Adrian to Bicycle Museum to Louisville to Colorado

I met Rosemary for breakfast. We had a nice chat and then got one of the nuns to take our picture. I really enjoyed my visit, almost like going on retreat.

I got on the road, and stopped in New Bremen Ohio, the home of the Crown fork lift truck company. The owner of the company has been collecting bicycles, and started a very nice museum. The town is very tidy also, with many of the old buildings fixed up and used for company offices. Some of the bikes were those that I remembered from my youth. Perhaps the one that hit closest to home was the 1967 Schwinn Town and Country tricycle. The summer that I worked in the Reynolds Aluminum plant, I rode a tricycle just like that, same color, as well as fixing them. I had a lot of hours on and around those bikes that summer.

The other bike pictures were the Hopalong Cassidy bike and costume, and an army bike with rifle.

I stopped at my mom's house in Louisville to install an updated life safety alarm for my mother. Unfortunately, the new box did not solve the problem, so I made arrangements to have a new phone jack installed and move the box to a more central location.

I turned in my rental car at the Louisville airport, arriving in plenty of time to catch my flight back to Colorado.

Richard

A Tranquil Day in Adrian

I met Rosemary for breakfast. After Breakfast, we went to mass, a very nice mass, but with one unique feature that threw me at first. I had to hear it a few times before I figured out what was going on. Wherever the usual mass would say "He", they would substitute "God". Rosemary said that they used "inclusive language", which I think is codewords for gender-neutral talk. For example, the usual sign of the cross is "In the name of the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit", they said "In the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier".

After mass, we went to visit the INAI Studio, where two sisters design and redesign churces and other sacred spaces. The studio had models, photos, and slides of their work. Beautiful work, very simple, elegant, and modern. Unfortunately, the sisters were not available, I would have enjoyed talking to them.

The photo shows how Rosemary is using her cane now. ;-)

After lunch, we went to the art building of Sienna Heights University, where we saw an interesting exhibit of photos of Paris and New York, by two different photographers.

It has been very quiet and relaxing here, especially after a somewhat stressful visit with my mother. A nice break, I think. Everyone was very happy to see me and meet me, they love Rosemary. She has been a nun since 1943, a very long time.

Before dinner, we went to their weekly prayer service for peace in the chapel. A nice service. Their belief is that peace has to start inside yourself, that if you are not at peace in your own soul, there will not be peace in the world. There were two nuns there from Iraq, refugees from that war-torn region, which made the prayer for peace a little more poignant and pointed.

Rosemary and I ate dinner, and agreed to have breakfast tomorrow before I start my drive south.

Richard

Across the Heartland of America

I got up early, said goodbye to Mater, and got on the road to Michigan. The sun was shining through Kentucky, which was just as beautiful as I remembered. My route had me going south to north across Ohio on I-75, through Cincinnati, Dayton, and Toledo.


Listening to the public radio, there was an interview with a professor who studies Midwestern culture. (No, that is not an oxymoron). He likes to look at the Midwesterners based on the stories that they tell about themselves. As someone who was born in the Midwest, and lived many years in and around the Midwest, this was of special interest to me. He noted that the geographic boundaries of the Midwest vary depending on who is talking, and indicated that the heartland of America and the Midwest mean about the same thing. The Midwest really does feel different, lots of the towns feel older than most towns in the West.

After listening to that program, I searched across the AM band, and kept hearing Rush Limbaugh. I then went back and counted, and from that location, I could hear Rush up and down the band, on a total of eight frequencies. I guess that Ohio must really be the heartland of America. ;-)


As I got close to Adrian, I passed through the town of Blissfield. I was somewhat disappointed that the town name did not refer to a state of bliss, but to a Mr. Bliss. I made good time, arriving in Adrian Michigan around 2 PM. Sister Rosemary came down to the lobby to meet me. She was walking with a cane, but seemed like herself, and looked better than I had expected, given that she was at death's door for much of the last year. She is kind of an outpatient at the nun's nursing home, and hoping to get back into her apartment before the end of the year. Everybody talked to Rosemary, and many marveling that it was a miracle that she was doing so well.

Rosemary and I chatted for the rest of the afternoon, and then she gave me a small tour of the complex. After dinner, she headed back to the nursing home to get her bandages changed, and to rest. Tomorrow I will meet her for breakfast, and then we will visit the art studio as well as attend mass.

