howdy, ya'll

We spent the day in the Wild West.  Buckskin Joe is a little town made of of old buildings from different parts of Colorado.  The site has been used in the filming of many movies.

Way back, Twenty-three years ago, I worked here for a summer.  

Some of the shots are a view of the Royal Gorge.

I didn't take many pictures.  Most of them have my kids and I don't like to put them on here. 

It's a fun place to visit if you're ever in Colorado.

growing up in colorado

We haven't been to the mountains in a few years.  Every summer I want to go and we don't seem to get around to it.

First photo is a church in a small town I lived in beneath the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  I loved living beneath The Blood of Christ.

The next photo is of my favorite mountain pass.

My parents and I on a fishing trip.  Going up to a mountain lake is one of my favorite things to do!

One time my mom took my sister and me up to a little lake and stream area with our sketchbooks and we all sat around and drew.  Drawed?  Made drawings.  

A photo of the Sangre de Cristos.

There is a photo of me standing above my hometown.  I'm not pregnant, the wind is blowing up my shirt.  Love the acid-wash jeans!

This is why I love Colorado!

april showers

thursday thirteen

Thirteen movies filmed (at least in part) in Colorado.

1.     Cat Ballou

2.     Mr. Majestyk

3.     True Grit

4.     Lightning Jack

5.     The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox

6.     The Sacketts

7.     The Cowboys

8.     True Grit

9.     City Slickers       

10.  Independence Day

11.  War Games

12.  How the West Was Won

13.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

thursday thirteen

I know the formatting on this this is all wonky, but I'm going insane. I can't work with it any longer. Here are thirteen things I love about Colorado (and other Rocky Mountain States)

Ok, so I got a bit carried away...

1. Wearing a jacket in August because you are 11,000 feet above sea level, (and you'll see patches of snow in the shade, too)
   
2. Prairie Dogs
   
3. Pronghorn
   
4. Buttercups
   


5. Indian Paintbrushes
   


6. These little bitty wild daisy things
   


7. Real cowboys
   


8. Pikes Peak (click for a live view of the peak)
   


9. The smell of the air
   
   
10. Cold rain to cool off a hot day
    
    
11. Cacti
    
    
12. Ice cold streams in July
    
    
13. Views that go on forever (click for views from cameras atop Pike's Peak)
    
    
14. Seeing the curvature of the earth

15. Incredible blue skies, (I've been other places. The sky is not the same.)

16. Aspen trees

17. Timberline

18. Red rocks




15. Big Horn Sheep
    

And I will share a fabulous poem I wrote several years ago about my favorite spot on the top of the Continental Divide. It's the first poem I've written since school made me.

Continental Divide

This is where the waters are born

here in the home of clouds

I stand upon this solid ground

and watch

as birds take wing beneath me

The sun's warmth is stifled here

by air so thin it burns

It seems I should extend my arm

to reach

and touch the fire that shuns me

Freedom is the word that spins

weaving throughout my mind

To leave behind the cares of life

and stand

where earth reaches to meet me

Heaven seems much nearer here

on the top of the world

God who whispered this into place

looks down

and takes the moment to greet me

C.KayDay2008