A Day in the Life

Friday was a pretty sad day for me so I decided to drown my sorrows in a good hike on Saturday. Saturday I woke up early like usual. I started the day off by watching a Western called Lone Rider with Lou Diamond Phillips while eating a bowl of plain cheerios with fresh blueberries and strawberries. I then did an hour workout called Zumba Cardio Party. My neighbor and I went to brunch at a fairly new restaurant named Diane's. I came home and got the dog. We decided that we had better take our annual hike through Ute Valley Park before the rattle snakes come out of hibernation. We weren't sure if the grizzly bears were out of hibernation yet or not because it is starting to get warm. We went up trails and down trails, back and forth through ravine's, and climbed up and down rocks. Almost two hours later we took the above picture looking from Ute Valley Park towards Pikes Peak. By the time we walked out of Ute Valley I was absolutely exhausted so we decided to top our hike off with another 3/4 mile around Pinon Valley Park. We finally called it a solid three hour workout including Zumba and went home. That is certainly a good way to drown out any sorrows. I'm trying to prepare to do a 14er (hike up to 14,000 feet high). I'm going to start with an easy one this summer. We will see how it goes. The dog is now 13 years old but thinks he is a young pup when we go hiking. I think that I will end the day by watching Comanche Moon.

Blodgett Peak Open Space Part II

He took my Breath Away

I was walking my dog through the neighborhood. We came around a corner and were walking down the sidewalk. Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see what it was. Three feet from me was a ten point buck that must have weighed just under 800 lbs. He was absolutely huge and very majestic looking. It took my breath away and my heart nearly stopped beating. He was standing so still that he looked like a statue. I knew he wasn't a statue, because I could see plenty of drool coming out of his mouth and dripping on the ground. After my heart started beating normally again and I started breathing, I quickly and very quietly took the dog and stepped off the sidewalk and crossed the street. My dog never even noticed him because he was standing so very still and not moving even a muscle. After I was a safe distance away, I stopping and took in his beauty. I have never in my life been so close to something so big and majestic. I could have almost reached out and touched him. I was so glad that the dog didn't notice him and bark. I would hate to think of what might have happend if the dog would have spooked him. After we got far enough away, he started eating again. I said to myself that we sure should have had our camera with us today. Since I'm originally from Utah, we would call it a 10 point buck. Here in Colorado Springs they would call it a five point buck meaning 5 points on each side.

A Walk in a Park

Hiking with my son at Green Mountain Falls

Now I've Seen it All

You will never guess who came to my house to visit. It was on Sunday morning. I was in my night gown and bath robe. Low and behold the special visitor was in my living room right next to the television. As I went to open the entertainment center there he was. Yes, a live rattle snake right there on my living room floor. You can imagine my surprise. I didn’t care if my neighbor was out of bed or not. I ran to his house in my night gown and bath robe. He was kind enough to remove it from my house. His wife came with him just to make sure that he didn’t get bitten. It was small, but if you know anything about rattle snakes then you know that the smaller ones are much more poisonous then the big ones. My question that hasn’t yet been answered is where is its mother, brothers, and sisters. They must be in a nest very close by. I asked the wildlife removal company how a snake would get into my house. They said that it would come through a closed sliding glass door just as easily as I would come through an open sliding glass door. Those type of doors are built in such a way that snakes can slither underneath them. I have recently purchased snake repellent that will be going all the way around my house tonight. I didn’t know that they made such a repellent but they do.

Okay, so the bobcat that was five feet away from my dog and looking at eating him for breakfast was somewhat unnerving. The bear that was ten feet away from us and thoroughly enjoying my neighbor’s garbage was kind of interesting to watch. The pack of wild coyotes that howl outside my patio make it a bit frightening to take the dog potty after dark. The red fox that we see in the park is really quite beautiful. The mad deer that tried to trample the dog and I was actually pretty scary. However, a rattle snake in my living room is just downright unacceptable.

I was glad that the dog didn't find the snake. If it would have bitten the dog, he probably would have died. It was very close to where he likes to sleep at night. He doesn't even know the difference. He is lucky that he doesn't have to be scared when he goes to bed at night. I told the V.P. of Human Resources at our corporate office that if I wake up in the morning, get out of bed, step on a rattle snake, it bites me, and I die that it is all his fault. He was the one that asked me to move over here. He called me up and told me that I had a very nice neighbor because he certainly would not have come over and taken a rattle snake out of my house no matter how many brownies I baked for him. The General Manager and Operations Manager where I work said that I could be absolutely positive that they definately would not have come over and taken a rattle snake out of my house and that I did indeed have a very nice neighbor to do that for me. So much for those people at work, I'm glad that they are not my neighbors. I need brave neighbors that can dispose of dead rabbits and live rattle snakes.

Hiking at Fox Run

No bears, foxes, coyotes, dead squirrels, mad deer, or bobcats. Just a whole lot of peace and quiet, a few dogs, and a horse. A very nice place. An easy hike about 4 miles. An easy to follow trail with lots of Forest.