Happy to be Traveling!Family meet up for a morning at the airfield.Fun day trips.Enjoying some iconic architecture.Walks in the woodsMother and Daughter time.The beautiful house across the river.That was some fun basketball in the drive.Roasting yummy hotdogsS’more good times.Autumn Joy.Walks and Talks in the Mall.Ping Pong Ace…Wicked back hand…Carefully analyzing the techniques.Very happy times!
We were lucky to be close to the path of the annual eclipse 2023. After a night at Goosenecks State Park, we found a great dispersed site near Swinging Bridge in a section of Bears Ears National Monument.A couple of our friends joined us to hike some of our favorite spots.Part of a series of towers that could signal to Chaco Canyon.The Wolfman Petroglyph Panel is site to behold. Wow! Bears Ears NMBack at our camp, we have moved the van to give us some shade.We are ready for the eclipse to begin on this beautiful clear morning.Using our special glasses we got this photo as the moon is starting to eclipse the sun.We were not quite expecting the noticeable drop in temperature as the sun was covered.The Ring of Fire! Awesome! We were excited to capture this photo with our camera! We also experienced this annual eclipse in Canyonlands in 2012.We continued our adventure the next day at Hovenweep NM as most had cleared out so we snagged our favorite site #4 as well as the adjacent one.Fun to be amongst these structures from the past and contemplate the culture that built them. Hovenweep NMWhat are the odds of seeing people you know from Denver on the trail? Many Coloradoans in Utah for the eclipse!The Sleeping Ute at sunset from our campsite. We are ready for an awesome night of stargazing at Hovenweep NM. Our pics from last fall
Great Blue Herons enjoying early sunshine on the rock wall.And gave us a view of their magnificent wing span.Our guest room had some activity with friends from Santa Fe!J & J came back for 2 weeks of R & R – we would not let them work this year!Supporting the arch in the Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado’s largest wilderness! For more of J & J’s adventuresWe gathered with fellow Chimney Rock Volunteers at the Springs Resort.Family comes from Florida to visit!We hiked at a 2 year old pace – but got to look at lots of leaves, flowers, sticks and bugs!Precious!Got everyone out kayaking.And all appreciated the water!Another excuse for a dinner party!Largest yet with 14 of us gathered!
A special three dimensional card made by my friend Wendy in Spain – can’t believe it has been 10 years since we met them and been together. Very nice we still communicate! This card is more beautiful in person with the amethysts and pearls. I am loving the squirrels.Happy hour party with our friends! We met all 4 years ago: fun to get everyone together.Burgers and beer on Zinburger’s patio in front of the fireplace.And of course some wine…a Mischief Red. Appropriate!M & R surprised me with a gorgeous and yummy cake. We divided into 8 pieces and devoured the entire delight!J & J brought some gifts for the aging – a diaper, um, swim suit bag – and assistance for those difficult jars.The next night, we indulged with a nice quiet meal out. And more wine.And more desert!And the next night, we celebrated with champagne, flan, and strawberries…with some more cards and gifts….…and friends bearing consumable gifts. Good we will be able to keep the party going for a while!
Our friends from Littleton joined us for some cycling.We rode the gondola to the top of Keystone and reminisced about our times skiing there.It looks like we are ready for some Spring skiing! Beautiful view of Lake Dillon.It is Happy Hour and what a life!This was our view as the Local Folks played for us.A few days later we went on a Geology Car Tour of the region by Friends of Dillon Ranger District and learned about how this region of the Rocky Mountains was under the inland ocean and then uplifted.Our next visitors were my parents – we had a picnic lunch by the lake and then later a poolside BBQ.The next morning we walked the Dillon Natural Area which is a nice graded dirt road with no bikes. and enormous views. Flax in bloom.Nice reflections!These Wild Animals are thinking about our Benjamin and wishing him a Get Well Soon with Lots of Love, Hugs and Smiles!
My “rich” uncle rented a three bedroom home and this was our family meet-up.It was on this nice little lake, complete with blue herons, night herons, swans, Canada geese, bunnies, quails……and sunsets!My parents were also there and we posed them for anniversary photos next to this Joshua tree on the other side of the lake.Hers and His – retirement life on the golf course.My aunt, Mom, Betty Homemaker and me in the 1960 Sun City Museum Model Home kitchen. Mom still has the Pyrex bowls and her canisters are stainless rather than pink. It was fun to tour and watch the original promotional video.We made it to White Tank Mountain Park to hike a bit of the Mesquite Canyon Trail.The wildflowers were looking quite spectacular.Our hiking companions – this was a more challenging trail than last years waterfall trail. http://tealsky.com/2016/01/09/white-tank-mts-phoenix-area/The size of the California poppies were amazing. Lupins also in bloom.My “rich” Dad treated us to their celebration dinner at Arrowhead Grille – half of us had fish and half had steaks – YUM!And this incredible desert with 6 spoons.We played 9 holes of golf – MINI, that is.But oh! The concentration. Do you win with the high score? HaA full moon in the morning – we were all up to watch it set. Very picturesque.
We stayed at my uncle’s who has a condo on a lake. We made cherry pies over the fire while watching the sunset.And what a great sunset! This was actually from their balcony after we went inside.My aunt: Let me brace myself as there is a lot of wave action on this pontoon boat!But she got the shot! Our “snow bird” friends we met in Tucson came over for a ride on the lake and lunch. Good fun!We went on a bike ride to Stillwater, the birthplace of Minneapolis. It was a bit humid but I guess it is true, we don’t melt, even though it feels like it!We went to St Anthony Falls which is a national park site in Minneapolis.They no longer use the locks but this is one of the largest drops of water in the Mississippi.This is an old stone bridge and there is a park there as well telling about the history of the flour mills.We went down the river a bit to Lock Number 5 and enjoyed exploring that area as well.
We stopped in Washburn and met up with a friend of a friend who grew up there – she had some great history to share with us, especially about the brownstones. We visited the National park headquarters in Bayfield before working our way to Cornucopia.We really enjoyed their harbor – it was a nice park area with an artesian well.Meyers Beach hike in the National Lake Shore had some outstanding vistas.Fun to see the kayakers going into some of the caves.They gave us a sense of scale.And we could see where to look for the sea caves and arches.The scenery was spectacular. It was an overcast day so not great distance views.But enough visibility!They said they were trying to set a record for number of hammocks above each other.Looking back on our lunch rock – it was a very nice place to hang out!We hung around for Corny Day – a nice group of people set up for the flea market and an equal number came to check out the wares.But it was really for the food that we came.We waited almost an hour for the fresh fish but it was worth it! They keep serving until they run out (which is before people get tired of eating it, we are told).Makes your mouth water, doesn’t it!
