A Scoop of Rocky (Mountain) Road

Mom said she LOVEd getting away to the Rocky Mountains this past month. 

She had a wonderful visit with friends and saw a lot of beautiful sites.

(Go get a cup of tea, there's a big slideshow up ahead.)

She said she is so thankful that her friends selected easy hiking trails 

so she wouldn't hurt her knee. 

(She has tendonitis and wears a brace. 

She's also pretty klutzy. 

I've seen her trip over a heaved sidewalk. It wasn't pretty.)

Mom said the hardest part was being able to catch her breath 

after a steep area of the trail. 

She said her heartbeat was pounding inside her head 

and she needed to stop and wait until it stopped. 

Instead of talking she just used a thumbs up signal when she was good to go.

Sky, the Irish Setter who lives with with Mom's friends, was on most of the hikes. 

Sky had no problem with the heights and lengths of the hikes!

One of the things Mom noticed the most was how VAST and OPEN the land is out west.

We are used to trees, trees, trees here. 

In Colorado she could see for miles and miles - 

even mountain sites located in other states!

Here's a photo of when she went out dog walking 

with Sky and the neighbor's dog, Holden.

She also went horseback riding on this rocky gravel road on a horse named Sunny. 

She said the gravel was very bbbbbbbuuuuuummmmmppppyyyyy.

Here's a photo of Mom when she was brushing Sunny. 

She looks like a bandit but she said she was wearing a bandana

that way because brushing a horse is a hairy, dusty job that made her sneeze.

(I'm glad she doesn't look like that when she's cleaning up my dog hairs! Scary!)

And look at all these colorful brushes! I only have one! 

Sky and Oreo were Mom's official ambassadors of Colorado. 

Sky got on Mom's bed, got his teeth brushed with chicken flavored paste, 

gave high fives and liked to snuggle on the couch.

Oreo likes to curl up in a basket, wanted to eat alllll the time,

has a heart shape on her body, and often watched birds fly into a glass window door. 

(Yes, I noticed Oreo is a cat.)

Below is a video Mom took from the top of the gondola ride in Telluride.

The Rocky Mountains are really beautiful. 

Colorado makes Mom think of John Denver. 

(She misses him and listens to his music all the time.)

She gave a buck to this street musician.

Here's a bunch of photos Mom took of Colorado.

It looks really pretty.

Can you believe people actually lived on these cliffs?

Okay Mom, we get the POINT, you liked Colorado...

Here's photos of things Mom saw daily while in Colorado 

but that she would have to go looking for around here:

 Have you ever seen horse blingy decals?

I sure wouldn't put one of those on my body!

This is an interesting idea:

These murals were on business walls:

Here's a photo that shows the treacherous road Mom went on to a hiking spot.

It's a looooooooooong way down...

Mom also went to see a barrel racing competition. 

Those ladies were brave!

Some finished going around 3 barrels in less than 16 seconds!

There was even a set of twins that were only 7 years-old!

*~*

Here are photos of the dogs Mom has seen around town during September:

Mom met Henry at a Farmer's Market.

Have you had a ripe peach yet? 

Mom went to a local farm stand while in Colorado.

Brady (who is named after Tom Brady) jumped onto Mom's car window ledge 

the day she picked up his owner to go to a Chicago Bears game. 

Coincidence? I think not!

This is LuLu. She is tiny, tiny, tiny. She liked giving Mom kisses.

(We had a pic of LuLu before but Mom hadn't met her yet.)

This is Rudy from Colorado. 

He was a rescue dog.

Look at those deep eyes.

There's a story there.

Check out the lakeview Patches gets to enjoy!

This is Rose the French bulldog. Check out her Highway M22 collar!

Mom bought Gibbs a cowboy hat in Colorado. 

He and Chuck share it.

Mom brought me a portable water dish...

Should I wear it on my head?

Before Mom went to Colorado I got to go to Michigan. 

Here's a pic of Papa petting me and one of me in Nana's comfy chair.

The humans all went to a bacon cookoff and for some reason 

chose not to bring me to the event or bring back any samples for me. 

This was irksome.

They smelled like bacon.

They talked about bacon.

And I got no bacon.

Grrrrrrrrrr...

Bacon cupcakes...?

(Mom said they weren't that good.)

One day when Mom was folding her sari from India I got all wrapped up in it. 

Sari, Mom!

HAHAHAHA!

The weather has finally been cool enough for some walks.

Here's pics about the media moments Mom had in September.

Based upon the church's new bible study "deep" Mom has labeled herself a Veg-Tech 

but she's working on making her decisions wise.  

(Unfortunately Amy Poehler's autobiography 

had a lot of naughty language and references 

but Mom said it was it funny and very enlightening about Amy's career and Hollywood.)

This month Mom went to a Women of Faith

 conference where she heard 

some awesome speakers 

and she's been reading some great books: 

These movies made Mom cry.

(But she said she liked them both.)

Mom bought some canine earrings in Colorado.

She didn't buy this statue of a bulldog

 though because she said it was too pricey.

She did buy this needlework item this month:

(Not in Colorado.)

She LOVES it!

(But we don't have cobwebs and dust here, just lots of dog hair.)

Here's some festive images:

I know, I don't look festive here. 

I miss snuggling with my human sister who is at college.

She does FaceTime though so she can watch me chew my toys.

Today while Mom and I were blogging she got a call from Gibbs' mom.

I guess some rare (stinky) flower had bloomed so they went and saw it.

However, Mom said she did NOT want to go into this garden. 

Maybe you all understand.

Can you see the bumblebee in the middle of this flower?

Those are the safe kind of bees.

What do you think about this Halloween costume?

I am thinking of wearing it to this parade.

You may have noticed Mom went a bit overboard this month on the photos.

She said she couldn't help herself.

I enjoyed them and I hope you did too.

Here's just a few more that didn't fit into any of the themes above:

Have you had a get away recently?

Were your experiences and views breath-taking?

PAWS a moment and think about the places in nature 

you have seen where the view went on and on, and on and on, and on... 

Now look where you feet are and appreciate the beauty of the moment.

Until next month, 

~ Magnus Pym