Pre-Season Wrestling/Come From Away

 I did take a picture of the two kids BEFORE Aleah left on Saturday night as she was spending the night with friends!

Sunday morning came EARLY!!  I was originally planning on following Jill and Parker with my car as the meet was on my way home BUT when I found out the time she was leaving, I decided not to - I just don't drive in the dark anymore and I knew their entire journey south at that time of the morning would be in total darkness!  SO I left at 7:00am when there was plenty of light!

I stopped at Ziggys to get a coffee to go - it was delicious BUT the lid didn't fit at all and there was no time to get back in line to get another one - so everytime I picked it up, the lid would pop off - what a mess!!!  As soon as I drank it down a little bit, then I could just take the lid off and not worry about it!

Traffic of course but I made it just fine to the high school that was sponsoring it!  I even got in free because of my age!!

It was a VERY nice school - and once it got started, the matches go fast!  Parker lost his first match!

But then he did great on the next match and won by points!  He's had some knee issues and shoulder issues this last year so hopefully no injuries this next season!

It was fun to watch him wrestle - in between times, Jill and I would walk around the school and then ate a packed lunch before I headed out!  It was a wonderful but BUSY weekend at the Savages!

I drove on down to Colorado Springs and parked at Amy's place - she just lives a block from the Fine Arts Center and we walked over to see the play "Come From Away"!

The musical was EXCELLENT!!!  Probably one of my favorite that I've ever seen!!  And of course it was quite emotional also as the musical was about the planes that were flying from Europe during 9/11 that had to be rerouted to Canada.  Well written and well executed!!  I would see it again in a heartbeat!

So all in all a great but packed 3 days!!  But it always feels good to get home...........

Fort Collins Bound

 We don't normally have much going on during Saturday and Sunday - but last weekend was quite busy!!  Jill had let me know about 1 1/2 months before that Aleah's Senior Softball Day was Oct. 3rd so to put it on my calendar!  Unfortunately, that was our "Dumpster Days" for our neighborhood and not only was Glenn working it, he had 3 loads himself to take over to the roll-offs - so there was no way he could come to Ft. Collins with me!

I left by noon on Friday to miss the traffic - yea, right - you NEVER miss the traffic anymore heading up that way - but I was in no hurry so didn't let the crazy drivers affect me!!  It was sure great to see Robby up and around and he definitely looks better now than he did on his accident day with the motorcycle!  

Aleah was already home from school and Jill came shortly after - it seemed like it had been forever since I've seen them as they never made it down during the summer!

Aleah, Jill and I played cards after we ate dinner - and talked a mile a minute it seemed!!  But all 3 of us went to bed early that night as we had a big day ahead - and yes, Parker sneaked in there somewhere too after working the concession stand at a game!

Jill and Aleah both left early Saturday morning and the other 3 of us left at 7:00am!!!  Yup, early morning for all of us!!  And what a day it was for the Softball Seniors!!

WOW the Bootster Club really goes all out on this day!!  Love the huge posters of the girls and their gifts - the stands were all decorated along with their numbers spray painted on the field!  And check out these cute decorations that we saw first thing when we walked in!

There were 9 seniors this year - all the families went out on the field and as your names were called, each family walked over to home base while the announcer talked about the player!  Then there were speeches and pictures and dads playing catch with their daughters and lots more going on!

It was really quite the program and I was so glad I was there!!!  It was quite chilly when we got there but by the time the game started at 10, we were all sweating in the sun!!

All 9 seniors played the entire game and even won by the 10 run rule which was a blessing because it was so hot!!  Next up was the barbeque for the girls and any families that wanted to eat!!

After helping undecorate the stands, Jill and I headed home and collapsed for a little while!!  Then we were off to a movie called "Verity" - Jill and I had both read the book and wanted to see it - it was really good and we enjoyed it and the popcorn!

Jill fixed a yummy pot pie for dinner and we had another early evening since Jill and Parker were leaving about 5:30 am the next morning to get him to a Denver pre-season wrestling match in south Denver!!!

To Be Cont'd.....

September Photo Dump

 I'm sad that September went SO DARN FAST!!!  Fall has been around a few weeks now and will be on the downhill side soon........

A few pictures that didn't make the blog!

Glenn put some more blacktop on the driveway - it turned out really nice!

Pumpkin bread!!!  And 3 PERFECT loaves - that rarely happens!

