Life on Star Mountain

End of September memories

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 21:49:31 +0000

Well here I am at what is the tail end of our five months in Colorado. We've had lots of family visiting the last few weeks to round out the season. Both Mark's sisters Lisa(Charles) and Nancy(Rodney), Tiffany, Chris, Penny, and Jules, and niece Katie. So great to see everyone.

Family reunion -only missing Paul and Sherry.

Bopping around Crested Butte for farmer's market and Vinotok (a long time made up fall festival)

magic spring water is still going!

And yes of course visited the Stash. Really good as usual.

Fall is beautiful here but unusually sporadic in color this year. Supposedly because of the drought.

Chris's birthday dinner and Katie joined us from Dallas for a visit!

All a matter of goodbyes happening now. Hummingbirds have left for Mexico, cattle have been taken out, and snow preparedness starts soon. We leave in a couple weeks for what will be still quite hot Florida but that is ok.

July summary

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 22:03:16 +0000

It's been a number of weeks since I've posted so this is really a kind of monthly summary. Every summer is different here with its own unique ebbs and flow. This year included smoky skies from many wildfires across the state, much longer than expected recovery from the nasty virus we picked up in Portugal, and shortened blooming season of our beloved wildflowers (drought year).We are about to have loads of company to fill up our last weeks in Colorado. How can it be mid August I ask?

Wonderful July visit with Paul and Sherry. Thank goodness they stayed long enough to enjoy lots of fishing and get out and about. Even Calvin, Krissy, and little Henry were able to come for a few days and we celebrated the 4th in proper fashion. Henry is just the happiest of toddlers and pretty darn cute as you can see.

CB farmer's market - still wildly popular

Invited our good friends Steve and Kim over for one of our all time special meals - Shrimp Paesano- while Paul and Sherry were still here. This lemony buttery batter topped shrimp and pasta recipe is very old now - from our San Antonio days in the early 80's. A great story that involves a still existent Italian restaurant, acrimonious divorce, and release of a closely held recipe in the emotionally heated aforesaid divorce. Still astonishing good and not good for you - for special occasions only.

Lots of deer with bucks snoozing under our deck every afternoon. A fun treat.

The cattle are still around, for how many more weeks we're not sure. This being a drought year the grasses are not as thick as past years so our rancher may pull them out early. It's a rough business, cattle ranching, and getting harder all the time. We (our community) get all the benefit in reduced taxes and none of the worry.

I took a 6 week pottery class with Kim which is now completed. Can't say either one of us became master potters or even reasonable ones but it was a fun experience. Have not picked up our finished misshapen pots yet. Perhaps I'll share a photo but not promising...

Portugal Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 21:41:12 +0000

Aveiro

Second week was absolutely terrific and totally different than our first week. We extended the trip with our friends Don and Roxanne to see other parts of Portugal. We had drivers and tour guides all along a route that took us to various cities up to northern Portugal. Spectacular scenery everywhere.

we happened to peek into a church while a 50th wedding anniversary ceremony was going on

more of the many kinds of egg pastries that are everywhere

ribbons for love - pretty and less destructive than locks, etc. that are in other countries

First stop Aveiro - known as the Portugal Venice. Stunning tiled buildings everywhere in between the canals. The Moors brought tile making to the area in the 15th century.

The old fashioned elevator - the bellman opened the door most of the time

Next up was Porto. Ancient city originating in the 1st century BC. It's super busy these days as it is Portugal's second largest city. We stayed in a gorgeous older hotel (Infante Sagres Porto) in the city center. And yes, yet another wedding reception was happening our first night. Had disturbed sleep as well, not from the reception but World Cup celebrations going in the street below us. Until 5AM! It is known as a party town...

walkers nearby the Camino coastal route entrance

Camino de Santiago entrance - 170 miles

Elaborately decorated train station

fogged in beach - very busy anyway as you can see

my new favorite drink - white port and tonic

Much to see in Porto. Statues, churches, busy train station, even a side stop at a local beach. Great tour guide who was super knowledgeable. Kudos to our travel agent in Naples.

visit to a port wine cellar which had fado singing (below)

mournful singing - not sure if it was our 'jam' -talented musicians though

Next up was the drive through Douro Valley. 2,000 years old back to Roman times and now a UNESCO site. There are even the original Roman markers on some of the roads. Winemaking has been around since Roman times as well with huge modern expansion now. Official certification of wine making started in 1769 and it is heavily monitored. by the government agency IVV. We stayed at a quinta which includes a hotel that has producing vineyards on their property. Another gorgeous hotel to experience - Quinta de Vacaria.

the view from the spa

outdoor breakfast cafe with potted olive trees of course

the pool view of their vineyards

We had two days of wonderful driver guides who took us through the winding hills and valleys of Douro Valley with stops in various wineries and olive oil producers.

abandoned secret police station - Portugal was a dictatorship 1933-1974

cork tree with layer removed

our driver Marco took us to a local no tourist cafe to experience some local color

Spectacular private tour of Santa Julia, a private family owned winery. It's been in the same family since 1596! Wonderful wines and gardens. Mark ordered some bottles but they have not arrived yet. Coming by slow boat to U.S.

private family chapel

original marker to certify their wines - 1756

Last day found us back in Lisbon. What a vibrant city. We walked around, had a last dinner at a cute outdoor cafe, and retired for the night. Next day was big travel day home. Unfortunately by then I had caught an upper respiratory virus which passed to Mark, Don, and Roxanne. Sorry guys! At least it was at the end of the trip. It was all a blast and lovely memories were made for our special Portugal experience.

fresh sardines, barnacles!, and mussels

at dinner - trolleys went by every few minutes

Portugal trip Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 21:27:14 +0000

Lots and lots of photos to share from our Portugal trip. It was a great two weeks of adventure.

