BBQ / Lake George / 11 Mile Canyon Reservoir

 

Relaxing Guitar Music

YouTube Channel:  Prayer Pray

I had a load of laundry in the wash...

and as I waited for the cycle to end...

Bandi and I just relaxed on my bed (our bed :)...

with the windows open.

It was in the mid 60s F (18.3 C)...

and there was a fresh mountain breeze blowing about 5 - 10 MPH.

I also had the kitchen and one of the great room's windows open...

which had allowed a gentle cross breeze which filled the house with its coolness...

and freshness.

My bedroom is Bandi's favorite room.

She loves to relax on the bed...

and on me.

Whenever she hears a noise...

she will rush over to one of the windows to investigate.

As it is Spring...

there are birds chirping in the trees.

Bandi would look in the direction of the chirping...

but after a while...

she realized that they weren't intruders...

so she just relaxed on the bed and enjoyed the cool breeze.

This is Bandi's view out the side window.

It is also my view whenever I turn my head to the left while in bed.

During Autumn...

this view is particularly stunning.

As we were lying in bed while drinking in the mountain breeze...

I suddenly got a craving for BBQ.

So...

I decided upon a BBQ place less than 30 minutes away.

It is near Lake George...and 11 Mile Canyon Reservoir...

which lies 11 miles west of the town of Lake George (where the BBQ place is).

I stopped in to eat BBQ before Bandi and I continued on to Lake George...

and then on to 11 Mile Canyon Reservoir.

I had a delicious pulled pork and beef brisket combo plate.

The meat was succulent...

and the BBQ sauce was so mouth watering.

This will be my go to BBQ place from now on.

Just before leaving...

I gave Bandi some water to drink.

This was Lake George.

I continued beyond the small lake and headed West along a country backroad.

There was another small lake for the nearby residents 

on the way to 11 Mile Canyon Reservoir.

I drove on until I reached the southernmost shore of 11 Mile Canyon Reservoir

(I had been there once before).

The countryside was just so peaceful.

As I drove...

I belted out slightly out of tune vocals to my favorite songs.

The temperature here was 20 degrees warmer than my home...

but, I didn't use the air conditioner 

as Bandi was loving having half her body out the window as I drove.

The southernmost section of 11 Mile Canyon Reservoir in view.

This is how far out the window Bandi loves to hang out of it when I drive...

but she usually does this on the driver's side rear window.

There are many coves along the shoreline of the reservoir.

I drove past the southern portion all the way until I rounded the northern most portion.

This is how Bandi loves to ride in the car...

halfway out of it.

She just loves our country drives...

with the wind in her face.

There were some Pronghorn Antelope near the road.

I drove around the northern most section of the reservoir to reach a different road 

going back to the town I had just come from via a southern entrance road.

I then headed back to the town to catch the highway back home.

We were almost back to town here.

Once we got back home...

Bandi went back to lie on our bed...

and went to sleep.

Not only from the excitement of our trip...

but her insistence to stand the whole way...

with her body half way out a window must have also tired her out.

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Although I love to plan things out in life...

I also love the freedom to be spontaneous whenever I get an urge to do so.

This is just one of the privileges of being comfortably retired...

being free to do whatever I please...and whenever I please.

I will be visiting many more places in the future...

as the weather has warmed.

My elder sister and her husband are planning to visit sometime soon.

I will be sure to take them to some of the beautiful locations around here.

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As I am finishing this article...

I realize how tired I am from my little country drive.

I am going to open up my bedroom windows

and enjoy the cool mountain breeze as I watch a movie until I get sleepy.

Yes...

life is good.

Chasing Clouds

 

YouTube Channel:  ThatClassicalVibe

Today...

as I was taking the kitchen garbage to the community center trash collection point...

I noticed how beautiful the clouds were.

And so...

I turned a short drive into a one hour long country drive

(Bandi got excited as we drove up the main road toward our country adventure).

I love clouds...

so...

I decided to pursue the fluffiest ones slightly West and mostly South...

and turn it into a mellow country drive.

The temperature was up in the low 70s F (22.2 C) as it was in the afternoon.

This was the highest temperature I had experienced here.

Even in the dead of summer...

it usually never goes higher than the high 70s F where I live

(in a rare heat wave...low 80s...according to my research...

I have yet to experience Summer here to any real degree)...

and at night in Summer...

it usually goes down to the 40s F (6 or 7 C) relatively quickly.

When this happens...

I will just close the windows in the daytime...

and open them at night so I may have a cool cross breeze.

This should keep my home cool throughout the next day...

even in a heat wave.

At my altitude...

with its very low humidity (usually in the 20s)...

heat dissipates very quickly...

and so, the air doesn't retain the daytime heat well once the sun sets.

If not...

I will get a room air conditioner...

but I don't think it will be necessary...

the mountain breezes are always refreshing.

This was on my way down the ridge line.

On my way to dropping off the garbage...

I took this photo from the community center driveway (it is a long semi-oblong).

Just before and after the turnoff for the road leading south...

there is this Llama farm.

They were funny...

they must have thought I had a treat for them...

so some of them started approaching.

Sorry, Llamas...

I had no treats for you.

There are numerous little ranches which have Cattle...

Yaks, Llamas, Alpacas, Goats, and Horses along the road to Woodland Park

(where I do my shopping)...

and of course...

there is a Donkey grazing field towards the other nearby town...

but all of the Donkeys were set free to roam wild until winter once again comes

(I will visit them once they are returned to their winter grazing land).

Bandi and I on our way south...

as we continued chasing clouds.

The more we headed south...

the warmer the air had gotten.

I love the climate of cooler weather where I live.

It is usually 10 to 20 degrees cooler where I live in comparison to the lower elevations

of some of the other towns...

and certainly with Colorado Springs 

(their elevation is 6,035 ft (1,839 meters)...

while I am at 9,650 ft (2,941 meters).

High altitude living has always been my dream.

I am a cool/cold weather kind of guy.

Perhaps the relatively small amount of Nordic genes of my paternal lineage 

expressed themselves in me  :)

It was at this point that I turned around and headed back home.

I had not planned on being gone long...

and so...

I hadn't taken any water for Bandi.

So...

I just made it a short country drive...

but...

Bandi and I still had a good time with the wind blowing through the car...

and with my favorite music playing...

and Bandi had a great time looking at the various animals along the way.

We were on our way back here...

 less than a 15 minute drive from home.

There were some horses out in their pasture.

This is the same place I had earlier seen a herd of deer crossing the road.

-----------------

While it is our intellect...

our foresight that formulates our plan for life...

 our dreams of our chosen paradise motivate us to achieve them...

and gives us the prime direction through which to guide our lives to that achievement.

You need both.

Keep the dream alive...

and take the positive action required to achieve it...

and your paradise will eventually become a reality.