Brrrr-December 31, 2014

Jerry became nervous about the radiator on the coach yesterday so we struck out in the snow to double check the antifreeze. The temp on the car showed -2. I told Jerry I didn't know those thermometers could read that low. And I thought that should not be allowed. I was stunned we were out in that. The low here last night, according to the National Weather Service, was -27. You can take my word for it that -27 is definitely cold. Right now as I type this, at 9:30 AM, it has warmed up to -21 and the sun is shining. It is predicted we will be above freezing this weekend. Happy day!

I just wanted you to know we are still kicking and have not frozen yet. I suspect Jerry is getting cabin fever and will want to go out for something today. I am not affected by cabin fever so I would be content to stay here and clean and rearrange things. But I will go.

                              
                                  HAPPY NEW YEAR!


I wish for you a prosperous, healthy and happy 2015. Please read 2 Chronicles 7:14 and pray for our country.

More white stuff-December 29, 2014

It is snowing again though not a blizzard or severe storm. However the wind is so strong the snow is blowing horizontally. Quite a sight. We were supposed to pick up Hannah today so she could play in our home. However, it's just too cold to take the little thing out in it. So I am making a big batch of homemade soup and might make some homemade English muffins this afternoon. We are due to have some bitterly cold temps until at least Saturday. I'll say it again because it bears repeating. We are so happy and thankful to be in a warm place.

After spending days and countless hours winterizing the coach, for a reason we don't know, "we" failed to check the antifreeze in the generator. It is frozen solid. That does not bode well for the pocketbook when the spring thaw occurs. However, we are not crying over spilled milk. It is done and we will deal with it. I guess because the generator was serviced in Red Bay it just never crossed our minds that the liquids they added did not include antifreeze. We do have the block heater on the engine so it will be fine. We'll just save our pennies in between now and Spring and be prepared to have a huge outlay. One thing about owning an RV. You just have to deal with whatever happens.

When I looked out the bedroom window on Saturday morning I was caught by the beauty of the ice on the tree limbs. I took some pictures which don't show the real sparkles in the ice, but you can use your imagination.

You have to trust me. This was quite a beautiful sight.

The snow is very pretty until you have to drive in it.

 

We will be indoors today, staying warm. I hope you are warm, too. If you are in a warm climate, then don't take it for granted. Everyday is a gift. Enjoy it. 



 

Total snowfall-December 26, 2014

The storm was not as bad as predicted as far as the total snowfall. It appears we might have maybe 6 inches of snow on the ground here. Neither of us is volunteering to go out and measure it because it is only 18 degrees with a wind chill of 8 degrees. That makes us happy to be inside today.

It's pretty if you don't have to get out in it.

 

We are surprised at the number of tire tracks in the parking lot.

There must have been a large number of people who had to

go to work today. Notice the snow on the roofs? That indicates good insulation

in the attics. We are happy about that.

 

The high school parking lot almost appears to be part of the street,

but there's actually a large ditch in between. It's not visible.

Note all the tire tracks. People were in the parking lot last night

doing donuts (doughnuts, if you prefer). You could tell they were

really having fun. Frankly I was more in favor of them pulling those

stunts in a vacant parking lot than on the streets.

 

Unfortunately a nearby neighbor decided at 5:00 AM that her BMW needed to be in her garage with a ton of snow on top of it. She struggled for an hour trying to get the car in but it was just spinning on the ice under the snow. She finally gave up so we could go back to sleep. I don't blame her for wanting her Beamer in the garage but why didn't she put it inside before the snow started? Who knows?

 

This is homemade soup and bread baking weather. Sounds good to me.



 

 

White and wonderful Christmas-December 25, 2014

The more we listened to the threats about impending winter weather, we all decided to not make the trip to Denver for Christmas. As it turned out that was a very wise move. It's safe to say it was a "God thing", not our own decision. We went to Derrick's to see what Santa brought Hannah and Zoey. They made a great haul. That Elf on the Shelf must have given a really good report to Santa.

 

Hannah serving up "food" for her Daddy from her new kitchen.

Never mind the rest of the mess in the family room. It happens.

We did not confess that we bought her a kitchen for her play room here.

They are very different so it won't be a problem.

 

The snow started exactly when they predicted. And it also rained first. Jerry has not driven on ice in over 10 years. We left their house at 4:00 and we did not have any problems, but it takes strategy to travel over ice. We did pretty well until we got very near our street. A Cadillac and a Camero both lost control and could not go up the hill. A pick up behind them started fishtailing. And I prayed! The Camero gave up and pulled to the side of the road. The Cadillac and truck both turned sideways but managed to give us enough room to make the turn. We drove into our garage and before we got the Cute Red Vehicle unloaded our tire tracks were covered up. We all know we would not have made it back from Denver in this. We would have had to find a place to spend the night. The snow will not stop until later in the day tomorrow. You have no idea how relieved we are to have stayed here.

 

At 12 noon it was just starting to snow.

 

At 4:20 our car tracks were barely visible.

 

At 4:30 the street in front of our condo and the parking lot of

the high school across the street were really accumulating lots of snow.

We'll see what tomorrow morning looks like.

 

So, you see we truly had a white Christmas. And it was cold, too. We are happy and thankful to be warm and dry.

