classic fall weekend

for our very festive fall weekend we headed over to estes park for the elk festival. yes, the elk festival. i didn't even know they had one of those until two days before we went. but it was perfect timing. the drive up was awesome and beautiful, we hit up the festival early enough to avoid the masses, and we did indeed see herds of elk AND even heard them bugle. really it was more like a squeal. oh, and the weather was fantastic.

we walked around downtown a bit, hank got a killer deal on some chacos, i lost a lens cover in the river, beth played in the fountain water and loved it (even though it was really cold), and all the stores, except for one crazy lady and her really lame store, was really cool about letting marley come in and shop with us. we love dog-friendly towns. the colors were stunning. uh-mazing. somehow my great pictures of these great colors are nowhere to be found.... ugh.

so we walked this path up to the golf course, hoping to see some elk because this is supposedly where they reside on this particular weekend. and walking along, we stumbled upon this big guy, just hangin out, right there on the bank of the river. we were so excited.

about 20 feet later we saw all these guys. good thing we got so excited for that one back there and spent 20 minutes looking at him...

this dude was the mac daddy. he would chase off all the other bulls and then round up all the lady elk and make them sit with him. he was definitely the pimp bull. he also bugled the loudest. maybe that had something to do with it. i'm not really sure how all that works in elkland...

welcome fall. please don't leave us early this year. i need your crisp mornings, your warm afternoons, your colorful leaves, your caramel apple evenings, pumpkin patch picking, and your loud stadiums full of cheering football fans. please don't let that snow come just yet; i've just barely gotten used to the idea of you...