Buena Vista (Sunday, July 14th, 2019)

We got up early this morning to make our way to Buena Vista to see our youngest daughter, her boyfriend and his dad at their ranch.  Their ranch is such a serene and beautiful place, I can certainly see why they love it so much.  

Even as we drove to get there, our blood pressure began to fall as we took in the incredible sights just past Copper Mountain.

 As we got near the ranch, we turned off the highway and crossed the private bridge that hangs over the Arkansas River and leads to their ranch.  Their is a train trestle that runs across the river about a mile up the "drive way", with a pair of nesting osprey.  What a beautiful sight to see!

When we reached the ranch, we we greeted by a heard of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep out in the pasture.  

We took advantage of the calm morning weather to take a walk around the property and see some of the farming they have been doing.  This spring they have been planting turnips and alfalfa.  It doesn't take much of an excuse to get me to go on a walk up here.  It is so beautiful and peaceful!

Because of the wet spring, they have a great crop of wild flowers this year.  Steve's dad thinks these are a variety of blue Pencermen.  Of course, we are always asking his dad about everything that grows, he is such a wealth of knowledge!

Just like everywhere else in the country, the high country of Colorado has had a lot of moisture this year, so as we walked through the meadow, our feet and legs got a little wet.  

This variety of wild flowers are called Little Elephants.  If you look closely, each little flower looks like an elephant head.

We walked, and we talked, and really enjoyed our morning hike.

The dogs had scared the big horn sheep away earlier this morning, but when we returned from our walk, one of the families had returned to the meadow.

Our daughter made us a wonderful Mexican casserole for lunch, using some of the game meat they had in their freezer.  Then, after lunch we decided to head up to the pond to try our hand at some fly fishing.

Their pond is gorgeous, with a yurt on the back side.

The kids went first, to show us how, and of course, our daughters boyfriend caught one right away.  He is such a talented fly fisherman!

Then Steve and I tried our hand at it.  Steve caught on right away, but I took a little longer.  Our daughter and I had a few really good laughs as I continued to try.  My brain/hand coordination is definitely lacking a little bit!

As soon as we started fishing, it began to rain.  At first we hid in the trees thinking that it would pass quickly, but we soon gave up and just fished in the rain.  It was chilly, but such a great time.

And everyone caught at least one fish!  For me, it was my first fish ever, so that was quite a thrill!

I never realized how relaxing fly fishing is, even as I was all tangled up in my daughter's left handed rod, I loved the experience!

After warming up a bit, we all drove down the road and headed to Leadville, CO for some dinner at The Grill, a local Mexican food place.  From there, we all said our goodbye's and headed back toward Denver.  

As the sun set, we enjoyed the last of our beautiful mountain views, and an appropriate rainbow to bring an end to our wonderful day in Buena Vista.