Your eyes do not deceive - ancient building with modern grass cutting robot

Pigeon coop

rabbit hutch

Dessert - all edible -Sancho pepper and almond bark with hibiscus and lychee drizzled with miso caramel

We stayed at a gorgeous resort Penha Longa for the first week. Along with a golf course, beautiful pool, spa, and gourmet chocolate store, there were a myriad of ancient buildings woven in with the modern facility. This was the site of the first convent of Hieronymite Order in Portugal founded in the 14th century. There is a monastery with a church and various outbuildings that have survived all this time. It is a very popular wedding venue and three were scheduled while we were there which included a three day Indian wedding ceremony. Impressive. Their selection of restaurants included Midori - a Michelin star Japanese/Portuguese restaurant that we were thrilled to attend. 10 courses and wine pairings - absolutely fantastic meal.

very spooky slippery well - Masonic rituals are rumored to have happened here

In between golf rounds (which all seemed to require a long bus ride away) we went to Sintra. Had a great guided tour of the area. A long time resort area, it is home to palaces, ancient castles, parks, and close to the beach (Atlantic Ocean).

Chef Filipe at his restaurant Garum

We had a lot of fun food experiences including a 45 year old fresh fish restaurant called Furnas do Guincho right by the water and a memorable experience at Chef Filipe's restaurant Garum in Lisbon (who is friends with our chef Chad at the club in Naples). He closed the restaurant for our group and produced a multi course tasting menu like no other. More very fresh fish!

Tuk-tuk

The food tour continued with a tuk-tuk tour of the big sights and sounds of Lisbon. We stopped at Pasteis de Belem a world famous bakery founded in 1837. Their most famous pastry are mini egg-custard pies made with a secret recipe that is framed inside. The Catholic monks invented these using egg yolks only. The egg whites were used for starching clothes back then. The lines are always out the door and thousands are sold every day. Our guide got us all one - really good stuff with cinnamon and sugar dusting on top.

before we destroyed the kitchen - that's the cataplana in the background left.

Our final food adventure in the Lisbon area was a cooking school experience. We've done quite a few cooking classes but this was quite unique. It was a terrific way to experience regional Portuguese cooking. It's run by two sisters who grew up on a farm and they really knew their stuff. There were ten of us broken out into couples to cook, bake, and generally do a lot of prep work for an entire meal. Appetizers, entree, and dessert. Great food and of course Mark has ordered the pot that the entree was cooked in. It's called a cataplana. Has not been delivered so can't give you results yet.

I will be back to you with part 2. Our second week was a totally different experience in northern parts of Portugal.

Star Mountain 2026

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:27:27 +0000

Marvelous to be back in the mountains. We come back in May, always aware that the weather is not stable and freezing temps along with a flurry of snow are possible at any point. Freeze date in our area is June 10. All things are green and wildflowers bursting forth. The flowers are early, as expected, as a record low winter snowpack makes for a condensed blooming season. "Our" cattle have arrived two days ago which is super early. Our cattle rancher Burt knows grass will be eaten up quickly and unless decent rainfall occurs he will have to sell his cattle earlier than the normal October time frame. It's a fairly grim forecast overall. But you wouldn't know it right now - all looks normal except the low amount of snow on the surrounding peaks. Prayers for soaking rain!

We did have a snow event and freezing temps which lasted all of a brief morning. Fun to see. And the hummingbirds (who were waiting for us as we arrived) did not seem too bothered.

We've seen a wide range of the wild animals that we coexist with. Elk, deer, coyote, great horned owl, grouse, hawks, rabbits, no moose yet but a neighbor did see a bear go into our woods last week. The birds are also here in mass. They start their day singing at 5:20am...a tad early for me.

red tail hawk overlooking the hummingbird feeders

I made it up to Crested Butte with my friend Kim to investigate how the town is holding up. It was astonishingly quiet as summer season has not quite gotten here. Many restaurants were closed but happily one of our favorites (Ryce) was open and welcoming. The never ending staff shortage is still in effect in CB with many restaurants closed on Tuesday and Wednesdays. We did find a new ice cream place to try. Well, Kim was the main experimenter. She said good not great. I personally had never heard of New Zealand ice cream - who knew...

Mark and friend Steve (Kim's husband) are off on a fishing trip in the Black Canyon. It involves a mile hike down to the water, two nights out camping, and food provided by the fishing guide. Hope they're having a great time and catching lots of fish.

We have a big trip coming up - Portugal. we've never been so quite excited. I'll be back to share the photos.

I'm baack.

