Aspen - beautiful Aspen

In case you didn't guess from my last email, I have been on vacation. My first real vacation in 2 years - one that actually cost money and I got to get on a plane and go somewhere.

I went to the airport with much anticipation since this was my first time since the "quart plastic bags, 3.7 ounce, take your shoes off" rules were put into place. I was so nervous about making it through security. No problem. Everything went off without a hitch and I breezed right through. The flight and connecting flight were both right on time and arrived on time in
Aspen.

I went to Aspen to visit my friend Lorraine. She picked me up at the airport and, after delivering luggage, meeting Sydney (the dog) and a welcome drink, we headed into Aspen for some dinner. Lorraine knows just everyone in town (although she denies it) and I was soon meeting more folks than I could comprehend or remember. We had a wonderful Mexican meal and then headed back to her place for another drink and some of the chocolate I brought from CA.

Saturday dawned bright and early as usual, although it seems that we (or at least I) did not get moving too fast. It was just so relaxing to hang out. We finally headed into town (with Sydney) and made our way through the farmers market, eating chocolate and fudge as we went along. Next, we went into town to see her friend's carpet shop (with their 2 friendly dogs - one a rescue from Turkey) and a few other shops. It was a nice start to the day. After dropping Sydney off, we headed for the animal shelter which was having an open house. It is an amazing place and seems to me that animals would never want to be adopted from there. The cat room looks like a little beachside, foresty hang out. Trees and stuff dominate and they get to run around the whole room while visitors can come in and hang out, too. The dogs aren't restricted to their kennels during the day but rather play out in a big yard with their very own ski gondola and large rock walls that they enjoy running up and down like Mountain Goats. It was a nice day and we headed back to her place. Feeling the effects of the altitude (8,000+ ft), I was a bit tired so we just hung out and relaxed for the evening.

On Sunday, we headed off to Maroon Bells. The "Bells" are a formation of three mountain peaks that look like bells. There is a large lake in colors of green, blue and teal that the path walks along and millions of wild flowers. We had a nice hike (if you don't count the bugs) and even met a deer along the way. I was trying to get a photo but it bolted when I got close enough. We thought it would run away but instead it ran around behind us. I tried to get a photo but it was a blur (even with the shake control feature on my camera). I was loving my new digital camera and trying out the various features along the way. As soon as I figure out how to load the photos to my computer, I will post some here for you to see.

Oh, and one more tidbit on Maroon Bells. It is the photo of Lorraine that I painted for her 50th birthday. The painting is called "Seasons of Change" and you can find it in my photos above (I think). If not, that will get posted later, too. It was pretty cool seeing the place in real life and we had a nice day.

Again, full and tired, we returned to Lorraine's place to relax and hang out for the evening. She also had work the next day so it was only right to give her a little break so she wouldn't be exhausted.

And, that was the first 3 days of my vacation. Over the next few days, I hope to get photos posted and gradually catch up on writing about the rest of the trip.