Prince Rogers Nelson
June 7, 1958-April 21, 2016
~A true artist and a wonderful human being with a beautiful soul that has~
~now been set free~
~now been set free~
Friday, April 22, 2016
Monday, March 07, 2016
Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
This past weekend we decided to check out the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. How amazing that you can get back in touch with nature and still see the Denver skyline on one side and know Denver International Airport lies to the east.
This refuge has enough ecosystems to keep you coming back for years with prairie, woodlands and wetlands. Not only does it encompass these three ecosystems, it caters to all with both walking trails and driving trails. The walking trails are plentiful and the driving trail is a leisurely 9 mile trip.
The land where the Refuge now sits, has a long history that started with land hunted by Plains Indians, settled by early pioneers and used as a weapon manufacturing arsenal during WWII before eventually being reclaimed and designated a refuge where endangered species like the bison and the black-footed ferret have been re-introduced into their native environment.
The Visitor Center consists of a gift shop which helps to support the Refuge and carries everything from post cards to snacks, trinkets and sweatshirts. A small museum showcases not only the history of the Refuge but some of the animals who now live there with many of the exhibits being interactive as well. Last but not least, there is a Visitor Center Discovery Room for the kids with all kinds of interactive learning experiences for them to learn about the animals living here as well as conservation efforts.
This refuge has enough ecosystems to keep you coming back for years with prairie, woodlands and wetlands. Not only does it encompass these three ecosystems, it caters to all with both walking trails and driving trails. The walking trails are plentiful and the driving trail is a leisurely 9 mile trip.
 |
| Bison herd in the distance with the Rocky Mountains in the background. |
The land where the Refuge now sits, has a long history that started with land hunted by Plains Indians, settled by early pioneers and used as a weapon manufacturing arsenal during WWII before eventually being reclaimed and designated a refuge where endangered species like the bison and the black-footed ferret have been re-introduced into their native environment.
The Visitor Center consists of a gift shop which helps to support the Refuge and carries everything from post cards to snacks, trinkets and sweatshirts. A small museum showcases not only the history of the Refuge but some of the animals who now live there with many of the exhibits being interactive as well. Last but not least, there is a Visitor Center Discovery Room for the kids with all kinds of interactive learning experiences for them to learn about the animals living here as well as conservation efforts.
 |
| History of the Arsenal through 1960 in the museum. |
There is an abundance of literature as well as a newsletter that gives dates and times for special activities at the Refuge. The best part is that almost all the programs are free. The only programs I noticed were not free were those associated with fishing season, in which case a Season Fishing Pass is required.
Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
6550 Gateway Road
Commerce City, Colorado
303.289.0930
For more information, here are two websites:
Friday, March 04, 2016
Getting Settled In!
Well, it's been a few months now since we actually moved out of Minnesota and settled in Colorado. There have been a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes it feels like more downs than ups but then I look out my bedroom window and see the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
That is when I remember why we fell in love with this place and why we decided to start a new life here. Even through the struggles, if feels right and good to be here and everything always seems to fall into place as long as we don't stop moving forward to some sort of goal.
Our most recent move from stasis has been to move our belongings from storage into our cozy apartment, making it even cozier. It doesn't look like we will be leaving this place anytime soon so the decision was made to save the money being spent on storage space for more important things, and there are plenty of them.
We did go through a lot of "stuff" before coming here but we still have more than we really know what to do with. Even so, when I start to mentally go through what we have and try to decide what to get rid of, there really is nothing either one of us would want to jettison from our lives right now. Besides, one of the goals we both have is to own our home. Whether it turns out to be a house, a condo or a townhome, it will be bigger than the nest we are currently living in making our treasures a non-issue.
One of the up sides to moving storage into our home is that the more familiar things we have around, the more it feels like home. Even the cats seem to be feeling more at home and recognize that the boxes are coming in the door rather than going out the door.
On that note, I am off to jockey some boxes already here in preparation for the weekend and bringing in more "stuff".
That is when I remember why we fell in love with this place and why we decided to start a new life here. Even through the struggles, if feels right and good to be here and everything always seems to fall into place as long as we don't stop moving forward to some sort of goal.
Our most recent move from stasis has been to move our belongings from storage into our cozy apartment, making it even cozier. It doesn't look like we will be leaving this place anytime soon so the decision was made to save the money being spent on storage space for more important things, and there are plenty of them.
We did go through a lot of "stuff" before coming here but we still have more than we really know what to do with. Even so, when I start to mentally go through what we have and try to decide what to get rid of, there really is nothing either one of us would want to jettison from our lives right now. Besides, one of the goals we both have is to own our home. Whether it turns out to be a house, a condo or a townhome, it will be bigger than the nest we are currently living in making our treasures a non-issue.
One of the up sides to moving storage into our home is that the more familiar things we have around, the more it feels like home. Even the cats seem to be feeling more at home and recognize that the boxes are coming in the door rather than going out the door.
On that note, I am off to jockey some boxes already here in preparation for the weekend and bringing in more "stuff".
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