Month: October 2020

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Faith, Marriage and Memories, Nature, Traveling

And then …

When we first arrived in Colorado, Bob had taught the family how to drive the mule and the ATVs. They especially liked those ATVs! One evening Bob was going out into the meadow with Emily and Ellie on the ATVs. He really wanted me to go as his passenger. So I agreed and off we went. Through the meadow and the hard to open gate, on to the next meadow.

  • Aspen and pine
    Aspen and pine
  • "Branch-hand" LOL
    “Branch-hand” above LOL
  • Prairie dog holes
    Prairie dog holes
  • Wild snapdragons, I believe
    Wild snapdragons, I believe
  • Moments before the big mishap!
    Moments before the big mishap!

So we were tooling around the meadow, taking in the sights and even doing selfies! So unlike us old folks.

We came to a gully-ditch. Emily got off their ATV and guided Ellie how to drive through it. We came over and they assured Bob that he, too, could drive through it. As the passenger, I never even saw the thing. After Emily gave Bob instructions everyone began hollering at me to “HOLD ON!!!” There is a steel bar that runs around the passenger area of the ATV. I suppose it is designed to tie down cargo, but also provides hand holds for a passenger. So I held on and Bob drove into the ditch. Little did I know I was about to join the Camp Grenada group.

As he drove down the black bar I was holding to came up and banged me in both elbows. I instinctively let go. At which point I proceeded to get a whiplash from my groin to top of my head. We made it to the other side. I was not thrown off the ATV. I cried in pain, shock and surprise at being hurt. I composed myself after a couple minutes and we continued. We reached another gully as we headed for home. As they debated how to cross I insisted Bob just let me off! I began to walk for home.

They got across that gully and I got back on. We made it home. Both my elbows turned dark purple. The ATV had hit my back across the bottom of my shoulder blades and along my lower back. Lots of pain that night. Went to bed with pillows under both elbows, neck and any other place that hurt.

I moved very slowly the next day and the day after that. I missed posts here the last few weeks because of doctor appointments, x-rays, physical therapy and finally an MRI. Determination is I have more arthritis in my spine than previously. As far as anyone can tell nothing is broken. Bone bruises on elbows may take a long time to go away. No results on MRI yet. From what I have read whiplash can also take a long time to heal. Oy! soft tissue, please heal.

So our Camp Grenada experience continued. One friend said it sounded like a bad movie. But you know what? It was a beautiful place. We were so grateful to be able to take family and friends there. We likely can never go back because of breathing difficulties. Overall, it was a grand way to celebrate 50 years of marriage. Betty is finally out of the boot and did not have to have surgery for her broken ankle. Bob;s wounds are all healed up. We think his knee is not torn again. Time will tell!

My dear friend, Betty, remembered this saying and I will adopt it for myself.

“Growing old gracefully means letting go of the things you can no longer do and rejoicing in the things you can still do.”

Ah! Grandeur of Yellow Ponderosa Pine right outside your window!

 It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;  to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.  For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.  How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!

Psalm 92:1-2,4-5 (NRSV)
Posted on in Memories, Nature, Special Event, Traveling

Other Sites in the Area

There was a one room school house basically surrounded now by cow pastures!! The sign reads “Debs School was attended during summer grades 1-8. Constructed 1930.” When our son-in-law, Dave, spoke with the Colorado water man who came driving past the cabins one day he said he went there as a child. Dave really wanted to go inside but the man did not who to contact or if that was even possible.

Always when returning to the ranch one must unlock and open the gate. Let driver though and then close and re-lock gate. My sister had taught me the how-tos on that over 20 years ago. Here I am doing the chore while Bob drove the vehicle.

My sister told us to be on the look out for their flock of mountain bluebirds. I saw many in the meadows while Bob drove back and forth to Pagosa Springs, but never could catch a photo. They are known to migrate in flocks of 50 or so. Below is a photo I found on the internet. I was delighted seeing so many together!

Mountain bluebird near Tower Jct; Jim Peaco; April 2013; Catalog #20016d; Original #IMG_9980

I included the scrubby photo below so you could see the hostile environment the thistle was growing in. Certain Bob and Dan could have gotten better photos. Remember I was shooting from inside the vehicle. If we had stopped for every photo we wanted we might not be home yet! This is musk thistle and considered an invasive weed. That color does POP! though.

