It’s late, much later than I typically stay up, let alone try to tackle a blog post. We just crawled into tents, after learning so much about the night sky from Ranger Mike.
The morning was spent exploring a few of the cute shops in Dolores. We deiscovered the Dino Store, the shop I will be using as my sole clothing outfitter when I need to purchase clothing out here. The owner was a gem who has created a shop full of vintage clothing. We all walked away with a shirt and new friends in the owner and his dog Rufus.
We headed back to the house to meet our second guest to the place, Ranger Mike. Longtime readers will know how much of an inspiration and friend he is to us all, and mentor to Ellie. We walked around the property and it was almost like a treasure hunt of noteworthy discoveries. We found lots of bones, including the most intact skull we’ve come across, pottery sherds, a bright yellow horned lizard, an endangered (maybe?) cactus, and a beautiful purplely-pinkish flower in the arroyo.
After card games on the patio and dinner at the brewery, we came home and climbed the ladder to the deck. Although, the views were stunning, the climb up and down the ladder was too terrifying to remember. The evening ended with a talent show* and star gazing. I saw the Milky Way for the first time, or at least I knew that what I was looking at was the Milky Way for the first time.
* We’re not joking, if you visit us, you’ll be expected to partake in the talent show.
A perfect, 5 mountain day!
