Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Today was a beautiful day to be outside. My friend Jill Hopkins and I went snow shoeing at the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge. She got a pair of snowshoes for Christmas. I may have to spend some Christmas money on my own pair. We hiked through the Oak Savannah, saw lots of "poop" and two deer. Couldn't get the camera out fast enough to capture the deer on photos. If you're looking for some fun exercise and want to get off the beaten path go out to the refuge. It doesn't cost anything to borrow the snow shoes.

Christmas, 2010

Christmas Eve, we went to the 5:00 service at church at which Jane and I sang our traditional number for the umpteenth year in a row. Following church, David and Alicia, Mike, Leah, Caleb and Leah's parents and brother came to our house for a supper of potato soup and ham sandwiches. It was so nice to open our home to Leah's parents and brother. They had traveled down to Prairie City for Christmas and I'm so glad they felt comfortable enough to join us. My parents came out after supper and John and Kari, Payton and Finley's plans were changed due to weather so they were also with us. We went from not being certain who was going to be at our house on Christmas Eve to a house full. A good time was had by all. At 11:00 Jim and I went back to church to help with that service.

Christmas morning we just hung around the house for awhile and at about 11:00 we went to Mike and Leah's and joined them and her family for dinner. It was nice of them to include us. We watched them open their gifts and the rest of the afternoon was spent in several games of "spoons". It got vicious enough we actually broke the table. Again a good time was had by those playing. And I think the table is repairable.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tuesday night was Walker/Wilson girl's night out. We all (excluding Mary Ellen) went to the Civic Center to see Mannheim Steamroller. I think all enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed watching all the different instruments that make some of their music which I have enjoyed listening to for years. I didn't realize until that evening how much "Renaissance" type music was mixed into their arrangements. I thought recorders were instruments that little kids played in elementary school. But they use many different size (tones) of recorders for their music and I enjoyed watching them play these. There was also a lute. Never knew what a lute was, other than it is mentioned in the Bible as an instrument to be used so now I am better informed. I'll never listen to Mannheim Steamroller Christmas songs in the same way again. Attending the concert in addition to me was Beth Walker, Kari Walker, Alicia Wilson and Leah Wilson.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Tis the season. We have been busy going to Christmas programs. Finley, Payton and Mallory's church Christmas programs were both on December 12 one at 4:00 and one at 6:00. There was no way we could travel to both of them so mother nature helped us by providing bad weather and Webster City cancelled theirs. We were both able to go to Payton and Finley's first church Christmas program. They both did very well. Finley wore a star on her head and sang Twinkle, Twinkle Christmas Star. New words to that age old song. Very Cute. Payton sang the Little Drummer Boy. He had a decorated oatmeal box as a drum. The string around his neck and attached to the drum broke and the drum fell to the floor. Payton improvised well, picking up the drum and patting the side of it not mnissing a beat. Mallory's program was postposed until last Sunday. We have been going to Webster City for seven years now. There is always a talent show at 3:00 followed by the program at four. I double checked the times with Mary Ellen. So we decided to make a stop in Ames at the ISU men's basketball game first, leave early and head up to W.C. Unfortunately, this year there were only 3 acts for the talent show and they started the program immediately following at 3:15, 45 min. earlier than we had planned. Driving about 75 on a 55 mpsh Hwy. 17 we made it on Act 5 out of 12. We saw most of it. Our church's program was also cancelled on the 12th. We are never able to go to it as we are traveling to W.C. for programs. But tonight was the reschedule date and we enjoyed watching it. There's something about church programs that but you in the mood for Christmas.

After work today, Leah and I took Caleb to see Santa. So far he has no stranger anxiety, but next year might be different.

Need to start thinking about a grocery list as a storm is suppose to move in tomorrow. Merry Christmas everyone!

