We were so delighted to have Sarah Wilson join us this morning! Alix and Sonja rode about 13 miles this morning (3 bonus miles to an overlook over the Royal Gorge for breakfast) then met up with Sarah and her mom there. Thanks to both of them for driving to meet us, and bringing melon and muffins.
We spent most of the day feeling enamored with the scenery. The mountains, the mountains! We loved getting to climb the mountains, and to descend down them (a bit) into Canon City this afternoon. Even though we didn't go through much civilization today, we were delightfully able to stay hydrated (without going off route gas station hunting) because of the forethought of Sarah and her mom, Anna, who stashed two 1-gallon jugs along the route. Below are oodles of photos from our ride.
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| View this morning from the campsite (/city park) in Canon City |
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| Gorgeous. (Hah.) |
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| Another shot of Royal Gorge |
Our morning ride was really lovely - much less desert than East of Pueblo and many interesting plants! Not much civilialzation though, so we were very grateful for the stashed water jugs.
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| Anyone know what type of flower this is? |
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| Or this? |
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| A native thistle |
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| Mountains!! |
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| Sarah hasn't decided to cut her hair off yet ;) |
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| Yay, Alix! |
We rode to Haswell then up a little dirt road for a few miles to Sarah's friend's ranch. We are so appreciative of them for hosting us, including providing a delicious dinner and a tent palace by the river. What a beautiful property they have!! Their farmhouse restorations were also really interesting to hear about and envision. We slept in a giant tent they had set up next to a stunning little river that snaked along their property. You could hear the water running by as we went to sleep.
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| Our humble abode for the night |
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| The ranch house in mid historic restoration |
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| Another view of the farm house. |
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| A little lost duckling! (Fits right in with our baby animal theme) |
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| Sonja being Sonja |
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| Gosh :) |
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| Getting dark! Time for bed. |
Glad you are enjoying the flowers. The second one is some type of storks bill geranium - I think from the leaf it is a Texas Storksbill. The front lawn at the ranch is full of them. We also saw something similar in Patagonia.
ReplyDeleteThe first one looks really familiar. My first thought is something in the columbine family. I will investigate further. Perhaps Audrey will know.
Karen Welty says the first one is Ipomopsis tenuituba or slendertube skyrocket which is in the phlox family
ReplyDeleteThe pictures are amazing
ReplyDeleteFlower photos:
ReplyDelete4/20 Scarlet gilia (ipomopsis aggregata)
5/20 Wild Geranium (Geranum caespitosum)
6 and 7/20 Colorado thistle (Cirsium tioganum var. coloradense)
And the white flower that Sarah says you asked her to ask me about was very likely a prickly poppy (Argemone polyanthemos). Check Google images and see if that's what you described.
The Sonja being Sonja picture is so good. It's is a good composition plus it tells my a lot about who Sonja is.
ReplyDelete