We are staying at the Mountaindale Cabins and RV park about 15 miles from Colorado Springs, which has spectacular views of the mountains and is far enough outside of town to make you feel that you are in the wilderness. The park is very pretty and beautifully maintained, and the people are really friendly with some 60 families or so who are staying here over the winter, or as is common in these parks, they live here permanently.

In the RV park, we have wild turkeys roaming around and although I have seen them when walking Poppy in the morning, I now take my camera with me to see if I can get a picture of them to share with you. We have fat, black squirrels who are driving Poppy crazy, and deer – whom at first I didn’t recognize – as they are completely different to the ones we feed at home. These deer are larger and fatter with heavy coats to keep them warm through the winter, and they have much bigger ears that are slightly wavy at the edges and I am not sure if they are just hungry, but they seem to have little fear of human beings as we have seen deer wandering around in very urban parts of town!

Snow has fallen during the past two nights, and other than being mystified as to the meaning of the white stuff on the ground, Poppy is having fun and is certainly enjoying herself in the cooler climate.

Left: Miss Poppy in our RV park yesterday morning. Top Right: at the Manitou Springs Brewing Company where a black squirrel was driving her nuts; enjoying at walk in the Garden of the Gods.

On the hunt for breakfast! Deer in our RV park!