Travels

Well, we did go south, but not too far and certainly not to the other side of the world as suggested by the photos in my previous post. Last week we took our nieces back to Colorado and visited my sister and family in Wyoming along the way. The photos from the previous post were taken at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, CO (hence the close-ups - needed to get rid of fences etc.). Here are a few more photos of the trip.



One of the activities at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is the chance to feed the giraffes. Both Crean (above) and Benton (below) enjoyed feeding them and feeling their long, black, tongues.




We also visited the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park. Benton is a big dinosaur fan and we had a good time investigating all the skeletons and re-creations in the center.



Neither Benton nor Crean were particularly comfortable around the dinosaur recreations in front of the Center.



They also had a wonderful little exhibit on Darwin that I really enjoyed.






Below are a few of the more "normal" residents of Colorado and southern Wyoming.


Steller's Jay


Pygmy Nuthatch


Rufus Hummingbird


Fireweed


Least Chipmunk


Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel


The van put on a few miles and wound up with a rather thick coated of grasshopper remains over the front grill and fog lights. This year is particularly bad and they were very conspicuous between Gillette, Wyoming and Miles City, Montana. Much of the vegetation along the road had been stripped of leaves and there were occasional sparse "flocks" moving across the highway and thumping onto the windshield like scattered raindrops.