Yesterday after another long day on the road, we finally pulled into our driveway. Home. The Suburban still bore the traces of Colorado/Wyoming red dirt roads. Even the torrential downpours we passed through in the Chicago area, the rain in Ohio yesterday, and brief showers on and off through Pennsylvania could not erase where we’ve been.

We took a circuitous route home, one that took us to to St. Paul, Minnesota to visit friends who also happen to be Hailey’s breeders. I promised them I would bring her back to visit. Since four years have passed and I’ve never made good on my promise, we decided it was time. Even though it added a day to our journey it was worth it to see them again. The dogs loved being in a real home with other dogs instead of a motel room and felt right at home under their hospitality.

The poor dogs and cats were certain that we were now homeless gypsies roaming the highways and byways of this vast land. They took it all in stride, and I’m so proud of what good travelers they all were. Much better I’m thinking than taking children on a long car trip. No “are we there yets” from them (maybe Rick heard a couple of those from me), no whining or crying. Well, maybe a few mews out of Sam on the very first day, but after that he resigned himself to sleep in his crate. Each new motel room was fully explored. The kitties liked the motel in Council Bluffs, Iowa the best—it was slightly below ground level with a great window sill for sitting on and watching the world go by.

Our time at the cabin was wonderful and everybody enjoyed it. It’s like living in another world; one where time is suspended for awhile. Since coming home I feel disoriented. The house seems so big after our one room cabin. I wander from room to room trying to remember my daily patterns before they were changed. It’s a very odd feeling. I need to get over it fast because we have a kitchen to put back together! It looks lovely, but as yet all its cabinets and drawers are empty of all the “stuff” (a word I borrowed from Letty) that lies waiting in the room downstairs where it was carried about a month ago. Next week they start gutting our master bedroom. Oh, the fun of it all!

I am working on the moose photos and post, so stay tuned for more cabin before we really get back to life in New Jersey again. Thank you all for staying with me and commenting on my vacation posts. It was great to see you all there even if I had limited time and internet access to reply. I wasn’t ignoring you, really I wasn’t.

It’s good to be home again. At least I think it is ... until we need to move out of our bedroom next week ...

We are now on the road for our return trip back East. Right now we are in Lincoln, Nebraska and facing severe storms this evening. At least we are on the ground level floor of our motel. I’ll be glad when we are out of the Midwest. whew. I don’t care to do a Dorothy imitation. After seeing Wicked I don’t believe anymore.

I wanted to post some shots of fences as I saw them. Here are a few.

First, our nearest neighbor’s fence catching the last light of day.

A red-tailed hawk just leaving his fence post.

A fence along the way to our cabin.

A fence falling down.

A fence to keep hay bales in their place.

Sometimes fences are just not good things. Poor Mama Moose! Stay tuned for more moose and baby twins photos coming soon!

More blooms!

Vase Flower, aka Sugar Bowl and Leather Flower

Here they are ensemble.

And shown in their natural growing habitat.

Prairie Smoke, aka Purple Avens and Old Man’s Whiskers. I have always called it Pink Plume.

Groundsel with friend.

Unidentified pygmy-style daisies that grow close to the ground in the decomposed granite.

Western Paintbrush

Pygmy Bitterroot (These are teeny tiny!)

Lupine

Baneberry

Monument Plant aka Green Gentian, Deer’s Ears
Up close

and sharing space with a whole lot of Yellow Banner aka Yellow Pea

Shooting Star

Orchid Beardtongue aka One-sided Penstemon, Sidebells Penstemon, Purple Beardtongue

And what collection of flower images would be complete without the flower that everyone associates with Colorado:

The Columbine (always blooming near its soul mate, the aspen)

Please feel free to sing along ...

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam (sort of)

Photos from top to bottom taken: at Diamond Tail Ranch (buffalo), in and around Sand Creek (deer), on the road from Laramie to the cabin (antelope) and last image is Chimney Rock.

It started with a loud thunk. We were sitting at the table having our first cup of coffee when a hummingbird flew into the window. He hit hard. I asked Rick if he had flown away and he said “I don’t think so.” I went outside to see if I could find him. He was lying the in the tall grass with his neck at an odd angle but his little eyes were blinking. I carefully scooped him up in my hands and held him. He flicked his wings a few times, then settled back down into my hands. He was watching me, but his long tongue was still sticking out of his beak which I didn’t think was a very good sign.

I sat down on the stairs to the porch and just held him which I’ve done before when a bird has flown into the window and is too stunned to fly. I asked Rick to come out and take a look at him. He took these photos for me.

I held him for about ten minutes and decided he wasn’t looking all that good. I placed him gently on the porch rail and came back inside.

A few minutes went by and when I checked he was still there. When Rick checked about ten minutes after I had come back inside, he was gone! He had recovered enough to fly off! A successful rescue. I would like to think that he is one of the birds now visiting our feeder.

After that exciting start to our day we decided to take the dogs and walk down to Egger’s Pond which is about a mile away. Here are some photos from our walk.

When we got back we moved wood from our stockpile by the shed to indoors on the porch and filled the wood racks to the brim.

We got all of that accomplished before 11:00 a.m. I’d say that all that activity has earned us the right to kick back this afternoon and do not much of anything. Wouldn’t you agree?

Hah! Just now as I was busily typing up this entry sitting at the table by the window, a deer walked right by!