Richard

Last Day in Louisville

I got up and walked to mass at the church which I used to attend when I was a boy.

Mater and I went to lunch again at Captain's quarters, where the photo was taken. Mater and Pater often ate at Captains quarters, and Mater still goes there a couple of times a month. A nice view and nice waitresses. We later went to dinner at a restaurant near the house.

I spent much of the day working on lights, but I finally got things the way we wanted it. I finished off my work by cleaning the tub. ;-)

I definitely plan to come out and visit my mother more often, I think that she needs the help.

Tomorrow I head up to Adrian Michigan to visit my aunt Rosemary.

Richard

Day 3 in Louisville

Today we drove around and looked for lights. Mater is particular, so it took a while to find something acceptable.

We had lunch at Bob Evans restaurant, a favorite of Mater's.

I went down to the Jazz Factory club to see a Brazilian band, including two people from Brazil and two from Ohio. The Brazilian drummer was excellent, and it was nice to get out.

Driving home I took surface streets, and was almost surprised at how much Louisville has not changed in the last 35 years or so. Lots of old buildings still in use.

Richard

Day 2 in Louisville

Today we continued to work on chores, including bills. Lots of paper to go through, throw away, and file.


We went to Captain's quarters for a late lunch. It was a beautiful fall day, with the sun on the river.

Richard

Louisville – Day 1

The leaves are changing, and they look beautiful. If you look very close in the picture, you can see my mom's house, on the left side of the picture hidden behind a sea of vegetation.

I started the day with a visit to Home Depot, to let me get started on some of the projects. I took a midday nap, and then we went out to Rumba Cubana for lunch. The food was different, good, and plentiful, so we took some home in a box.

I did chores in the afternoon while waiting for the lawyer, ranging from dropping off Mater's car for an oil change to replacing smoke detectors

We had a very good and productive discussion with the lawyer, and agreed on what needed to be done.

Richard

Boulder to Louisville

This trip has Richard visiting his mother in Louisville Kentucky and his aunt in Adrian Michigan. Marianne is staying home.

The last couple of days have been a bit crazy, with my car breaking down on the way to the repair shop, and our hot water heater starting to fail. Marianne is having to deal with both of these problems. She reports that my car is now driving very well, which is great.


I took a bus to Denver International Airport, DIA, easy enough, checked a bag, ate lunch, and sat down to do a little blogging. The picture is of some of the art at DIA.

Routine flight to Louisville, pick up rent-a-car.

Richard and his mother talked til late, and worked on a list of chores or projects that needed to be done.

Richard

Fishing, and then home

Richard fished early, with no luck. Richard and Marianne fished midday, no luck. We considered trying the streams in the Cherokee State Wildlife Area, but when we called, we found that the roads had closed September 1st, and the hunters were out, so we decided to pass.

We drove home without incident. We made an interesting stop at the Jax Farm and Ranch store in Fort Collins. We bought propane and udder cream. They also had nipple stimulator, but we figured that we did not need that.

As we got close to home, we noticed that the fuel gauge was still around a quarter of a tank, even though the tank did not start completely full. So Dowdy Lake is substantially closer to Boulder than Delaney Buttes, which always requires a fuel stop on the way home.

Richard

A Short Trip to Dowdy Lake

We decided to get away this week, but did not have much time, so we decided to drive up to the Red Feather Lakes area, which we had not visited in several years. The only open Forest Service campground is at Dowdy Lake, which is open year round. Conveniently, the campground has electricity, nice this time of year.

On the drive up, we kept seeing signs warning of a controlled burn, and caught sight of smoke from time to time. Eventually, we drove through a valley full of smoke. Luckily, the smoke did not extend as far as Dowdy Lake. It is very quiet here.

The lake is beautiful, with interesting rock formations. Richard went out fishing for an hour and a half, and caught a ten inch trout, which he decided to keep to give to a friend. Marianne relaxed and read.

Richard

Richard drives home, fights for bears

On Monday, Richard drove home, and Marianne stayed in Durango. Marianne will stay with Eileen for while, duration to be determined.

Monday morning, Richard found a mess around the dumpster at the campground, with trash scattered around, apparently from a bear. He spoke later with the general manager of the campground, who took the position that he could not do anything about it, that the trash companies did not offer locking dumpsters. He said that the Department of Wildlife had relocated four bears so far this year.

