House Update - aka Still Plugging Along.............

Glenn graduated from cardiac rehab today!!  He told me all the class members and staff are going to miss him as he always made everybody laugh!!  That's Glenn for you! He did do really well at the rehab center and feels like he's about 80% back to normal!  So we know what that means - FULL SPEED AHEAD ON THE HOUSE!!

Actually he's been working up there quite a bit along with a great helper - no more naps for him during the day so he's pretty tired when he comes home but is accomplishing a lot and that's exciting!!

Yesterday he passed his insulation inspection so the ceiling can now go up!!

 But in the meantime, they started on the drywall - I really was starting to believe that this day would NEVER COME!!!  Drywall sure makes the spaces seem smaller!  But I've been up there with my tape measure figuring out the closet configuration and where things will go!!

 Part of the kitchen wall is done - so soon we'll be able to contact the cabinet guy and have him come out to measure for the cabinets!

Still a LONG ways to go - but progress IS being made!!

Engineer Pass

Really?  Another day with hardly any sun?  And rain and mist?  You sure can't change the weather so you just go with it!!

We had to trailer the ATV to get to Engineer Pass so stopped in Lake City at Mocha Moose for some coffee first!  Always a great way to start the day!

 My favorite side road is Nellie Creek and that's where most of the pictures were taken!  Luckily the sun would peek out every once in a while and that's when I would click the camera!

 Gorgeous scenery wherever we looked!!

 Just to prove I was on this trip, I had Glenn snap a picture!

 Even though there is some blue sky in this picture, the sun wasn't out for long!  Soon we ended up putting on our rain gear!  Which was probably a good thing as it kept us warmer!

We grilled steaks that night for dinner and had a great evening just relaxing!!  Wed. morning we headed on back home - what a wonderful trip!!

Cinnamon Pass

We actually slept in Monday since the sun didn't wake us!  We were surprised at how long it took for the sun to peek out since we were further west but soon realized the sun wasn't going to shine much that day - it turned out to be pretty cloudy with a lot of mist off and on during the day!  Oh well...............

After breakfast and packing the ATV, we headed out with our long johns on, hats and gloves and our sweatshirts!  Thank heavens I put my double and triple layers on because it was darn cold riding that machine!!

Red Mountain - need I say more..............

As we were riding along looking from side to side, luckily I was turned in the right direction because guess what I saw?  A mama moose!!  We pulled off to the side of the road and used the binoculars to check her out!  And then out of the brush came 2 calves - how exciting to see this although I didn't get a picture of the little ones!

We had a fun day riding up the pass but didn't go to the very top - it was misty out and looked pretty rainy so we turned around and ended up taking a side road we hadn't been on before!  It was a nice scenic ride!  And then out of nowhere is this huge boulder by the side of the road!

It was certainly out of place and then we looked up and realized it had come down from the cliffs at some point!  As we traveled on, there were dozens and dozens of these rocks and boulders that had come crashing down at one point!!  You could even see the path they took in one spot!  I told Glenn we needed to drive FAST through this section as it was a little creepy!!  Here's the cliffs above us.

There was a lot of water running in the stream beside us and lots of beautiful waterfalls!

The aspens were gorgeous!

We headed into Lake City that evening to eat at Southern Vittles - they have some excellent barbecue!

And so ended our second night in Lake City..........To Be Cont'd

I LOVE Lake City

Bright and early Sunday morning we headed out to Lake City - not quite as early as I wanted since the car had a dead battery.................Glenn had worked on the trailer lights Sat. night and must have left something on in the car!

As usual, I had packed enough food and clothes for a week, even though we were only staying 3 nights - but hey, I would rather have TOO much than not enough!

We stopped in Gunnison and ate at Glenn's favorite place for breakfast - it was his turn to pick since the last time we stopped, I picked the crepe place.  But since the crepe place (and coffee place too) is right next door, I did get to grab a cup of coffee for the road!

No trip is complete without some type of a "business" stop!!  This time it was to meet the guy who had bought the backhoe and forgot to take some heavy, long iron contraption that went with it!!  He was from the other side of the state but was heading to Gunnison for some reason so we met him by the lake and delivered the iron piece!

