Monday, May 23, 2016

Monday Musings from Colorado #6

walden6

Highlight of the week: This weekend Jarrod and I ventured to Walden, Colorado, a tiny town nestled in the north-central part of the state -- which just so happens to the the moose viewing capital of Colorado! One of my bucket list items was to see a moose in the wild, and we definitely checked that off. We saw probably 20 moose, though sadly we didn't glimpse any males. The area around Walden and State Forest State Park is breathtaking. Mountains and stunning, untouched landscape surround you in every direction. We had a wonderful little getaway to the mountains -- my last gasp of Rocky Mountain air for a while, since we leave for Hawaii next week -- and in addition to the moose we saw a coyote, a bald eagle, elk, deer, pronghorns, prairie dogs, and some cool birds.

walden2

On a completely different note, my brother graduated college last weekend and on Wednesday we helped him move from Fort Collins to his new apartment in Denver. And while we were up in Fort Collins, I made a point to stop in at The Loopy Ewe, a famous yarn store that had me absolutely drooling. It was huge. And it had just about every yarn brand I've been wanting to try. It was very, very difficult to exercise self-control, but seeing as I have to fit everything I buy into our suitcases, I limited myself to three skeins of (gorgeous) yarn. The Loopy Ewe was exactly the kind of beautiful, organized, cozy, well-stocked LYS (local yarn shop) I dream about being able to frequent and it was hard to leave! I also finally got to try Voodoo Doughnut in Denver. That maple bacon bar was so good! (And I couldn't resist the voodoo doll donut, with raspberry filling and a pretzel "pin.")

yarn and donuts

Reading: This is the first time in a long time that I didn't complete a single book in a week! I finished  (and absolutely loved) "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik last Monday morning, but I don't count that because I had less than 50 pages to go. My current book is "All the Winters After" by Sere Prince Halverson and I'm definitely enjoying it. It takes place in Alaska, which is one of my favorite locales to read about, and I like the writing style. I just haven't had much time to read! (Gasp!) But I have to finish the book by tomorrow night because it's a library copy and our flight for Hawaii leaves Wednesday morning.

I've also got to decide what to read on the airplane. I have a copy of "Dark Places" by Gillian Flynn that I brought along, and I've also got a NetGalley advanced-read copy of "June" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore loaded on my iPad. I guess I'll see what strikes my fancy!



Knitting: I made a bit of progress on my Cap Sleeve Lattice Top this week. I'm a few inches into the lattice that makes up the top five inches of the back and I'm pleased with how it's coming along. I've knit a little more of the lattice than what's in the photo, maybe another inch.

IMG_1538

Watching: Jarrod and I watched the first couple episodes of the new season of "Fear the Walking Dead." I'm enjoying it, but I'm definitely not glued to the screen like I was watching season 1. We also went to see "Captain America: Civil War," and while I liked it well enough, it wasn't my favorite of the Captain America/Avengers movies.

Looking forward to: If you're new here, my husband is in the Air Force and we're in the process of moving from Ohio back to Hawaii, with a pit stop at my parents' in Colorado. I've been in Colorado since the second week of April because Jarrod had to take a month-long class in Florida as part of our move. It's been wonderful getting to spend this extra time with my family since I don't get to seem them all that often, but we leave for Hawaii this Wednesday and I'm looking forward to getting the second half of this move over with! I'm pretty tired of coordinating travel and cat shipping and car shipping and trying to decide where to live. I just want to sleep in my own bed again!

*

I'm linking up with Kathryn at Book Date for her weekly feature It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

16 comments:

  1. Visiting from The Book Date today - glad you got to see so many moose! Your knitting project is beautiful, and I am loving the covers of a couple of your books, so I will probably check those out. Best wishes in your move!

    Here's what I'm reading this week: http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/what-im-reading-may-23-2016.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kym! Do check out the books! "Uprooted" was great and I was enjoying "All the Winters After," but it was a library book and I couldn't get it finished before we left for Hawaii. :( I will definitely get it again whenever I get my library card here, though. And, like all Gillian Flynn's books, "Dark Places" is creepy and engrossing! "June" is up next.

      Delete
  2. Oh I love Colorado! Great pictures! I adored Uprooted and I need to buy it so I can read it again. I'm also dying to get my hands on June! I hope we both enjoy that one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Amanda! I loved "Uprooted" and I'm planning to try out Naomi Novik's Temeraire series soon. I went with "Dark Places" as my airplane read, but "June" is going to be my next book.

      Delete
  3. I lived in Colorado when my husband was in the Army. I love it so much. I am, however, terrified of moose. Here is the link to my post:
    https://coffeeandcatsblog.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love Colorado too, and I was really hoping we'd get stationed back there this time around (there were several openings at Buckley AFB in Denver) but it wasn't to be. Luckily I got to spend six weeks in Colorado Springs between Ohio and Hawaii, so I did get some mountain time! Were you guys stationed at Fort Carson?

      Honestly, I was slightly nervous about a close encounter with a moose, since I've heard so many times that they can be really aggressive. But all the ones we saw were far enough away that I could just enjoy watching them!

      Delete
  4. Wow, good luck with the move, Hawaii is a lovely place to live!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jane! I'm looking forward to sharing our adventures on the blog. :)

      Delete
  5. Great photo of the moose!! Safe travels to the land of Aloha!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We made it! And of course Hawaii decided to welcome us with an unusual amount of rain and humidity. Sigh.

      The moose were so cool! I'm so glad to have crossed that off my bucket list (although I'd still like to see a male).

      Delete
  6. Haha, what a perfect name for a yarn store! I love it.

    If you end up reading June, I will keep an eye out for your thoughts. It's on my tbr pile somewhere!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I went with "Dark Places" as my airplane read, but "June" is up next! It comes out next Tuesday and I'd like to have a review right around that time... we'll see, since house-hunting is trumping reading at the moment.

      The Loopy Ewe was so cute -- and so big! I could have stayed in there for hours!

      Delete
  7. Lovely photos - and yay for ticking things off your bucket list.

    Uprooted is a book I'm really keen to get round to reading. I hope whatever you opt to read next, it proves to be an enjoyable read.

    Ah, good luck with the second leg of your move!

    Reading With Jade

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do check out "Uprooted"! I hadn't even heard of it until last December when it popped up on so many people's best-of-the-year lists, but I'm so glad I picked it up. It was just a really well-done, easy-to-read fantasy novel. I'm looking forward to checking out Naomi Novik's other books now!

      Delete
  8. All the Winters After and June are on my list. Great picks this week! And Hawaii!? I got engaged there 14 years ago. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I ended up having to take "All the Winters After" back to the library without finishing it! But I definitely want to check it out again once I get my Hawaii library card. And what better place to read about Alaska than sitting on a beach in Hawaii? ;)

      What island were you visiting when you got engaged? We'll live on Oahu again (that's where all the big military bases are) but our favorite island by far is Kauai!

      Delete

Thanks for stopping by! Comments make my day, and I read and appreciate every single one!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...