Owl Canyon and the Farmstand at Grant Farm

The other day we headed out to investigate Owl Canyon (him) and the Farmstand at Grant Farm (me). It was a pretty day and the rock formations we call the Two Brothers looked very crisp.

The Two Brothers we call it.

The dirt roads are a blessing and a curse; the blessing, they keep traffic down some and look prettier than asphalt in a photo, the curse, they get dust all over everything including the inside of the car. This day the road crews had just water-sprayed the road and it was great. 

Unfortunately, Owl Canyon was a bit of a bust for our purposes. All the nearby drives/roads leading into the area were sternly labeled Private etc. so we parked in a pull-out off 287 and the Boss went off from there. He reported back that it seemed more like an arroyo with not much shade and not what he was looking for at all. Oh well. 

From there we headed just a few miles away to Grant Farm. Lots of lovely flowers (even though it is nearing the end of the season). 

Lots of locally grown fruits and vegetables to be seen. Jarred pickles, jams and the like were on shelving under the awning enclosure.

Navels, Palisade Peaches and more

Tables full of all kinds of melons, potatoes, peppers, raw milk for sale and it all made for a very nice browse. I got some super sweet Palisade Peaches and some beautiful green beans and peppers. From there we moseyed north up 287 and into Wyoming for our picnic lunch. I love those wide expanse views - take a deep breath and let it out slowly - so zen to my way of thinking.

Pretty soon it was time to turn around and head back to our cozy neck of the woods to lazy-away the rest of the day.

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great day.

Dadd Gulch and Food Delights

 A new day and a new week. The Boss took off up to Dadd Gulch to have a nice hike while I stayed back to defrost the fridge/freezer in preparation for tomorrow's trip into town for a food shop - a win-win in my opinion.

The Dadd Gulch hike like most trail hikes, can be long and strenuous or it can be as short and meandering as you like. He chose long and strenuous to start with but later opted to switch it back to a pleasant meander back down as the temps rose higher and higher.  Here a few shots from his hike.

This gulch is not all that far off the road but is sandwiched
in between the sides of the gulch so it seems quite secluded.

A rather narrow walking path winds along the route

He took a flower shot for me, and I guess these are cone flowers(?)

There are a few nice rock features to observe too, and a great leg-stretcher on a beautiful day.

How about that tree growing on top

Later in the week, after succumbing to the lure of an eggplant during our shop, I used the Ninja Foodie to prepare Eggplant Parmigiana with Italian Sausage. I use the air fryer setting to get the eggplant slices "baked", then bring them back inside to assemble with the sauce. I usually do 2 stacks of 2 slices each. This gives us 2 meals for 2 people, as we split a stack and serve with a nice side of spaghetti.

Assembled and ready to bake.

The finished product, oooey-gooey and delicious - YUM!

 

So easy to make in the Ninja, no propane used and all the heat stays outside.

And finally, here's a couple of new trivets I made up while sitting out in the yard and enjoying the hummingbirds at the feeder.

They're a awful lot of fun to design and stitch up. It keeps my hands busy and that I like!

Thanks for dropping by, and see you the next time.

Picnic at Long Draw Reservoir, moose sightings and daily stuff

We have been really enjoying our fresh fruit in the mornings, either as an accompaniment to our egg breakfast or on top of our granola. I'd almost feel guilty gorging on these treats. Most days we have peaches, strawberries, plums, banana, and cherries - YUM! 😋 During the winter months we eat quite a bit of citrus, but summertime is the time for the exotics, lol.

So thankful for such bounty.

A few days ago we packed up a lunch and headed west "up" the Poudre Canyon with the idea of turning south on Long Draw Road to check that out.  The first stop was up by the Chambers Lake Campground, it's a large area with several nooks and crannies and it's very popular. It was a nice leg-stretcher stop, and pretty as well.

Picnic area next door to Chambers Lake.

A couple of local fellows were talking and one was joking about the  Colorado paint job on his car, later I discreetly took this photo since I mentioned hail in the prior post.

Ouch! So sad, but the reality of weather mayhem.

Anyway, Long Draw Road is a fairly good dirt road, that ends up just past Long Draw Reservoir, at La Poudre Pass, which terminates quite near the Continental Divide, @ 10,200'. 

Shortly after starting out we passed by this rivulet and flowers that was just so pretty.

Lots of rain lately has made this one "fresh".

There's a lot of beetle kill around which is sad to see, but still some views where things look pretty special. We saw several moose browsing around. My neighbor reported someone seeing 14 on that road once!

With these 2 and 1 napping in the shade,
plus 3 down the road, it was a busy day for moose

We carried on and came to this view.

And then this view of the reservoir with the mountains in the background.

This was late in the week and the disbursed campers were coming out to find a spot. At this elevation the air is cool and downright brisk overnight, perfect for camping out comfortably.

Setup down the way for some fishing lakeside.

And further up the road the view started to open up into a valley - very nice!

Our car in the foreground - what a view!!

We ate our lunch just down the way at the sign marker for La Poudre Pass then headed back the way we came. The sign welcomes us to the northern edge of Rocky Mtn Natl Park and the nearby headwaters of the Colorado River. Just south east is Rocky Mtn Natl Park proper and Estes Park. What a beautiful drive.

Whew, what a fun journey. The trip took probably 5 hours. Lots of great viewing but tuckered out by the time we got home. Luckily we had chicken alfredo leftovers on tap so that made supper easy.

On our way back east through Poudre Canyon we stopped at one of my favorite roadside creeks (I believe it's the east fork of Roaring Creek) and it was really running.

A shot of the Chicken Alfredo supper to finish. More food and fabric fun in our next post, you've had enough for today. Thanks for riding along and we'll see you next time.