Saturday December 11, 2010

We are finally getting our first snow for the season. It has just been a pretty yucky day to be outside. Jim made a good vegetable beef soup. Mike, Leah and Caleb came in and joined us for supper and then we went to my Mom and Dad's. It was a fun evening as we spent a lot of time looking at old annuals seeing what people looked like when we were in K-6 grade. I think Leah especially enjoyed looking at people she has come to know in the community, including her in-laws. Stay warm, dry and safe everyone.

December 8, 2010

Both trees are up. That's right Both of them. We bought the usual white pine for the main living/family room. But for some reason we decided to buy a smaller frasier fur. I think we bought it because white pine don't give off much of an aroma and the furs are suppose to be the "good smellers". Sometimes I can smell something of a tree aroma and sometimes I can't. This is a picture of the smaller tree which Jim has dubbed as a "man tree". I hope you can tell that it is totally decorated with I-H (International Harvestor) lights, holstein cows and "red" tractors. Hope Santa does leave manure and or tractor oil as a gift!

Dec. 3-5, 2010

My pictures are out of order. The bottom picture should be first and the first should be last. We had a very eventful weekend. It started on Friday afternoon when we drove to Decorah, Iowa. Friends, Dick and Kris McKlveen, Luther College graduates invited us to an annual concert at Luther entitled Christmas at Luther. Of course a week ago the weatherman was forecasting good weather. But as luck would have it, Decorah was in a winter weather watch. From Independence, Iowa to Decorach we drove 40 mph. We did make it in plenty of time and experienced the most fabulous concert I have ever seen. There aren't words that can express how beautiful and wonderful it was. A very special way to start off the Christmas season. I wish we could make it an annual event, however, tickets are only given to Luther students and alumni. Check the Iowa Public Television schedule. They are going to broadcast the 2008 concert twice during December. We stayed at Dick and Kris' condo and the next morning there was about 9 inches of snow on the ground. It was actually very beautiful. Saturday after touring a few places in Decorah we took off for Minneapolis. The weather and most importantly the roads were good. Saturday night we went to a special Christmas production of the Church Basement Ladies Away in the Basement. This is the third Church Basement Ladies play we have seen and have heard they are making a fourth. Will be looking forward to that. Sunday morning we started home after eating breakfast with Jim's niece and nephew, John and Wendy Kobe. There was one more stop before we got home. Mill's Fleet and Farm in Owatona, MN. I LOVE THAT STORE!!!! I won't mention how much money I spent there, wish there was one in the Des Moines area but this gives me another reason to visit MN.

Thanksgiving

A great Thanksgiving at the Walker compound. Great food. Jim made a new dressing (not stuffing, although I don't know the difference). Everyone was here for dinner except David and Alicia who were in Leon. However, they joined us later in the afternoon for some fun games. Spoons is becoming the favorite with lots of laughs, screaming, grabbing and one backward flip out of a chair onto the back porch. At the end of the day, Caleb showed interest in a book read by great grandpa.

November 20, 2010

This week Caleb attended his first Iowa State men's basketball game. He had a good time walking all over the place and beating on the top of the score board in the balcony. He probably won't be attending another game anytime soon. I think I sat in my seat maybe 10 min. max and that included time I was trying to bribe him with ice creame to sit down. Sunday Jim and I went to the movie Secretariat. We haven't been to a movie in so long I can't even remember what our last movie together was. It was a good movie and glad I talked him into going.

Now it's time to prepare for Thanksgiving. Enjoy the weekend.

My sister Carolyn and niece Lauree were back in Prairie City this weekend so we had an early Thanksgiving. This is Lauree's best weekend of feeling good before she starts her next round of chemo. So here is the most recent family picture, Jim of course is taking the picture. Happy early Thanksgiving everyone.

I'm a little slow getting Caleb's first birthday on the blog, not that any readers were actually looking for them on the exact day. Caleb Burton Wilson, 10-19-09, Wow I can't believe an entire year has flown by. Every minute has been a joy, even the fussy days when you wouldn't sleep. Now you're sleeping all night and then some (catching up I'm sure) and walking when the mood suits you. Also posted are the rest of the grandkid clan. I don't know why Dalton frequently seems to be missing from these photos but I guess when you're almost 13 hanging out with the younger kids isn't always something high on your list to do. We enjoy them all whenever we get to see them. There are lots of fun days ahead with Dalton's basketball games, Mallory's dance, and Payton's first school concerts. Having the grandkids makes me really look forward to my getting older and having time to spend with them.