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 18:47:00 +0000

Pink Cassia - Florida's version of a cherry tree

I have officially broken the record for longest time between blog posts. First let me say, I am still alive and kickin'. This will be a fast condensed update of happenings since the beginning of the year.

Long time Maryland friends Bob and Vicki visited in January. Golf, shopping, and restaurants made for a fun time!

March brought Paul and Sherry for Mark's member/guest golf tournament. This is the miracle man (double lung transplant). He is great and looks fantastic- I think you would agree. Mark is cooking on his discada. Kinda of huge cast iron wok. Yum. Sherry and I found a bit of fun ourselves...

Late March brought us to Huntsville, Alabama to visit friends and Colorado neighbors Steve and Kim. So much fun. Wonderful hospitality, great food, and lots of trekking to see this southern city, which is also home to NASA (They are retired aerospace engineers). Quick trip to Jack Daniels headquarters in Tennessee. Fascinating even if you're not a bourbon drinker. And watching the Artemis II launch (on TV) with them was a special experience. Steve's last project was literally the rocket ship. Impressive for sure.

April and Easter brought Tiffany, Chris, Penny, and Jules down for spring break. The week zoomed by. Lots of beach and pool action. We were lucky with weather - mostly rain stayed away. Always sad when their visits end...

visiting historic (1700's) Chatham Manor near Fredericksburg

Last week we finally visited Heather at her farm in Stafford, VA. Amazing! Aubrey and Braden are loving it there with all there is to do and see. There are so many fruit trees, berry plants, vegetables, grapes, that I couldn't keep them straight. It's a BIG project for sure. You'll see there are little animals around, now full grown geese, ducklings, and soon to be chicks. Those are rainbow eggs - a little hard to see. It's quite rural as you can see, and Brian commutes into the office twice a week, otherwise works from home. We stayed in nearby historic Fredericksburg which is a darling town.

And that's it for now. We are back to Colorado in two weeks and I will be posting sooner than later- promise.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 21:12:00 +0000

Posting our holiday adventures now that the new year is here. It was a great time for sure!

We were at Tiffany, Chris, and the girls new house for Christmas outside Atlanta. Drove this time - 9 1/2hrs from Naples. It's a toss up these days whether flying or driving is more painful. Weather was cold to start then jumped up to crazy warm temps. Got to break in their new Solo stove.

Lots of wrapping presents, last minute shopping, and a special dinner out before Christmas. Sadly, the restaurant (Ray's at Killer Creek) did not live up to expectations in food or service but we always enjoy being together!

Christmas Eve shenanigans. Gingerbread cookies and wonderful table spread with west coast oysters and Chris's artistic charcuterie.

Electric scooter for Juliet!

Wishes for a joyous and peaceful new year for everyone.

xoxo

xoxo

Visit to Tiffany and Chris's new city

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 15:44:00 +0000

Out to dinner - Chris not in the photo as he was taking it.

I've been quiet and no posting since we got down to Naples. We jumped straight into all the busyness that goes on here. We really love all the activities and of course the weather.

We left hectic Naples to visit Tiffany, Chris, Penny and Jules for a short but great visit to their new house in Alpharetta, Georgia. It's a wonderful neighborhood with huge trees, a neighboring lake, and everything close including schools. The area has real fall which I didn't expect. Beautiful color everywhere.

Tried the boiled peanuts but have to say I'm not a fan

Went to great restaurants and visited the local farmer's market. Very cute and reminiscent of Crested Butte.

Weekend activities included viola practice, roller skating, and of course football game watching. Mark didn't have much company as you can see. And there are no little kid activities anymore. Jules is in middle school and Penny in high school! So glad we came, just love where the family landed. We'll be back at Christmas time.

The Goodbye to Fall and the Mountains

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 21:48:00 +0000

Castle Mt.

I don't even know where to start. The last few weeks have been a blur and we are winding down in our last week before we leave for Naples. How does time go by so fast?

Emerald Lake

Buddy and Peggy

Lots of fun company joined us for our last few weeks. Buddy and Peggy got to experience rain, snow, and changing color. Lovely to see them after quite some time.

Ohio Pass

Ohio Pass summit as we've never seen it. Leaf watching madness.

Lee Ann and Bill were our last guests and we had a terrific time. Took them all over the place including jeeping over Engineer Pass. They were troupers for sure.

Leaves are blowing off as we speak. The next few days will be spent shutting the house down for winter. It's always a little sad tinged with anticipation of going back to palm trees and beaches in Naples. Apparently we like two completely different ways of living. Keeping us going strong!

Yellowstone/Teton/Jackson

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 21:52:00 +0000

We've been back from our magical Yellowstone/Teton/Jackson trip for a little while and I intended to post before this, but I caught some kind of nasty cold virus and am just now coming up for air. Our trip was fabulous! We started out and also ended in Jackson, a darling town with great restaurants. That is the one thing fairly lacking in Yellowstone - good food. We'd been warned though, so just didn't make it a priority knowing we had reservations in Jackson to assuage our foodie souls.

The fireplace is 85 ft high

railings are original made of local lodgepole pine

Old Faithful Inn - built in 1903

We stayed at the Old Faithful Inn for three nights which was quite the historic experience. We were lucky to get in - many make reservations a year in advance. Much is original and the lobby area is astounding. You can see the Old Faithful geyser out the windows and the people watching from the mezzanine is fun. We got to see Old Faithful erupt 4 times while we visited.

