When It Rains It Pours

This will describe the weather here for the last few days….heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon. This is not what this post is about however. It seems as if all the good times and good living is catching up to me. The Gods are throwing some bad luck my way to atone for all the good stuff that’s happened lately.

The first bit of bad luck concerns my 1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara. I’ve had it in the shop several times over the last few months for a variety of items that have put a dent in my wallet. I thought I had worked through all of the problems until this past Friday. An intermittent problem struck again. I hate intermittent problems! They are the toughest to find and fix and I’ll bet dollars to donuts that when my mechanic looks at the car, the problem won’t be there. The problem involves a very rough running engine that almost feels like one cylinder is not firing properly. It occurs at start up and will last for varying lengths of time….but it doesn’t happen at every start up. The check engine light illuminates but a diagnostic check shows nothing. So, tomorrow morning I guess I’ll have to take the car and leave it for a day or two at the garage and cross my fingers.

The second problem involves my desktop computer. We have both a desktop and a laptop computer in the house. I guess I should have said “We had….” Yesterday when The Bride tried to access the internet all hell broke loose with the computer. All kinds of error messages popped up continually and porn sites kept popping up on Internet Explorer even though my default browser is Firefox. I tried to run a McAfee scan in between pop ups and then even tried to run a restore program but most of the files had been corrupted by that time…….Trojan horse!

I have no idea how I became infected because I am very security conscious about my computers and never open unknown files. However it happened, it pretty well trashed the 4 year old desktop. Because it was four years old I decided to not even try to to have a computer whiz put everything back together again. For the price of a couple of hours of computer whiz, I could just buy a new computer….which I did. I am now the owner of two laptops. It didn’t make much sense to buy another desktop when today’s laptops have the same amount of memory and storage as a desktop, for about the same price.

So as I sit here typing this post I’m also trying to install all the programs on the new computer. It seems as if I might have a problem with some of the older printers I have. Everything nowadays is configured for wireless connection but I have three older printers and a scanner that do not have USB connections so this switch of computers might cost me the price of an all in one wireless printer in addition to the cost of the computer itself. I hate it when I get surprised like that!

It better stop pouring by Thursday of this week because The Bride and I are scheduled to fly to the left coast for a visit with my daughter CaJenn and her hubby of just one year…CaJon. We haven’t seen them since the wedding last year so we are looking forward to the trip.

Thanks for visiting.

'Twas The Day Before Christmas

The last couple of days have been non-stop action. My oldest daughter, CaJenn, flew in on Saturday afternoon from the left coast. She flew Frontier and actually arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule! Strange as it may seem she said the San Francisco airport was not crowded at all, at the Frontier terminal. She arrived the prescriptive 90 minutes in advance and made it through security in about 10 minutes....Let's hope her luck continues on the return trip.

The good news is that the his-self family is now complete for the holidays. The bad news is that The Emmer has come down with a nasty cold and is not at all in the holiday spirit. We're hoping she can shake it pretty soon with a combination of medication and rest.

The weather has been hit or miss the last few days with a light snowy day coming every three or four days. The forecast is for a few snow showers on Christmas morning and then clearing. Sunday morning the sky was just magnificent. I woke up at about 7am looked out the window and then hustled for my camera. CaJenn leaves to return for the left coast on Thursday and right now it looks like we will get a couple of inches of new snow during that day!

Since The Emmer is under the weather I have taken up the slack as principle Molly Dog walker. Molly Dog is a "mostly" Australian Cattle Dog and walks with a vengeance. It's more like she is taking me for a walk than the other way around. Oh well, this will be good exercise for the newly retired guy!

Last night we went out to dinner at a very nice restaurant in the small town of Sedalia, CO. Gabriel's is located in an old 1889 mansion that was originally built for one of the founding fathers of this little town.

For a small town, Sedalia has got it all. Not only is Gabriel's a fantastic restaurant but it sits right across the street from the famous Bud's Bar. We even considered playing a joke on CaJenn and going into Bud's like that was where we were going to eat dinner before we took her across the street. Unfortunately, Bud's is closed all this week so that ruined that idea. Our dinner party only consisted of The Bride, CaJenn and myself. The Emmer just didn't feel up to eating out. You know The Emmer is not feeling well when she turns down an opportunity to dine out. Dining out is one of her biggest pleasures.

