Oh the Beautiful Rocky Mountains

On June 25th,  after we visited a very HOT Arches in Utah,  we drove to the Rocky Mountain National Park  in Colorado.  What a wonderful change in climate!!!!  Wow---I love cool weather and SNOW---and got the joy of seeing both of them while we were there.

I have a 'scrillion' pictures from that ONE day...  We saw as much as we could possibly see in one day --but want to go back again.  It was incredible!!!!!  Here are a few of the pictures we took when we entered the park on the north side (Fall River entrance north and west of Estes Park).  The picture above was taken in Estes Park.  I loved seeing the reflections of the mountains in that lake...  Below are more! (Please click and enlarge these pictures for a larger view!)

Our first stop after we entered the Park was the Sheep Lake meadow.  We were hoping to see some bighorn sheep (and even checked out that area twice, again on the way out of the park)---but we didn't get lucky on that day.  Beautiful meadow though ---which you will seen later in this set (after we get up on the mountain).  YES---we headed UP (way UP) those mountains!!!!!

Next, we drove to the Alluvial Fan area and hiked to a gorgeous waterfall which cascaded all the way down the mountain.. I'll save those pictures for another post.  Then we drove to the Endovalley area (end of that road) ---and had hoped to head up the mountain on an old road, the Old Fall River Road.  However,  due to all of the snow they received this year,  that road was still closed.

SO----we headed UP the mountain on the main road, Highway 34!!!  We stopped at all of the overlooks as we headed up the mountain.  We went UP-UP-UP... The picture above is George standing at one of the overlooks.

This picture shows how high we were getting.. We were running into more and more snow the higher we went.  AND--the temperature kept going DOWN... I LOVED it...  You can see the meadow below in the distance,  that I mentioned in the 2nd photo from the top above.   And---you can see the road we took up the mountain!!!

We climbed to over 11,000 feet ---and even though the roads and overlooks were clear,  there was still LOTS of snow around. See how they banked the snow along the sides????? Remember---this was June 25!!!!

Here's another snow picture taken from the car!!!!  Can you believe this much snow in the summer????  Wow!!!!!!

Finally,  I got to get out and walk in the snow!!!!! Talk about a 'happy camper'.... This picture was taken at the Forest Canyon overlook---at 11, 716 feet AND 57 degrees!!!!!

What a gorgeous place ---and so different from the desert where we had just been...  Hope you enjoyed these photos.   I will have a Part II--III--IV,  etc... upcoming!!!!!

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George and I are VERY busy right now.. There just seems to be alot going on.  SO--we've decided to take a long BLOG BREAK.   I'm not sure what we'll be doing ---but we have plenty to do to keep us busy!!!!!   Hope you have a wonderful September --and I'll be back on September 26....

Hugs to ALL of you,
Betsy

Beauty from the Biltmore House and Gardens

 I hope you are not getting tired of my photos from Biltmore House and Gardens in Asheville, NC.  This will be my 18th post from there...  I'm not obsessed,  am I?  ha ha ....  IF you happen to miss any of the other 17 posts,  you can go to my sidebar,  scroll down to Labels, and click on Biltmore.  It is truly an awesome place!  This trip was on August 5, my birthday!
 
Today I'm sharing a few more pictures with you.   Above are a couple of gorgeous Crepe Myrtles in bloom.   Below are more.  Enlarge the photos for larger pictures.

One of the adorable statues at the Italian Gardens;  I first thought he was holding an ice cream cone.  Don't think so!!!!! ha

One of the sidewalks in the Biltmore Gardens;  Love seeing the Grape Vines;

The Koi in the Italian Water Gardens;  I was looking straight down into the water --and loved getting the clouds in the sky as a reflection!

Remember when I showed a picture of this Chenille plant  around Christmas time --from inside the Conservatory?  WELL---now they have been transplanted outside.  Those little fuzzy worms do get long,  don't they?

I've talked alot about the Conservatory but have never shown you its picture.  Well--here it is--and let me tell you that there are some gorgeous tropical plants inside there,  including Orchids.

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On another note,  several of you have complained about having to scroll all of the way down through my comments to get to the "Leave Comment" form.  WELL--my advice is:  when you bring up a blog,  click on the blog only (Like THIS) instead of the post (This one )....   If you pull up the blog,  the comments won't come up.  Then just click on the comment form.  Much EASIER I think!!!!!   Use the Blogger Draftboard because it doesn't work if you use the Google Reader.   Just my thoughts for today! ha

Hope you enjoyed my photos from Biltmore.

Have a wonderful day.  We are still getting some drizzly rain... We're up to about 6 inches now....But--it's a slow rain ---so there's no flooding!  Thanks be to God.

Hugs,
Betsy