Another thing we were warned about in Yellowstone was no cell, tv, or internet service. That is a authentic old style phone booth, although we didn't try it out to say it worked. Yellowstone is well known for encouraging concentration on nature which is not a bad choice. It was probably good to be unplugged for 3 days. We are too wired these days.

Old Faithful geyser- goes off every 90 minutes or so 24/7 365.

bubbling mud pots off Lake Yellowstone - they reside at the bottom of the lake too.

very deep hot springs by Lake Yellowstone - not for human use

that's blazing hot steaming water going into the river - not fog

another unnamed geyser - there were so many!

steam vents everywhere

The world's largest collection of hydrothermal features reside in Yellowstone. Hot springs, geysers, mud pots, fumaroles (steam vents), and travertine terraces. It's one big mass of boiling bubbling escaping water and steam from the earth's core that covers many miles in Yellowstone. Everything is carefully planned for idiot human behavior with boardwalks and danger signs everywhere, but still people fall in or walk in to this stuff every year never to be seen again. It's actually a bit scary for me to really think about what's going on down there, say when the "big one" is happens. Scientists say no time soon... maybe. 😧

truly an old massive male

in the steam fog as we left Old Faithful for Teton

female big horn sheep

this moose was on Ohio Pass close to our house as we left on our Yellowstone trip

And now the animals. We saw everything they have to offer except bear. Of course bear have been in the news again at Yellowstone, this time a grizzly attacking a lone hiker, but we saw nada. We did see moose, pronghorn, wolf, elk, big horn sheep, sand hill canes, and bison - hundreds everywhere. Did not get photos of every animal and were fooled a couple times when the big car pileup was either for nothing or in one case - geese. Huh. Yup, car traffic jams all over as the animals rule, not the cars.

A selection of waterfalls and rock formations in other parts of Yellowstone. It's enormous and lots of crisscrossing to see everything. All breathtaking.

We headed into Teton which is right next to Yellowstone. Some iconic peaks and views. The truth be told, we started in Teton after we arrived to Jackson at the beginning of the trip but there was a haze of wildfire smoke over everything. Pictures were no good. Happily a few days later the smoke had cleared as we drove back into Teton. Lucky!

I'll end with a few photos of Mark fishing. He tried two different areas with sadly limited success. Wrong advice from someone at Orvis which was a surprise. A reason to go back for a purely fishing trip!

The waning days of summer

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 31 Aug 2025 21:36:00 +0000

It's been awhile since I've posted. Had a few weeks with no travel or company so we've been just laying low and enjoying the summer which is rapidly coming to an end. We have early fall here with peak color arriving in just a few quick weeks. And lots of fun company coming before we head back to Naples mid October.

We went to a Western Colorado University football game which was a lot of fun especially since they won. We hadn't been since Mark played football there (when it was named Western State College of Colorado). That's our alma mater for those who don't know and we actually met here - gulp, a very long time ago. 54 years!

The cattle are still here for another 5 weeks or so. They are quite large now having feasted all summer on our grass. 180 strong all over Star Mt. Haying season is done for the year and bales stored or sold for the winter season.

Hummingbirds have been leaving in droves going back to Mexico. They'll return next May. They are ferocious eaters in the middle of summer and keep us hopping filling 4 feeders sometimes twice a day or more. We love them but are always glad when the fevered pace goes down. The Rufus (orange colored hummers) left this year mostly around August 22 with a few female stragglers leaving the 26. We're down to a handful of others.

The days are slowly getting shorter and I benefit in the morning since I walk so early. I get to see the beautiful sunrises.

We leave in a few days for Yellowstone and I'll be back to report on that. First time for both of us - super excited to see.

Fabulous family visit

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 22:41:00 +0000

Ahh, the joys of visiting family. All the Texas Adams came this time. Mark's brother Paul and his whole family, including oldest daughter Krissy, husband Calvin, and baby Henry. A marvelous, big bunch of people filling up the house. It was a real celebration since Paul was visiting for the first time in two years after having a double lung transplant a year ago. He's doing wonderfully and we felt great exhilaration in having a gathering at Star Mt.

Paul, Sherry, Katie, and James arrived first. Right out of the gate were Paradise Cafe and the CB farmer's market stops with many trips back in town for food, coffee, and the like. Mobbed everywhere. It is peak summer season!

Lots of patio action with adult s'more's. Yup, it's definitely not just a kid thing. Baby Henry was asleep away from flames, in case you were wondering.

And here are a lot of photos of five month old Henry. Of course he was the star of the show. Such a happy baby!

Deck gatherings and great sunsets. Great weather was had while everyone was here. Hiking and lots of fishing with great success at the pond and creek.

Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 22:30:00 +0000

Just came back from a wonderful visit to Seattle to see my sister Anne, brother in law Jean, and their daughter Clare. Perfect weather - yes it can be sunny and blue skies there!

Cruise ship central there

their backyard sanctuary

We were treated royally with their new special coffee machine. It was amazing and so quintessential Seattle.

It had been way too long since we had visited. They live a most beautiful city.

