Roamin' through Wyomin'

We drove past Grand Teton National Park several years ago after leaving Yellowstone but didn't stop. This year we were able to spend a few days marveling at the beauty and majesty of the Tetons.

We were able to get a spot in the park which was within walking distance of  beautiful, tranquil  Jackson Lake.

While exploring one day we saw a female moose munching in the marsh,

and a bull moose beside a river.

We all enjoyed exploring this fabulous area.

The town of Jackson, also referred to as Jackson Hole, has several arches made of antlers that we thought were interesting.

On the day we left there fires in the area obscuring the Tetons with smoke. So sad to see so many of these fires out West.

We drove through Craters of the Moon National Monument which is actually in Idaho, not Wyoming but I'll include it here anyway. This is a huge area of lava rock which comes from deep fissures in the earth, not from one volcano. It's a pretty weird landscape.

Northern Colorado

We spent several weeks in the Boulder/Longmont/Lyons area which is where both Brian and I spent the majority of our adult lives. We had a great time catching up with friends, eating at our favorite restaurant Tortugas, and just enjoying Colorado once again.
We saw several interesting sights while in Lyons, which is where much of the sandstone seen throughout the U.S. comes from. There are numerous examples of sandstone in the area, including these sandstone eggs which are scattered around Lyons.

We were close enough to the terrible fire by Ft. Collins to experience some very smoky days. It was very surreal to drive into Denver or Boulder and not be able to see much beyond the smoke. On our way out of town we saw the origin of the fire and the smoke drifting over many miles.

There was a nest in the cliffs near where we had our Bus parked in Lyons that had two baby golden eagles. The babies poked their heads up occasionally but it was difficult to get a good picture from a distance.

No trip to Colorado is complete without a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park.

There was a noticeable lack of snow for this time of year, an indication of the dry conditions there. We were fortunate enough to see several elk who were happy to pose for us.

All in all, another great stop in the area we most closely associate with home.