October 10, 2010

We continue to enjoy the fabulous fall weather, free of rain and humidity. Not too much exciting in our lives. Last week Thursday night, on a whim, I sent a picture of Caleb into WHOtv not expecting them to use it but it was on the 10:00 news that same night, about 2 hours after I sent it in. The picture was one of many taken by Leah's uncle for his one year photos. And here is a picture of great-grandpa and Caleb playing.

Keep enjoying the weather, it makes me wish I was retired.

October 3, 2010

This past Saturday brought my first trip to Carroll's Pumpkin Patch in Grinnell. What a fun place for kids. The owners have done an excellent job designing a kid friendly atmosphere to enjoy the fall festivities. Caleb wasn't old enough to appreciate everything but this Grandma had a fun time. Thanks Leah for inviting me. Now I need to get motivated to get my fall decorations out.

October 3, 2010

The last two Tuesdays have been making trips to Webster City to see grandson Dalton play 7th grade football. He mostly plays center but can occasionally play defense. Unfortunately we didn't bring them good luck but we did enjoy having the opportunity to sit outside in nice weather and watch good games. We might make it to one more game in Boone before his season is complete.

Last Sunday took us to Webster City again to see Mallory receive her Bible at church. Mallory is in the middle (black and silver outfit). They have a very meaningful presentation. The Bibles are very "kid" friendly. Enjoy using it Mallory, it is a special gift.

Saturday Night September 18, 2010

Fun unplanned times. Tonight Jim decided he was going to go to Prairie Meadows to bet on the horses and eat at the buffet. I was kind of in the mood to just stay home as it was rainy and cold outside. We went and after eating we walked out to the track and ran into friends (pictured). Today was Tonia's birthday and yesterday was Sue's birthday. They were watching the horses and then going to eat. It was cold outside (40 some degress and it's suppose to be 85 on Monday). Crazy. We had a fun time. Glad I didn't stay home.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

A big week for Caleb. Thursday after work Leah and I went to Target. While in the shoe aisle, looking for a pair of shoes for Caleb, I walked one-handed with him down the aisle, let go of him and he took about 10 steps by himself. He's taken one or two before, but that's not enough to count as "he walking!" But 10 steps counts! (three days short of being 11 months). We spent the rest of the evening, trying to get him to perform. He did pretty good. Friday I picked him up at the babysitter and took him back to my old stomping grounds for work and he would not perform. We most of wore him out. I kept him for a short time on Friday after work so Leah could pack to head north to the Clay County Fair for the weekend. He also pumped the handle on the above top for the first time by himself. That excited me about as much as his walking. Like all children, he has grown up too fast.

Labor Day Weekend

A busy but very enjoyable weekend at the Walker compound.

Friday night went out for pizza with David and Alicia to celebrate Jim's birthday.

Saturday, Mary Ellen, Dalton and Mallory arrived. That evening we joined good friends "the Ponders" for supper at Roberts Creek West campground. The grill only shows a small part of the great food we ate. Later it was smores around the fire. The weather was perfect. Finally enjoyable days without heat, humidity and rain.

Sunday was the family dinner for Jim's birthday. Jim made beef and noodles and we ate outside even though it was extremely windy. We tried to get a picture of all the grandkids (definitely not a professional shot). From left to right, Finley, 3 1/3, Caleb 10 1/2 months, Mallory, 8 3rd grade, Payton 6 kindergarten, and Dalton 12 7th grade. John and the kids stayed overnight to sleep in the camper, but the weather was really weird. We tried to have a campfire but it kept spitting rain. They did sleep in the camper but left early Monday morning.

It was an overall great weekend for spending time with family. Wish we could do it more often.