We spent time hiking/walking around the many beautiful parks in the area. The views are breathtaking.

Anne adding to the gum wall

Gum wall started in 1990 by someone? and became public art

Went downtown for the touristy thing. It was so much fun, super crowded but it was a holiday weekend after all and experienced the Pike Place and the surrounding renovation. And saw the gum wall. Anything can become a tourist attraction it seems.

water taxi fun

oysters with flair

We took a water taxi over to the other side of Seattle and had an excellent meal at a local favorite Salty's. We rounded out the trip with wine tasting (lots of great wine in Washington), and some suburb sushi. We won't wait so long to come back. Thanks for showing us such a great time!

Trip to Jackson Hole

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 23:37:00 +0000

Amazing trip to Jackson Hole with friends Kim and Marcia. My first time. The mountains are breathtaking and the town is darling. Lots of laughter and fun was had.

Very cute place we stayed in -Parkway Inn. Everything was walkable from there and it had an enormous deck just for us.

Definitely a big play on the Wild West. In our short time we made the most of it and did lots of shopping, exploring, and eating.

Our last night was at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and dinner at their steakhouse. What a crazy hopping place! And yes the bar stools were all saddles. Super uncomfortable (at least for me) I'm no big horsewoman. Kim and Marcia had no problem of course.

Grand Teton National Park was truly breathtaking which gives me incentive to come back with Mark and do the whole area, which is Yellowstone as well. Somehow we've never made it over. Can't wait to come again!

Don and Roxanne visit

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 21:35:00 +0000

We just had the most amazing week with our friends Don and Roxanne. They were first time visitors so we made sure we showed them everything. I'm pretty sure they went home and needed to rest.

Killer hill from Mark's football days. Running 75yds wind sprints!

We jumped right in and started the whirlwind tour. Highlights included driving to Cumberland Pass, Taylor Reservoir, Paradise Cafe for breakfast, the CB farmer's market, dinner at Elk Prime for Father's Day, stopping by our alma mater Western Colorado University, visiting Gunnison's famous Traders Rendezvous (where purchases were made including cowhides and things) and the live concert series in Crested Butte on the lawn. And that was just the first few days!

on the way up to the summit before it got really cold

at the top with 50mph winds!

ended the jeep trip in Silverton - great lunch and shopping

And then there was the Alpine Loop jeep trip. Engineer Pass to be specific. It was amazing as always. I've never been this early with that much SNOW. The pass had only been opened the week before. Definitely required Mark's excellent jeep driving skills.

Last days spent CB shopping, eating (Camp 4 coffee, Two Twelve, Dogwood cocktails, and of course Secret Stash), and a last night at home including our neighbors and good friends for Mark's elk meatballs. What a wonderful week it was.

There were many animal sightings and gorgeous flowers all along the way too. I think Don and Roxanne are wild animal whisperers. Way too many photos for one post - see my previous post from yesterday for those.

Animals and Flowers bursting out in June

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 22:52:00 +0000

Whetstone Mountain

Amazing summer happenings here at Star Mt. The wildflowers are in full bloom and wild animal sightings are everywhere. We've just come off a week with good friends from Naples visiting, and I have so many photos, I'm breaking this into separate posts.

the bear crossed over the road and I walked right in its path

Bear sightings galore! First, a very large black bear popped out while I was walking early one morning. You can see he ambled down the road to pass quite close to our back fence. I stayed quite far away and just used my zoom lens on my camera.

he's wet from getting out of the pond -photo by Don.

Mark and I saw two other bears between the two of us (no photos sadly) and then while taking friend Don on our ATV for a ride, Mark and Don saw this one at our pond. They are all black bear by designation but come in a variety of colors. Beautiful!

moose number 1

moose number 2

Moose number 2

moose number 3

Onto the moose - as in plural. WOW is the reaction we all had. These were all sightings when taking our company, Don and Roxanne, around to see various places, so I have to think they had some sort of moose whisperer vibe going. Moose number one (juvenile) was on the paved back road to Crested Butte. Moose number two (another juvenile) was the same day on the way back into Crested Butte for dinner. Moose number three (adult male) was near Ouray and Silverton area a few days later.

glacier lily - a bear favorite

sunflower

lupine

Columbine - Colorado state flower

photo by Don

Oh the flowers! The scope is hard to show but it is a magnificent display in every direction.

red fox with prey

doe

dusky male grouse - it's a fake "eye" to scare away from the nearby nest

Some more of our creatures on my morning walk. I never know what I'm going to see. Makes it extra interesting to get out there.

And while these are not wild animals, I'm including them, as all the while we play, the cowboys work their cattle around us. A slowly dying way of life. We are immensely lucky to have it in our area. It's also a reminder our leased cattle will be descending on us soon in Star Mt. proper for the summer until October. The rancher is waiting for the larkspur to die down at Star Mt. which is a beautiful purple wildflower but poisonous to cattle.

Back at Star Mt. and our first guests of the season

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sat, 31 May 2025 22:16:00 +0000

Finally a post from Colorado! The above photo was just after we got there - May 15th. We had three straight days of snow showers and below freezing nighttime temps. Perhaps came over here a tad early...

