Bringing Colorado back home

 Now I totally understand this song.  A perfect pairing with the picts from the week.

Here's what I loved about the cottage gardens at El Rancho Pinoso:  The mix of textures.  The introduction of rocks and gnarled pieces of wood.  Succulents where you wouldn't ordinarily find them. Sporadic splashes of gray green foliage.  The integration of stumps.  And conifers mixed with roses.  

Given an interest in perennial borders, I was familiar with a lot of the flowers.  But I was totally unfamiliar with many, many others.  I took closeups so that I could identify what I loved so much once home.  

I would imagine that these ideas could be transplanted anywhere you'd find snow or perennial borders.

That's exactly what I'm going to do next.  Bring a bit of Colorado back home.

El Rancho Pinoso, final thoughts.  While solitary in nature, immersing ourselves, literally, in this adventure with great friends was a delight.  We'd love to share the experience with our family at some point.  Would I recommend giving fly fishing a try?  Absolutely.  Here?  No doubt about it.  I'm hooked.

If you are interested in more information regarding El Rancho Pinoso contact Ken or Brian at Fly Water Travel (1-800-552-2729 or www.flywatertravel.com ) and mention Fresh Perspectives as your reference. They like to know how people heard about them and the locations they represent.

Cast of characters

A battalion of birds.  Humming ones, that is.  I've never been just feet from a fleet of these fast fliers, have you?  Our cabin had two feeding stations, the most popular of which was positioned near a hanging basket.   Hmmmmmmm...ing birds.  A possible concept to bring back home?  Hmmmmmmmm, I'm thinking so.

Jim, an incredibly patient instructor.  And a fellow who made most/if not all of his flies/very impressive!  Jim taught Robyn and me how to cast on the lawn outside our cottage.  We then had the pleasure of spending additional time together with Jim on the river later that week.  The fact that we were ultimately amazingly great/right R?/is directly associated with our guides ability to communicate clearly while being exceedingly kind.  Did I say patient?  I'll say that again.  Mind you, we were not slackers.  Robyn won the prize for tenacity/fishing far past our return to the cabin through rain, thunder, cow patties, etc.  

P.S., Jim, totally related to Tillie's participation/he had taken his grandchild's frog friend on a trip to Europe.  

Damon, our multi-talented guide/ranch manager, and his amazingly smart/darling dog, Missy.  What a team!  Damon could not have easier to work with/more helpful in offering up all the possibilities.  Missy tiptoed oh-so-carefully across the streams so that she wouldn't disturb the fish. 

She also sniffed out various varmints, dug until she found them and feasted on her find.  I know you'll love those pictures.  Probably not before dinner.

Einstein, their adorable barn cat.  Einstein not only grabbed all the attention he could get but also the end of our practice line while we learning how to cast.  He is the only cat I've ever known who enjoyed having his belly rubbed.  Siblings, sadly, were taken away by coyotes.  

Stay safe, please, Einstein.

Hope, a vivacious/fun/strong/incredibly hard-working horse handler/gardener.  Hope helped us saddle up for rides around the property.  And she worked in the garden, at times with her darling daughter.  

BTW, their alpine gardens were the prettiest I've ever seen.  Pictures tomorrow. 

Day 2 @ the ranch

I never ever would have predicted that I'd fall so totally in love with fly fishing/hook, line and sinker.  Or in fly fishing lingo/fly, tippet and indicator.

What I imagined to be too slow/incredibly boring was anything but. 

As always, I had so much to learn.  Among other things, about casting, catching and ultimately setting fish free. 

Much to my surprise, I found our adventure to be educational/stimulating/satisfying in a way that no other sport has ever felt/exhilarating/challenging/tremendously enjoyable. 

And the scenery?  Breathtakingly beautiful.

Thanks to our experienced, resourceful fly fishing friend, John, the venue was a remarkable ranch just outside of Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  Contact details and info. coming later in the week.

To give you a taste of our time together, I'm including views we enjoyed from our cabin as well as pictures taken at one other ranch our hosts so graciously share with their guests. 

Of course, Tillie was along to enjoy all our adventures.

Tomorrow, the cast of characters and critters. 

SF/Denver/Durango with Tillie

I absolutely love my colorful, hand-constructed, ceramic spirit friend/companion/totem.  Tillie was given to me by Betty, Moll, Steve, Chris, Christopher and Kate on a recent trip to Hawaii. 

I briefly considered naming her Silly/but, as you may recall, that little pal didn't make it to dinner.  I settled on the name Tillie, as in "Travels with..." or "T's Tantalizing Tales." I'll stop now.

How did they know how well dressed she'd be for our upcoming Fly Fishing Adventure?  They didn't.  Nor did I.  Or how perfectly she'd find a secure home in my new backpack? 

All I can say is that Tillie was the Perfect/Inspired/Thoughtful Gift.  Thank you, darling "Portenlanger family."

T was subject to FP-style packing.  That is, constantly trying to figure out what makes the most sense.  I've recently settled on Jumbo Size Ziplock Bags which comfortably corral/this is, after all, horse country/items in compact containers that easily slide into/and against each other in a large duffle bag.  It's late/I'm a little jet lagged/I hope this makes sense.  Pictures of this concept tomorrow. 

Let Willie and Johnny take you on the road again.

Meanwhile, here is our trip from CA to CO:  

Traveling across our country has always been the kind of experience that causes me to burst into spontaneous song. America the Beautiful would be my pick.  What an amazingly diverse/spectacular country we call home.

There were a few dicey moments circumventing thunderstorms between Denver and Durango.  But once on the ground, it took only 1.5 hours to the ranch in Pagosa Falls.

I'm calling it a day.  More on this wonderful trip tomorrow.  Sleep well, all.  I definitely will be doing the same.

Tillie takes to fly fishing...

...like a fish to water. 

Next week:  Travels with Tillie:  This time to the stunningly beautiful San Juan Mountains in Colorado. 

Our new family addition, Tillie, indulges in chips/among many, many other terrific things/while traveling to and being in one of the most spectacular places on earth.  Stay tuned for details/not to be missed.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!