 

I must tell you that among many gifts we received the most shocking of all were tickets to the Neil Diamond concert on May 31, 2015. He will be in Denver that evening. No matter how many times I have seen him I still get as excited as a teenager to see another show. It was all I could do to keep from crying when I saw the print out for the tickets. What a shock! What a wonderful gift! I don't want to wish the time away but I can hardly wait to see the show. Derrick said that was a thank you for all the babysitting. That's quite a thank you.

 

We had a fabulous day and hope you did, too.



 



Catching up-December 23, 2014

We keep waiting on our lives to slow down. Sure hope it happens soon. We had bought all of our Christmas but for some reason we felt the need to do more. So, we got out in the horrible wind today to buy more stuff for the already over-stuffed. The weather is brutal. The wind is out of the north so it is very cold. It's strong with gusts reported at 46 mph. Dirt is blowing everywhere. You cannot wear enough clothes to keep the cold from freezing your bones. We remember now that this is the reason we never wanted to live here again! So much for that. It's all Hannah's fault.

I forgot to post the following picture at the end of last week.

It's not really a sunset. It's before then. What caught my eye was

the nice blue sky and the sun shining on a very dark thick cloud

all in one picture. The rays of sunlight in the dark cloud are called

corpuscular rays. Really. It's a meteorological term.

 

We had little Hurricane Hannah yesterday. In a quiet moment she was doing Water Wow with Granddaddy. She absolutely loves to do that. She was mainly wired yesterday so we did a lot of dancing and playing Ring Around the Rosie, but when she got quiet she shared her time with one of her favorite people.

 

Please overlook the fact we are still moving in and in some spots

we are living out of boxes. It will get better. Tonight I will be

putting more shelf paper in the kitchen and unloading two more

tubs of dishes we brought from the storage unit today. I'm

really excited to get to use my lighthouse dishes again. They were

too heavy to use in the coach.

 

Tomorrow I will shop for the ingredients for the food we are taking to the family Christmas dinner. We think we have decided what we want to take.

 

I have more things to share but not enough time. More later.

 

Here we are-December 18, 2014

I can attempt to describe how this condo complex is set up but I'm not sure we have totally figured it out yet. Our building like so many others contains 12 condos as evidenced by 12 garage doors. However, condos are not stacked on top of each other. We have no one underneath us which is really nice since Hannah likes to run and dance.

This is what we refer to as the back side of this building. It is on the south

side, exactly opposite to us. Each side has a courtyard. The more we look

at this unique set up the more confused we become. It uses the least amount

of land and gives the biggest amount of living space in return.

 

We are on the left side. The balcony is off the living/dining room.

At the same time the lower door is also ours. Our front door and the door

from the garage enter very close together and go immediately up 17 steps.

Technically we live on one level but it is on the second floor. Confused?

The door on the left side of the courtyard, lower level is the entry to another

condo but no one lives in that space. They enter there and go up a flight of stairs also.

Therefore, we are not above anybody. On the courtyard there are two windows on the

upper level and one small window on the lower level. Those are ours. I'm telling you that

you have never seen any set up like this one. But it works. And we are getting plenty

of exercise. Hannah loves the steps for a reason we do not understand.

 

The men who delivered the furniture said they had a bone to pick with the architect and builder of this complex. The front door is offset from the steps by nearly a foot. Therefore everything coming in has to be shifted to the right to come up the steps. Only a sectional sofa could be brought in here. We only brought in a love seat and that worked fine but still took a little work. The bed was not difficult at all. We are contemplating a dining room table but we are not sure yet.

 

So now you see what has become our warm little home for a while. It was gorgeous today but only 41 degrees. Still it felt good. I ran all the errands today. I was happy to get out and enjoy the fresh air. They are saying it could snow on Christmas. How I hope not. It's pretty but we have to drive to Denver in it. Time will tell. And if it's bad, we stay home. Very simple.

 

 

 

A few things-December 17, 2014

We still don't have everything moved into the condo. And I'm not sure when we will get it done.

We are trying to adjust to the cold, the gray skies and lack of sunshine. We'll get used to it eventually. We had forgotten how horrible the pollution is and it has been shocking to see the thickness of it every day. It's such an ugly brown color.

We also had forgotten that all bodies of water are frozen this time of year. We're not used to that either.

We had forgotten that you can tell the upcoming weather by the flight of the geese in the mornings. When the gigantic flocks of geese fly wildly and the sky is black with thousands of birds, a big front is moving in. Get ready.

We had become spoiled. While we had experienced some cold and rainy weather, we had not been in it non-stop for long periods of time. However, it is a small price to pay to be with Hannah.

Two odd things I found out:
1. UPS is going to have a gigantic price increase effective Jan 1st. They will not only charge by weight but also by size and shape of the box. When a UPS store owner says "prices are going up ALOT" then you know what to expect. If you have something to mail in early January, do it now and save $$.
2. Most credit card transactions at one of those little machines at the cash register no longer require a signature. And if you do have to sign it your signature is not normal looking. One day I remarked that I did not like that. Anybody who steals my card can walk back into the store, make a big purchase and be out of the store before I can notify the credit card company that my card is stolen. The cashier informed me that we can request a paper receipt when we use our credit cards and then sign it any time we want to. I do like that idea though I am not positive it would stop theft or fraud. It's nice to know we can sign a piece of paper and then we would know if the signature was ours or not.

Sometimes I think I am just too old to keep learning all of this stuff!

