We did a little bit of preparatory shopping in Denver and we were off to our Airbnb in Estes Park, a lovely little condo on a first floor. We gained access to Rocky Mountain Park with my old lady National Park Pass.
Just in case anyone doubts where we were
As soon as we were in the park, the critters showed themselves, wanting William to photograph them. Vain things these critters are.
Doe Rocky Mountain Mule Deer
William trying out his 'National Geographic chops'
The theme of the day was soon apparent: here an elk, there an elk, everywhere an elk, elk.
Hungry, Hungry Hippo... er, I mean, Bull Elk
There was scattered snow, as well as elk
See? Elk everywhere
Including a few feet from your car bumper
There were birds too. Not the ones I most wanted to see but hey, there were birds.
Black-billed Magpies
William took a half zillion photos of the Black-billed busy-bodies... I mean, Black-billed Magpies on a mountain pull out area. We watched the little buggers lifting dropped potato chips and such from visitors
This one put on a nice little performance for William
In my view, the most exciting mammal that we saw, was the tiniest. We went grocery shopping and there, at the entryway, was an itsy bitsy widdle Kangaroo Rat. Haven't seen a K-rat in eons and I was v. excited. I stared in horror as the electronic door opened - but swung right over the tiny mite's head. Whew! That was a close one. Below is the uber short iPhone live vid of the critter.
Here's William enjoying some of the park's magnificent scenery.
I was bummed that as it is winter, access to the other half of the park was blocked so no moose for William. Also, no Pikas or Yellow-bellied Marmots, so he has those to look forward to another time.
Lots of ice on the roads that were open at medium elevation
Aspen are beautiful, whatever the season
presenting gorgeousness!
Had fun staring at the Stanley Hotel after dark... you know... when the 'hants' are out & about
Snow sprinkled scenery at sunset
The day was over for me, but William went to a movie in downtown Estes Park. Ah, to have post dusk energy again!
The following morning we headed out of Rocky Mountain park. We took time to enjoy a herd of elk, dancing about in Lake Estes. Below are Will's shots of the elk during their morning water aerobics class.
Look at Mr. lopsided on the left there. I watched him drop the other horn a few minutes earlier.
I told you they were dancing out there, didn't I?
We were headed south for New Mexico, and The Garden of the Gods.
The birdie above I saw on the big Island of Hawaii. When I woke this morning, as far as I knew, the hawk had no standing for my American Birding Association (ABA) birding area, i.e., North America. After all, Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean (check your map, I'm damned near sure of my facts). You with me so far? The I'o didn't count. Neither did my sightings of...
Kauaii 'Amakihi...
Apapani....
or this awesome Kauaii Elapaio.
Really. As I ate my omelet this morning, these Hawaiian birds had no place on my ABA life list.
Then, today, in the course of reading endless quantities of gawdawful news on Twitter, I stumbled over something elating. The ABA OK'd Hawaii for it's ABA area! My Hawaiian birdies... suddenly, they count! Whoo hooo! Of the top, I thought I'd be able to count them all which is silly as many of them are already counted, e.g., the Golden Pacific Plover, Wild Turkeys and the like, as I've seen them in the former ABA area. I'm currently counting the Great Frigatebird, Red-footed Booby and White-tailed Tropicbird because they aren't exclusive to Hawaii, but they weren't introduced, they are in Hawaii all on their very own.
A 'got there on its very own' the Great Frigatebird
So, that puts eleven new birdies on my life list, with a few more in future. The ABA committees of stuff-beyond-the-keen-of-ordinary-birders have to decide which of these sorts of birds will count.
Birdies that were brought into Hawaii because expats 'missed' the birdsong or looks of the birds back in their homelands. Idiots! The expats, not the birds.
Examples are this cutie, a Red-crested Cardinal or...
This exotic Indonesian expat birdie, the White-rumped Sharma.
Or this Saffron Finch looking like a wanna-be canary
Depending on which of the introduced birds the committee decides are 'established' I may be able to add an additional eleven birds or so.
Eleven new species on my ABA area life list today, and didn't even have to leave the house. Cool with awesome sauce.
On the road this morning I looked out the car window to see a big ole' baldie eagle soaring overhead. Seemed kind of magical, mystical, photo op-ish. William and I took as many photos of the grand old bird as possible, until it floated off into the wild blue you-know-what.
We were bee-lining to the home of our cousins David and Tom. I'd met the pair last September in Sacramento but it was 'first contact' for William and the guys. Soon we were on their doorstep, knocking on the door and shouting, "Cousins Calling"!
The cute neighborhood - looking out from the porch of David & Tom's house
Post meal discussions
It was wonderful visiting with David and his hubby Tom. Bonus, we met two more cousins - seen below are David's daughter Adele and her son Bret. Adele is my cousin 3 times removed (i.e., my third cousin) and Bret is my cousin, four times removed (i.e., my 4rd cousin).
Bret and his Mom Adele
Interesting fact: David's the middle name of David's Aunt Anne was Adele. She was given that name by her father, Cuthbert. Cuthbert gave his daughter the name Adele as a nod to his sister Adele (my grandmother). So when David named his own daughter Adele, he didn't know that he was passing on the name of his Aunt Adele to his daughter. When my family found out there was a namesake for Adele (two Adeles really...) they were absolutely thrilled.
Adele is a good story teller although William was conking out after a long day's drive
The following morning, David & Tom were off at work, and William, Adele, Bret & I enjoyed a chatty breakfast. Adele told me about the Brit 'Triffle' she's making for the family Thanksgiving dinner. Later that morning, William and I took a little tour around the city of Denver.
Gold Dome of the Denver State Capital
Janus Statue
We had our only vegan meal at an interesting restaurant. Side note: we had at one time swore we'd be vegan for the entire cross country trip. What the hell were we thinking?
After breakfast we decided to visit one of those new fangled Cannibis dispensaries we have heard about. It was sooo very cool in a totally 1960s manner. Below is the main room of the dispensary.
You can see a hip woman in the distant mirror
a few of the fifty b'jillion products offered for sale
I couldn't make heads nor tails of the signage, though I'm sure it was helpful
Yes, those are bath fizzies with pot in them. You can soak yourself spaced.
I don't like pot much, as I'm lucky enough to need no additional medical help and I despise feeling spacy or buzzy. And anyway my one vice is food, particularly anything laced with sugar which, ironically, is at least as addictive as cocaine, so I'd be healthier if I gave up sugar for pot (not happening in this lifetime). So, the only thing I bought was a bottle of skin lotion that contained cannabinoids (I probably got that last word all wrong but there you go). I am interested in seeing if the lotion will do anything to help me with my right ankle which my regularly misbehaving body part.
We had a fun visit with our Denver cousins, and we are going to next hit Estes Park so we can see the splendors of Rocky Mountain National Park in winter (whoo hooooo!).