August 31, 2010

WOW, it has almost been a month since my last post. I really fell behind. So what has been going on in the Walker Compound.

Jim is slowly be surely recovering from his surgery. Is allowed to be up and moving more but also still spends time in his chair with the leg up. This week he wants to go to the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday, (which I am against because it will be too much walking). He hasn't decided yet whether to go to the opening ISU football game on Thursday night (that will probably depend on how he feels after Wednesday). His Birthday is Friday and he's thinking he'll just sit on his ars, but I want to either go to the I-Cubs game or drive to KC to a Royals game(they both have fireworks afterwards). Check back to see what we decided.

Me....well I don't remember what all I've done. Payton and Finley stayed overnight with us on the 14th. They slept on the blow-up mattress and I slept on the couch beside them. I went back to school for teacher in-service on the 16th and students started back the 23rd. I am at a new building this year, not as in newly built, but new to me. I was involuntarily transferred from my K-2 position to the 6th grade building. This is the first year for a sixth grade building in the district. It is called Spring Creek. Spring Creek holds 500 6th graders in the old Junior High building. The Jr. High is now in the newly remodeled old Sr. High and the Sr. High is in its 2nd year new building. It now only takes me 10 min. to get to work. If you're driving down Hwy. 163 you can see my window from the highway, wave at me :).

Leah had her wisdom teeth out last Friday. She was out of it and actually got sick from the laughing gas so I had Caleb for about 25 hours straight. He has trouble sleeping at night although it went better than I thought it would. He slept for four hours (10-2). Then drank a little milk and went back to sleep until 4:30. The problem was, I didn't go back to sleep, so when he woke up at 4:30 and wanted to cry for awhile, I was ready to go back to sleep. There is a reason young people have babies. He went back to sleep at 6:30 a.m. and Caleb and I slept in one lazy boy and Jim slept in his until 9:15. That was nice.

Guess I forgot about our 9 inches of rain that one week. Mike and Leah had water in their basement and no ac so they slept here one night. We had minimal water in our basement, all absorbed by the carpet, so I ran the extractor over the rug. The last two weeks have been pretty crazy.

Looking forward to superb weather this weekend and a 3 day weekend. I'll try to get some pictures uploaded. Been busy adjusting to my new job!! At least the grass has slowed down and I can miss a week mowing.

August 7-8

Got to enjoy a couple of nice weather days this week. Of course, I used one of them mowing lawn but I noticed the water grass may be starting to die off, there were even some brown spots in the yard (hard to believe with all the rain) without the humidity for a couple of days the clippings were actually dry when they blew out. Made mowing a much more enjoyable experience.

Payton turns six on August 10 and that brought a party this weekend. That was held at Thomas Mitchelll Campground. Payton is anxiously awaiting the start of Kindergarten this year. I can't wait to hear how he likes it.

Caleb got to stay with Grammy for several hours on Saturday also. He loves to sleep with his hands over his head. Not my position of choice.

This is Jim on day 4/21 sitting on his ars (I don't know how to spell that). He had skin graft surgery on his burned leg again. He is already bored. He's only suppose to be on it to get up and go to the bathroom. Of course, as his nurse maid/Toby, I am always on him about being on it too much. I hate to say it but I might actually have to be glad I'm going back to work. We're going to need a break from each other by the end of another week. He goes back to the doctor tomorrow to get the dressing changed. Hope the doc will say it's looking good. Jim's decided it's too hot to be outside anyway and the garden is a disaster of weeds from the rain, the tomatoes are probably like all of yours, rotting because of rain. I think we've officially given up on it.

Last week of freedom for me and I already have one meeting this week and the rest of the week is filled with last minute appointments, it will fly by.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

It's been an interesting week since returning from vacation. Of course the lawn was more than ready to be mowed and with all the rain the water grass is taking over which makes the lawn look even worse. Jim mowed west of the house (which we refer to as the football field. We tried to use the lawn sweeper to catch the weedy/grass. That was marginally successful, but then the lawn mower broke down and another week has gone by and now we have it back. We need to just bale this yard. We're kind of starting to look like a redneck acreage.