Don't fuss-December 11, 2014

We tried to finish everything we could on the coach today. Bad weather is due in here on Sunday and will hang around for a few days. I think we got everything moved out that we need in the condo. I straightened what was left as best I could. Jerry positioned the coach on solid blocks of brick. The jacks are down and now must be coated with some kind of icky grease. He will do that on Saturday. I am busy unpacking, again. After this we head to the storage unit and pick out only a few things to hang on the walls. Plain walls are so drab. Anyway, we are making good progress but it really is tiring.

We decided since we would not be riding in the coach until after the spring thaw, we asked both parents if Hannah could ride with us to fill the land barge with fuel. They said yes so we put her in the front seat and buckled her in.

I told you not to fuss. She is not in her car seat. We are fully aware

of the laws. We took the back roads into Eaton, fueled up and came straight back.

I sat on the floor beside her.

 

I must tell you this was such an adventure we laughed the entire time. She was squealing and laughing and singing her own original songs. She saw every car and told Granddaddy to "watch out!". Then she told him when to stop for a stop sign or light. When it turned green she'd yell "Go!". She loved every minute (about 20 minutes altogether) as much as we did. She might be closer to the age where she can travel with us than we originally thought. We have a very long winter ahead of us before we entertain those thoughts. Time will tell.

This will surprise you-December 9, 2014

This is today's sunrise. Yes, sunrise! You know we do not rise early but

today we had no choice. We were on the list for a 7:30 delivery of our new

furniture. We didn't buy much but we were still very happy to get it delivered.

The furniture was in place before 8:00. We would have gone back to bed

but Hannah and Zoey were coming here to stay with us while  their Mommie went

Christmas shopping. To say we are tired is an understatement.

 

We thought we only had a big trip left to unload the coach. Wrong. We have at least two more and we had made two trips when I made that statement. We are just stunned we had so much stuff in that coach. Jerry says it's so much lighter it runs like a striped butt (not his exact word) monkey. I am not familiar with that creature but apparently they run very fast! I'm not about to ask why Jerry knows how that kind of monkey runs. Some things are better not asked.

By Thursday we should have it all done. Then we will drive it and fill the tank as full as possible. A less than full tank collects moisture in the wintertime which causes all sorts of engine problems. We have to buy some pavers to park it on. Then the task will be done for winter. It's a good thing. They are saying we will have snow on Sunday. There are no words to tell you how happy we are to be warm at night.

This has been yet another learning experience. I guess you never get too old to learn.

A fun day-December 6, 2014

How's this for a change? It's a full moon, not a sunset!

This is from our dining room window. That room is a work in progress.

It will probably never be a real dining room, just a place to eat.

 

We had a great day furniture shopping today. We had been to several stores earlier in the week to no avail. Today we had a productive day. We ended up with really fun love seat to blend with Jerry's extremely special recliner I refer to as HIS chair. We got a new mattress and box springs. There we found out that memory foam mattresses are on their way out. They were just a fad. Great news. We have one in the coach we bought last year. We have never really liked it but we are not going to replace it. Today we also bought a cute little Ladybug storage box for Hannah's play room. And we bought one Christmas gift. Nothing can be delivered until Tuesday so we will get by.

 

After that we had lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Fort Collins. The more we move around the more we find this is really a great location. We are close to almost everything we need.

 

I have put away almost everything I have for the kitchen so far. I have to move to the master bedroom and start organizing before they bring the new mattress. It's so much tougher to unload the coach than it was to fill it up.

 

We have begun to realize that we were really over the legal limit of weight in the coach. We honestly had to idea. It's really very fortunate we never had to have it weighed for any reason. Not sure what we would have done if somebody found out we were carrying too much cargo. We think it will be completely unloaded one day this week.

 

We welcome a quiet day tomorrow. I hope you have a quiet day, too. Have a wonderful Sabbath!

 

 

 

 

Lots to say-December 4, 2014

I have been trying to come up with a way to make this brief, but it is difficult. After "cussin' and discussin'", prayer, planning, thinking and weighing the pros and cons, we have made a conscious decision to suspend traveling for a while and put down roots at least temporarily. You know the reason without me typing it: Hannah.

We were lead to a really nice little condo just 6 miles from Derrick's house. 2 BR/2BA. Great view but not of the mountains (aren't you glad you will be not bombarded with more sunset pictures?). We have a cute little garage that only the Cute Red Vehicle can fit in plus it will hold the extra refrigerator out of the coach. The huge disadvantage is that we have a 17 step flight of stairs to climb to get to the living part. It is a one level condo built on the second floor. I cannot begin to describe out these condos are built to maximize land. It's really very interesting. One day I will get some pictures taken and then try to describe it to you.

We are on our third day of moving and we are not even close to being done. We drove the coach over the first day and unloaded as much as we could. Derrick spent his lunch hour helping with the really heavy stuff. That enabled us to spend the night and sleep in warmth which we have not done in a long time.

There are so many wonderful things we are enjoying that would simply bore you because you live with those good things everyday. But I will say one thing and that is that I will never ever take nice toilet paper for granted again.

We have over 3 times the floor space of the coach, but so much less storage space. We are really having to work hard to fit things in. All in all, that's a small price to pay.

The freezer part of the refrigerator is so much bigger I cannot fill it up, yet. The refrigerated part is so much smaller so I am struggling with that. It will work out. I have a full sized washer and dryer that actually holds 6 or more pairs of jeans. I could only wash two in the coach. So, you can see there really were some pros and cons to be considered.

