Too hot-August 29, 2013

I have tried not to dwell on the heat, but today it really got to us. I adjourned to the back end of the coach and enjoyed the a/c without lights on. The television does not put out too much heat, thankfully. Schools are being closed in the area because the classrooms are too hot to be in them. Personally I think that's what you get when you start school in the middle of summer. What's wrong with starting school the day after Labor Day? Our planned trip to the mountains for a picnic has been moved from tomorrow to next Tuesday. The weather should be more pleasant then. We are looking forward to the trip. We have only been to the mountains once since we have been here and that was to Estes Park. We really enjoyed that day. I hope it is cooler where you are than it is here.

Busy, busy birthday-August 28, 2013

In fact this whole week has been busy, but busy is a good thing. It has been so unbearably hot we are sort of glad to have the time fly by. On Monday afternoon we had a wonderful visit with dear friends, Ed and Mary K. She baked a pineapple upside down cake for an early celebration for me. It was fabulous and we inhaled it. Since then and especially today I have be so blessed to receive messages from family and very good friends. I am so appreciative of everyone who remembered me. Thank you to all of you! Derrick and his family took us out to dinner tonight. I chose Scrumpy's in Fort Collins. I just love that place. The meal was fabulous, the service was excellent and we all enjoyed it very much. For some reason Hannah was wired so it was good it was a somewhat noisy place. Otherwise we might have had to leave. I got Tiramisu for my birthday cake. It was fabulous. And my gift was a book of family pictures plus I got a calendar with pictures of Hannah. What a cutie she is! Pardon my family pride for showing. She is our first grandbaby and you know how that goes. The evening ended with a wonderful sunset picture. So, here we go again.

I love the way the sun makes the clouds glow so brightly.

 

I had a fabulous day and so far a wonderful week. Thanks to all!!

Party's over-August 25, 2013

The Cajun boil was a success. Lots of good food and tons of fun. It was a long day and there will still be some cleaning up to do this afternoon after we all get rested up. I never even got my camera out. That's not like me, is it? We are happy so many could attend. The weather was nice but the flies and mosquitoes were not. Where did they all come from?

I hope you have a very blessed Sunday. Relax and enjoy.

Preparations-August 24, 2013

Today is the day of the big Cajun boil at this house. We are all scurrying around cooking and cleaning and setting up. Additional help will be arriving in about an hour. I have a chocolate pecan pie in the oven which is actually a gift. I have already cooked three other desserts for the meal. Then all I have left is cornbread muffins. The lady who was making those originally has caught that dreadful viral bug that's going around Loveland where she lives. We begged her not to come to the meal today. Don't want any viruses around here. So I am happy to make cornbread muffins in her place. I hope to have lots of fun pictures to post later today or possibly tomorrow.

Here's wishing you a fun Saturday!

Five Guys-August 22, 2013

We realized today while shopping in Fort Collins that it has been eleven months since we had a Five Guys burger. So, we stopped for a late lunch. Is the meal between lunch and supper called lupper? Or lunch and dinner becomes linner? Just wondering. Anyway, all of the Five Guys restaurants look basically the same though not identical. The food is always the same--absolutely delicious and perfectly cooked. However this one was different in that all of the cooks sang and danced while cooking. It was wild! Very few females work at any Five Guys so it was all men singing. They were really pretty good and we laughed throughout the meal. The entertainment was free and fun. It helped easy the annoyance of knowing we spent a good bit of time going to stores to get our money back where we were overcharged. This week three stores got us for a total of $15.00. Doesn't sound like much, but if that happens every week of the year, it adds up. I wish I had a better family health history so I could eat a Five Guys junior burger at least once a month. How I love them. By the way, they post on a board where the potatoes that they are serving that day were raised. Today they came from a tiny town in Idaho. I tried not to eat more than a couple of fries but they are so good it is difficult to stop. You certainly cannot eat just one.

Survived-August 21, 2013

I survived the canning! But only for one reason. There were not enough cucumbers to can! I'm not sure how that happened, but I was really happy. Just like the last time I was involved in this chore, it was a mere 100 degrees yesterday. Miserable. This year has not really been a good year for the garden even though it looked great at the beginning of the year. Locally the farmers are disking the hail damaged crops. It's a sad sight. One might assume they had insurance on those crops but we have no way of knowing. I am not even going to guess what's on tap for today. Hope you have a good one!

Never again?-August 20, 2013

I was positive that I said two years ago that I would never again can anything. I'm not sure how it happened but I have been volunteered to can pickles today. How did that happen? Cross your fingers for me! I am not sure we can survive the heat. I'll let you know if we accomplished much today. I wish you a happy, pickle-free day!