The bumper sticker that applies is "Garbage kills bears", since the DOW will relocate a bear once, and kill the bear the second time, under a "two strikes" policy.

Richard thought more about the bear situation, and ended up stopping in Durango to talk to the folks at the visitor center. He called the Department of Wildlife office, angry about the campground failing to do anything, and plans to pursue this matter further.

On Wednesday the 29th Richard spoke to officer Drayton of the DOW. He indicated that the bear problems are widespread this year. He said that he told the campground that they were going to have to do something different next year to stop the bears. I think his view is that the campground is just one of many problems in his area, and that the camping season is coming to an end, so he was not too upset about the campground. I think that I will drop it, but I am still indignant.

Richard

Breakfast, followed by lunch

We headed down the hill to Durango, to meet Tim, Cindy, Dennis, Teresa, Nick, Lucas, and Grace for breakfast. We ended up at Christinas, in the care of Dina, a very friendly waitress. After breakfast, everyone left for home, but I got a photo first.

Then we called Eileen, and found out that they were headed for Christinas for lunch, so we ended up sitting at the same table with the same waitress! We ate with Eileen, Liz, Charlie, Thelma, Marge, Ed, Greta, and Carl. After lunch, we headed back to the camper. Marianne took a nap while Richard went up to the cabin to try to fix Eileen's email. Richard was partially successful, in that he was able to change her password so that she could retrieve email using webmail and Liz's computer. But he could not get AOL to run on her computer, probably because too many people had been trying to fix it. He suggested that a professional might be needed to restore AOL to her computer.

Richard and Marianne had a quiet evening in the camper.

Richard

A Sad and Happy Day

Today was John's funeral. We met the family in the park across from the church, where we had a picnic the month before at the reunion. As John came from a large family, there was a lot of family there. The church was almost full.

Father Jim knew John well, and Father Dan was a lifelong friend. They both spoke about John in a personal way. The music was chosen by the family, and played by family and friends. Eileen played with the Electra Lake Trio, and also with the choir of children. They sang Amazing Grace, as they did at the reunion the month before. Eileen's strength was so impressive, being able to play, sing, and speak despite the sorrow she felt. Each grandchild wrote a small tribute to John. Charlie and Liz gave a beautiful eulogy. The Knights of Columbus presented Eileen with a chalice with John's name engraved on it. It was a very uplifting service, both happy and sad; happy to see John going to his eternal reward, and sad to see him leave us.

The graveside service included the priests, as well as a ceremony by the Elks, and taps from the VFW post. The Elks' ceremony was particularly well done, including a dialog that went something like this: “How shall we write our brother's faults? In the sand. How shall we write our brother's virtues? On a stone tablet.” And perhaps that was the theme of the entire service, everyone focusing on John's virtues, with passing references to his human imperfections.

After the service we adjourned to the church for food and conversation, and later went to the cabin for more food, conversation, and libations.

An appropriate farewell to a man who had a big presence.

Richard

Rosary and Viewing

We met the family at the funeral home for the private viewing. A lot of tears were shed for John. We met some of John's family who we had not seen in many years.

The rosary was at the church at 6 PM. Doris, one of Marianne's friends from grade school and high school, sang at the service. She lost her husband just three weeks ago.

After the rosary, we headed up for the cabin, which was packed with family. There was good food and good conversation. We saw the rest of the video interview with John, and heard some funny stories from his youth.

Richard

Back to Durango

We drove back to Durango for John's funeral. We got on the road with the RV around 9:30 PM, and arrived at the campground We stopped in Fairplay for lunch, and to mail off one of my sculptures. We stopped in Pagosa Springs for a quick bite, and then kept driving to the Durango Riverside Resort and Campground. We had stayed there for a couple of nights in July, after the reunion.

After setting up the camper, we drove up to the cabin. Eileen, Liz, Charlie, Pat, and Ed were all there, watching a video of a recent interview with John. Sad, but interesting as well. We swapped stories about John, and talked about a range of things. Liz looked pretty good, but expects to lose her hair soon due to chemo. Eileen insisted that I sit in John's easy chair.

Tomorrow is the viewing and the rosary. Dennis, Tim, and Teresa arrive tomorrow late.

Richard

Fish, finally, and then home

I decided to give it one last try, and went out on the boat in the morning. On about the third cast, I hooked a sizable trout on a Kastmaster lure. I fought him for a couple of minutes, but he got off before I could net him. It felt good to catch something.

