We are home from Estes Park and had a fantastic time. It was 106F in Texas when we left and a lovely 68F in Estes Park when we arrived. It was heavenly. The cabin we rented turned out to be a house! It was huge and so very nice. I’ve had some disappointments with rental cabins before and this was a very nice change for us.

 

We shopped in the village and went fly fishing also. Mostly we just relaxed for a few days and decompressed from everyday routines and stressors. The puppies love walking in the mountains for all the new smells they can find.

 

I went to the Estes Park Wool Market on Saturday and it was wonderful. The weather was fantastic, not cold and not hot - just right. Just about everything was indoors so it would have been OK for bad weather too. I neglected to take any pictures inside the vendor barn - I think I was overwhelmed by the fiber fumes! But I shopped and shopped and shopped. I’ve never been anywhere with so much fiber and yarn and wheels and just STUFF. I think I spent about 3 hours just walking around and buying stash enhancement items. Here are some pictures of my purchases:

 

click for bigger pics

2 oz of angora bunny fiber - the bunny’s name was Pumpkin
purchased from Woodlake Woolies

4 oz of a 60/40 blend Merino/Bamboo - colorway Autumn
purchased from Bonkers Fibers

This is 8 oz of Romney fiber - Heather Mist colorway
purchased from The Natural Twist

LUSCIOUS! 4 oz of an 80/20 blend alpaca and tussah silk
purchased from The Rocky Mountain Llama/Alpaca fiber pool

2 skeins of 100% cashmere yarn that just jumped into my bag!

3.8 oz of a lovely Cormo roving
purchased from Running Wild Yarn

2 oz of the softest alpaca fiber in the world!
purchased from Cielo Grande Alpacas (no website)

 

Many pictures were taken of all the animals. It was really wonderful to see the different breeds up close. Many of the breeders were very friendly and took time to answer questions. I patted alpacas, llamas, goats and sheep. It was smelly, loud and totally fun! The llama limbo competition was especially fun - I think the handlers were more amusing than the llamas trying to go under a low pole. I didn’t run into any bloggers or Ravelry people that I knew. I think there was a blogger meetup, but I’ve never been one to jump into a group of people I don’t know so I missed out on that. Maybe next year I’ll be braver. Anyway - as I said I took many pictures. Here are just a few.

 

Click HERE to see all my pictures of the EPWM 2008.