Things change-August 17, 2013

Today was to be Derrick's annual Cajun Boil. I say was because it had to be moved to next Saturday. Two people, key co-sponsors, had family emergencies and left town earlier today. One thing in our favor is that what we had already bought is now ready for next week. It will make the prep work easier next week. I will have to remake one dessert as we will have this one eaten in just a few days. But other than that we are ahead.

Hannah had her one year check up day before yesterday. She is a petite thin little girl but we find her to have excessive energy. We are still enjoying every minute with her.

I have yet another sunset to post. I simply cannot resist. Every one is different from the last one. But each one is just stunning. We are so lucky to be parked in such a position that we can see so much of God's handiwork by simply looking out the door or window.

We also got to see the Perseid meteor shower this week. I hope you saw it, too. Nice.

This week has just flown by. It is going to be time to leave before we turn around too many more times. Right now I can't bear the thought.

I hope tomorrow, Sunday, will bring you a day of peace and restfulness. Enjoy every moment.

Elvis' concert-August 12, 2013

For some reason tonight we turned on PBS. They were showing Elvis' Aloha From Hawaii concert from 1973. It has been digitally remastered and is so sharp and crisp. I looked at him and so many memories came flooding back. I saw him in a live performance only once, in May, 1975 in Huntsville, Alabama. I will never ever forget that. Some memories get lost in the years. That one will not ever be lost. Then I remembered that Opportunity Village in Las Vegas made all of Elvis' scarves that he gave away during concerts. What a loss it must have been to them when he died. Opportunity Village is a gigantic charity organization that gives jobs to those who are developmentally disabled. There are many such organizations across the country, but only the one in Las Vegas made those famous scarves. Also I remembered our visit to Tupelo, Mississippi not too long ago. There are tributes to him all over town. We went into a store and did not realize until the owner told us that we were standing in front of the counter where Elvis bought his first guitar. I just touched it and couldn't make a comment. We went through his childhood home. It was so tiny it was very hard to imagine an entire family living in it. His childhood was so impoverished. One has to wonder if that affected the decisions he made in his life. While Elvis never knew I existed he was certainly a part of my life. What an incredible voice was lost at a young age. I loved every minute of that PBS special.

Hannah's First Birthday-August 11, 2013

Several days of planning went into just a few minutes of cake and fun today. Hannah turned one. She did not care for the Happy Birthday song but she loved the cake and the toys. It goes without saying she enjoyed playing with the paper and boxes after the party was over. Don't all kids like that? So, please allow me to share a couple of pictures.

Adult cake and baby cake. Adult cake was chocolate.

Baby cake was vanilla. Both were two layers.

 

Hannah's Phantom of the Opera look. She almost had purple eye shadow.

 

This is a Leap Frog learning table. She absolutely loves this.

It was recommended to us. Now I recommend it to any of you

who need a toddler gift. It will be countless hours of learning and fun.

Thank you, Mary K, for the recommendation!!

 

The last person left standing was Hannah. We were completely exhausted. She kept playing. Everyone will sleep good tonight! We're so glad these birthdays only roll around once a year. We

are too old for any more often than that. Happy 1st Birthday, Miss Hannah.

 

 

 

 

 

Fort Collins Horse-August 9, 2013

We finished our birthday shopping yesterday. At one of the shopping centers there was a big fiberglass statue of a horse. Many cities have tributes to certain animals. I have posted a number of them on this blog. However, from what we have seen thus far this is a singular horse. The sign that named the artist said it was a tribute to the city of Fort Collins meeting the west. I'm not sure what that means. Fort Collins is a college town trying very hard to mimic Boulder. They do not consider themselves to be residents of the west. So, I am not sure how that horse ended up in Fort Collins, but nevertheless it is an attractive piece of art.

Those are Aspen trees with golden leaves. The flowers are Columbines

which is the state flower, to the best of my knowledge. It really is an attractive horse.

 

It appears we are finally going to see the sun today. It has been gloomy and damp most of this week. We are hoping for a really pretty day for Hannah's first birthday celebration on Sunday afternoon.

 

 



Estes Park, CO-August 6, 2013

We took the day off today to celebrate our 37th anniversary. We drove to Estes Park which from here is a very long drive. From our previous home in Loveland it was a quick trip. The weather was great and traffic was light going to Estes Park. Coming back to Loveland the traffic was quite heavy. It was really crowded there and road construction made it a nightmare. But, it was a day away from it all. Our anniversary gift was a herd of Bighorn Sheep climbing on the rocks in the canyon. It is only the second time we have ever seen them. They are there everyday but the trick is to be there at the perfect time. Today we were lucky. Please bear with me while I share quite a few pictures.

They blend beautifully with the rocks they traverse. They were quite a

distance up the side of the mountain.

 

A little closer.

 

A young male and possibly one of his offspring.

 

This one appeared to be the leader of the herd. Still he is very young for such a job.