On the way home, we stopped at the Rand store, where Marianne bought a book about a pioneer woman doctor in Montana. The Rand store has an excellent collection of Colorado and Western books, including a women's section.

The rest of the trip was routine, except for the heavy traffic. We saw backups as early as Tabernash, and I70 was stop and go.

Richard and Marianne

More rain, no fish

Art and Linda left in the morning. We all promised to see each other more often.

Richard fished from the boat for a couple of hours in the morning, no luck, and went over in the afternoon to the Roaring Fork and fished an hour or so, before the first storm hit. Richard started the new Harry Potter book when he got back. We drove to Walden to go to 5 PM mass, but they had changed the mass time to 2 PM Sunday. After a stop at the grocery store, we headed back to Delaney, and then back to the Roaring fork for an hour, to make it to the car just as the rain got serious. Another storm with hail and lightning. We don't mind fishing in the rain, but it makes no sense to fish in a lightning storm. So Marianne cooked a spaghetti dinner while we watched the strange sky.

Richard is ready to go home, and fish another time.

Richard and Marianne

Pretty Lake, But No Fish for Us

We fished for a few hours in the morning. Kind of a frustrating enterprise, as Art and Linda, in a boat about 200 feet from ours, caught many fish, while we did not even get a strike.

We had a nap after lunch, and then fished for a few hours in the evening. Linda caught a couple of fish, but nobody else did. Richard got a couple of strikes, but no fish.

The sunset was nice, as usual here. We had a rainstorm blow through after dinner.

We sat around and chatted after dinner. It was good to see Art and Linda again. We had not seen them for a couple of years.

Richard and Marianne

Driving to Delaney Buttes

We got up in the morning, and starting organizing to go. When Richard hitched up the boat trailer, he found that the safety chains were missing, probably never replaced after repainting the trailer last year. But a trip to the hardware store let us get on the road. After hitching up the Sunnybrook and the boat, our rig is 62 feet long.

The drive over was routine, over Berthoud pass, and then through Winter Park, Fraiser, Tabernash, and Granby. Lots of construction and development. On our way into Walden, the light on the fields was beautiful. We stopped in Walden at the liquor store, and to talk to the guys in the fly shop, and then headed to the lake. When we arrived at South Delaney Butte lake, we saw a strange looking inflatable boat on the shore, and then realized that it was our friends, Art and Linda. So we set up near them, and put our boat in the water. We went out and fished in the evening, but fishing was slow, so we came in. Art and Linda came over to our RV, where we swapped stories until late.

Richard and Marianne.

Driving Home

We got up early and got on the road. We stopped at the rafting place, because Tim had picked up the CD of pictures, and later discovered that the CD did not have the right pictures on it. Marianne got a new CD.

The drive home was routine. We drove over Wolf Creek Pass, through the San Luis Valley, and then down 287 to Denver. It was warm in Boulder, but there is more oxygen there. Compared to the Western Slope, the yard and everything was very dry.

Our reunion memories are still very strong.

It was time to be home, but it is a bit of a culture shock to be back in the city.

A Quiet Day

We woke up Sunday morning and worked on our relaxing. We admired the hummingbirds swarming our feeder. A camper in a nearby site asked us why we had many hummingbirds, and they had none. We loaned them out birdfeeder.

After lunch, we drove up to Electra Lake to visit John and Eileen. Ed, Shannon, Aiden, and Andrew arrived from California; we had not seen them in a few years.

We went fishing in the evening. Marianne fished from the dock, while Richard went out in a kayak. Richard caught a 10 inch brown trout, so he was happy.

We said goodbye to everyone and headed back to the camper. We plan to leave first thing in the morning.

Until We Meet Again

On Saturday morning, everyone worked diligently to pack up and sort all the camping and cooking gear. There were a series of goodbyes, and cars and trailers were loaded.

Our host was happy to see that we had left the campground in good order, as they had to prepare the campground for a wedding that afternoon. We were told that the wedding would take place in a meadow that was really a marsh, full of mosquitoes, especially after the daily monsoon rains, with more rain coming.

Everyone stopped by to say goodbye to John, who looked good, the old John, one day after he was released from the hospital. The kids went to him and loved him.

