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Dogs / Nature / wildlife

Clearing Cobwebs from the Mind

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San Juan Mountains, pond
At this high elevation, the clouds seem close enough to touch, and there’s snow in the San Juan peaks year-round.

Sometimes, you just need to take a step back and exit the rat race. Perhaps reevaluate your life or just take a time out. This year, we took a long weekend near Lake City, Colorado. Lake City is a small seasonal town surrounded by large mountains.

aspen trees
We loved the huge aspen forests. This is more of an aspen nursery.

It’s a haven for outdoor enthusiasts, and we could have been hiking some peaks, ATV riding, or any number of extreme sports. We chose to read, sleep, play games, and walk the dogs. That’s it.

beaver
Garnet and I found this creature at dusk. Beaver or muskrat?
beaver, tail slap
A sudden sound to our left, and this beaver lets loose with its emergency warning. Sorry for the lousy cell-phone shots, but I was so excited to capture this beautiful, peaceful creature!

We didn’t need extreme sports. We needed a chance to sleep without setting the alarm and relax without having to schedule it.

apricot standard poodle
River approves of a dog vacation!

We needed to let the dogs have a vacation, too. We found some areas where we felt safe to let the dogs off-leash while closely supervised. All the dogs loved it, but as you can see, reserved little Garnet had a blast! She met her first leash after we adopted her when she was several years old, and she was not a fan. She still dislikes the leash, so it was great fun to see her come to life once she realized she could go wherever she wanted to.

black dog, tongue
I’ve released Garnet’s leash, and she approves!
wiggling dog
Shy little Garnet is wiggling on her back, enjoying the feel of grass beneath her and sun above her!

Of course, she never strayed away from my husband and me, but she loved the freedom of going where SHE wanted to. It’s amazing how good it feels to watch the dogs having fun and being happy. I enjoyed watching them enjoy themselves in a way that I’ve forgotten how to do. Someday, I aspire to be as happy as my dogs.

happy dog
Tribble had a blast!

31 comments

  1. Seems like a wonderful vacation! I’m from Sweden, but have plans for (hopefully) making a US roadtrip next summer. Maybe Colorado is a place to add to the wish-list.

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  3. This is a lovely post with photos to match. I need to clear about a thousand cobwebs from my mind and few dust bunnies, too. I’m glad you had a great time. I feel more relaxed just reading and thinking about it. *le sigh*

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  7. Sounds like a wonderful space to be in close to nature and away from the restrictions of alarm clocks and daily routine.

    That last shot of Tribble is exquisite – I’d be framing that to hang up on the wall 🙂

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  8. Beautiful photos and you can just tell how the dogs were enjoying themselves. I hope you enjoyed yourselves too. It’s lovely to be out in nature and it looks like a really good walk, with the enjoyment of watching a beaver.

    I am having a step back. I have took a week off work for respite with stress of my mum and my own health issues I am currently having. I already having asthma issues, but now it’s high blood pressure.
    I am taking a step back and not doing as much as a carer now, which my mum will learn about later; no more sleeping at mum’s on the floor in a sleepying bag at unexpected times. Mum will have to learn to use the 24 hour number to Social Services.
    I have also removed mum off my housing list. (Mum knows this.) There is no us living together. There are options for my mum, if she chooses to take them, in regards to accomodation.
    Today, I have cooked a quiche and some jam tarts are now cooking. I am reading a book later and sleeping if required.

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    1. I know you love your mom, but sometimes a little distance from our loved ones is the only way to preserve our own health and sanity. I respect your desire to take care of yourself. Still, these kind of steps can be a bit uneasy. I’m sure there is a lot going on for you around your decision. I have sent you an email regarding the protected posts password.

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          1. I have heard how coyotes can do that through another blogger I once knew years ago. I can’t remember where he lived than he had a view from the hills looking down somewhere in the distance of I think a town and he had to be careful of them. He also had to watch for bears I think too.

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          3. There are bears all over the state, but our home is far enough from the wild areas that we feel safe from bears. When we camp, it’s always a concern.

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          6. I didn’t quite believe it until a neighbor took gorgeous photos of a mama fox teaching her kits. How to climb her fence. It’s definitely something they can do. We had a cat that was attacked by a fox years ago; she received a few puncture wounds but got away. She fully recovered with an overnight stay with the vet. Weirdly, we have more foxes in our neighborhood than coyotes.

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      2. Our coyotes aren’t very aggressive here, but mountain lions are sometimes in the area. We had a bicyclist attacked this summer. They are so quiet that you don’t know they’re there until it’s too late. We don’t seem to worry about them, though. We try to pack together so we look like one BIG person rather than two people with 3 dogs. I’m sorry your coyotes are more aggressive.

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