We must buy a sofa (or couch if you prefer) and we need a chest of drawers for the bedroom. We are making a room for Hannah with all of her toys that live with us. We brought her over yesterday and she absolutely loved it. She played and played and never noticed we did not turn on AJ and the Monster Machines. We are struggling with Comcast service. They are the worst in the business. That's why they were bought out by Xfinity, but they're not much better. We will loose our wonderful satellite service since the HOA does not allow dishes, but still we think we can get by somehow.

As we finally get settled in I will finish telling this story but for now you know why I have not had time to post this blog. There'll be pictures to share eventually, too.

In the meantime know we are still working to get moved in. And be happy we are warm. We certainly are!

Nasty weather-November 30, 2014

At 4:30 this morning it was 53 degrees. It is now 22 and falling plus it could snow. This is one of the things we don't like about this area. If you like the weather, wait a few minutes and you won't like it at all!! We are having to buzz around here this morning and get everything done that takes water because we know it will freeze. I keep repeating my mantra, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". We are strong. We are strong. We are strong. Who am I trying to convince?

I hope your Sunday will be less of a challenge than ours. In fact I hope you have a wonderfully
peaceful day filled with many blessings.

The sun'll come out tomorrow......................

Yet another one-November 28, 2014

It's a sunset. Go ahead and delete now if you like. I just cannot believe these gorgeous sunsets keep appearing for me to enjoy and share.

Doesn't it look like the sky is on fire? This was taken from Derrick's house.

 

Our Thanksgiving dinner at Derrick's house was delicious. He is actually quite a good cook and is very creative. We had Cornish hens instead of turkey. Since then we have all been busy. But I'm never too busy to stop and appreciate a gorgeous sunset.

 

Have a wonderful weekend.

 

Turkey Day-November 26, 2014

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

 

I wish everyone a wonderful day.

Please take a moment to say thanks for the blessings that surround you.

 



One more day-November 25, 2014

It's supposed to snow a little tonight, less than an inch. After that we should be into decent weather for a while. We can remember so many Christmas Days that were very pleasant and warm. We hope this year is like that.

We brought Hannah out to our coach today. She knew it, of course, but when it was time to go, she headed for the Cute Red Vehicle. Bless her heart. We confused her. But we still had fun. We played all sorts of things plus we danced the "party dance". A few days ago we had to do the "pumpkin seed dance". These are her titles, not ours. She is such a character.

I am so excited that I will be able to cook my favorite sweet potato pies this year for the first time in four years. I cooked the sweet potatoes today, so I am ready to get busy in the morning. I can hardly wait.

Wish you could join us for a piece of pie!

We made it-November 23, 2014

Look closely and look at our helper as were packing up to leave

Colorado City. He apparently lives in the park all the time because

people do not concern him. He was very calm. And cute.

 

The drive to Derrick's house was very windy and the traffic was really heavy. It was a relief to get here. We parked on the street to unhook the car. Then I put Hannah in the front seat and let her ride  while Jerry got it parked in the side yard. Her eyes got big and she just grinned. It didn't take her too long realize the view is very different than from a car seat in a car. It would not be hard to get her to ride with us on a trip.

We got settled in and grabbed a quick bite to eat. Then we went into the house and babysat both girls while their parents went to a movie. Hannah was hilarious and had as much fun as we did. Zoey is coming around and starting to know who we are. She was very good. It was so late when we got back to the coach but we didn't mind. We had a good time.

Now we settle into a different location and try to get past the next couple of cold days. After that we should be fine for a while.

We are grateful we had a safe return to Hurricane Hannah. She brings such a joy to our lives.

Making progress-November 21, 2014

We made it to Colorado City today very easily. There were no storms and no wind. It was partly cloudy which is always helpful.

I thought I would share a few pictures with you. In random order......................

This is a mackerel sky I spotted on Thursday. I was driving on I-40

while taking the picture. Jerry was in the passenger seat turning ashen

and holding his breath.

 

This walkway goes across I-40. It's not unusual for a walkway to

go across an interstate, but the metal sculptures seem odd to me.

Sometimes I think they look like free form dinosaurs.

 

 

And this metal sculpture which appears to be either

stainless steel or chrome is along side the highway.

It is built like a totem pole but has Hispanic symbols

on it. It must be really tall because this is an elevated

portion of the road.

 

I-25 in northern New Mexico. I have wondered many times why

they didn't go around this huge pile of rocks instead of blasting

a hole through it. All of the land around this is as flat as can be.

This just sticks up in the middle of nowhere like a blister on one's nose.

 

I didn't realize I was holding the phone crooked. This is on the top

of Raton Pass. The snow is still there from a week ago. I don't think

it will be melting any time soon. All along this part of the route there

was evidence that mag chloride had been sprayed to keep the road

from being icy during that snow storm. We are happy we missed that.

 

Jerry said going up Raton Pass is not bad. It's going down that is wild and harrowing. The road drops 1800 feet at a 6% grade. It really is something. And it's much more adventurous in a coach than a car. But we made it!

 

Tomorrow we have the thrill of going through Denver on a Saturday. That's always such a treat.

 

 

 

 

 

Going north-November 20, 2104

Do you see why we want to head north?

We are missing Hurricane Hannah.

 

We see an opportunity in the weather and we are going to seize it. God willing, we'll see Hannah in a couple of days. Prayers for safe travel are appreciated.