“Oh, and you must eat at Kip’s!” instructed Paula. My sister was afraid the pandemic might have closed down one of her favorite restaurants, Kip’s. They were able to survive. Bob and I split an enormous green chili burger there! Wow! what a great feast! And GOOD guacamole not loaded with raw onion.

I did not eat the jalapenos!

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Faith, Nature, Spiritual growth

A Slow Hike

We drove to a trailhead and hiked a while with Emily and her girls. It was slow going as it is hard for people with compromised lungs to hike at 8,000 Feet.

Some of the aspens were just beginning to turn their bright yellow. “Quaking Aspens” fascinate me. They remind me of the Bible verse Isaiah 55:12

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

So here are the old folks hiking with the young’uns, who were actually far ahead of us. Our daughter though did decide to stay at our side at all times.

The trail is basically between our shoulders!

Since the trail did not go where the girls wanted, we went separate ways back at the parking lot. As Bob drove the other side he pulled over for these photos of the canyon the stream had carved.

We could never see where the trail we had been hiking went! Oh well. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed the walk.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Traveling

Bob Liked Stars, too!

See this lovely cabin?

This is the “Dot” where we moved after the Cookseys went home. See the lovely landscaping? the reflection on the storm door? the huge poles around the porch with one right at the stairs?

Bob was also getting excited about the stars. One night I was already in bed reading. He went outside to look at the stars and decided there were too many lights on in the cabin. So he went in and turned them off. He thought he knew just where the pole and the stairs were. I had left a flashlight right at the door, but he never noticed it. He never even thought to grab one.

He fell off the porch and thanks be to God he did NOT crack his head on those large stones!! I thought I heard him cry out. I called to him. No answer. I called louder; no answer. So I went running to the front door just in time to see him coming through the door dripping blood from his leg and arms.

I am so thankful my sister keeps a first aid kit in each cabin! I cleaned him up, got him bandaged and put to bed with some Tylenol. His right knee was already bruising. And sadly, that is the same knee upon which he has had meniscus repair – TWICE!

Next day he was stiff and sporting many bruises. We were so thankful he had NOT hit his head. We were too far away from civilization for emergency medical care. I decided I should increase my prayers for safety for the family for the remainder of this trip! Yikes. “Here I am at, Camp Grenada!”

Now his gashes and bruises have healed up. He has a new scar on his leg to remember Colorado! Those stars were lovely, though.

 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.  Our Lord is great, vast in power; His understanding is infinite.

Psalm 147:4-5 HCSB

 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD rescues them from them all.

Psalm 34:19 NRSV
Posted on in Traveling

After the Falls, the Fall

We were having a delightful time! We all had breakfast in our cabins. The “Minor” house is really the major house. It has the largest dining table, best equipped kitchen and easily room for all 8 of us to eat lunch and dinner together. Cooking was on a rotational basis and as mom used to say we had “food for an army.”

When we tried to hike to Piedra Falls we turned back because the trail was so muddy and downhill. We decided amongst ourselves that discretion was the better part of valor.

We returned and were doing really well until a patch of loose gravely stones caught Betty’s right foot. She went down and cried out. She thought it was a bad sprain, even though her foot had almost touched her shin when she landed. We let her rest for a minute on the trail. Dan and Bob got her upright to see if she thought she could walk/hobble. I took Jessie’s leash while they took Betty’s arms, guarding her side by side. I thanked goodness we were really close to the end of the trail. Would have been so much worse had we been further from transportation!

We drove her back to their cabin in the “Mule.” Dan got her situated on the sofa with ice and medication and elevation. He came to the Minor house to get lunch foods to take back. Dan went to the wood shed and found a stick to help her walk. We made certain they had dinner and stopped by afterwards to be sure she was okay. She looked as if she was in considerable pain.

Next morning the Cookseys decided to head back to Albuquerque and get her checked out at their usual medical clinic. The bad news was Betty actually broke her tibia at the ankle. Ouch!! Yes, she needed medical attention!

Here she is waiting on the porch and saying good-bye while we loaded their car.

Like I have said we were more like the “Honeymooners” TV show, even though we stayed in the “Honeymoon” cabin.” Do you remember the song from 1963 about a kid who went to camp? Our bodily welfare turned out to be like some of the kids at Camp Granada.

Since theirs was the nicest cabin with good wifi, I proceeded to wash the sheets. Bob and I packed our things, left the obvious mice behind, and moved to the “Dot,” which had less obvious mice. As my sister told us, those mice live there year round. We just visit occasionally and set traps when they get inside!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Traveling

Oh the Stars!

