herd of buffalo in a fenced area next to the road.  The only thing keeping them from wandering onto the road in the opening is the cattle guard,

Buffalo

Cattle guard

We didn't actually visit this cemetary but thought the sign was awesome.  This is for Cathy ....

And this sign is for Tory ....

Sorry that this doesn't make sense to anyone else reading this blog !

After all the beautiful countryside, we come to Denver.  And pass right on by ....

We continued on to Colorado Springs and got our first view of Pike's Peak.  Although it is a little overcast, we have only had a few sprinkles and the temperature is nice .... 68 degrees.
After checking into our hotel, we then went to Jimmy and Connie's house and they took us out for a wonderful dinner at Saltgrass.  I had not seen Jimmy for over 50 years and had never met Connie before.  They have 3 sons and 3 grandchildren.  We had a wonderful visit and did a lot of reminiscing, while Craig and Connie were so sweet to listen to us.  It's going to be hard to leave them after such a short visit.  But, we have all vowed to keep in touch and visit again soon !

Jimmy and his gorgeous wife, Connie