Hillside Haven and Hummers

We left Santa Fe fairly early yesterday morning and headed for points North and Colorful Colorado. We took the back roads to try to avoid the traffic and the RV's that are all over the highway this time of year, and finally got to Great Sand Dunes National Park around 11:00. Here we are, driving along in the mountains and looking at all the pine trees and suddenly we came upon this opening and there were the dunes. It truly was amazing. Out in the middle of nowhere there were dunes like you might see in Africa. I remember when I was on my way to Egypt, as we flew over the Sahara Desert, all we could see for hours was sand. Of course, the dunes in Colorado can't compare with the Sahara, but it was quite a surprise to see all that sand amongst all the mountains and greenery!
After many photographs, we got back in the car and continued on our way to Crested Butte. We stopped for lunch and had one of the biggest cheeseburgers that I've ever seen. It was one of those good, greasy kind and I could only eat a little over half of it. Those who know me well know I never leave a crumb when it comes to burgers, so you know that it HAD to be big! Wish I'd taken a shot of it ;-)


We spent most of the day traveling and arrived in the Butte around 4:00. We haven't been here for a couple of years and could not believe how much this place has grown. There are new HUGE homes everywhere. The photograph I've included is of our friend's compound. They live in the large home on the right and we are staying in the building on the left which contains 2 apartments. It would be wonderful to have a big home and then 2 wonderful guest apartments as well. It's the perfect arrangement. We sat out on their deck and watched the sunset and enjoyed Margaritas that Ray had made for us with his new Margarita machine. We then dressed for dinner and went into town and enjoyed a wonderful dinner of pecan crusted halibut and Peruvian purple potatoes with caramelized onions and a good bottle of Cabernet. We then made our way back up the mountain and went to bed. It was nearly 11:00 p.m. and we were exhausted.
This is a wonderful place and we woke up this morning to humming birds fighting for their spot at the feeders along with the sun just coming up over the mountains. The view is spectacular. Their place is on Crested Mountain rather than in the little village below. Our condo was up on the mountain as well, so this is like another home away from home.
We plan on taking it easy today. We will go to church this evening, then have a light dinner and go to the Symphony. The Episcopal Church services here are held in the Roman church and they only have one service on Sunday evening at 5:00. Seems strange not going to church in the morning on Sunday but it's always nice to celebrate the Eucharist with good friends.
Both the Music Festival as well as the Wildflower Festival are going on now so there is a lot of wonderful entertainment and things to see. Crested Butte, or rather Gothic, CO is noted for having the largest variety of wildflowers anywhere in the United States. They are indescribable as far as beauty goes. We're here at the perfect time of year. I hope to gather a lot of material to paint from all the photographs I'm taken.
Better get off of this computer and get dressed. We will enjoy the cool mountain air and sights around town today and I'll report back in a day or two. Have a great rest of the weekend.

Pcasso