What to do-November 19, 2014

We both have developed OCD trying to keep up with the changing weather forecasts. We follow the predictions when two different people say the same thing. Having said that, our plans to stay another week are going to be cut short. High winds are moving into every part of our route starting on Sunday. Therefore we have decided to leave on Friday and head back. If the weather keeps changing our plans will do the same. We just don't like the wind.

The nights have been cold here, but most of the days are quite nice. It's not humid so the cold is more tolerable. We are warmer than most of Colorado. Most of the country is suffering with this Arctic front so we certainly cannot complain.

We have a fabulous lunch today at Nexus. It is not close to us, but it had such great reviews we hated to pass it up. The service was unreal and the food was phenomenal. I ordered red beans and rice which is one of my most favorite foods. However, this dish was too hot for me to eat. Jerry can eat it but I could not. The waiter said I would not be charged for the dish and I told him I most certainly would be. It was not their fault. I should have asked if it was spicy. So he charged me and then gave me a gift certificate for a free entrée on our next visit. Restaurants just don't do things like that these days. When we get back in this direction we most certainly will eat here again. Excellent!

Everybody stay warm!

Will keep you posted on our progress.

Staying put-November 15, 2014

We are trying not to be depressed that the bad weather is not moving anywhere. We are still not as cold as Colorado but it is not pleasant here. We are trying to tolerate. But we are missing Hannah.

I made a crock pot full of homemade vegetable soup before we left this morning. We consider that to be one of the most enjoyable cold weather meals. I am pleased with the results.

We have nothing on tap for tomorrow as the high should only be 45 degrees. That's stay in and stay warm weather. I hope the weather is better where you are.

May your Sunday be pleasant and relaxing.

Brrrrr-November 13, 2014

We always watch the weather wherever we may be as well as weather where family and friends are. We did not expect cold weather here until late last night when they changed the forecast. So, Jerry turned on a light bulb we keep in the wet bay. That 60 watt bulb is enough to keep everything in that bay from freezing. Then we dripped the faucet in the kitchen sink. It dropped to 21 degrees last night. And it was just below 50 in the bedroom when we woke up. That's cold in my book. It did not go above freezing until noon today. It was such a shock to people that there were frozen pipes all over the park. And there were frozen pipes in a number of coaches and 5th wheel trailers. The couple next to us who are on their way to Sedona, AZ had a frozen water pipe this morning. That's tough. We faired well though we were cold. It takes so little to prevent freezing so we are not sure why people don't take those small steps. Sunday night is supposed to be worse. We are a bit apprehensive about that.

When we did thaw out we headed to town. This park is just outside of the city limits up on a hill. The pollution in Albuquerque was so shocking we did not know what to say.

I was driving so I could not zoom in like I wanted to. The lower

level brown cloud in about the center of the picture covers up the city

of Albuquerque. It is disgusting pollution. It really gets to your eyes and throat, too.

 

We hope tomorrow is nice enough that we can go somewhere touristy though we are not excited about breathing that nasty air.

 

Before I forget again, please let me share with you what UPS told us. Starting January 1, they are going to change the way they compute shipping charges. Instead of it being done by weight, it is going to be based on the size and shape of the package. She said "it will be much more expensive" than it is now. So, we are already thinking of how to avoid UPS or FedEx. The Post Office is no cheaper. So, start planning ahead for next year's shipping. It goes without saying it will affect whatever you order online, too. Gotcha!

 

 

 

 

Nice here-November 12, 2014

Since we arrived here in Albuquerque on Monday afternoon, we have not had a reason to complain about the weather. It is definitely not summer weather, but it is oh so much better than where we left. We feel guilty for those having to tolerate the sub-zero weather there. We hope it changes soon but right now that doesn't look like it's in the picture. We can hang out here for a while but if it continues for a long time we might have to change our minds. We'll take it a day at a time.

I will say the fall colors here are beautiful. The gold and yellow leaves glow in the sunshine. I tried taking pictures but the glow does not show up so they just look like gold and yellow leaves.

It will be cool tonight and probably tomorrow. It will be 28 tonight and mid 50s tomorrow. That's our coldest night. In Colorado at Derrick's house it is 4, going to 17 below tonight and a high of 15 tomorrow with sunshine. We know we would not have survived that. If we did not freeze in our sleep, our pipes certainly would have. So, it is a big huge blessing to be here.

Yesterday we had a great meal at the Route 66 Buffet. But it was even more interesting to watch the people. There were so many different Native Americans there that it was just fascinating. Tomorrow we'll start scoping out Mexican restaurants.

If it's cold where you are, please stay warm. And if you're warm, pray for those who are not. Have a great evening.

Very long day-November 10, 2014

As pleasant as yesterday's travel was, today's was not. The crosswinds were absolutely terrible the entire day. Tumbleweeds were blowing all over the place. I felt so sorry for Jerry. There is absolutely nothing I can do except offer verbal encouragement. We did arrive in Albuquerque late afternoon. We connected in spite of the wind which was better here but still bad. Now we are recovering. I was able to take only a couple of pictures because the movement of the coach blurred everything.

These are the Sangre de Cristo mountains, part of the Rockies.

These are in extreme southern Colorado and into northern New Mexico.

Translated from Spanish to English it means "Blood of Christ".