I guess today is the lull before the storm. The Bride has to work today and I'm doing last minute chores to get ready for tomorrows festivities.

I want to wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas! May your every wish come true during this season.

Thanks for visiting.

Autumn's End

With news stories like this you know that time has run out for autumn...

KUSA – The snow really started coming down in the high country Sunday morning and rainfall is expected to continue along the Front Range.

9NEWS Meteorologist Nick Carter says the first WINTER STORM WATCH of the season was posted for the Front Range foothills and mountains starting at midnight and 3 to 6 inches of snow could accumulate by late Sunday. A SNOW ADVISORY is in effect until 6 p.m. Sunday in most of the mountain areas.

Because the weather was not conducive to outdoor activities, I started on a project that has been on the rainy day list for a while. My Dad, The Colonel, was a prolific shutterbug in the 1950's and 1960's. His cameras were an Argus C3 and a Voigtlander Prominent. They weren't the best of cameras but he sure did use up a lot of slide film with them. He amassed about 2000 slides that he kept over the years. A lot of family history is enshrined in those slides as well as a lot of landscape shots of places from Rome to London to Tripoli.

Brother #4 had previously scanned some of the slides and distributed them to the rest of the family but there was still plenty to do. This weekend I started to go through the remainder and get as many "family" shots as possible.

It's a long and tedious task. First the slides have to be removed from the old square slide magazines and the individual slides removed from the metal frame that held them in the magazine. The slides were then previewed. The landscape shots discarded and the people shots set aside. The scanner I use, has the ability to hold four slides at a time but you can still only enlarge and scan one at a time. Then the electronic file is saved. After I get them all saved I plan on touching them up with my photo software. Once that's done I'll make copies for the rest of the brothers.

It is a long process but it's something I've been wanting to do for a long while....and....it's the perfect thing for a rainy, gloomy fall afternoon. I'm sure that this project will keep me busy for some time to come.

Thanks for visiting.

"In-Laws Out-West" The Story

"Big Don" and "S." arrived at the Denver airport from North Carolina on Saturday 8th of September. They have been visiting us in Colorado once or twice a year for about ten years now. It's quite a change from their everyday life in North Carolina and we try to make the visit special for them.

First of all let me set the record straight right now....I get along with my in-laws very well indeed. Part of the reason may be that they are only 12 years older than I am. They could be older brother and sister rather than in-laws. Whatever the reason we have been graced with a very easy going relationship and I enjoy their visits as much as The Bride. This visit, however, was unlike any other. There is the possibility that this visit may be their last to Colorado.

Big Don is now 72 years old. In his youth he was a major league baseball pitcher with over 16 years in the league. He even sports a World Series ring. That was forty years ago however, and age has taken a nasty turn for him. Big Don is slipping away into the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. The good news is that he is well enough at this point to make the trip and hopefully enjoy some of it.

S. and Big Don have been married for over 50 years and the burden now falls to S. to care for her mate. It's a big job and no doubt is a terrific strain mentally so we hoped this trip could be a "relief" for her as well. With that in mind we planned for two nights in a little cabin in the mountains between Twin Lakes and Aspen.

Wednesday morning we headed up to the mountains by way of I-70 and over Fremont Pass to Leadville. Leadville is a great historic mining town that is struggling to survive long after mining ceased to pump money into the town. Several years ago we stayed here with Big Don and S. in a bed and breakfast and they have fond memories of that trip. First stop was a fudge shop. Big Don has always had a sweet tooth for fudge and nowadays it's a real big pleasure for him. We were to make sure that he had plenty of fudge on this trip.

Lunch was at the local brewpub, billed as "the highest brewpub in the U.S.". Because Leadville is at 10,430 feet altitude there was a definite chill in the air. Chili, burgers and a brew were just the thing for an afternoon like this. A little more shopping and we were headed south for the tiny town of Twin Lakes.

We were hoping that we would be able to see some autumn colors on this trip but we also realized that we were a little early in the season. Much to our pleasant surprise we found that the leaves were showing some color in the Twin Lakes area.

