Rocky Mountain Way

July 15, 2021

Rocky Mountain Way

Throughout the Covid pandemic, I have not been out to our house in Colorado at all. It has been close to two years and since I was last there, we have new tenants and I had yet to meet them. Kathy had ventured out a couple of weeks before me and I was anxious to both see her and to check out the property and spend some time in our second home.

With all the covid craziness of the past year and a half, it was really nice to be in a different place with a totally different feel and surrounded by such beautiful nature. Whether it was the deer that use our yard as a shelter, the bunnies that are found all around the neighborhood or the beautiful trails of the Garden of the Gods which is only a couple of blocks up the street, the natural world feels like it is right on top of you at our Colorado home.

You could tell it was the busy tourist season by the number and frequency of horseback riders who pass our house every few minutes from Academy Stables which is just around the corner and is the only horseback riding vendor for the Garden of the Gods. It is cool to see and hear the horses passing by each day and we often see them on the trails as well when we are hiking.

Hiking is something that we do often while in Colorado, often just taking the short trip to watch the beautiful sunsets over the mountains, it is a pretty cool and serene experience and literally only minutes away.  The Garden of the Gods is one of the most photographed places in the United States and as many times as we visit, which is pretty frequently, I always find more than enough subject matter to photograph.

Through the centuries, millions have found the place to be beautiful, spiritual and enjoyable and Kathy and I find it to be one of the very best parts about having a home in Colorado. I especially love it during the summer as the humidity is very low relative to Key West and it doesn’t get boiling hot. I think being in the place in that climate energizes Kathy and I and we can relax and enjoy the outside and nature really easily.

Even with the threat of Covid and the increase in frequency that the new Delta variant has brought on, we both feel pretty comfortable spending a lot of time outside while still taking the precautions that the CDC suggests to try and keep ourselves and others from contracting the virus. So far it has worked as we have remained diligent and cautious about everything we do.

For me at least, this will be a relatively short stay in Colorado, as Kathy and I have decided to drive the car we keep here back to Key West, taking a nice drive and sort of road trip vacation as we meander back to Florida.