After a final series of goodbyes, everyone went their own way. We drove a few miles down the hill to Riverside Resort and Campground, where we camped near the Animas River. The Animas was running bank full and muddy, after the recent rains. We set up our hummingbird feeder, and watched a swarm of hummingbirds go to work.

We went to mass at St. Columba's church, where we saw Charlie, Amber, Bridget, Patrick, and Stacy. A very nice service, with a sermon reminding us that it is OK to ask God for what we need, even to petition God repeatedly for our needs, or tell God that we are angry that we have not received what we need.

A Rainy Day in Silverton

Friday was departure day for several people. Pat and Pete headed home to get Pat to a lower altitude and investigate her medical problems. Judy, Ron, Geneva, and Stephen drove home, having said their goodbyes Thursday night. Prescott, Nicolette, and Kristin were driven to the airport in Albuquerque by Tim and Cindy. So the reunion is starting to taper down.

Eileen, Charlie, Amber, Bridget, Pat, and Stacy stopped by on their way to the hospital to pick up John. Amber and Bridget wanted to spend time with their cousins, so they stayed with us.

We left for Silverton in a light rain, which got heavier as we headed up the pass. We saw a smashed truck on the side of the road, and part of it's cargo of apples next to the creek. We arrived in Silverton to steady rain. We did a little shopping, and then had dinner at Romero's Mexican restaurant. The food and conversation was good. Our waitress was the youngest daughter of the founders of the restaurant. We left Silverton, and it was still raining.

Nick took Amber and Bridget back to the cabin, and then did a little fishing with Sarah and Lucas, but no luck. Nick reported that John looked pretty good. Tim and Cindy returned from Albuquerque. Almost everyone hung out around the campfire, not wanting the reunion to end.

We talked a little about ideas for the next reunion, with Missouri, Michigan, Arkansas receiving support, along with the Black Hills of South Dakota. A river trip, the Boundary Waters, and a trip to the ocean were discussed, but deemed impractical.

Rafting and Family History

We showed up at Mild to Wild rafting, to fill out paperwork and be issued life jackets. The final count was 24 rafters from the reunion. After some standing around, we got on the bus, and were driven to the put in. The put in was a bit of a traffic jam of rafts and buses, but after a short safety talk, we got on the river. We had three boats, two were paddleboats, and one was an oar boat with paddle assist.

Our guides were good, and we enjoyed the ride, including a little splashing and bumping of boats. We heard a little bit about river history and lore, and soon we were approaching the notorious Smelter rapid. At 700 cfs, much below peak flow, the rapid was not very imposing. But our guides worked with us to surf the rafts. It was impressive to see that large a boat being surfed; the nose of the raft submerged and the people in the front got pretty wet. Our ride ended at Santa Rita park, right below Smelter rapid.

After the river trip, we adjourned to the park across from St. Colomba's Church for a picnic lunch. After lunch, the tour commenced, with Marianne explaining how she and other family members attended the church and school. When we went inside the church, we found a flutist inside, practicing. She was very interested in our group, and very chatty. The kids went up to the choir loft, and someone suggested that they sing, and that the flutist accompany them. And that is what happened, including a rendition of Amazing Grace, a kind of tribute to John. A very serendipitous event

Marianne showed us the stone school building where she and Eileen went to school, and we had our picture taken on the steps, in a shot reminiscent of the picture taken of the students when Marianne was a girl.

Our final history stop was at the old family home on third street. While we were outside taking pictures, the owner drove up and wondered what was going on. Once we explained to him that Marianne and her family had lived in the house, he became very interested, and spent some time talking to Marianne and the group. His wife even gave Marianne a tour of the house.

We headed back to camp, for our last dinner together before Judy and her family left Friday morning. Pat and Pete were able to join us for a little while, and Pat gave the kids pillows that she had made for them, as well as blankets for Richard and Marianne. Eileen's sons Charlie and Pat stopped by for a while as well. The evening ended around the campfire with talk and singing.

A Change in Plans

Our original schedule called for Wednesday to be a family history day, with Marianne as our host and guide. But John's illness resulted in a change of plan. Wednesday became a free day, with people fishing, playing in the water, and just hanging out. Eileen spent the day at the hospital, and dropped off Amber and Bridget to spend the day with us.


Throughout the trip, it was fun to watch the kids play with one another. They played together very well, generally in groups where the kids were of similar ages.

