For a COVID summer adventure you can’t get any more socially distant than the desert and in located in the middle of Colorado’s high plains is herd of wild horses, just waiting for their photo opp. I’ve lived in Colorado my entire life and I had no idea that wild horses were in my [4 hour away] backyard.
Owned by the Bureau of Land Management Sand Wash Basin is a rustic camping destination 48 miles outside the town of Craig, Colorado. Without any amenities and limited cell service inside the herd management area, the nearby Maybell Campground [Maintained by the town of Maybell] offers access to restrooms, showers and established campsites if completely roughing it isn’t your style.
Make sure you have a full tank of gas and plenty of water because once inside the BLM land there are no stops and even fewer people. With an elevation of 8,120 feet Sand Wash Basin doesn’t look like the mountains but if you aren’t used to the altitude you’ll want to be prepared. Officially deemed a ‘high desert’ the basin is home to fossils from it’s prehistoric history as a large lake and surrounded by ridges and mesas.
We started the day early, heading out just after sunrise and caught antelope, coyotes, jackrabbits and prairie dogs enjoying the cool morning air. Once inside the Herd Management Area dirt roads require high level 4 wheel drive but the well traveled roads are easy to maneuver. The Wild Horse Loop provides easy access to areas frequented by the bands and offers a day long journey through the area.
Wild horses live in bands or harems led by individual stallions. A single male maintains a group of female horses, protecting them from other stallions and encouraging offspring to leave the herd as they grow older. Inside the Sand Wash Basin the herd is maintained by annual round ups where females are darted with contraception to manage the population. Most bands we came across included a single male with 4-5 females.
While driving through the preserve it was important to pay close attention to the road, as animals would approach closer than anticipated. The BLM requires the use of zoom lens for horses and a distance of 100 feet but it was still easy to the animals themselves to sneak up on you. We had a group of antelope jump directly in front of the car!
Sturdy shoes and long pants are recommended for taking footpaths leading away from the road. Rattle snakes are common in the area so paying close attention if departing from the car is important.
The surrounding sagebrush makes walking in the hot sun an even more amazing experience. Summer sun heats the sage filling the air with the sweet spicy aroma. Driving with the windows down means tons of sand so be prepared to give the entire car a good cleaning after the trip.
We spent approximately 6 hours inside the Herd Management Area and came across at least 100 horses, not including the other animal encounters throughout the day. For a weekend trip, this was the perfect way to enjoy the beauty Colorado has to offer, all while keeping a safe and healthy distance from others.
Visiting Sand Wash Basin to see Wild Horses
- Wild Horses of Sand Wash Basin: Volunteer group
- Sand Wash Basin Herd Management: BLM Information
- Visit Moffat County: County Visitors information
- Recommended Camera Gear: Zoom Lens
Disclaimer: I received a Philips Hue Starter Kit as inspiration for this post. All opinions and writing are my own.
In our old neighborhood we lived directly under a street lamp. As a result our porch and house was always well lit.
We’ve been in our current house just over two years and with COVID keeping us home more, we are finally getting around to updating things around the house that really bug us, like how dark it is outside at night. Our neighborhood faces a semi-rural farm area, so outside of the handful of street lamps, it’s really dark.
Beyond simply being able to see outside, outdoor lighting is a good deterrent for crime. Lights make the entire street safer, and make it easier for home security camera’s to pick up anyone suspicious in the neighborhood. With Drew’s work schedule, being home alone is more of a rule than an exception, and adding small things that help me feel safe is important.
My solution up until now has been to just leave the lights on all the time. I’d turn them off in the morning, but that requires remembering to TURN OFF THE LIGHTS. After replacing the old fixtures to update the look, the next step to really improving the lighting situation was finding the perfect smart lights.
When I found Philips Hue, I knew it was the perfect solution to all of my problems. To get rolling quickly, I tried out the Philips Hue Starter Kit which included the Hue Bridge and 4 lights that go from both warm to cool white. Note: The bulbs included in the starter kit are not outdoor rated, but because our lights are protected from the weather I feel comfortable using them outside.
Without the requirement to purchase a subscription, Philip’s Hue uses the compact Hue Bridge to connect up to 50 lights and power the entire home all from my mobile phone. The Hue Bridge was super easy to set up, just plug into power and internet and we were in business.
Once plugged in the next step is switching out the regular build for Philips Hue Smart lights. It really is that simple and took only a couple of minutes to change out the entire front of the house. There was no need to scan a code or try and get each bulb to connect to internet individually. Once powered on the smart lights automatically pick up the Hue connection and appear on the phone app.
I couldn’t of asked for an easier project.
The way our lights are powered, one switch controls both the light on the front door, and the three lights on the garage. Before adding the Hue Bulbs if you wanted any lights on, they all needed to be on at once. Through the Hue App I was able to program the two areas separately allowing the door light to remain illuminated from sunset to sunrise, and keeping the garage lights off.
Our front door is set back on the side of the garage, so if anyone comes up to the front of the house from the driveway, we don’t know until they are almost at the door. Since the plan was to have the smart lights on the garage off most of the time, adding a Dusk-to-Dawn Outdoor Motion Sensor provides an additional level of security. If someone happens to walk up towards our door, the lights will automatically flip on and make it appear that we noticed them and changed the switch from inside. We could even trigger another set of lights inside, giving us additional peace of mind.
