[Flashback] A howling good time

 Sept 25, 2010

Dawn and I took off toward the Wolf Sanctuary in Divide in the late afternoon on Saturday. We decided to check out the fall leaves in toward Cripple Creek first. There were a lot of people pulling off the side of the road to take pictures. The leaves looked like they were in the finishing stages for fall and in some places the Aspens were already looking bare.

We then decided to grab a bite to eat. Upon earlier research, Dawn had found that there were only 2 restaurants in the small town of Divide Colorado. Once we got there we were faced with the reality that the internet is not always correct. There was a small BBQ place The Smokin Q and that was it. The place was interesting. You have to go inside this really small building to order and get your food then you sit outside on picnic tables. Under normal circumstance it wouldn't be too bad but it was pretty chilly and the wind was blowing. We managed to make it work. The actual meat I had in my pulled pork sandwich was good but the bbq sauce was more like hot sauce. The baked beans were very good and Dawn said that the cole slaw had a bit of a kick. Dawn wasn't thrilled with the rib tips but all and all at least there was a place to eat.
 
So with full bellies we went to the Wolf Sanctuary for the "Full Moon Tour." We got there a little early and had to wait outside the gate. From where we were we could see some of the wolves and a couple of the foxes. There was a lady complaining that all the fences were in her way of taking the perfect photo with her ginormous camera lens.

We mentioned to her that she wouldn't be allowed to have that size lens in the Sanctuary and she blew us off like we didn't know what we were talking about (we have been there before). When we were finally let in, Dawn and I headed in first. My thought was to get in, pay and check out Calvin the Sanctuary's rescue ferret. He is the sweetest thing(pictured in my profile picture). Instead we were told that they were going to go ahead and bring out a couple of wolves for us to interact with. BONUS!!
We head outside and start forming a human circle. The two wolves that they bring out our Tala and Na'vi. They are both Timber wolves although Na'vi is black in color.

They were so cool. We got to pet them and receive kisses. It was amazing. Previously we had been at the Sanctuary and were able to sit with two ambassador wolves and have our pictures taken with them. This was so much cooler! After everyone finally made it out, another wolf was brought out. His name was Timber. He did some serious growling at the other two but we were told that is ears were up and tail was wagging so there was nothing to worry about. I have to admit it was a little scary sounding.
The lady with the huge lens was told to take it back to her car.After the meet in greet we took our flash lights and were led by Darlene and her employees around on the tour of the facility and all the wolves in the dark. It was pretty interesting at night. You really cannot hear the wolves "sneak up" on you. The tour is the same. They talk about how people think wolves would make great pets and when it doesn't work out the poor animals get dumped either on them or someone like them or they get put to sleep. We were told that all sanctuary's and rescue's are full and more and more animals (including domesticated dogs and cats) are being put to sleep because there is nowhere for them to go. They have also received animals from photo farms & breeder farms. The photo farm was interesting because I had no idea there were such places. Basically some postcards that you get when you are on vacation are not actually animals in the wild. They are the "beautiful" version of the animal kept in poor conditions(usually) so that they can be photographed for our pleasure.
We got to howl with the wolves at the end of the tour. It was amazing. At this point the full moon was just coming up. When we went back inside I got to hold Calvin and get my ferret fix. The ride home seemed long but it was well worth it