Indiana...

LJ and I just got back from visiting with my mom and our other family in Indiana.  It was a short trip over by plane while Marty and BJ stayed home and took our 5th wheel in for warranty work.  Soooo glad I got to miss trips to the repair shop!

I have to warn you right now,
before you go any further,
this is a post with absolutely no focus or direction.

I apologize as it is embarrassingly SCATTERED!

 ((blushing and thinking... "oh well."))

Anyway during a visit over to my grandpa's girlfriends house we took a tour of her yard and found this...

A place for hopscotch in the garden.  Isn't that such a cute idea??


While we were visiting my grandpa in Tell City my mom had to show me her favorite little house there.  She likes the stone.  It is pretty cute.  The owner happened to be out in her garden so we complimented the house and her green thumb, she told us this was the oldest house in Tell City.  Very neat.


The historic Tell City library, now a museum.

And now I have to apologize again.  I really try to keep my classic car and Chevy truck love off this blog, but this time I just can't help it.


We ran across this 71 Chevelle Malibu while out driving around in the back roads of Tell City.


I felt like a deer in the headlights when I saw it.  Isn't it pretty?

Then...


We also ran across this pretty little Chevy.


When I fell in love with my husband eons ago, he drove a big beefy Chevy like this one (see below for a pic of ours).  He built it from the ground up with his dad, and then did body and paint with his cousin.  I remember them spending months in the shop getting it put together.  Before the work, we took it out 4x'n - after the work we took it out on TL's (town laps).  We were young. 



We still have it back in Alaska.  It still looks beautiful until you get close and see the dents and rust. 

Anyway this style/year of Chevy always brings back good times.   

Denver, Colorado

We've been able to spend some time up in Denver recently.  Well, ok maybe not recently.  More like a month ago, lol.

It was a nice visit for our family.


One of the places we hit was the Denver Zoo.


We were just as thrilled with their decor as we were seeing the animals.




They had peacocks and all sorts of other fowl that were allowed to freely roam with the visitors.

They had more animals than I think we've seen in a zoo to date, so I'll skip all the many photos and just share our favorites...


Like a dog with his stick - we think chances must be good that he fetches, what do you think?


The elephants were very neat.  One came from a circus and did tricks.


This is who I think I spent the most time with.  While all the boys went to find a powder room, I sat down with a bag of popcorn and got this little fella to come pretty close.


We also took a tour of a former residence of the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown.  Interestingly we discovered her name was not Molly, nor did she ever go by it.  Just a name given by journalist.


Then of course I hit the streets...  Residential streets that is...


I love taking walks in historic neighborhoods.  It's one of my most favorite things to do.  And the best part is that it's always free, the dog is always welcome, and our whole family has a good time.














The Grant-Humphrey Mansion...

Horsing Around

April 23rd we were driving back home to the RV and saw a herd of horses off to the side of the road. 

We just HAD to stop.


They were all way out to pasture but as soon as we got out and called them they all came running over.


Somebody must really love these guys, they were very social.




A few of the horses kept getting rowdy with each other, having nothing but fun.  It was so interesting though, because the horse on the left kept bringing her head in for a good snuggle.  Both with me and LJ.  And what was even more amazing was every time the other horses got rowdy, she would move her whole body to block us from their frisky behavior.  She seemed to take extra care and gentleness with LJ.

This is yet another moment on the road I wish we could pack an extra animal along with us!

Royal Gorge Bridge

In mid April my husband took us out to Royal Gorge Bridge, just outside of Canyon City, Colorado.  He was really excited to see it because it holds the title of highest bridge in North America and highest suspension bridge anywhere in the world.

It was really high.  When someone drives across the bridge it creates a ripple effect in front of the car - and the whole bridge bounces and sways either from driving over it, or by the winds.  It's funny to watch people standing on it grab a hold of the side rails in panic when a car gets close.





For a small all in one price of admission you get access to the bridge, a small zoo, an aerial tram, an incline railway, a carousel, and loads of other things.  It was really worth the trip and the price.


This is the incline railway that takes you to the bottom of the gorge.  It's fun, so long as you don't think about the possibility of the brakes going out.


This was taken from the bottom looking up.  The pictures just don't do the incredibly STEEP height justice.


The petting zoo/non petting zoo had a horse, donkey's and burrows...


Buffalo...


Elk...


And bighorn sheep.

It was a fun visit and on the drive there we got to see the "World's Largest Rocking Chair" which was in Penrose, Colorado.

Excitement.

Manitou Springs, Colorado

Oh my I just LOVED this little town.  This whole place was nestled right into the high hills outside of Colorado Springs. 


Lots of cute shops, boutiques, antique stores, cafe's...

 ...Funnel cake fries at one of the vendors stands.  Oh my.  They were really good.





And I discovered Miche purses here - might have to do another whole post on those.


We took the tour of Miramont Castle, it was really fun to go poke through.


...I had a hard time getting it all in one photo.


With the exception of the main roads in and through town all the streets were pretty much one lane.  Our dually just happened to be in the shop when we visited Manitou Springs and it's a good thing, because it would not have fit in the residential areas of this place!  Anytime an on coming car came one of us would have to pull off to the side of the road to let the other pass.  Even with us driving a normal rental car!











This would be one of those places I would I would go back to see again.