 

At the top of Raton Pass (elevation 7200+) one sees signs warning

of elk and bears. I missed the bears sign. The bear sign is a bit alarming.

 

This interesting mountain is just outside of Santa Fe. I don't know yet what it is called. 

 

We have never driven in the coach from Colorado City south to Albuquerque. Everything looked very different. If we had not had such a rough ride we would have seen a lot more new sites. Still we are very grateful to have made it here safely.

 

We suspect we will be here longer than anticipated because that horrible Canadian front is really going to hang on up north. We are sorry for everyone who has to deal with that cold. At the same time we are missing our comfy "personal RV park" we were in. It was an excellent location with a fabulous landlord. Hopefully we can return soon. 

 



 

 

Colorado City-November 9, 2014

After we got on the road this afternoon, we checked and found that the temps projected for this week were lowered yet again and extended for several more days. How about a low of 1, yes one degree on Wednesday night after a wonderful high of 15 degrees during the day? No thanks. We knew leaving was the right thing to do. As hard as it was to leave there was a certain amount of peace as we drove south on the interstate. There were plenty of crazy drivers on the road but there were fewer cars in total. It was cloudy so that helped a lot.

I've always liked Pikes Peak and how the view changes as you drive south.

The first glimpse of Pikes Peak as you head south.

 

 

The view as you get close to the Air Force Academy. Lots of

zoom in this picture.

In the terms of the age of mountains, Pikes Peak is an antique

as evidenced by the round top.

 

Just about the last view as you leave Colorado Springs.

 

 

We arrived in Colorado City before the sun set. I was happy about that. As I have stated before this is the prettiest part of the entire state in my meager opinion. It is surrounded by the Green Mountains, still a part of the Rockies.

 



WARNING: I AM ABOUT TO POST ANOTHER SUNSET PICTURE.

 

Sunset over the Green Mountains.

 I just love all the different colors.

 

We have reservations in Albuquerque tomorrow. The weather there is to be quite nice. We hope it holds.

 

 

 

 



A quick trip-November 8, 2014

First please let me apologize to my Mother that she will probably read this before I can call her. We got home too late tonight to call. I'll call you on the way out of town if traffic is not too bad.

For the next few days here, let me show you the projected highs and lows. Starting with tomorrow: 71/36, 52/16, 27/9 with snow, 16/4 with snow, 25/10, 33/13, 31/4, 28/6, 31/11. We have been in temps as low as 17 degrees at night but warm during the day. We see no conceivable way we can stay in here with only an inch of Styrofoam surrounding us with a high of 16 during the day and as low as 4 at night. We are parked where the north wind would not bother us, but the cold still creeps in. These land barges are fair weather birds just as we are. After following the Canadian cold front dropping in on us for a week, we have finally come to our senses and figured out we need to get out of Dodge for a couple of days. Well, a week actually. We do not like to travel on Sunday but there are no options. We will go spend a week in Albuquerque and return when the weather warms. We will definitely be back here before Dec 1st. It has been emotional for us to make this decision, but at least our common sense won out. You may ask why Albuquerque? Because I finally learned to spell it without having to look it up!!

Therefore we went out to eat tonight with Hannah and her family. When we got to their house and we were saying our good-byes, I bent down to hug her and she touched my cheek and said, "You stay here." How I held myself together I'll never know. So I can assure you, God willing, we will be back here as soon as possible.

If we find anything fun and new in Albuquerque, you know I will post it. However, we have explored there before and we doubt there is anything new. However, their weather is definitely projected to be quite decent. We will just hunker down and hope time passes quickly.

I would be most appreciative of a prayer for our safety. We are quite unsettled about leaving though we know we have no choice.

I do hope you have a peaceful and quiet Sunday. And I hope the cold weather misses you.

A long time-November 6, 2014

We have been so very busy I had no idea how long it had been since I posted on this blog. We had about decided to stay another two weeks to get our Christmas shopping done and gifts wrapped. Then next week's weather forecast was changed drastically. There will be at least one day next week that does not go above freezing and it's down into the teens several nights. We cannot survive that. So, now we are frantically trying to figure out when to drive out if here and where to go. Without a doubt, we have ruled out winter on the southern border of Texas, Arizona or New Mexico. We know Las Vegas is in the crosshairs of some not too pleasant people so we are hesitant to spend the entire winter there. All the while we are trying to figure out where to go, we have Hannah asking us not to leave every time we take her home. It is heart breaking to walk away from her and that's when we are just coming back to the coach. Driving out of here for good is not something we can imagine dealing with. There are no more two conflicted people anywhere than we are right now.

Today was just gorgeous. It was so pretty we went out and chased bubbles. Hannah just loves bubbles, the bigger the better. And she ran until she wore herself out completely. We did not even need jackets today. That's how nice it was. But that is coming to an abrupt halt in just a few days.

I have to post one more picture of Hannah. It may be a long dry spell before I post another one if we have to leave here right away.

Besides chasing bubbles, Hannah loves playing with rocks,

all kinds of rocks. She loves all sizes and shapes. She loves to talk

about the colors of the rocks and I've been trying to teach her the

different kinds of rocks, well the ones I know anyway. She also informed

us this morning she LOVES red tractors! Funny little girl.

 

That building in the picture is on the property beside this one. It

is also on the market. It will take months to clean all the junk out of

that building if they ever sell it. Literally, months. Bless their hearts.

