MOVIE NIGHT

We love to go to Station Park in Farmington to watch movies.  So after our hike with Chiquita we got cleaned up and went to the movies.  It was such a lovely day with flowers in full bloom.  I insisted Bill and I take these pictures.  We went to see Iron Man 3 and we loved it.

HIKE

Today we decided to go on a nice hike-it ended up being 6 miles in 4 hours.

It was a beautiful day, so we decided to take our little Chiquita with us.  Since we had just got back from our cruise we did not want to leave her again.

The trails are nicely manicured with soft dirt so it makes it easy to walk.

I tried to get Chiquita to take a drink in the stream, but I don't think she understood that concept.

The higher up we got the trail got more rocky and steep, so Bill and I took turns carrying Chiquita in our back pack.

We could not believe there was snow in some spots.  We had to be careful it was very slippery .

It seemed to take forever to reach the falls.  So we sat and took about a 20 minute break.

On the trail there were a lot of dogs hiking with their owners.  Chiquita was pretty social but still liked to be left alone by the other dogs who always wanted to sniff her.

There were dogs everywhere, sniffing each other and barking, climbing and running everywhere.

We had fun watching how the dogs all interacted with each other.  Chiquita sat on our laps and when a dog would pass us, she would start to bark.

Bill carrying Chiquita.  He slipped a couple of times going down, and so did I.  I also gashed my right leg on a tree branch and got a nice bruise.

Here I am running down the slope.  There are a lot of runners and bikers on the trails.

Me and Chiquita looking out at the view as we ended our nice hike.

We arrived home at 0100 in the morning. I could not wait to pick up Chiquita from Idlewire boarding kennel. We got up early the next day to go and bring her home.

The boarding staff said she was sad for the first 2 days, and then she got to be more friendly with them.. She was so ecstatic to see Bill and I.  She looked nice and trim.  She just could not give us enough kisses on our drive home.

When we got home she ran around the house and outside like a little child-so excited to be back home again.

I took pictures of the hotel surroundings where we stayed.

Out side sitting area for reading.

beautiful outdoor garden by the pool

The reception desk where we checked in to stay.

Bill and I were waiting for Landon, he wanted to do some last minute shopping.  We were really getting nervous when our shuttle to the airport showed up.  

This is the Royal Sonesta's entrance into the hotel.

Saying good-bye to Ashley.

Landon giving Ashley a big hug goodbye.  Ashley left the hotel at 10a.m to take the shuttle to the airport to fly back to Denver.  We all had a wonderful time.

Bill giving his girl a big hug good bye.  We will call you when we get home.  Have a safe trip.

And of course, My good bye and big hug before she got in the elevator.  I loved being with you on this trip Ashley. Then I headed to the pool area to get some sun before we had to head back home.  Love you Ashley

The swamp tour was very interesting. Just one of the man things I wanted to do from my Bucket list.

A real live albino alligator.

This is a real live alligator, stuffed of coarse.

This is our tour guide giving us instructions before leaving into the swamps of New Orleans.

Ashley's ready to go...

Bills ready to go...

Landon was majorly focused on filming the whole tour and he did...

Mother and daughter ready with our sound proof ear muffs.  The airboats are very loud, so this is highly recommended.

Even saw another small cemetery along the swamp land, must be for the poor folk.

There is an alligator coming your way..watch out!

The tour guide would throw in large marsh mellows and the alligator would follow the splash and go after it.  They love marsh mellows  maybe because it starts with the word MARSH...get it?

going in for the kill of that Marsh mellow.

The swamps were eery but very beautiful with the reflection of the trees,  

Here we are keeping a steady eye on the swamps to look for alligators in the water.

Hey! I caught one right out of the water-no not really.  When the tour guide was ready he passed this little fella to everyone to hold.  Bill and I were brave enough to do this.  Landon wanted to film and Ashley said absolutely not-CHICKENS.

I really thought they would have felt more slimy, but surprisingly  they were not.  You have to hold tight to the head or it will bite.  The guide said there bite is far worse than the full grown gators. (Hard to believe-I know) but when they bite down you can not get them to open there mouths again  to let go.

Feisty little creatures.  I hope Bill does not loose anymore fingers holding this baby gator.  Be careful Bill

Head on shot.  Actually this little guy was a good sport being passed around.

This gator here was the biggest in the swamp that we had seen.

This gator jumped out of the swamp-we were feeling really brave and we hoped on him so he would not get away, he did try to bite us, but Bill saved me and held on to his head.

Landon in front of one of many air boats.

the back of the air boat.  The propellers are huge.

Funny thing happened to Landon-He had just bought this Dr. Pepper and was drinking it when all of a sudden this huge bug flew into the bottle before he could put the lid back on.  It was a very large bug.  We all could not believe it, especially Landon.

The bug is there, believe m.

I am loving this swamp tour.

Mom and Ashley looking at the Alligators in the water.

Our tour guide told us after Katrina they placed 1600 Alligators into the swamps to re-populate them from hurricane.

We had a wonderful 4 hour adventure on the swamps.