The pool is fixed! YEA!!! Maybe I didn't mention it but the morning we left on vacation I went to check the chlorine level and one of the hoses had broken off and all but about 2 feet of water had drained out.

Mary Ellen and Mallory came down on Wednesday night. Thursday Mallory went to Leah's and played with Caleb. Thursday night Mary Ellen, Mallory, Alicia, Beth and I went to the Des Moines Playhouse to see "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat". Friday we went shopping for Mallory's school supplies. Funny how I didn't think I bought that much and some of it came out of the 99 cent bin and I went into shock when the clerk said $92. I couldn't figure out what I had bought, but Target and Wal-Mart are stores that do that do you.

Friday night we had sweet corn from the church plot and chili dogs. YUM! Today brought fixing the lawn mower and pool and I baked bran muffins and apple rhubarb cake.

Pictures are of eating sweet corn.

Friday July 23 Last Day

Spent two and one-half hours at the Eisenhower Museum today. One gigantic history lesson revisited. What a great man.

I drove until just shy of the Iowa line. We really lucked out with road work this year and didn't hit much until we got to Lawrence, KS and I-35 in Iowa.

Got home about 5:45 p.m. The yard doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. The basement was dry, YEA I don't think our sump pump has ever run this long into the summer.

Got the AC started in the house again. It was 86 in the house.

Back to laundry and mowing the yard tomorrow and readjusting to humidity (not that we ever did adjust well to it).

Pictures are ofrom the Eisenhower center, Ike's staff car, Ike and Mamie's burial plots and his boyhood home.

Thursday, July 22

A long boring day and we didn't get started very early. We took our time leaving Colorado Springs this morning.

Have driven 400+ miles to Abilene, Kansas tonight. No pictures to share because there is nothing to look at in the western half of Kansas. It is even worse that Nebraska. At least in Nebraska you have cattle and hay bales to look at as well as irrigated crops. Kansas.....nothing for miles. I took two naps and watched a movie on the laptop. Because we ate breakfast a little later we weren't hungry at dinner time and by the time we should start thinking about eating Jim looked at me like I was nuts if I thought we were going to stop at a rest area to eat in 100 degree temps (I hadn't thought about that). So we ate ice cream at Dairy Queen, we're pathetic. The car thermometer reached 102 today, but it doesn't feel to humid. That is probably awaiting us tomorrow.

At a Holiday Inn Express tonight. Probably the nicest place we've stayed the entire trip.

Tomorrow we're going to the Eisenhower Presidential Library before finishing the trip home. Tomorrow night, back to our own bed.

Wednesday July 21

Last day in Colorado. It was a pretty good day, even though we were a bit disorganized. The weather wasn't looking good for the afternoon so we decided to do Pike's Peak in the morning. We really had never come to a conclusion as to whether we were going to do the Cog Rail or drive it. We took off were on the right road and then came to one of those crazy "turn abouts" That messed us up. We ended up going I don't know how far the wrong way. Turned around came back to the Cog Rail. Of course, since we had never decided for sure we were doing it we couldn't get tickets for the morning except on standby and with the weather forecast, we weren't willing to hang around on a chance. We ended up driving up Pikes Peak (which we were glad we did) but guess what, the entrance to start driving was 1/2 mile from where we had turned around the first time! Jim had never been to Pike's Peak and he was totally amazed and some what white knuckled even though I was driving. And we saw two Big Horn sheep along the side of the road. We kind of felt sorry for them because they just didn't seem to know where to go. We couldn't see over the edge of the road, but they didn't seem to want to go down there nor cross back over the road from where they came. They finally went down. At the top the temp was 41 and who knows what the wind chill was, well into the 30's it was blustery. Fog rolled in and out, mostly in. On the way back down they have a stop point where they check your brakes for temperature. 300 is too hot, ours was 244. We stopped at a gift shop to let the brakes rest and watched an info video. There is a marathon race up Pikes Peak (I can't imagine running up hill). The Marathon is uphill and back down and the record time is 3 hours 16 minutes. WOW! Someone has good lungs.