As we got closer to Lake City, I could tell that a lot of the aspens were light green and not completely changed - darn - it's really hard to predict when peak season will be in Sept!!  Usually over that way they are a couple of weeks ahead of us so I booked our cabin early, thinking we would hit peak - but it wasn't to be this year!  Needless to say, the leaves were STILL gorgeous, even though they all hadn't turned yet!!

We arrived in Lake City about 12:30 and our check in time at the cabin was 4:00!!  Our plan was to ATV Engineer Pass that afternoon since we had to trailer the ATV anyway.  But Glenn realized on the way over that the Broncos were playing that afternoon so could I PLEASE call and see if we could get into the cabin early so he could watch the game?  And luck was with us as the cabin was ready and the gal met us out at the lake to open it up!

 It was a great cabin!!  Plenty of room for us and all the things we needed were stocked in this cute little cabin!  There were even 2 bedrooms so if someone wants to join us next year, let me know!!

 There was a large porch out front where I spent the afternoon with a good book, a wine cooler and chips!  And Glenn watched the Broncos game - I think I enjoyed my day more than him!

Before we cooked dinner that night, we walked down to the lake - it was beautiful!!

 And after dinner we went for a ride on the ATV - we took the back way around the lake and decided we were ready for the next day's journey to Cinnamon Pass!!

Glenn grilled hamburgers for dinner that night - it's amazing how good everything tastes when you're on a trip!!  To Be Cont'd......................

Labor Day Weekend

As I watched the campers, trailers, ATV's and motorcycles go by on HWY 24 all day on Friday, I reminisced about all of the 3 day weekends we used to take with the camper and ATV.  But I secretly smiled because I knew how busy every place would be and since we're retired, we no longer have to do those weekend camping trips, even though we didn't get to go any place this summer!!

HOWEVER - we are both excited because next Sunday we are heading to Lake City (my favorite place in the state!!) to stay in a cabin by a lake for 3 nights and ATV a couple of passes (easy ones as Glenn is still healing).  I'm hoping it will be peak season in that area as they're always ahead on the changing leaves!!  Glenn is putting 4 new tires on the ATV and also installing the heated grips that I got him last year for Christmas!  I'm making the menus and the regular list for everything we need to take!!  I CAN'T WAIT!!

In the meantime however, Jessi, Gary and the kids came down for a short weekend!!  Gary was called into work on Friday, his day off, but they still made it down later on Friday night - at least they missed most of the traffic!!

Glenn, Gary and Evan left Saturday morning for a day of rock hounding!  They packed a lunch to take and we girls just hung out all day!!  I loved Gwyn's blue dress that showed off her blue eyes!!

 The guys missed Happy Hour - we didn't!!

 Late Saturday afternoon we started dancing around - Jessi had just fed Gwyn not that long ago and as Jessi twirled around, Gwyn did a perfect upchuck on the floor - it all just splattered and was hilarious!

Evan and Kenzie both read to me instead of me reading to them...............they must be getting older!!

 While Jessi and Gary packed up Sunday morning, the kids and I walked up to the property - the trees around the rocks were gorgeous!  The kids are excited for us to move up there so they can play there all the time!

 Gwyn once again looked so cute in her outfit!

Even though their time was short, it was a great weekend!

This 'n That

Our annual 4-H Foundation picnic was held on a lovely Sunday afternoon!!  It's always fun to get together with this bunch - lots of great food - lots of fun laughs - and lots of visiting to catch up!  Since the foundation only meets about 3 times a year, we have plenty to talk about when we do get together!  It's already been decided that next year's picnic will be at our new house  -  hard to imagine that at this point but I know it will happen!!

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My friend Karen and I headed up to Hudson, CO to visit one of our close friends that had moved up there in Feb.  Karen and I hadn't spent much time together this summer either so it was non-stop talking on the 2 1/2 hour drive!!  Joyce has a lovely home, almost in the country, and we enjoyed a great lunch and tour of the house!  Sure do miss having her around our area...............

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A root canal - not my idea of fun at all!!  But the hot and cold sensations on one of my teeth were getting to be more than I could handle so it was a trip to the dentist - who didn't have good news for me!!  One of my old fillings had come out and it either had to be pulled or do a root canal - because it's the tooth where my partial attaches, it's a VERY important tooth so my dentist highly suggested I get a root canal.  I don't usually go for those but in this case, I decided to go ahead and have it done.