Jessi let me know when the "pumpkin spice" English Muffins arrived in her store - I looked for 2 weeks in all 3 of our stores and there were NONE!!!  So depressing!!!  When we went to Denver, our first stop was at King Soopers and they had them so I bought 4 packages!!!  HOORAY!!

The aspens are beautiful on our morning walk!

I worked Food Pantry last week and this was the ONLY water they offered in the cooler - yikes!!!!  So I tried a can of it and decided I DESPISE drinking water out of a can - it has a metallic taste to it!!  And what's with the NAME of this water - oh my!!!  No wonder it's sitting at the food pantry - nobody wants to buy it at the store!!!  HA!!

Our neighbors from OK. were in town so we had our get together!!  Always a fun time - and all 4 of us were rocking Fall shirts so we had to show off!!

What a crazy bunch!!

And that's a wrap for September - on to October whether I like it or not!!

Pueblo Camping and Fishing

 Although our fall trip is ONE of my FAVORITE trips of the year, I decided we weren't going to do it this fall - I'm not really sure why, except for the fact that I didn't think anything could match the beautiful pictures I took last year AND the leaves were not expected to be as brilliant this year due to the drought last winter and into spring!

But now I wish we would have as the leaves ARE beautiful, at least around here!!  But that's OK - something to look forward to next fall!!

So Glenn decided he wanted to go to Eagles Nest, NM to fish - but that didn't work because the campground was booked solid until October........so Pueblo was the next best thing!

And we had never plugged into a campground with electricity since we always wilderness camp so this was a good trial run before we head to Texas next year!

MY GOSH we were long when hooked up to the boat - it's almost a little scary to look at this picture and know we'll be on interstates and such.....WOW!!

Fortunately, the trip to Pueblo was unexciting and I admire that Glenn can drive this tripled up caravan!!

We found our campsite and got all set up - it was GREAT to have electricity and I could turn on as many lights as I wanted to AND use the microwave!!!  We're always very cautious in the wilderness that we don't run out of battery so this was nice!!  Everything worked fine and it was also nice to be able to plug in our phones!!

Glenn headed out to fish as soon as we got set up - I organized a few things and started my book!!

It was cloudy both days we were there - but it didn't bother either one of us!  I would take walks during the day!

The water was pretty but without sunshine it looks pretty dull!

We went to watch Netflix that evening but realized it wouldn't work because we were NOT hooked up to wifi and the campground didn't have it - hmmmmmmm - I'll need to get with Robby and see about using a personal hotspot in case a Texas campground we stay in doesn't have wifi - so many things to think about!!  But I had brought DVD's so we DID have movies to watch!

I was taking a walk when I saw something black scurrying along on an unoccupied campsite and when I got up there, oh my gosh - a tarantula!!!!  The dang thing kept scurrying toward me as I was trying to get a picture - sure wouldn't want one of those in my camper!!!!

There was a pretty sunset the 2nd evening after it rained a little bit!

And the fishing?   Nothing to speak of - Glenn did catch a few small crappie and bluegill - we ate them after we got home and I had forgotten how many bones there are in bluegill - YIKES!!!

All in all, a successful trip!

Gwyn's Track Meet

 Gwyn is in 6th grade this year and went out for track!!  She found out she doesn't LOVE running BUT she really enjoys being on the track team and loves doing the triple jump!!  They let this age group try a lot of the different events so next year they can really concentrate on what they want and like to do!

The track meet was local so that was nice - we headed up early on an afternoon and met Jessi and Gary at the house before we all headed over!

Here's Gwyn standing by the Triple Jump!   She did great!!

The mandatory picture with Nana and Papa!

She also ran in the 800 yard dash - she doesn't particularly like this event but it's sure better than the mile which she had to run a couple of times!!

These two are ALWAYS doing something strange!!!!

Cam joined us a little later!

We enjoyed our picnic dinner we had packed and by the time our sweatshirts were put on, it was almost over!!  Back to the house for ice cream after an enjoyable afternoon!

Jessi and I headed out for an early coffee together at Black Rock and then it was time for Glenn and I to hit the road for home!!

Mariposa Pines and Wawona

 It was our final day to explore Yosemite!!  We left the "close by" things for our final full day and it worked out perfectly!

First on the agenda was to go to Mariposa Pines which has the large redwood trees!  I was really excited to do this as I've seen the pictures of them and couldn't wait to walk among them!