 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.  They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.  Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Psalm 19:1-4a (NIV2011)

One thing I dearly wanted to see in Colorado was the night sky without all the light pollution of Greater Cincinnati area. Being older, and full of excitement, we went to bed at our usual early hour. The first night when I awoke, I glanced out the window from the Honeymoon cabin. Even without my glasses I could see stars. With my glasses, I was absolutely amazed.

The next evening we went outside before bed, but it was not quite as dark as after midnight and not as impressive. At 1 AM I tried a different window, but it was not as startling as the first one. Still too cold to go traipsing about in my nightie. And, alas, too tired to try a camera. Bob had assured me that I would need a good camera with a long (or was it slow?) exposure. My iPhone 8+ just would not get it.

Our friend, Dan Cooksey, captured it for me! Click on the link below to open his blog. He wrote about it On September 9th at https://danandbettysplace.blog/2020/09/20/stars-in-the-heavens/

And he has a gorgeous portrait of Jessie the traveling dog as his blog banner. Hope you enjoy the words and photo from one of our “besties.”

Posted on in Memories, Nature, Traveling

Hike to Piedra Falls, Almost

Here we are loaded onto the “Mule” for the short drive to Piedra Falls. Then we planned to hike. And Jessie is in the back with Betty and Dan. She seemed to think it was a pretty cool ride.

Bob, the Goof Man driver!

Just realized I may not have a face-on photo of Jessie. Hmm …

Aspens among the pines

This was one of those crystal clear days that made you take a deep breath and be thankful!

Now for someone afraid of heights and hiking ahead by herself this seemed very daring – and I did it!

The river below
River in the shadows

I kept climbing higher and looking back. Bob had stopped earlier due to breathing troubles. Then Betty and Dan stopped so she could catch her breath. I passed people with dogs and told them about the Golden Retriever behind me. And then uh-oh. Trail turned muddy and slippery.

Having fallen at the end of a trial in Smoky Mountain National Park I was reluctant to proceed.

Then Betty and Dan arrived and said no, not for them. Then to my surprise Bob arrived! and he agreed not a good idea. So we were close, but the trail told us not to go further. This must be the lower falls?

Using the telephoto we could glimpse the falls, or at least the first falls.

No idea how much further past the downhill mud trail. I was delighted Bob had made it this far. Learned later it was quite a struggle for him, lung-wise.

The actual falls according to http://pagosa.com/adventureguide/piedra-falls-hike/ “The falls are impressive, thundering off a cliff into a V-shaped canyon of huge boulders. The hike takes about 15 to 30 minutes each way.”

And then the trip began to take a turn towards Camp Grenada.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Nature

Autumn Unfolding

Thought you’d like to see some garden and tree shots before all the leaves fall. Below is a annual decorative plant called Persian Shield. I have had it in a planter in years past. The last couple years I went ahead and put it right in the garden. This one looks a little tired from the summer sun, but still flashes of purple! And the sweet volunteer sunflower next to it!

As I have chosen to garden less and less this is the only chrysanthemum that remains. My neighbor offered me some recently, but I just did not have it in me to be out there digging right now.

Our maples are blazing bright yellow! The morning light at my chair for prayer and meditation has changed dramatically. It will only last a couple weeks this way!

One of our favorite shrubs, discovered on a drive down the Natchez Trace, then seen again at our favorite doughnut shop, is “American Beauty Berry.”

I think next year I will feed it and see if we get more berries!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Humor, Traveling

Home with Lucky

She had such luxury accommodations while we traveled that I was uncertain she would want to live with us again! Lucky has the red collar.

She has settled in again and still loves Bob the best. She has gotten ornery about being in her kennel. Learned how to open it with just the slide latch on it. Bob put a carabiner clip on it. One day she got aggravated and broke that off before we got home. Stronger one on there now. We want her to continue to use it when we need her confined, like when the satellite TV guy comes.

My friend Betty introduced me to this dogie treat.

Doggie “Ice Cream” Cups

1 ripe banana
2 tsp creamy peanut butter
2 tsp honey
Large (32 oz) container of plain yogurt (Greek or reg.)

Mash banana; add honey & peanut butter; mix well then add yogurt.  I put into small plastic cups – usually 6 or 7 cups.  Freeze. 

I finally found some plastic cups like Betty uses. I got about 10 portions out of the recipe today. If you really love your pup like a kid, well, of course, you have to let her lick the beaters!