I forgot.....When we paid our fee to go up Pikes Peak, I was driving really slow as I approached the gate trying to figure out what the cost was (and whether I would be a senior today or not). No one was a senior today! Anyway the lady at the ticket both started yelling, Stop it, Stop it. I thought she was mad at me because I was driving slow. Turns out she was excited we were from Iowa State. Maybe she's never seen an ISU plate before. She graduated in 1976 and her mother lives in Eagle Grove. She bashed Nebraska for awhile and then we went on our way.

After Pikes Peak we ate lunch and headed for Cripple Creek. We had no idea what to expect there. Once again road map confusion. Jim was on the phone making dinner reservations for tonight and I went the wrong way. We traveled about 9 miles the wrong way when we decided this wasn't right and I did one of my famous three point turns. On the way home I looked for the signs to try and figure out what I had done wrong and I do understand now how I got confused. When we got to Cripple Creek it started raining really big drops straight down and then little itty bitty hail. Didn't last long, sun came out and it was in the 50's. Cripple Creek was a waste. We could have done a gold mine tour but we had both done that in South Dakota. It's pretty much a down of numerous casinos. We visited a few, left $24 and headed back to the motel.

Tonight we went to the Flying W Ranch for supper and a cowboy musical show. Both the food and the entertainment were very good. A person couldn't ask for a nicer night to sit outside, temps in the 60's no humidity and no bugs. I LOVE Colorado.

Tomorrow we start home through Kansas and at some point we will gain an hour back
Til tomorrow.........

Tuesday, 3rd time's a charm

One more time here is the incline and the other picture I thought was the incline is the Iowa flag standing straight out to show how breezy it was on the bridge.

Tuesday Pictures

For some reason I can't get the picture in the blog so there here and the info is below.

Tuesday, July 20

Another full day. We are staying at a brand new Fairfield Inn, still smells new and the "Now Open" sign is hanging on the side. I'm not a big fan of continental breakfast but this place has biscuits and gravy, YUM, so we ate outside this morning on the patio.

The weather was iffy today and since the mountains were covered in clouds we went to the Air Force Academy first. This was Jim's other destination spot in addition to the feed lots. I have been to Colorado Springs more than once and never went to the AFA but it should be on a must see list if you're in the area. We spent about three hours there. 18,000 acres. The Chapel is magnificent: Three levels, top level is a 1,000 seat 76 pews Protestant chapel with a pipe organ to die for. I would love to hear that on a Sunday Morning. The entire frame of the chapel is made of aluminum and glass just like the planes the cadets fly. There is a lot of symbolism to the Air Force inside but it is so nicely done. The stained/tinted glass, marble, it is all so beautiful. The second story is a 500 seat Catholic chapel, the third level is Jewish and Buddhist. Each denominations chapel has lots of the stained and tinted glass that appropriately displays that faith's beliefs. The guide did mention there was something for Muslims in the basement but tours weren't taken down there. The tour guide also tells about the dorms, etc. on the campus like the dining hall that feeds 4,000 people in 20 minutes twice each day. The Visitor's Center has lots of additional information and a short movie. It was a great choice to visit. Here is Jim's trivia fact for the day: Who did Iowa State play their first game at the new Jack Trice Stadium. DUH Air Force!!! How does he remember this stuff..............