Charlie was supposed to return from his business trip on Wednesday, and pick up Amber and Bridget from us. However, weather resulted in flight delays, and we were not sure when he would arrive. Amber and Bridget spent the night in Richard and Marianne's camper, which they took very well.

Thursday was supposed to be a ride on the Durango-Silverton train. But a landslide had shut down the line, except for a short ride to Cascade. Everyone went for the train refund, and we agreed to river raft instead, so we reserved the short raft trip on the Animas River in the town of Durango, starting at 11 AM and ending at 1 PM.


Marianne's old friends, Pat and Pete, arrived Wednesday to join the reunion. Unfortunately, that night Pat had trouble breathing, so they headed to the emergency room in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

Mesa Verde

On Tuesday, we drove to Mesa Verde National Park. The drive from the highway to the ruins is slow and twisty, but very pretty. The dead trees from the 1996 Chapin fire can be seen for most of the drive.

When we got to the visitor center, we found that the Cliff Palace tours were sold out until 5 PM, while the Balcony House tours were sold out until 4 PM. The Balcony House tour includes some 30 foot ladders and a short tunnel on your hands and knees, so this was not appropriate for some members of the party. Some people bought tickets for the Balcony House tour, and then we had a picnic lunch.

After lunch, we walked down to Spruce House to take a look. Lots of folks looking around, and a line to get down into the kiva. Then it was time to head over for the tour.


Balcony House is known for the small balconies that are found there, complete with the original dirt and bark flooring. The house was built under an overhang, like many at Mesa Verde, and required tons of dirt and stone to be hauled up just to build the floor and retaining wall, let alone the buildings. The water supply was a small seep. The tour guide told us that they no longer refer to these people as Anazai, which is a Navaho word meaning ancient enemy. They now believe that these were the ancestor of the indians of the many Pueblos found in New Mexico and Arizona. The Kivas included the Sipapu, or symbolic hole from which the Pueblan peoples believe that they came from the third world to the fourth world. At the end of the tour, we had to climb a couple of ladders, with a rainstorm starting to build. The rain and wind had started in earnest by the time we climbed the last ladder, and we ran back to the cars. The drive out was done in a downpour, including one lightning strike very close to our car.



About the time we arrived in camp, we received a call from Eileen, letting us know that John was taken by ambulance to the hospital, because he was unable to speak. Dennis and Marianne drove to to the hospital to support Eileen. John was admitted to the hospital to stabilize his glucose levels, which had dropped to zero, making it a near miracle that he was still alive. Marianne spent the night with Eileen at the cabin.

A Day at the Lake

We started the day with a leisurely breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes, and of course more socializing. After breakfast, we headed over to the lake, to John and Eileen's cabin.

We spent a lot of time visiting with John, who is not well enough to come to the reunion, so we brought the reunion to him.

The loudest sounds came from the swimmers when they hit the cold lake water, but they had a good time. Alma and Rosalee fished off the dock. Richard took out a kayak, including Erica and Grace, who wanted a ride. Just when we reached the other side of the lake, we saw and heard the crack of lightning, so we paddled right back.

We concluded our visit to the lake with a tribute/sharing session with John. We went around the room, and people talked about how much John meant to them in their lives, and shared some anecdotes. By the end of our visit, the regularly scheduled afternoon rainstorm had arrived, bringing more water than usual.

Dinner was spaghetti, corn, and salad, prepared by Deb and Brent, a delicious meal. We agreed to leave the campground at 10 AM the following day to drive to Mesa Verde.

Richard and Marianne

Mogote to Durango – Start of Reunion

Since we were the organizers of the reunion, we decided that we needed to get to the reunion site early. So we were on the road before seven in the morning. We then proceeded to have a very up and down drive to Durango, starting with Cumbres Pass. This was a slow drive in places, but we arrived at the campground at 11:30 AM. Our campground hosts were there to greet us, Shirley and Shelby. They are a retired couple from Florida, and very talkative. Shelby is definitely a good old boy, with colorful expressions and lots of stories. The most important practical thing that we learned was that bears have been a problem at the campground, raiding the dumpster and wandering through camp. After about half an hour of chatting, we pulled in and set up. The facility was just as nice as we remembered, and larger than we needed.