Because we had the handicapped sticker, we were allowed to drive the first part of it, where all the other people had to take the shuttle - that was really nice!

It was a nice walk up to the "Grizzly Giant"!  This tree is enormous!!  The base circumference is 96 ft!!!  It is 2995 years old and is 209 ft tall!!!  WOW!!

As you can tell by our shirts, it was cooler today than the past 2 days!!  What a relief!!!  90 degrees was much better than 96!!

We all took individual pics in front of this amazing tree!

All 4 of us went for a short hike and we saw this set of trees which is called The Bachelor and Three Graces!

This is called The Fallen Monarch - gosh was that tree huge!

 

Marilyn and Karen decided to stay at the welcome center while Amy and I decided to take one more trail - it was up, up, up for our walk which we weren't aware of but it was a great hike and we enjoyed it!!

What fun to see these huge sequoia trees!!

Back to the house for lunch and then we did the History Center Tour, right there in Wawona where our cabin is!  It was a walk around outside tour on our own and I loved the covered bridge!

We saw lots of cabins with history about each one and inside the old horse barn was this carriage!!  Also an old timer who loved answering your questions and visiting!

Then it was off to The Swinging Bridge which involved a hike to the creek - it was a nice walk and the bridge was fun to cross!  It was pretty darn warm out by this time!

The creek water was beautiful and so clear - Marilyn had brought her swimsuit so she cooled off in the water while the rest of us sat in the shade!

I rolled my capris up as I didn't bring any shorts to wear!!  Worked just fine!

Marilyn was up for cooking dinner that evening and cooked a pasta with a tomato based veggie sauce and it was delicious!  Unfortunately a mouse or mice found our cabin sometime during the day and proceeded to eat most of our crackers and snacks - darn!!  Good thing it was the last day or we would have had to go grocery shopping again!!  We put the remainder of our snacks in the frig for the night!

Saturday morning we were up early as had to leave by 8:00 to get back to the airport in Fresno!  Amy and I dropped the girls off to get through security while we returned the rental car - easy enough!!  And then we headed into the airport for our flight at 12:15!  I enjoyed my cup of coffee I got there and before we knew it, it was time to board!

I took the middle seat on the way home as it was once again a full flight!  We landed in Denver and rode the shuttle to our parked car and soon were on our way home!  I dropped Amy off in Co. Springs and soon made it to "Home Sweet Home"!!  A great trip with friends!!

Glacier Point

 We actually slept in a little bit as didn't leave till 8:00!!  It was nice and COOL outside and we were hoping the day would be cooler - but that wasn't going to happen!!  Once again, we had 96 degree weather!

Karen needed coffee and the little market didn't open till 8:00 so she got coffee there - I had brought my international instant mocha coffee with me so made a "to go" cup every day which worked out great!  And soon we were on our way - I drove on this day so Amy could see the surroundings!

By the time we got to our stopping point, the sun was out and it was HOT!  We all carried water and snacks and started the "Sentinel Dome" hike which was a mile up!  The hike wasn't bad but there were some stones on part of the hike that weren't easy to get over at times!  So it did take us a while to get up there but we were in no hurry anyway!

Once again, the views were absolutely amazing!!  This big log was a perfect place to perch for a picture!

A great view of El Capitan - we used the binoculars and could see climbers - I just can't imagine anyone trying that!

Check out that blue, blue sky!!

Amy decided to hike down a different trail that went right to Glacier Point, our next stop - so Karen, Marilyn and I hiked down our original path to the car and then drove!  The place was packed as by this time it was about noon!!  Luckily we had Karen's disability tag for the car so we could park in handicapped and that certainly helped!  We met Amy and then walked up to the point for these awesome views!

WOW!  We could see 1/2 Dome so clearly and the pictures turned out amazing!!

Looking down at the bottom from above!

This is probably my favorite picture of me - even with a slight breeze on my hair, I just love the backdrop!

We spent quite a bit of time here just hanging out and enjoying the scenary!  Then it was a short hike back to the car and we headed back to the cabin for lunch!

It was nice to just relax the rest of the afternoon, catch up on exchanging pictures and sending them to our families!    Amy cooked a chicken white chile for dinner along with sourdough bread and we all ate outside!  We played some cards and I taught "Swoop" as Karen had brought 3 decks of cards to use!  Another terrific day!

To Be Cont'd......