More Elk coming to town. With the high mountains filling up with snow, the Elk are arriving to their wintering areas... here in the moutainous foothills (7000ft). How exciting it is to be here where wildlife is abundant and protected! On this day they had their own law enforcement stopping traffic on the "Main" and only way through town. Blocked off the traffic for 20min each direction to allow the Elk to cross the Hwy safely. Hopefully it was a fun experience for those travellers who use this route to cut off 6 extra hours to head to any number of states in either direction. I know it is always exciting for me and we live here!

Combined efforts of the DOW, CHP, ACSO, and Pagosa city police help a herd of elk out of Pinon Lake and across Hwy 160 to safety south of the road to Timber Ridge.

A herd of elk (40 something Cow, 11 Calf, numerous yearlings, and a Bull Elk) found themselves the object of local attentions while taking a swim in Pinion Lake, right beside Highway 160 near the Pagosa Lodge and Parelli Natural Horsemanship Business Headquarters.

Monster Mash

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GIANORMOUS MOTH

Just an FYI - this is Jason's hand, I do not have man hands! :-)

When we came home from a drive up East Fork Pass we had this amazing moth perched on our door handle. What a privilege it was to hold. Our children's eyes were so big and they were very curious. It was a great teaching moment.

OUR PRECIOUS 3

PANNING FOR GOLD

After a tour through the 100 Year Gold Mine, Dad and the kids panned for gold and sliver. Cora found a small bit of silver in the first 5 minutes. We all continued panning for another 30-40 minutes but to no avail. Cora is the precious metal magnet in the family. Hummmm - this could be good. : )

        

   

          

   

OLD 100 GOLD MINE TOUR

A day at the mines... This was an amazing tour - if ever in Silverton Colorado be sure to visit this incredible town feature. This living/working museum is well worth the drive. What a fun educational experience. I love living in Colorado! (Sorry, the pics are not in order.)

 

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Isaiah's 1st Day of Pre-School - a Ham

Cora's 1st Day of Kindergarted - Shy Shy Shy...

Soaking It Up In The Hot Springs

The Springs... This is one of the pools along the river. You can see that the pool feeds into the river behind Jason, Isaiah, and Cora. There are so many places here that you can soak, some free, some not, some way too expensive. The nicest resort in town has a "for locals rate only" every Tuesday. We have gone on local night once or twice, but we ususally like to go along the river and build our own tub out of river rock and soak in the hot springs then jump into the glacier fed river - in and out, in and out.We all love it! 

FUN WATCHING THE TOURIST WIPE OUT !

Here is Cora sitting on the edge of one of the hot springs cones, this one is right outside the Sheriffs Office. This is one of many on display throughout town. Behind her is the chamber of commerce. The hill above is where they hold lots of concerts - from famous Symphonies to Blue Grass Festivals. We have such a cute town. On weekends the river behind her is a major source of entertainment. Lots of Hot Springs feed the river so many people in town as well as tourists go to the edge of the river sit in hot springs and then grab a tube, kayak, canoe, or just jump in with nothing but their suits and go down the rapids through the falls. Just an FYI - the canoes never make it over the falls with out tipping over into a complete wipe-out. Oh, and another FYI - people in town never use a canoe. They save those for all the tourists. When a canoe starts down the river the townspeople just sit on the sides of the rivers or watch from above from the riverwalk or bridges... just laughing and taking pictures. It is a great time...

An Angel Among Us

Cora showing off her 2 missing teeth