My dentist doesn't do them so referred me downtown - needless to say it was NOT a great experience - I was in the chair for 3 1/2 hours!!!  Yes, there were problems as the tooth had an unusually long root AND the root had split into two forks about 1/2 way down!  And if that wasn't bad enough, trying to get x-rays on this particular tooth was extremely painful as I have a very tall bone in my mouth and that's right where the the stick and square had to press down to get the x-ray.  Tears were streaming down my cheeks each time they took one - and most of the time it took 3 to 4 tries to even get the x-ray!

I'm still suffering the effects of the root canal since a horrible canker sore appeared on my lip right where the tooth is that needed the root canal - it's been so hard to eat lately and the sore has made me miserable..................I'm just hoping both the root canal AND the sore are better by Wed. when I see the regular dentist!!

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My friend Joleen was here from KS. this last week so we spent a lot of time together - one afternoon we met another friend, Jane, at the Country Lodge for a drink.  They have built this beautiful huge deck out back with a fire pit and heaters and it's a great place to meet friends!

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I got to cross something off my bucket list a couple weeks ago!!  It was on a Saturday morning and I was out walking (I don't usually walk on Saturdays but had skipped a day during the week) when I kept seeing all these cars stopping on the highway.  And then I was totally amazed because what came off the highway????  2 bull moose!!!!!!  I have NEVER seen a moose in the wild before!!  I watched them while they walked across a meadow and then cross the gravel road off the highway before I lost them.  What an experience!!  And I certainly hope it won't be the last time I see them!!

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Fall has officially arrived in Colorado!!  In fact, the smaller aspens outside my kitchen window are already gold and 1/2 of the leaves are on the ground!  But it seems the rest of the county is far behind as most of the aspens are just turning the light green!!  My house is decorated for fall - I was so excited to do this as I didn't get to put out my 4th of July decorations since the house was on the market at that time!  Stop on by - hot apple cider and pumpkin bars should be available soon!!

A Movie and More..................

It was time to head north to Ft. Collins for the weekend - but a short one as we had picnic plans on Sunday afternoon.....................

First on the agenda was taking Aleah to a movie for her belated birthday present!  There wasn't a lot of choices so I chose Shaun The Sheep - the trailer looked cute - the movie was so so.  Imagine sitting through an entire movie with NO VOICES - just some background music and noises.  Needless to say, the popcorn was great!!  And Aleah liked it which is all that counts!

 After we got back from the movie, we decided to go swimming in Jill's neighborhood pool - she had bought a pass for the summer and both of the kids took swimming lessons!  It was a super nice pool and not busy at all - fun to see the kids swim!!

 Aleah is like a little fish - she puts her goggles on and swims all over the place!!

 We had a nice dinner that evening and then watched some TV before we put the kids to bed!  They enjoyed it when I read "How To Babysit A Grandma" that my good friend Joyce had given me!

Blogger is being difficult again so Gwyn's picture is supposed to be below!!  We had a great time at Jill's although the time was sure short!  Because she had to teach at Sunday School the next morning, we headed on down to Denver to see the rest of the gang before we headed back home!  Gwyn of course was her usual cute self - she changes so fast!!

Glenn's Progress

A week ago Glenn had his check up with his cardiologist - the doctor said he is doing fantastic!!  He was happy with the way Glenn's scar looks and his EKG came out great!  Glenn is only on 2 medications now and possibly will go off one when he sees the dr again in December!

So we're coming up on 2 months post-surgery which means Glenn can get back soon to doing the things he loves to do - like BUILDING OUR HOUSE!!  He has hired a guy to help him which is helping out immensely  - this guy can do all the lifting of the heavy things as Glenn is still weight restricted! 

Glenn goes to cardiac rehab 3 times a week and is reaching the end of that also - he TELLS me he's the hardest worker in his class!!  And he's walking up to the property to work on the house at least once if not twice a day - so he really is making great progress!

He said goodbye to his pillow a few weeks ago - the one he had to hold against his chest whenever he got up out of a chair or coughed or sneezed!!  Of course the family had to sign it!!

It's exciting to see Glenn getting back to the way he was before!!