One of my favorite places

Vacations - who doesn't enjoy getting away for rest and relaxation and seeing new things?
We're vacationing in one of our favorite places in the whole world: Estes Park, Colorado.
It's beautiful, there's lots to do, and the cool mountain air is a refreshing break from 90 degree Iowa temps.

 At Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

 This is where we're staying. It's our fourth time at these condos. They meet our needs perfectly.

 Fall River runs right in front of the property.

 Downtown Estes Park has lots of cute shops, and many pretty flowers.

 We hiked to Nymph Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).

Another image of Nymph Lake

 Beautiful water lilies on Nymph Lake

 Picturesque Dream Lake

 We did a lot of hiking to get to these lakes. Along the trail, beauty abounds.

 Yesterday we traveled up Trail Ridge Road, toward the Continental Divide. As you can see, we were above the tree line. This area is called the alpine tundra.

 Taken from the visitor center at the alpine tundra

 Look at these tiny bluebells I spotted on the alpine tundra. My Virginia bluebells are much larger, and bloomed in April or May.

 A canyon of colored rock as we walked the trail to Alberta Falls

 Downstream a bit from the falls

 Beautiful Alberta Falls

 In town, we took a tour of the Stanley Hotel. "The Shining" was written here by Steven King. The movie was filmed elsewhere, though. Legend has it the Stanley is haunted. It appeared on an episode of "Ghost Hunters."

 Enjoying my vacation!

"The mountains are calling. I must go."  - John Muir

Exactly how I feel! Love it here!

Oh Canada!

Recently we had the privilege of traveling to Canada. We flew into Buffalo, New York, and drove over the border into Niagara Falls.

 From our hotel room, we could see both the American Falls (above) and Horseshoe Falls which is on the Canadian side.

 There is a lot of mist or water vapor in the air above the falls, more at some times than others. If the sun is shining and there is mist, often a rainbow will be seen. Above is Horseshoe Falls.

As the sun "moved," so did the rainbow.

A closer look at the American Falls. To the far right of the falls, you can see persons in line to get on the Maid of the Mist.

 Maid of the Mist and Hornblower Niagara cruises take you right up to the falls - past the American Falls, and into Horseshoe Falls. Notice how everyone is dressed in green? Well, that's a rain poncho provided to help you stay dry!

 Getting closer...

It was quite an adventure!

600,000 gallons of water pass over the falls every second! What power!

You can see this steel barge that was marooned above the falls in 1918. The three men on board opened the hatches of the barge to let water in, to stop it from going over the falls. It remains stranded there to this day.

The falls are lit up with color every night. Some nights, there are fireworks.

ALSO SEEN IN NIAGARA FALLS:
 (Niagara Falls is not just the waterfalls; it's two cities, one in New York and one in Ontario.)

 Black squirrels, and beautiful flowers

These were outside a restaurant.

The highlight of our trip was meeting blogging buddy Judith, who blogs at Lavender Cottage, and her husband Glenn.

 Judith has a beautiful garden and I loved seeing it.

 In front of Judith's pond

 In the foreground, the pond and Judith's dog Topaz, and in the background, the Tea House, a delightful spot to sit and relax with a cup of tea and good conversation

 We went to a country inn for lunch - look how fancy my soft drink looks!

 The food was presented beautifully, and it tasted good too!

We enjoyed our trip to Canada very much! A special thanks to Judith and Glenn for their hospitality!

Grow Your Blog Party with giveaway

Today I am participating in the Grow Your Blog Party sponsored by Vicki at 2 Bags Full. Thanks, Vicki, for doing this. I thoroughly enjoyed the party last year and am excited about this year's party as well.

About Me:

Hi, I'm Beth, and I've been blogging at Beyond The Garden Gate for four years. I'm retired and love that I have free time to pursue my interests of gardening, travel, baking, reading, volunteering, and caring for my pets. I'm a Christian. I live in Iowa and retired from a nursing career three years ago. I have two grown children and two precious grandsons.

 Several years ago, we posed on our front porch.

Good friends and the husband and I on an autumn excursion - I'm wearing the pink and white sweaters

About my blog:

My tag line is "My Garden, My Table, My Life" - and I blog about gardening, tea, cooking, travel, and my pets. I often blog about tea on Mondays and gardening on Thursdays - but this isn't written in stone. In the winter, it's less about gardening than in spring, summer, and fall as I live in a climate where we do not garden outside in December, January, and February - too cold and snowy!

Beth's garden:

We have a 1/2 acre suburban lot. Most of the backyard is garden (cuts down on the mowing and gives me room to try new plants every year). 

 I am in love with coneflowers!

 Early spring brings daffodils - I have hundreds of them in my gardens.

 I grow nigella...

 ...and lupines.

 Pale pink hollyhocks

 I grow lilies (these are Stargazers),

 as well as daylilies.

'Janice Brown,' pictured above, is a favorite.

 I adore Clematis 'Josephine.'

I like roses too.

Beth likes tea:

 Here I am at Shay's Tea Room. Two photos below, the food and drink at Shay's.

 Tea at my house, using 'Rose Chintz' by Johnson Brothers

 Cooking: Beth's Cakes:

A decorated cake - wrap it up!

 I took a cake decorating class a couple of years ago. These are some of my beginning efforts.

Fondant, pretty in pink

Beth's travels:

 Australia - trip of a lifetime!

 Las Vegas - great fun with a great friend!

Mackinac Island, a truly amazing place

 Rocky Mountain National Park - Estes Park, Colorado

 More RMNP

 I love flowers! Here I am at Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa.

Sunset on the prairie, Kansas

I enjoy showing off pretty pictures, and telling you all about my adventures in gardening, tea, and travel.

Looking for more of what this blog is about?

Click here and here to see my 2013 year in review (pets, tea rooms, my garden, etc).

Or, to view a garden post entitled, "The Day 500 People Walked through my Garden," click here.

Or, to view a recent tea post, "Tea As Art," click here.

AND NOW - DRUMROLL PLEASE - FOR MY GROW YOUR BLOG PARTY GIVEAWAY:

I'll be giving away a $15 Starbucks gift card. Here are the giveaway rules: Simply leave a comment on this post. A winner will be selected on February 15th using Random.org. The winner will have 10 days to respond with an address for me to mail the gift card to; if no response within 10 days, another winner will be selected.

Good luck, and thanks so much for visiting my blog! Be sure to visit party host Vicki at 2 Bags Full, where you can enjoy her posts as well as find many other blogs to visit and maybe even sign up to follow. 

If you like what you've seen here, I'd appreciate you becoming a new follower through Google Friends Connect, Linky Followers, or signing up for post delivery through e-mail.