When we are allowed to travel again I’m looking forward to being able to control the entire smart lighting system from my phone. We can even add interior lights that turn on and off no matter where we are in the world [or just switching off lights without getting up from bed].
Interested in learning about other home security tips for law enforcement families?
Learn about Ring’s First Responder Discount in my post on Summer Home Safety
I’ve been looking for an easy way to freshen up our powder room and a DIY Mirror Frame from Frame My Mirror® was the perfect solution. Like most of the country, we’ve been under stay at home orders since March so home improvement has become the best way to keep busy.
When we were house hunting a downstairs powder room for guests was one of my must haves. Being able to keep a specific room always clean for visitors means less overall house work for me.
Our home was one of the models for the neighborhood, so we’ve lucked out with a lot of the added features you don’t see in every house in the neighborhood. With fun upgrades, the previous owners had not felt the need to change out much from the original builder grade materials. Now that the house is nearly 20 years old, those builder grade items look dated, especially the bathrooms.
Plain oak cabinets, low quality lighting and a standard mirror means that the entire room is pretty much a blank slate. I might paint the vanity down the road, but I wanted to start off with a quick and easy DIY Mirror Frame to brighted up the room and add a modern feel.
Before 
After
Instead of buying specialty tools that I’d never use again to cut down molding I decided to use Add a Frame® from Frame My Mirror®. Add a Frame® comes custom cut and quickly assembles to create a professional and polished look on any mirror.
The first step was ordering samples to decide what finish I wanted my frame to have. I recently added a mountain shelf above the toilet, so I wanted something that would compliment that look. Each sample is a $1 and the shipping is free.
I ended up ordering samples of the Weston (Driftwood Textured), Upton (Rustic White), Carson Reverse (White). Once the samples arrived I decided that the Carson Reverse (White) was the best fit, with a good contrast against the existing bathroom shelf.
To order the finished frame I needed to carefully measure the existing frame and input the measurements to the Add a Frame® order system. During the ordering process you have indicate how far the mirror is from other objects [walls and lights] and notate if you have plastic clips or flush latches that affix the mirror to the wall.
Shipping was quick [and free] and I was ready to put my DIY mirror frame together! Each piece arrives pre-cut with beveled pegs to lock the pieces together. The kit included everything necessary to assemble the frame, including wood glue. Assembly took around 15 minutes and recommended dry time for the glue was 3 hours.
While I waited for the glue to set, I prepped my mirror. The original installers decided to place this mirror flush against the wall, which was both off-center and blocking an existing outlet. Since we were already going to swap out the plastic mirror clips for flush ones I moved the mirror over a few inches to the right and painted the wall to match the rest of the room. Once the paint was dry, I cleaned the mirror good with alcohol so the new frame would easily attach.
Once the glue had fully set it was time to install the mirror. The final step was removing the backing from the adhesive strip and affixing it to the mirror. We used a level to double check everything was aligned properly before firmly pressing the new frame up the to mirror.
Outside of readjusting and painting the wall, the total time spent creating the DIY Mirror Frame was approximately 30 minutes. This was a super quick and easy home improvement project that made a huge difference in the style of this powder room!
Disclaimer: I received a product sample from Frame My Mirror® to facilitate this post. All photography and thoughts are my own.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary set of Mixtiles to inspire this article. All writing and opinions are my own.
Spending an abundance of time at home during the stay at home order has led to a lot of home improvement projects. It feels like no matter how long you’ve lived in a house, getting things hung on the walls is a chore best saved for another day. After staring at a blank wall for the last few weeks, another day became TODAY.
Our upstairs hallway needed something, but it’s too small of a wall to put anything large. When Mixtiles reached out with the offer to demo a set of tiles, I knew it was the perfect solution for decorating this small space in my home.
We live in a world where capturing memories is just a click away, but actually printing those images is a whole different story. I’ve been working on actually printing a photo book from our trip to Scotland last fall for nearly 8 months and if I’m honest I only got as far as uploading the photos from the trip to England 4 years ago.
I don’t know why, but printing photos is not my jam.
The multistep process of taking things off my phone or camera, uploading them somewhere, editing them and then ordering them is just something I can not wrap my head around. Luckily, Mixtiles is the perfect solution for that problem.
Designed for square photos their website makes ordering insanely simple. You can even download their app if you plan to order new Mixtiles on a regular basis. From your phone you can select from social media sites like instagram or upload from your actual device directly.
The first set of three tiles is $49 and each tile after that is $9 [Plus they have tons of sales]. Each tile is 8″ x 8″ and you can select from one of five frame styles to match your decor. I started off with five tiles and will be ordering more to fill up the wall later!
Throughout this hallway our door frames are all white so I chose the ‘Clean’ frame to give a consistent pop against the beige wall color.
Each Mixtile comes with sticky tape pre-assembled to make installation super easy. It’s as simple as removing the backing and selecting where you want to place it on the wall. The tape is tacky enough that you can reposition with time when you add more tiles to the layout. Each Mixtile is lightweight, ensuring that it won’t damage your wall if you reposition them later.
For a small space like this hallway, I love how the tiles add color and life into the area. Small spaces like this are difficult to complete a gallery wall look without overwhelming the space but Mixtiles makes it easy and provides all the clean lines you need for a polished look.
For more info about Mixtiles, visit their website or download their app to start decorating your small space!
Welcome to My Bliss
