We saw ELK, ALOT @ THEM @ 9,OO FT!!!

We got a late start out of the door. We went to the shops on the b/walk 1st since they close @ 5 p.m. We ate supper in the car since my knees hurt so bad since some of the shops had steps to get into. The area where the Copper Butterfly is more w/accessible. I was so glad I had our curried chicken salad in the cooler. I was starved,it tasted so good.
We went for a drive in a different direction. We headed up the road to an observatory. along the way there was a turn out we stopped @. I almost didn't get out, my knees hurt so bad from walking. The sun was in the way so we couldn't take a pic. They had some benches there, & I sat down to rest. The West has so much open spaces!!! This was such view,U could see literately see for miles & miles. The mtns seem to roll in wave after wave into the horizon. Massive rows of trees dotted the foreground in greens & browns. I soaked it all in to remind me when I 'm going crazy in my bdrm. Breeze blowing in my face,sun setting in the horizon,peace & quiet.
As we were driving higher on the right we saw what appeared to be deeer grazing. We couldn't stop since a car was behind us.We got up to 9,ooo ft, where the observatory is. We drove into one area about 4 or 5 deer were grazing on the grounds. It was closed, so Allen walked around. He found a piece of bear's bread growing on the tree. The last time I saw that was in Sitka, Alaska on my mission in 1974. It's a fungus which bears like to eat
We turn around to head back down the mtn,it's dusk. On the left, Allen stops & sees what is an Elk. She's too big for a deer,not a horse. I haven't seen an elk since I was 19,20 yrs old in Wyo. or Y/stone.They have a darker brown color up on their shoulders . We drive a little further down the road there is about another 4 or 5 elk grazing on the left.Allen driving ,all the sudden he saids WHOA!! There is this elk w/ a massive rack of horns out in the clearing. I haven't seen one this close up ever w/ this big rack of horns. My father would have loved to see him. He was a hunter,this would have put meat on the table when younger.We drive down the road looking for the area where we saw deer grazing earlier. It was a big herd of elk grazing maybe a dozen of them in this lush green valley.We didn't have a camera w/a telephoto lenses,just a d/able one. It was dusk so the light was bad, plus they were in the distance. I have never seen this many elk together @ 1 time even @ Yellowstone Park or in Wyo.
We're driving down the road, I'm looking @ the side window, when Allen quickly stops, right in front of us,an elk is climbing up out of the brush coming onto the road in front of us!! Elk are big animals U don't want to hit UR car!! She doesn't know what she wants to do. We wait for her to make up her mind on where she wants to go. I couldn't believe how close she was to us. I don't
think I have ever seen an elk up this close before. She back tracks down where she came from.
It's like God pulls out all the stops for me this day to have a wonderful view of his creations for enduring the last 6 wks before my 6oth birthday. THANK YOU GOD!!! for this w/ful feast I saw w/ my eyes & to savor in my memory of UR creatures. What an impressive b/day gift.I can't believe the range from desert, to mtn's full of lush green forests w/ wildlife only 2 hrs away from each other.
All good things have to end,we're back in El Paso where it's warmer. We had almost too cool a breeze @ lunch w/ cloud cover. It's so wierd knowing it could be so cool to eat o/doors in August. Luckily gas is cheaper this year so we could make the 3 trips we did this year. I don't know what next year will bring,it;s a day by process w/ my health problems. It's nothing short of a miracle I even made it to our 31st anniversary in June . W/ the severity of this 3rd asthma attack it has taken over 3 wks to get back on my feet,this trip was a big bonus.@least Allen will have some warm memories of us when I die. Couldn't do w/o his help. We have to take 2 cylinders of 0-2 w/us plus my p/able tank for when I leave the car. He has to put the new tanks on for me in the back seat of the car, open up the valves etc. A VERY GOOD BIRTHDAY,NATURE @ IT'S BEST!!,

STAMPSCAPES,must have

Allen drove out of Ruidoso,saw a sign realized the lake was closer than he had been told. We already eaten supper @ a Chinese buffet. We get to the area & we had been driving down a narrow dirt road. ( Which is all the ranch roads were) I was looking to the left when Allen hollers look. @ 1st I didn't see them they blended in so well w/ the ground. There were 4 does,they didn't even run away when we stopped.They were so gorgeous, I haven't seen deer this close in years. they kept eating the grass. We had come when it was feeding time, deer come out when it cools down from the heat. I luv their eyes. I told Allen I quit hunting in 9th grade, the eyes did me in. If the deer was dead,then I help my father skin it,cut it up to go in the freezer. Then it became food to eat which we appreciated since we live on a teacher's salary .
I kept looking @ them to observe their coloring. Oh I wished I could draw them grazing, the image is so vivid in my mind. I really want to put the feel of what I saw @ the lake into a set of cards. I looked @ the pine trees against the lake shore ,the mtns, up close,the silhouette the trees made, the contrast of light & dark, looking @ the colors etc. The closest I can come will be Stampscapes l/scape stamps. I need more greens in the Prism color pencils to do the trees. This is a tech. I need to learn.
Down the road we see 2 cotton tail bunnies playing & eating. they were so adorable. Yes I did observed their coloring grey w/ some brown on their back w/ a white puffy tail .We had seen a jack rabbit the other day in El Paso. He was skinny,not a puff ball like these rabbits were. It was time to head home to El Paso, about 2-2 1/2 drive,it was getting dark. As Allen was about to hit the main road, 3 deer run out in front of the car. @ least Allen was going slow since a stop sign was ahead. Deer can really mess up Ur car if U hit one. These 3 deer were afraid either. They started grazing grass as soon as they crossed the road.
I observed how the sun was setting in the sky,where the shadows were, thesiilhouettes it created. I'm trying to keep these images in my mind as the house heats up & I have to rest in my room or the recliner. I'm so grateful for the beautiful earth & its creations God has given us. Grateful for portable 0-2 so I could get out in nature. I wish my body would let me go camping for a few days.
as it was after I got up from my nap in the recliner i had a hard time going to sleep,getting the pain under control from too much walking, trips to the potty etc. I have to get my bracing off or I would had stayed in the recliner.