Estes Park

Apr 30, 2013

Friday, morning I jumped out of bed just as I did as a child Christmas morning. I was so excited to get to wander around town with Ronda before my Afternoon Tea class, because well, you all know laughter follows us where ever we go.

Before walking out of my room I had to take a peek out the bedroom window and this is what I saw… a perfect sunny, blue sky Colorado morning. Talk about making me really get a jump start on my Texas makeover.

But before getting ready, I quickly got side tracked watching birds and the cutest little chipmunk stuff his cheeks full of bird seeds. They were just outside this window singing and scurrying about. The chipmunk was super busy filling his cheeks with bird seeds, running off to empty them in his secret hiding place and returning to do it all over again. It was adorable to watch.

Once I completed my Texas makeover, I snapped a quick photo in the mirror that hung on the awesome armoire in my bedroom. I’m making myself document the places I stay which is super hard for me to do. I’m not one that really likes to be in front of the camera.

I prefer photo bombing Ronda or taking photos with Ronda… well, that is when her camera lens is on correctly but even then it’s still fun. After this photo bomb we were off to walk around town.

This area is just a few steps from Cheryl’s store front “Rocky Mountain Memories“. I would never get tired of this view or listening to the water flow over the rocks or watching this gorgeous black lab dive in to retrieve a stick. Crisp air, sunny day, blue sky, birds singing, snow on the ground, mountains to view at every turn, running stream… why do I live in TEXAS?

Ronda and I loved this awesome window display in Longs Peak Coffee & Paper House. They had dried used tea bags randomly hanging along the top and sides of the window. It was so unique and certainly an eye catcher. I snagged the close up photo below from her blog.

Upstairs this shop has the cutest art loft. Ronda and I could have stayed there all day. It was so warm and inviting and is a perfect place to create art. We both loved the quote by Ernest Hemmingway, painted along the wall.

“It was a pleasant cafe, warm and clean and friendly, and I hung up my old water-proof on the coat rack to dry and put my worn and weathered felt hat on the rack above the bench and ordered a cafe au lait. The waiter brought it and I took out a notebook from the pocket of the coat and a pencil and started to write.”

Can you imagine creating here… just look at this view outside these windows. It’s simply amazing. After we pulled ourselves out of this amazing place we headed to Macdonald Book Shop. You can read all about the book shops history here…

This was such a nice spot to sit to take a break and of course laugh. We pretty much walked and shopped non-stop for several hours. And yes, I had to see just how cold that water was and dipped my hand in…. it was COLD! The aspen trees were so pretty with all the little puffy furry blossom things on them and against the blue sky, well they were stunning.

After our break it was time to start heading back to “Rocky Mountain Memories” to teach my “Afternoon Tea” class. But before we arrived as we were walking past this one window I saw these four words… details * delights * design * discoveries … and of course had to snap a photo… how perfect!

And I’m super happy for Ronda as her “The Art of Pen Pals” online workshop is sold out. If you missed this go around she will be having another one in I believe September. I’ll let you know when she does.

Gosh I miss Estes Park so much!

Hugs!

Lisa M. Pace @ 8:00 am