Grand Lake is Grand!

   I know it doesn't look like I'm working in this picture but I am..... really!  Kirk and I are Interim Innkeepers for the Dove Inn in Golden Colorado this month. Our client there , Elizabeth Padilla, was generous enough to give us two days "off" and the use of her mountain cabin in
Grand Lake. What a treat!



    Grand Lake is a lovely historic town nestled between two lakes in the Colorado Rockies. Below, Kirk is sitting on the porch of the Kaufman House Museum built in 1877.

  Grand Lake is also located at the Western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park and September is the best time to visit the park for two reasons: 1- it is mating season for the elk that inhabit the park and 2- the aspen trees show off their stunning fall colors.
 So of course we went in to the park and spent a wonderful day looking for elk and aspens.





                                                                    Although you can not see it in this photo, we did get to see some very impressive bull elk making their strange calls and even got to see one running across this meadow to chase away his rival

We went back in to the park as the sunset and heard a haunting symphony as three males challenged each other across the valley in the dusk. Their cries echoed off the hills and gave me chills.

   We saw a beautiful array of aspen trees all over the park but my favorite where these two intertwined!

                                                 


   At lunch time we took a hike along the banks of the headwaters of the Colorado River and had a lovely pic-nic at this spot.





  Now it's back to work but we certainly had a grand time in Grand Lake.