 

We will be babysitting both girls tomorrow night. That's always an adventure. Zoey does not really know who we are yet. She just knows that she has seen us before and will smile at us. She gets a bit bent out of shape if her routine is changed in any way. But we'll get through it.

Two reminders-October 31, 2014

Reminder #1: VOTE! If you have a mail-in ballot, send it in today. If you can turn a ballot in, go now and turn it in. If you vote in person, get up early next Tuesday and go to the polls. Yes, this is a mid-term election but it as important as any election we've had in recent history. You absolutely must vote. If you don't, I won't listen to you complain! For the record, our ballots were mailed early this week. We wish we were as fortunate as some people in Colorado who by major mistake will get to vote twice. They got a mail in ballot and were not marked on the list so they can go in person and vote again. We are still happy we got to vote once.

Reminder #2: Be sure to turn your clocks back tomorrow night before you go to bed.

Not much news-October 30, 2014

I am going to post yet another sunset picture. If you don't want to see another one, you may log off now! I just can't resist.

Contrails or chemtrails? There were 10 of them visible at once.

Stunning.

 

Wednesday we took Hannah to Petco, not to buy a pet, but to introduce her to live animals. They normally don't have cats and dogs there, but they had two cats (mew-mews). They were obviously siblings as they had the same identical white spot on the tip of their noses. It's a good thing we saw them last or Hannah would have missed all the other animals. We saw mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, parrots, parakeets, turtles, fish, snakes, lizards, frogs and one adorable black and yellow dart frog. She actually liked the rodents and the turtles the best. Jerry was looking at the snakes when I took Hannah to the turtle tank. She promptly yelled "Granddaddy come see the turtles!". The entire store heard her. But we didn't care. She ran and ran from one display to another. It was a challenge to keep up with her.

 

Then we had to stop at the grocery store for Clementines. She loves those little things. We were both holding her hand when an SUV started to back up. She stopped and said "Stop. That's dangerous". Ok, Hannah, how do you know about dangerous? Isn't that a big word for a 2 year old? Inside the store she decided to sing the ABC song. It was fine at first, but the more we walked the louder she got. I wonder how many check out clerks get serenaded? She definitely keeps us on our toes.

 

We will have her on Saturday. We don't know yet what we will do but we need to try to be outdoors since it might rain/snow on Sunday or Monday.

 

Have a Happy Halloween tomorrow. Be safe and behave yourself.

 

And don't forget to turn your clocks back before you go to bed on Saturday night. I wish they'd quit messing with my time. It irritates me and my internal clock.

A picture to share-October 27 2014

I could not resist sharing a picture with you of two of my favorite people in the whole world.

Hannah and Derrick.

I want you to know she picked out that outfit when we took her shopping one

day. She grabbed it and put it in the cart after exclaiming,

"Look, Grammy, a mew-mew shirt!"

 

For the record, nobody around here slept very well last night. The wind which normally does not bother us was horrific. We were rocking and rolling. Then it started raining which was blown in on our clean car. Now the sun is shining. The wind is blowing like crazy and it is very chilly. Another day of this and the weather should moderate a bit. Hannah even told us today that the wind kept her awake last night. Hopefully the wind will lay down tonight.

Busy weekend-October 26, 2014

Most of Saturday was spent at Derrick's. Derrick and Jerry rearranged Derrick's garage and storage building. We had tossed a few big plastic tubs of stuff into the storage building (which was intended to be a garage in the beginning) but it was stuffed in a corner. The tractor is parked in there so it takes very little to make the place look junky. You may have experienced this at some point in your life. As soon as that was done we all had to get ready for a family wedding.

The family wedding was on the top of Lookout Mountain, elevation 7379 feet. It is classified as one of the larger foothills that overlooks Golden. Sorry, but 7379 feet high is not a foothill in my book. It is a full fledged mountain. The view was spectacular if one had to courage to look. The wedding was so sweet and so much fun. The man who officiated had a radio DJ type voice and he provided a wonderful service for this couple. And he read it from an iPad which I think is a sign of the times. The route up the mountain was nothing but snaky hairpin turns where you see your own taillights. We took a different route back down and it was much nicer. The wedding took place at the Boettcher Mansion. I told Jerry on the way up that I bet less than two people at the wedding would know what the Boettchers did for Colorado. He confessed he did not know. What? He is a native. The Boettchers brought sugar beet seed to Colorado from Germany and started that farming industry here. As they say, the rest is history. Sugar beets are a staple among Colorado farmers. My first year here I devoured every history book I could get my hands on because I knew nothing about Colorado. I'll match wits with a native any day!

Yesterday was also the first day we got to see Hannah's Halloween costume. As soon as the back door opened, she shouted "Grammy, I'm a bee!" and then she started running around and buzzing. What a hoot that little girl is.

There's no reason a little bumble bee can't wear

pink Crocs, is there?

 

We were so late getting home last night that we are still tired today. But it was worth it. Our best wishes to Jenna and Don.

 

Nasty weather moves in tomorrow, but hopefully it does not linger here.

 

Great day-October 23, 2014

We had Hannah all day long today. She was so good and so much fun. She ate well. And she ran outside for a very long time. She loves this yard. Today her game was throwing her kick balls under the coach to see where they ended up. It was slightly windy so she chased them all over the place. And so did we. Good exercise makes for a restful nap.