A few short days in we turned around and drove down to Denver for a long anticipated Sting concert at Red Rocks. My November birthday present from Mark. It was fantastic, sold out with 10,000 strong, and Sting has retained his voice, his energy, and all around moxie at 73. Well worth the trek down.

a rare sighting of an elk (soon to be mama) right at our fence. They generally stay very distant.

Back at Star Mt. things were heating up. Elk and deer everywhere, nervous male grouse guarding their family nests, coyote sightings and howling in the night.

These mountain shots were all taken on May 24. I'm recording the greening of the aspen and the snow on the peaks. They are closest to us in visibility. The trees have a ways to go and the snow is still substantial.

Raven dancing with the Bunny. Bunny has been traded around with kids for 13yrs now.

Our first company of the summer. Lisa, Charles, Layla and Raven came over from Santa Fe, a five hr ride. Layla (10) and Raven (5) are their granddaughters and they all came to get a dose of magical Star Mt.

Lots of fun indoor and out was had. Walk in the woods, s'mores by the fire, and hammock fun.

Mark took the girls fishing at our common pond. Layla caught 5 big rainbow trout and Raven hooked and lost one but caught another in the end and she's only 5. All were thrown back. How great is that for a first time fishing experience!

world famous Pizza

Of course some CB strolling and Secret Stash for lunch. We followed that up with a dinner the last night at Garlic Mike's, a longtime family favorite with all things Italian. A great short visit with family. Come back anytime!

Paris!

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 19:28:00 +0000

Paris April trip is done and what a fabulous week it was. I went with Tiffany, Chris, Penny and Jules on their spring break. What a great trip and we jammed in a lot in those days. We rented an apartment in the Marais district which turned out to be a wonderful alternative to hotel rooms. We were in the heart of everything and explored nearby restaurants and patisseries. Each morning Chris ventured off to bring back croissants and coffee for us. Marvelous! The high quality is stunning and we are ruined for life I fear.

First day was a blur after flying all night but we persevered on and tromped all over until we couldn't walk anymore. Popped in and out of stores, cafe stops, and checked out the local grocery store around the corner from the apartment. Even that was fun.

Bo & Mie bakery - visited frequently

And it is Easter soon and the store windows showed it.

Next day the shopping intensity ramped up. Believe it or not we spent 5 hours total at Galerie Lafayette. It's enormous, gorgeous domed ceilings, with wonderful food with a Laduree inside it for special macaroons, coffee and hot chocolate service, and spectacular views from its roof top terrace.

Next day Louvre with a private guided tour. Our guide was excellent and maneuvered us through the madness of the crowds, showing us the most famous pieces of art along with lessor known. A lot of fascinating history while providing a scavenger hunt for the girls. Highly recommended.

Notre Dame was breathtaking. The first photo was a day before we decided to go in. We went early another morning and look, presto, no line. Still of course many people inside but it was easy to see everything.

Paris famous bookstore: Shakespeare and Company. It was an amazing place where you felt like you were time-traveling back to the 1920's and 30's. Many famous authors have visited this place and the lines are long to get in unless you go early when they open at 10am. No photos are allowed inside which was too bad - it's wonderfully eccentric. Someone has though - search online for interiors.

Montmartre chocolate and pastry tour. Lots of fun and enormous quantities of chocolate, macaroons, crepes, and other sweet treats eaten. (or so it seemed to me). We wandered around the area, had lunch in a park, and generally enjoyed the day.

Moulin Rouge in the background

our food tour guide Olivia

The stragglers in a long line of preschool children out and about

Wall of love in every language

This is a homeless person's abode -I'm sure there's an astonishing backstory.

Hare Krishna who seemed to be everywhere we were

"Sh**t" in French - imagine, a whole store dedicated to it.

Last day - Eiffel Tower, Champs de Elysees, and last shopping. Window shopping only at the high end stores.

Escargot - the girls both loved it and had it multiple times. Amazing!

Last night dinner at Sacre Frenchy's
Sigh...bye bye Paris.

Visit to Maryland, Tai chi, and Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sat, 29 Mar 2025 17:54:00 +0000

A lovely visit to Heather and family was had. Braden is 4 and Aubrey 6. Aren't they just darling!

They live just a short walkable distance to the Chesapeake Bay. The playground is at water's edge. Great location. A day with the promise of spring in the air.

Crafts and just general fun we got to enjoy. It was so good to see Heather, Brian, and the kids. They're growing up so fast!

My activity of many years (Tai chi) finally resulted in a couple of public performances with my group led by instructor Danli. If you're not familiar, Tai chi is a Chinese martial art that is slow meditative controlled movement. None of us were sure we were ready for this but it turned out to be a lot of fun and we weren't half bad, if I do say so myself.

Spring is clearly on its way. We don't get as much change in seasons here in Florida but there are still extra bits of color here and there. We have just over six weeks and then it's back to Star Mt. Next up for me is Paris with Tiffany, Chris, and the girls. Getting super excited! I'll be back to share adventures.

Friends, beach, golf, and alligators

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:22:00 +0000

I have been reminded I haven't posted at all since January. Oops...