We were at the cabin by 3:30, unpacked and sitting on the deck viewing the splendor of the mountains, the autumn colors and some local wildlife. The chipmunks and the Stellar Jays entertained us while eating the bird seed we brought along. A bonus for staying at this place at this time of the year is to listen to the eerie almost mournful sound of the elk bugling potential mates. I'm sure they don't think it's eerie or mournful but take a listen and decide for yourself.

In the ten years that Big Don and S. have been visiting us, we have never taken them to Aspen. Our cabin was perfectly situated to take a day trip over Independence Pass and let them see the sights. Independence Pass is one of the more spectacular, paved passes in Colorado. It's only open from June or July to early October. It's narrow, (two places are only 1 1/2 lanes wide so if you meet someone going the opposite direction...someone has to back up) twisty, steep with scary drop-offs and no guard rails. It's also fairly heavily traveled because it's the shortest route between Leadville/Buena Vista and Aspen.

I'm pretty sure they enjoyed the ride...while they had their eyes open, but I think I'm going to have to buy some more door handles for my car. It looks like they were squeezed to a fraction of their original thickness by a hydraulic press!

We saw all that was expected of Aspen. Beautiful people, fancy cars, expensive...everything. We had a quiet lunch on a restaurant patio and headed back to the cabin in the early afternoon.

Back at the cabin we sat, talked over snacks and libations and just tried to enjoy the place and the togetherness that might be forever changed. Dinner from the grill is always good in a place like this and so it was this night too.


Friday morning it was time to head back to the Denver Area, but not before we stopped in Fairplay for a special treat for Big Don.

About 7-8 years ago I took Big Don into the Colorado Mountain Hat Company. Readers will remember that I have a hat from there as does The Bride, Guitar and Too Tall-Two Timing. Well, Big Don has bought several hats from Smitty and Cherie and developed a friendship with them over those years. Our plan on this day was to stop and visit for a while.

Smitty and Cherie were gracious enough to block out some time for our visit and not only did we have lunch together but Smitty made Big Don a present of a new custom fedora. One of the side effects of the medication that Big Don takes is that he is constantly cold. This fedora was just the ticket to help him keep at least his head warm!

The visiting time passed too quickly and before you knew, it was time to head the last bit home. Today (Saturday) The Bride has taken her parents to Georgetown for a little more sightseeing and shopping. I opted to stay at home to do some chores and to give them some time alone.

Tomorrow Big Don and S. leave for the trip back to North Carolina. We hope there will be another trip in the future.....only time will tell.

Thanks for visiting.

100 Years!!

This is a double celebration! Today marks two important events in my life.

On this day 100 years ago The Bride and I became a legal family unit. This also marks my 30th post on this blog since I started in January of this year.................

Jeez, is that all, 30 posts? Sure seems like I've done more than that? 100 years of marriage? That feels about right but let me check this out. I'm a stickler for accuracy on this blog.

Ahem...., correction.....that's 30 years of marriage and this is my 100th post. Time really flies when you're having fun!

Honest, honey...I was just kidding. Thirty years. Isn't that amazing? You know honey it's a testament to our ability to get along that we're able to celebrate this event.....you put up with all my foibles and all, and I...well I try not to get any more foibles.

Thanks for visiting!.....Love ya hon!!!

Cottonwood Lake

Wednesday morning was a very slow work day so right about noon, I headed out for Cottonwood Lake and four days of “decompression”. It’s about a 2 ½ hour trip, the weather was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. There were plenty of spaces at the campground so I chose one that had a view of the lake in the background. There really are no bad spots at this campground only some that are even better than the others. Setting up Bivouac was a snap…or almost. Once I got inside the trailer and started turning everything on I found that the water pump would not work. For me, that would not necessarily be a problem as I have camped often in cold weather not having any “onboard” water. In two days however, The Bride, The Emmer and Molly dog were going to join me and no internal water could be a BIG issue. It was too late this day to worry any more about it so I chilled. A little fishing, a little gawking at the scenery, a little pasta for dinner, a little reading….life is good. I hit the sack early but at about 3 am I woke up….freezing! For all you flatlanders enduring August temperatures, it was 50 degrees in the trailer at 3 am. I’m lovin’ this! I turned on the heat and went back to bed.

