Colorado, Day 5

July 22, 2014
          Day 83

One more day, one day more.

Today was our last full day in Colorado.  We spent it hiking around a large park called Elk Meadow Park, so named because you can supposedly see elk all over the place.

Strangely, we didn't.

In fact, the only brush we had with the elk population came after we left the park and were driving around checking out the area.  As I was leaning in looking at the most recent photos I'd taken, I heard Andy, behind the wheel, say, "Whoa!" as he swerved the car slightly around a sharp bend.

There on the side of the road, eating someone's plants and bushes, was a large elk.  At least we think it was.  It may have been a deer, but we've heard the elk's antlers are larger, and the elk are more social than deer.  So I have no idea yet.  We got a couple of photos of the beautiful creature and will take them back to the "lab" (New York) for "testing" (ask smarter people than us what kind of animal it is).

The one sighting we had once we were off the regular trails reminded us to remain open-minded about our expectations.  You may not find what you're looking for in the place you're sure it'll be.  And you may find the object of your search just inches away when you least expect it.  Expectations then, are unreliable.

What are you expecting?  Who are you expecting?  Are you on the roads you hope to find it/him/her?  Have you considered doing something completely different?

When we went off on a new road after our hike, we didn't think we'd see anything elk-like, but we were happy to be wrong.  Sometimes being wrong is the only way to be right, and sometimes going to all the right places is just all wrong.

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Leaving tomorrow.  Will update this blog very late Wednesday night once we're home.  And by the way, I learned something new from a woman I met up at Bear Lake the other day.  When you take a selfie with an elk, it's called a selkie.