Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Last Hooray!!!!

There is one week every October that friends and family gather at our favorite lake for the last campout of the season. This has been going on for many years. It started out with friends taking advantage of the fall break from school. Many of us worked in the school system and our husbands are avid fishermen. We enjoyed this time together. We wanted our grandchildren to have some of the fun so we started taking them. All of their parents grew up together, and it was only right that they should be friends too. They did not live in the same towns, but they flock in at this time of the year, EVEN if they have to play HOOKY. My brother and favorite sister-in-law have even joined the group.

It was soon apparent that we were having too much fun so the grown up kids joined in on the fun too. It is something that we look forward to. The Rancher is proud of his family of fishermen. They love to go out on the pontoon and spend the day but as you can see from other family blogs, they get impatient and some are at the dock fishing even before the sun comes up. One grandson would rather fish than anything else unless it is to hunt.

I love this time and one of my favorite things to do is to go shopping. I am not your run of the mill shopper, hitting the malls and fashion shops in the city. I am a junk store, antique, garage sale bargin hunter. I visit one of my favorite shops each fall when I go fishing. This year I was so pleased to find my favorite brand of jeans for only $2 a pair. They are nearly new and heavy denim. I don't like the thin stretchy kind that is of the rage today, but I like the old durable kind that will keep me warm as I chore during the winter. The girls found some great buys too. We are never disappointed.

As estate sales and garage sales were in progress we naturally had to see what they were all about. We were handed a box and told to fill it. Now there were $3, $4, and $6 boxes. Can you imagine what you can get in a box. This lady had been a seamstress and quilter. Did we ever have fun. We bought fabric, quilt blocks, lace, zippers, dolls, books, and more and more goodies. A box will hold a lot of treasures. When we were back at camp, we had to try to remember who wanted what. We even went back the next day to see if we missed anything and of course we had.

We had a great time. Our Pastor was also in our camping group,. He is a camper and fisherman too and as most of his congregation from our little country church were off on an adventure....He came too. We enjoyed a wonderful church service by the lake on Sunday morning. We had our song leader with his guitar and music filled the air. I don't know what the others campers felt, but they sure missed a great service by not joining in with us. After church services, everyone started packing to leave, some stayed for a few more days, but our family had to go to work and school and check on things on the ranch. We will talk about our great time at "Fall Break" until we start to pack the camper and enjoy it again next year.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

AEFOPZ DH2BMQ CAN YOU READ THIS LINE.

Recently the Rancher and I went for our every few year eye exam. Now I go on a regular basis as I admit that I am pretty limited without my glasses. The Rancher is okay. He is not getting old... and his eyesight is okay. His trouble is with the new glasses that he got only 5 years ago and the prescription never was right.

So, we both need new glasses and guess what. He may be right...His eyes have improved 3 stages from what they were years ago. His reading range needed a little correcting but his far range vision is 20/20. Pretty good for an old guy.

Anyhow.....this is where I am going with this story. Yesterday morning after breakfast as we were getting ready for devotion, the Rancher was having a commotion and rubbing his eyes. "I can't see a thing with these glasses this morning." he informs me. "My right eye has been giving me fits all morning. After a show, I offered to read out of the Bible and the devotional book that we use. When devotion and prayer time are finished, he gathers up his things and tells me he has a really busy day and needs to be going.

Shortly after he leaves, I notice something shiny on the floor. It is the right lens out of his glasses. I called him and told him I knew why he couldn't see. I couldn't believe that he hadn't tried to clean them and noticed that. I did learn that he had dropped them when he first put them on and never thought about picking up ALL of the pieces.

Growing older is fun if you learn to laugh a lot.

While driving through Colorado we followed a large truck that had a message on it which said: STAY BACK 500 FEET....SENILE DRIVER AT THE WHEEL. I would like to have one of these if anyone knows where they are available. (I don't like to be tailgated)

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Along the Rio Grande

I have returned from my fabulous vacation to the Rockies. It was simply beautiful!!!
the aspens were a sight to behold. I am so glad we were able to go on this little adventure. Everything was breathtaking. I took pictures. When we were on the top of the divide looking across at the valleys below..I took pictures. The Rio Grande in all of its splendor....I took pictures. Wait a moment...What is this message on my camera? No memory? How can this be..I emptied my card on a disc before I left home and OH NO!!!! the card is at home in my computer.Am I getting a little senile in my old age? Naw, forgetful maybe, but not Senile.

Anyhow, I bought a disposable camera and have not developed the thing and my dear sister who we traveled with promised to share some of her pictures with me. She has a wonderful camera and she didn't leave anything at home. (Give her another 5 years)

We camped by the Rio Grande and were fortunate enough to be next to a stretch of railroad that had been recently opened for the tourist thing. We did not know this. The first night about dark thirty we heard a train whistle and it came to a stop. By the way, this was a jazzed up spike driver car turned touring car. It had 18 passengers and was making a maiden Full Moon run. The passengers made a rest stop at the facilities in our primitive camp area. We found out about the train rides and learned that we could go from our camp ground to Creede round trip for only $30 a piece. A little costy, but I imagine it was a beautiful ride, especially in the moonlight along the Rio Grande. The real beauty in the whole thing was the Full Moon shining on the golden aspens. It was a beautiful sight to see. I hope that I shall get to see it again sometime. The entire mountain valley was shinning at the late hour.

The next morning when we took our morning walk past the facilities in camp...we decided this was not only a a Full Moon run of the Durango and Rio Grande RR, it was really a Booze Cruze. The bottles and wine glasses told it all. I think they did have a good time though and I hope that no one fell in as they passed over the Rio Grande.

The next day, the RR car made other runs and was followed by several little cars that were once used by the section line men. Each one of them held 2 or 4 people. Now I think that would be fun and who knows, maybe next year I will pay my $30 and just ride the rail up to Creede instead of drive.

Stay tuned for another story of our adventures in the Rockies coming to Blogspot in the near future.