Somebody famous wrote that "fog creeps in on little cat's feet". It may have been Hemingway but I'm not sure. That quote applies to winter here. You have a beautiful day, you go to bed and sleep peacefully and wake up to winter cold that has crept in on little cat's feet. We are at the point that winter is due to arrive anytime. Yet we linger. Hannah is the adhesive holding us here. We need to make a decision very soon. In the meantime we are enjoying some absolutely gorgeous weather. And nearly every day provides us with memorable sunsets. They are each different and each unique.

Yep, it's tough to have to look at scenes like this every day.

But we keep putting one foot in front of the other!

I remain amazed at how many people go through life and never see the beautiful world around them. I try not to miss a thing.

Art and Hannah-October 20, 2014

Art does not mean a person. Art is a chunk of metal I want to show you.

This piece of art needs a lot of explanation.

 

The City of Loveland owns millions and millions of dollars in artwork. They have potholes big enough to swallow a Smart Car, but they own priceless art. This is their latest piece. The main reason I am showing you this chunk of very expensive metal is that the brother of our neighbor when we lived in Loveland is one of the artists. I feel like I am using the term "artist" rather loosely. This monster is on the north side of the road at the major entrance into the city. Can I explain it? No, not really. I do know that the man named Loveland for whom the city was named was a railroad man. Perhaps that explains the railroad tracks. Maybe horses roamed wild at some point in history and that's what these blue/purple horses represent. I haven't a clue. But the oddest part is that the horses look like someone took tractor parts and stuck them to the horses instead of tossing them in the trash. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps you will be able to call this art.

 

We kept both girls today starting at 8:30 this morning. Today was ZoZo's day to be the opposite of an angel. And Hannah was very good. I had made her some tiny little pancakes for breakfast. She inhaled 9 of them while watching Umi Zoomi. We like those little creatures, too. Then finally Hannah needed to be allowed outside. Jerry raked up a pile of leaves for her to play in and with. After she scattered them, she'd say "Granddaddy, I need another pile of leaves." So he'd rake some more. He was starting to wear down a bit when her daddy came home for lunch and gave us a break.

 

Get ready. Get set. Jump!

 

Love those leaves!

 

Just resting before another jump.

 

Kids love leaves. Yes, they are dirty but we just had to let her play in them. It makes for good memories.

 

Tomorrow is our yearly dental check ups. Fun. Actually it's not bad. We really do like our dentist and have been with him since he opened practice many years ago.

 

 

Quick trip to Estes Park-October 16, 2014

While we were having our morning coffee Jerry got a hankering for fresh salt water taffy. So, we headed to Estes Park. It's only about 55 miles from us and it was a great day for a drive. The first stop we made in town was at Estes Park Taffy Co. Their taffy is absolutely the best we have ever found. And they were busy making it today. Yummy stuff.

I am not sure why but we had totally forgotten about last year's devastation to the Big Thompson Canyon caused by the horrible September rains. Going from Loveland to Estes we saw a little damage but coming back to Loveland we were stunned into silence. We both were here when the Big Thompson Canyon flooded in 1976 and over 160 people were killed. Last year's flood only caused one death but the physical damage to the land was shocking.

Before I post the sad pictures please let me share a few pictures of Estes Park itself. It was so nice there we did not even need jackets.

Just walking beside this was soothing.

 

This gigantic bronze Columbine was right on the main street.

It's really pretty and I would estimate 10-12 feet tall.

 

The following pictures might be hard to comprehend for those who have never been in this canyon so I'll explain as best I can.

 

It doesn't need much explanation, does it?

 

Ditto. Those huge rocks were moved from higher up by

the force of the Big Thompson River raging out of control.

 

This is some of what used to be the little community of Drake.

There were homes and businesses here.

 

This house was left but it is not salvageable. There were several

more houses here, too. Giving credit where it is due, at least

the vast majority of the mess and debris has been cleaned up.

 

This just looks like a pile of dirt. However, it was quite a huge

mountain side that washed away with the force of the rain and

rushing water. The camera does not grasp what a big area this is.

There were no houses on this site.

 

Viestenz-Smith Park or what used to be. This was a wonderful

place where we went on countless picnics over the years. It was

a big park with lush green grass, a beautiful river and lots of

picnic tables plus places for kids to run and play. We just loved it.

It no longer exists.

 

This large steel bridge was built and placed in Viestenz-Smith

Park after the horrible flood in 1976. It was supposed to be

indestructible. Walking over it with the Big Thompson River

rushing under it was just delightful. And it made for some great

pictures. However, note that it no longer spans the river.

It is actually positioned parallel to the river.

 

We were supposed to get married the weekend of the Big Thompson flood in 1976 and we had reservations at a hotel in Estes Park. It was such a blessing in disguise when the jeweler who was making our rings called to say he was running late and he needed another week. He offered temporary substitutes for the ceremony. We said we would just put it off a week. If we had taken his offer we would have been driving up the Canyon headed to Estes Park when that horrible flood hit. There might not have ever been a Derrick and thus no Hannah. I still get emotional when I tell that true story. God was really in charge of our lives that night.

 

We have also been through hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. But nothing prepared us for what we saw today. It was so shocking. Can you imagine me being speechless? Sometimes I could not even take a picture. I just had to stare. Bless all those people who have survived two huge floods. No wonder we saw so many "For Sale" signs everywhere.

 

In spite of the sadness there was still beauty to see today. We had a great lunch. And we had a safe drive. We are thankful.