After leaving the AFA we came back to the motel and ate our usual lunch. With the goal of going to Pikes Peak next, we changed to plan B as the weather on the mountain was looking bad, lots of lightning and you couldn't see anything because of the cloud cover. Instead we went to the Royal Gorge. That was not what I remembered. I thought it had become quite commercialized. It was $25 per person and that included all this "stuff" which to me was more for kids (the merry-go-round) and all we wanted to do was see the bridge. We were told if we didn't spend more than 1 hour we could get about 1/3 of our money refunded. So we opted for that. Our receipt was stamped with the time and we knew when we had to be back. (By the way, today I'm not old enough to be a senior price). I think the senior price needs to universally 55 but today the lucky number was 60. The walk across the bridge was breezy, gusts today were around 43 mph. You can see from the once picture the Iowa flag is standing straight out. While looking down into the canyon there were two kayakers. The one tipped over and fell out, the other guy kept going because that's where the current was taking him/her. We watched as the one guy made his way to the edge with rocks and the other guy attempted to get his kayak before it floated on down the river. To make a long story short, the kayak that lost it's driver was captured and put into a raft of other people floating down the river and the other kayaker kept going with the raft in front of him. We had about 15 minutes left before we had to report back to get our partial refund and Jim decided he wanted to ride the incline railway so we did that and got the last ride of the day both ways on the aerial tram so our one hour at the Royal Gorge turned into three!! It was worth it, we had a good time.

The Royal Gorge is just outside the town of Canon City, a town of 15,000. Jim made the comment I wonder what all these people do for work besides work at the Royal Gorge. Well he asked the aerial tram driver and the answer is the towns people work at the 12 prisons in the county. That's right 12. He said they have every prison imaginable in that county, federal, state, maximum security, minimum security, women's you name it. When we started back to our Prairie city annex for the day we noticed right along the main drag in Canon City was the Territorial Correctional facility.

We came home through Pueblo. Weird cloud formations all the way home. It did rain a little bit but didn't amount to anything. Upon arriving at our home away from home the fire pit on the patio was burning so we joined another nice couple from Montana sitting around the pit. They were having a vacation from their 4 kids aged 9-2. He is a full-time Air Force man. Been to Iraq once and going in Afghanistan in the fall. It started to rain so I am now in bed typing this and it's 10:30 our time.

A few more tidbits: Colorado has tons of Safeway stores, haven't seen those of a long time and I lost count today but I think I had 3 or 4 u turns one may have been illegal and I'm getting to the point I don't care. Whoever designed Colorado streets needs to go back to college. I know Iowa has a few but Colorado has a ton of weirdly designed entrance/exits and you can't figure out how to basically leave a place a go the direction you want to go, it's all one way crap, so I've reverted to U-turns.

Having a major thunderstorm here. Time to go to bed.
I think I have posted the following pictures: The AFA Chapel outside and glass inside from the Protestant Chapel, Royal Gorge Bridge, incline ride to the bottom.

Monday, July 19

Today was a good day. Didn't get up quite as early and took our time. Decided to go back to Rocky Mountain National Park and see Bear Lake as we had plenty of time today. It was drizzling off and on when we started out but rain in the mountains doesn't last long. By the time we got to the lake the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue. There is a one mile trail around the lake, very easy. It was gorgeous. I have decided Estes Park is my destination spot. I could spend a week traveling to Bear Lake each day, packing my lunch and taking a book. There are lots of benches along the lake to sit on. I would read a couple chapters, walk around the lake once, read some more, walk around the lake again, eat, read, walk and just take in the beautiful scenery. I'm not sure how long it would take to get tired of it.

After I tore myself away from Bear Lake we drove to Golden to tour the Coors factory. We had read varying reviews. Of course, some thought it was great and others were very critical. You don't get to go through the actual plant but we were very pleased. I thought it was well organized and enjoyable. Jim says when he was in college you couldn't get Coor beer east of Omaha and when someone went to Omaha they would bring a bunch back in their trunk.

Then on to Colorado Springs. Upon arriving here, another storm coming over the mountains. It rained so hard I could only drive 35 in a 75 zone. One of those you could barely see your hand in front of your face. Didn't last long.

We haven't done too bad at finding our whereabouts the first time. However, I have gotten quite good at making u-turns and three point turns on this trip.

Not sure what's up next. The Air Force Academy for sure, Pikes Peak and hopefully the Cog rail train if we can get tickets and the Royal Gorge and Criple Creek. But for now we're kicking back. Our hotel is brand new and even smells new.

Later taters.