 

Adorable little baby.

 

Back on the road through the Big Thompson Canyon

The Big Thompson River

 

The river runs right through town. This bronze statue

was at a rest area. The cowboy is emptying water out of his boot.

 

 

At several spots throughout the city you can sit beside the water and relax.

 

 

Pretty butterfly having his lunch

 

 

The flowers everywhere in town were stunning.

 

What a nice day. We are so glad we had the opportunity to see Estes Park again. We have always liked to go there, but seldom find the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Correction-August 5, 2013

This weekend, after the storm was long gone, I heard two local weather reporters say things that sent my brain into a tail spin. One said a lenticular cloud is not called that anymore. She gave a name I could not pronounce and could not find anywhere on the internet. The second reporter said green clouds mean hail, not a tornado. All those years of studying and listening just went down the drain. I am now officially obsolete and outdated. It's not a great feeling. I suppose I should slink into a cave and lick my wounds. Ouch. Therefore, I stand corrected on previous posts about the storm. I don't know why weather terminology should have to change, but I guess it has. I won't look at the sky today. Perhaps blue is no longer blue!! Have a great day.

I was right-August 3, 2013

I was right about the cloud containing some nasty weather. But it turned south from Cheyenne and came back over us. We could hear the tornado sirens. The wind was very strong, then it let up and turned cool. We stood in awe taking pictures until lightning started. A tornado did hit south of us. There was an immense amount of crop damage east of us. We could really smell hail damaged onions. We had just looked at those crops this morning as we drove around. One gigantic carrot field was so pretty I almost took a picture. I should have. There is nothing left of it now. So sad.

A huge wall cloud that passed us headed south. It did contain a tornado.

 

Note the split in the clouds had a green tint to it. That is 100% assurance a

tornado is within that cloud.

 

The dark cloud hanging down looks like a funnel. Perhaps it was.

But to the left of it is a scrawny cloud that goes to the ground. That's the tornado.

It touched down on Hwy 34 and Rd 83 in Greeley. No one was hurt as far as I know.

 

Then it was all gone and we got a glimpse of this nice sunset.

It is wonderfully cool tonight. All is well.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm at it again!-August 3, 2013

I realize this is a travel blog but I do so enjoy watching the weather and cloud formations. That comes from 14 years of being a weather spotter for the National Weather Service and Rocky Mountain Weather Services. Then on the coast I volunteered for a National weather spotter organization called CoCoRahs for short, that was based out of CSU in Fort Collins, CO. So, weather has been a hobby and great interest of mine for a long time. Therefore, on an afternoon when we know really bad weather is headed our way, my eyes are to the sky. We have been warned about large hail, high winds and possible tornadoes. We pray for rain only.

This beauty of a thunderhead is parked over Cheyenne, WY as I type this.

It could possibly be over the state line into Nebraska but the bulk of the storm

is in the Cheyenne area. This cloud is at least 50,000 feet in height. It is full of wind

and probably water. We have stood outside and watched it grow as our wind here increased dramatically. The humidity is so thick it appears that we are covered in fog. I suspect that for the first time since we got here the forecasters may be correct. Somebody is going to get something very ugly.

I PRAY I AM WRONG.

 

I zoomed in so you could see the lenticular on top. That's the wispy thin lens shaped cloud on top.

That means high winds aloft and increased the turbulence within the thunderhead. I struggle

to think that something so beautiful can be so harmful.

 

I hope your day is going well, that you have beautiful weather and Sunday will bring you a day of peace and rest.

 

Swetsville Zoo-August 2, 2013

Jerry, Hannah and I went to the Swetsville Zoo this morning. It was perfect weather for an outdoor walk. Let me explain a little about this zoo. It is not a zoo with live animals but rather a huge variety of animals made out of old tractor, motorcycle and car parts. This was a passion of Bill Swet and his family. This zoo is not new. We took Derrick there when he was little. Mr. Swet was quite a talent in his younger years. It appears he is no longer making new animals. Sadly, Mr. Swet's son passed away recently. Still the zoo remains open with no admission fee. Even though Hannah is young she still enjoyed the creatures.

A rocket at the entrance.

 

Hannah talking to a mother turtle.

 

A hatching baby dinosaur

 

A real hodge podge of animals.

 

A cow and her baby calf. She even has a bell around her neck.

 

Hannah under the shade of a gigantic spider. The castle in the background is not open.

 

Truer words have never been spoken. "Work's never done".

 

What a fun morning we had. Hannah enjoyed the ride in her stroller. We enjoyed the walk and the fresh air. It brought back memories because Derrick was just bonkers about dinosaurs when we took him to this zoo number of years ago. Hannah was absolutely perfect and we all loved our morning together.  

 

I almost forgot this picture.

 

We are not sure what the creature is, but Hannah was enthralled with it.