Daylight comes at about 5:30 am and being as how I keep pioneer hours while camping, I was able to do a little fishing and have a nice breakfast before 9 am. At 9, I headed into Buena Vista to see if there were any chance at all in getting the water pump fixed. I really didn’t think I had a snowballs chance of getting it fixed before The Bride and company arrived but I was determined to at least try. Luck was with me! I found an auto repair shop that could do it if they had the parts and lucky for me they had an employee on his way to Salida, CO to pick up some parts….and there is an RV shop in Salida. An appointment to replace the water pump was made for Friday morning.

I was back at the trailer by noon and had a great lunch. Braunschweiger sandwich, chips and a fresh peach. Time to fish….and I did. All of the fishing I’m doing right now is in beaver ponds that are on the back side of the lake. This requires VERY careful wading through a maze of little ponds and waterways. It’s real easy to step into a hole deeper than you. The good news is the water is crystal clear and you can see the holes, if you pay attention. Rainbows, browns and brook trout are the normal catch. I do this fishing with a small ultra light spinning outfit. It’s really too congested with bushes and trees to use a fly rod of any type. In some cases I would crouch under a large bush and make an underhand or side arm cast into an area of clear water not 15 feet square. The fish are not big but it’s a real kick to catch them in this way. Since I released all the fish I caught and I'm not about to take my good camera wading with me, I won't be able to show you any pictures of the fish I did catch.

A couple of hours of fishing. A hike in the aspen forest. A dinner of red beans and rice. Man o man life is REALLY good!

Friday morning I was once again up at dawn but there’s no time to fish this day. I need to get Bivouac ready to go into Buena Vista. The shop owner told me to be there by 9am and I was. The part he needed didn’t arrive until about 11 am. Normally that would have driven me right up the wall but I’m getting the hang of “decompressing”. The rest of the family wasn’t going to show up until about 7pm so I just sat in the trailer looking at the spectacular Collegiate Peaks and reading.

Just to break the monotony, I called Guitar on the cell phone to tell him it was 75 degrees and crystal clear where I was sitting. He was most appreciative of learning this as he sat in Denver. To better understand his appreciation you would have to know that Guitar just bought a one ton dually diesel truck and a fantastic Artic Fox camper. He’s been wanting to do this for years and finally pulled the trigger about a month ago. Due to “circumstances beyond his control” he has not been able to take his rig on it’s maiden voyage as yet. My weather report had about the same effect on him as telling him they just raised his retirement age to 90! He was one despondent guy….Hang in there Guitar, it won’t be long and you’ll be out here with me.

Once the part arrived it only took about 45 minutes to install the new pump, fill Bivouac up with fresh water and head back to Cottonwood Lake. That left me with plenty of time for….you guessed it…fishing AND a nap!

By 7 pm, The Bride had still not arrived so I decided to walk down towards the lake. There’s only one road in, so she would have to pass me as I walked. About a half a mile from the campsite I heard a “bleating” coming from the sheer cliffs on the side of the road. I looked up and saw three mountain goats that must have rappelled half way down the sheer face of the cliff….that’s the only way I could figure they got to the spot they were at! The “bleating” came from a juvenile goat that was apparently “stuck” in the place he was standing. One of the adults had to go and show the young one how to get up the cliff.

I stood transfixed and watched the show for at least a half hour until it became too dark to see. This was a very special thing for me as it was the first time I have ever seen mountain goats in the wild. Big horn sheep are fairly common in Colorado and can regularly be seen many places but mountain goats are quite a bit more reclusive and for whatever the reason I’ve not been able to spy one in the wild. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me so no pictures to show you.

Shortly after this sighting The Bride arrived with not so pleasant things to say about Friday afternoon traffic headed from the Denver metro area up to the mountains. We got everyone settled in Bivouac and settled in for the night.


On Saturday morning we headed down into Buena Vista to check out “Gold Rush Days. The Emmer is not much of a “camper girl” and when offered the choice of communing with nature or checking out the street fair…nature lost. We spent about two hours checking everything out and then headed back to the campsite….with plenty of daylight left for a little fishing and a short nap.

