Spontaneous Exploring

Back in the end of September the hubby, a friend, and I went for a drive to the mountains. We started out driving through Beulah and drove the dirt road that goes over the mountain and comes out in Rye. If you ask me, it is much better than driving the interstate to get to Rye. But ya know... thats just me, I love being near the mountains and being able to explore them after a short drive.

So after we get to Rye, we stopped at Bishop's Castle (Its this awesome place a man built himself... don't worry I'm going to show you) and then we drove on to the Westcliffe area. We got out to an area I don't remember after that. We found a hiking trail in a burnt part of the forest and followed in until we got to Spruce Creek and then went home because we were very tired after our trip.

 

                                             The inside of Bishop's Castle

                                                                   
                                                  Bishop's Castle

My Trip to the Zoo

I've grown up around animals. We've had dogs and cats for as long as I can remember and we've had all kinds of weird pets.... turtles, opossum, squirrels, flying squirrels,.... and I feel like I could be missing a few. And my mom worked as a veterinary assistant for several years. So obviously, I'm kind of an animal lover.

And somehow I never managed to go to the zoo. I always wanted to go but I just hadn't. Until this past October my brother came to visit and he took me. We had no excuse since it was right in town. There wasn't one anywhere nearby when we lived in Kentucky. The zoo was great except for knowing that all those caged animals are sad and could be in a much better place. Maybe in some zoos they are better, with more space and more natural(ish) habitats.  So maybe I won't give up on zoos yet.