It's been a very busy season here in Naples, as usual. Lots of golf, mahjong, social gatherings ,tai chi practice, and restaurant happenings. It is the opposite of sit in a rocking chair and watch life go by. Abnormally cold January led to some whiny people who come to Florida for warm sunshine and swaying palm trees. Ah well, can't do anything about the weather as we all know. Everything good now.

We had good friends and Colorado neighbors Kim and Steve visit us in January and while some of that chilly weather appeared there were still some great days. (And they're used to -20 so this didn't feel like much).

Rosie spoonbill

big boy

the historical Rod & Gun club- visited by many presidents and famous celebrities

Visiting alligator country in the Everglades. Saw a lot, many tropical birds including a pair of flamingos flying overhead. That was amazing!

Dinner at Baleen's, a wonderful beachfront restaurant.

my good friend and guest Lee Ann

Lee Ann, Gretchen, Roxanne, Michelle

We won the ladies member guest two day tournament! Quite exciting. I met Lee Ann and Roxanne on our South Africa trip almost 3 years ago and remained friends ever since. Michelle a lovely new friend and great team golf player.

Next trip up is Maryland to see Heather and family. I will post I promise, hopefully sooner than later.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 18:47:00 +0000

Happy New Year to everyone! No, I have not been posting but no worries, all is well. We are in Florida and enjoying our frenetic life here with lots of golf, fabulous dinners, swaying palm trees and white sandy beaches (haven't made it to a beach yet - my favorite is still closed from the hurricane of many weeks ago). The photos are from our Charleston trip for Christmas with Tiffany, Chris, Penny and Jules.

Gingerbread cookies - a long tradition

This looks weird right? Oysters Christmas Eve shucked by Mark and Chris. Um, unexpected guest - pea crabs. Yes, it's a thing, especially in South Carolina. A bit disconcerting to say the least.

Grand pre Xmas dinner at iconic Hall's Chophouse

Marvelous food if you ever get the chance to go. You can see Jules was certainly enjoying.

the now normal world of screens

Aaannnd Christmas is done. Goodness it all goes so fast. It was a great time and much fun had.

Our golden world as we leave for Florida for the winter

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 21:49:00 +0000

Ohio Pass

Heavy emphasis on fall pics I took in the past few weeks. Leaves are falling as I write. It is gorgeous every year but oh so brief. We drove out of our area leaf watching and in the end we have some of the best color around close to home.

East Beckwith

And the cowboys are back in action rounding up cattle. I feel privileged to see this way of life- still amazes me after 15 years up here. These were our neighbor's cattle but coincidentally Star Mt. cattle were taken out this same day by our rancher. No more cattle for us until next June.

Swinging that rope with proficiency

From my morning walks at Star Mt. Fabulous stuff and I never take it for granted.

The photos below were taken in the in the last couple days. Went up Mill Creek after missing the drive last year due to the wildfire. Everything has turned orangish and blowing off like crazy. Fall must come to an end and it does like clockwork every year.

our house and woods

Mill Creek

Mill Creek -partial view of the wildfire from last year. Burned trees removed on the left - looks much better.

We leave for Florida soon. Already had to reschedule arrival due to Hurricane Milton. Hoping it doesn't leave chaos and destruction. We were lucky with Helene, others were not as everyone knows. Prayers for all.

sandhill cranes last week - what are they doing here in the fall? Travel stop or perhaps waiting for hurricane season to go by.

Last company and first snow

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 22:24:00 +0000

Castles with harvest moon

Our last company has come and gone. Our niece Katie and her friend Caitlin came up to spend a few days in the changing fall color. We had lots of fun!

Ohio Pass - where years of family photos have been taken

Gothic Mt.

Emerald Lake

Paradise Divide - our jeep is waayy down there.

Yup chilly

Of course some Crested Butte and Gunnison action was had and a little jeeping on the side. The aspen still have a lot of turning to be at peak but every day the color changes a bit more. The girls zoomed around and made the most of their short visit. So great to have them here!

Our first snowfall yesterday. 39 degrees this morning. It's a sign that our time is about over. We leave in two weeks for Florida. I never can quite figure out how the summer went by so fast.

All the deer have turned gray now in winter preparation

sunset magic - looks like fire right?

Hummingbirds have left for their winter home (Mexico). This was taken a couple weeks ago. We get some spectacular rainbows here.

Visiting Scotland: St. Andrews, golf, castles, and scotch

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 20:49:00 +0000

Edinburgh

Just returned from a 12 day golf trip to Scotland. It was fabulous! It's been in the planning for over a year with friends from our club in Florida. We were four couples and what a great time was had.

The famous 18th hole bridge - constant photo shoots (on Sunday).

Yup, we got ours taken too.

wedding complete with bagpipers

a small sampling of the dogs and people everywhere -Sunday walkers

boy with kilt - we saw kilts everywhere

First day arrival - we made it! Coming from all directions: Boston, Chicago, and Colorado. Our eight included wonderful new friends Cheryl and Dan

Our Florida club group (Bill, LeeAnn, Don, Roxanne)

We stayed at St. Andrews which is truly a golfer's mecca. We had a view of the 17th and 18th holes and got to watch all the action. The one regret was we were not able to play the Old Course. Our travel group tried their best to get us but no luck. We did play another of their courses (Castle course) which was great. We walked the Old course as it's closed for golf on Sundays and the walkers and their hundreds of dogs come out in droves. We felt immersed in it all. St. Andrews is the oldest golf course in the world. It was established in 1552.