How did Molly dog do in all this you say? Well, not like I expected at all. Molly dog is an adopted “mostly” Australian Cattle Dog but in spite of the breed description, she is a clingy nervous type. She was not at all at home in Bivouac on that first night and insisted on being VERY close to one of us at all times. I had thought that she would love being in the wilds and going for long walks but the unfamiliar surroundings kept her close to me even when I let her off the leash. To be fair she started to loosen up a little on the second day but still kept very close to one of us most of the time. Oh well, so much for the quintessential “man and his dog” image.

Sunday came way too soon. I’m normally a raring to go type but this day I just didn’t want to leave. We finally had everything packed and ready by about 10:30 am and headed back to “the world”. The only good thing about this part of the trip was that once again the weather was perfect, sunny, cobalt blue sky, temperature in the high 70's... The lower in elevation we got, however, the warmer it got and traffic got heavier and wilder. Throughout the trip home I couldn't help but think about when I could do the next trip! There are some possibilities so stay tuned.

Thanks for visiting.

Let Me Out! Let Me Out!

It's been four long weeks since #4 and I did our Colorado trip and I'm still not over outdoor withdrawal. It's so bad that I just have to get out. Vacation time isn't a problem so Wednesday, I'm outa here! Look at the picture above...can you blame me. This picture was taken from the top of Cottonwood Pass. I'm headed to Cottonwood Lake.

If you remember, #4 and I spent the last night of our trip at Cottonwood Lake. This is a lake that we camped at as kids back in the 1960's. Until that day last month, I had not fished in Colorado since the 1960's and on that day last month, I caught my first Colorado trout in about 42 years. That brought back such a rush of good memories that I've gotta do it again, so, Wednesday afternoon I'm taking Bivouac and headed for Cottonwood Lake. I've even gotten a new pair of fancy waders so I can fish in the beaver ponds back behind the lake....I'm just too old to do it in cutoffs and tennis shoes like I did in my youth!

This will be a family trip too...The Bride, The Emmer and Molly dog will drive up on Friday and meet me. It should be an interesting weekend as neither The Emmer nor Molly dog have ever been out with me in Bivouac...who knows maybe we'll have trout for dinner on Saturday??? Since I'll be out of internet range you'll have to wait till Monday to find out.

Thanks for visiting.

Blessings and Profanities!

It's amazing how these two things can go so closely together...

Readers will know that The Emmer got her driver's license last week after many years of trying. Back in the recesses of my mind, I was preparing myself for the inevitable "learning experience" that every new driver has. In other words, I was prepared to suffer the loss of a vehicle somewhere along the line. For that reason I have been babying a 1995 Ford Contour for the last 11 years. My older daughter took that car to college and had her own "learning experience" on it which resulted in an unrepaired dent on the front hood. It was great basic transportation and was beloved by the family.

You will note the past tense verb "was". My loss was not exactly the way I pictured it.

Yesterday afternoon The Emmer and The Bride were headed to a hair appointment. The Emmer was driving and made a legal left turn...with a green turn arrow...and got broadsided on the passenger side by a young seventeen year old who ran a red light.

Blessings are that no one was hurt. This is truly a blessing because the Contour appears to be a total loss. The passenger side was pushed in over 12", windows broken, frame bent. The Bride was in the passenger seat and the impact shoved her into the center console. The emergency crew had to take her out the driver's door. She was sent to the emergency room of the local hospital as a precaution and fortunately all scans were negative for internal injuries. The Emmer was also unharmed. She walked away with a couple of bruises on her left side from being jammed against the driver's door.

Profanities are that in any U.S. metropolitan area now driving is DANGEROUS. It's the I attitude of people when they get behind the wheel. I..I should be first in line. I should not have to wait on anyone. I don't care about the other guy.

If you can believe this....As I was watching the tow truck winch my car out of the intersection a young woman in an SUV was clearly agitated at being delayed at getting around the accident. She glared at us, honked her horn, and as soon as she was by the broken glass...floored the accelerator and squealed by! Unfortunately by this time the police had already left the scene.

Profanities are, that even though I have good insurance, nothing can make me whole. I have to replace that vehicle with something and even if I replace it with a similar make and model the difference between insurance value and retail value will be several thousand dollars...And then I'll have to pay sales and licensing taxes too.

When I really stop and think however, blessings always trump profanities and in the game of life, this time, I had the winning hand. My family is safe.

Thanks for visiting.