The first to arrive were Jim and Karen from Cortez, followed by Tim and Cindy from Missoula, Dennis and his family from Denver, Teresa and her family from Illinois, Deb and her family from Denver, Judy and her family from Wyoming, as well as Don and Sharon from New Mexico, who were bringing Nicolette and Prescott, Tim's adult children, and Kristin, Prescott's girlfriend. Charlie and his girls from Phoenix showed up later. There was a lot of catching up to do, and conversations all over. Richard and Marianne provided burgers and brats, with expert grilling assistance from Judy's husband Ron. The evening ended with a campfire and a careful cleaning of the camp, leaving no food or trash behind. The reunion got off to a good start, with everyone arriving safely, about thirty people in all.

Tomorrow is the day at the lake, at Eileen and John's cabin, which everyone is looking forward to.

Fishing the Conejos River near Platoro

After getting some flies and advice from the Conejos fly shop, we drove up 20 miles of dirt road to the Conejos River near the town of Platoro. We fished in the meadows below Platoro. We saw large fish feeding on the surface, but had no luck until Marianne hooked a big one. She was working hard, wanting not to lose it. When she tried to work it into an eddy it dived and caught on an underwater snag. Luckily, it was not too deep, and Richard was able to wade in, free the fish from the snag, and net him. After Richard removed the fly, the fish escaped the net, before we could measure it. We are going to call it an 18 inch brown trout.

There are campgrounds up and down the Conejos, both commercial and forest service. The forest service campground a few miles below Platoro, Lake Fork, may be the best choice for fishing, but reservations may be needed to get a good site, such as site 17.

We drove into the town of Antonito to go to church. The parish has a total of 6 mission churches, scattered around the area. The main church, in the town of Conejos, is the oldest church in Colorado, founded in 1858. The people in the church were very friendly. The priest was from Chihuahua, Mexico, very nice. On the way back to the campground, we stopped at the old burned out church in Las Mesitas. Richard wanted to take pictures. The cemetery was moderately interesting, including a stone for someone who earned a Silver Star in Vietnam. The saddest was a pair of elaborate stones, one for a teenager, and the other for his father and mother. The Father died a few months after the son, at the age of forty-two. Sunday we get up very early to drive to Durango, to try to get there early to greet the reunion participants.

Fishing the Conejos

We drove up the road a few miles to fish in one of the public access leases. We fished for a couple of hours, with the only action one fish on for about 3 seconds. Marianne saw an American Dipper along the river, an uncommon bird, as well as a couple of water snakes next to the river.

We went back to the car for lunch, and then drove upriver, what seemed like a very long way on a dirt road. We stopped in a meadow and fished, again without success. We figured out later that if we had driven a couple more miles, we would have reached Platoro reservoir. We arrived at the camper in a steady rain, ate dinner, and closed out the evening with a game of Skipbow.

Boulder to Mogote

The drive from Boulder to Mogote felt routine, since we had been in Mogote only a few weeks ago. We went down 285 through the San Luis Valley, always a beautiful drive, did some grocery shopping in Alamosa, and drove to the Mogote campground, on the Conejos River. We even took the same campsite that we had stayed in a few weeks before.

When we arrived, we set out a hummingbird feeder, which we don't normally do. We immediately had a rufous hummingbird at our feeder, and no end of entertainment watching the hummingbirds chase each other and use the feeder.

Home Again

We got up early and broke camp. We made a reasonable start to the drive, around 9 AM. The driving was smooth sailing, with the heavy traffic going the other way. Erica mostly read, while Ari slept in the back.

We stopped at a park in Fairplay for lunch, and got the girls home mid-afternoon.

All in all, a great trip. We are looking forward to another trip next year.

Richard and Marianne

Our Last Day at the Dunes

Erica and Richard got up early and cuddled for a while. Richard and Erica went on a dunes hike with a ranger. Erica mostly played in the water and sand, and Richard learned about rocks. Marianne and Ariana went birdwatching, and saw deer, jackrabbit, and flowers. After lunch, the girls went to the dunes on their own, and later Richard went down to join them.

We sat outside for a while and read, and then had an early dinner, with some sharing. Ari read a prayer, and Erica read the story of Daniel in the Lion's den. We went to an evening ranger talk, telling stories for the kids. Erica was a frog in one of the stories. The young ranger did a very good job.

We closed the day with the usual competitive Skipbow game. Friday we get up early to head home.

Richard, Marianne, Ariana, and Erica