Famous pub Dunvegan

Just a hop, skip, and a jump from the 18th hole. Famous golfers, including Tiger Woods, have visited over the years for a pint and some fish and chips. Photos cover every inch including the ceiling.

University of St. Andrews established 1413

top university in the UK

one of two ecumenical chapels established at St. Andrews in 1450

Cathedral of St. Andrew ruins built in 1158. Largest church built in Scotland.

Originally Medieval Catholic Church until 16th century Scottish Reformation

One of the more 'recent' tombstones -famous pro golfer who won Open Championship three times

We explored the town during our stay. Everything has remained from centuries ago. It is a very old city as you can tell. Fascinating for sure.

Kingsbarn

Carnoustie

Castle Course

I've put all the golf photos together. List was: Kingsbarn, Carnoustie, Castle course (St. Andrews), Lunden Links, Gullane #1, and North Berwick. All terrific courses and hard - especially Carnoustie. It's nickname is Carnasty...agree. We had only 3 minutes of rain for all our rounds which was amazing, but did have 30 and 40 mile an hour winds with occasional 50 mph gusts a couple of days. Whoohoo. Hey, we're a tough group, handled it just fine. I call it hearty golf in Scotland. No electric golf carts, so you're walking every round using a pull cart or utilizing a caddie.

We had a little free time in between golf rounds and went to a scotch distillery. The process and history was fascinating, plus the scotch tasting super informative. They are not exported but are named and included in some of the Johnnie Walker labels. And yes, we purchased - of course.

Blair Castle

the castle was filled weapons in multi rooms - you apparently can't have too many.

Tapestry room - the many tapestries were sold to the duke by Cromwell after Charles I was beheaded.

Next up was Blair Castle, owned by the Duke of Atholl. It was started in 1269 absolutely dripping with history. The castle was placed in a charitable trust and the public can visit year round. The current 12th Duke of Atholl was born, raised, and continues to live in South Africa. At one point in history the grounds in entirety covered 346,000 acres. Blair Castle is also the home of the Atholl Highlanders, the only private army in Europe owned by the Duke of Atholl.

yup another gentleman in a kilt - couldn't resist.

view from our room

Our last few days were centered in Edinburgh. We stayed at the Scotsman Hotel, where the original building had housed the The Scotsman newspaper offices for almost a century before. There are supposed to be a host of ghosts there but we saw and heard nothing out of the ordinary.

haggis is sheep innards mixed with spices, etc. I've had it once - not repeating.

Mark did not buy - can't imagine why.

a real person - augh

I'll give points for creativity

one more kilt photo

Mark's photo of the main street - what crowds!

We walked the streets of the incredibly old city of Edinburgh, doing a little shopping and eating. Apparently we picked the busiest time of the year to be here. Festival time and the city population doubles. There is the Fringe which is literally hundreds of comedy acts that perform over three weeks and also the Military Tattoo which performs at Edinburgh Castle at night with international military bands and light show. Part of our group went the last night of the trip and said it was fantastic.

Edinburgh Castle

Built in 1595 at the gates of Edinburgh Castle as a home, morphing into church then royal apartments, now world famous hotel/restaurant of 50 years. Honoring the many women and men who were burned at the stake as witches.

Last visit was to world famous Edinburgh Castle. 2 million people visit a year. It stands on Castle Rock above the town and has been a castle since the 11th century and home to many Scottish monarchs. As with any ancient site there have been endless wars, occupations, and prisons. Mary, Queen of Scots, had her baby there in the royal apartments and the Scottish Crown Jewels are there. (the oldest in Britain).

Very long post but I wanted to get it all in. We loved every minute of our trip and highly recommend a visit to Scotland if you haven't been.

Bear, moose, and wildflowers on jeeping trip

noreply@blogger.com (Gretchen) — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 21:41:00 +0000

Columbine - Colorado state flower

Ahhh the wonderment of mountain peaks in summer. We took good friends Kim and Steve out to one our favorite jeeping haunts: American Basin. You may recall we went there a few weeks ago with other dear friends Leanne and Steve W. It was quite beautiful, but the difference between then and now was staggering. Prime wildflower season there.

Fly fishing for three, painting for me. It was so beautiful and serene and then the flies attacked. My spray did not help and finally had to race back to the safety of the car. Fish were caught and a not bad sketch from me in spite of the pesky nuisance.

As a reminder, our14'er climbing experience-Handie's Peak was here, which is out of sight to the left of the distant peaks. It's been 10 years since we did it but it remains an amazing memory. I think Kim and Steve may have been inspired to do it. Hey, it's one of the easiest 14'ers. Ok, not easy for us, but we made it!

Happy group and no that's not a necklace around Mark's neck - rather a fly fishing lanyard

Picnic lunch amongst the beauty. We watched people coming down from having summited Handie's. They all seemed in good shape except one guy who promptly took off shoes and socks and plopped feet in the stream. Survivable I think. And no flies here, hallelujah...

Extra special treat seeing both a bear and a moose. The bear ran away even though it was quite a distance away and the moose could not have cared less about us. Great trip!