Peace and Quiet

The lure of the mountains could not be ignored, so my daughter and I went after an Easter visit with my son. 

This is the mountain that calls me - Sierra Blanca as seen from the deck of the cabin.  Here is where we sit and do our arts and crafts, drink wine, check email, and solve world problems.  Here is where my soul quiets and my faith renews.

This little guy welcomed us with a song - he should be on Broadway!

Every time we have gone to the cabin I have wanted to see elk and a bear in the wild.  My daughter and her husband see them all the time, but I never do.  The first morning my daughter took me on an elk hunt.  With advice from the Ruidoso Chamber of Commerce we headed to the First Baptist Church (hmmm, wonder if there was alterative motive???)  Finally, I checked the elk box on my bucket list.  What beautiful creatures they are, if a little scruffy.  The bear - maybe some day.

Maybe she was as excited to see us as we were her - though I doubt it.  She did stand still for a second so we could take her picture.

All told we probably saw 20 in the herd spread out over the church grounds.  BUT only one bull - quite an impressive harem since he is a young bull.

Another pretty girl.

Thanks for visiting - now go away so we can eat.  Toodle loo..

After breakfast and showers, we went to the Inn of the Mountain Gods to walk along the shore of their lake.  The wind was calm when we first got there creating a glassy surface, but then got a little active and put diamonds in the lake for us.  Trish even got me to jog a little - not bad for an old woman with bad knees!  OK OK it was about 15 feet, but I jogged.  No particular order to the photos, no long winded explanations...just enjoy the scenery.

"C'mon Mama, you can make it!!!"

Good-bye, please come again.  (No problem little birdie, no problem)

We went to Bonita Lake one morning - this area was closed when I was here before due to the fire that destroyed so much of the forest.  It is a pretty lake and we had fun wandering up the stream that is connected to the lake.  Again, no particular order or comments.

My son-in-law checked out this cave/door/opening and it led nowhere...not even a bear or a mountain lion in there thank goodness.

Took this picture to show how clear the water is...looks good enough to drink but there is still a lot of ash and fire retardant chemicals floating around so not trying it out.

Love the backroads!!!  And this was the good part of the drive!

The mountains are coming back after the fires....

But we should never forget what carelessness can do...

I think we fell into The Bachelor/Bachelorette combination series....it is definitely turkey dating season and the guys were out in all their glory.  Noisy little critters too.   They were out strutting their stuff and the girls were flirting left and right.  Never did see a rose handed out though.  A group of four hens chased one of the toms down the hill...not sure if in anger or they were trying to make him their own.  

Isn't he fantastic???

And the best part of any trip...seeing this beautiful little girl happy that her mama is home.

Till next time...listen for those whispers, they have tales to tell.