Please listen while you look at the photos! Psalm 136:1-6 (NIV2011) Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.
Oh the voices of those children! Don’t they bless your heart?
Do you see the Notch? Thus, the name ….Bob especially liked the heart shape on the hill.
Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV2011) I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
That is Bob undoing the combination lock on the Ranch gate. After this it was my job, or whoever was not the driver.
My sister made several houses available to us for our anniversary celebration. The houses are named after the previous owner. Our son as unable to go with us as he would have had to pull kids out of school. Our daughter arrived with her family later in the afternoon. They flew in and drove from Durango. They stayed in the “Minor” house. Cookseys stayed in the “Dot.” We were in the “Honeymoon” house. We decided Bob and I were more like the Honeymooners (think Jackie Gleason) than any newlyweds. At 50 years we felt lucky to get up the couple of steps. But this was the only house with a king sized bed and that is what we are accustomed to, so Bob chose this one.
Here is Bob on the steps of the Minor house talking with Emily and daughter, Lizzie.
Porch of the Dot house where Cookseys stayed. and Below is the Honeymoon house where we stayed.
Look at the size of this tree next to the house! Gorgeous!
A wonderful place to celebrate. We saw one person come through the week we were there. He was the water man. Our son-in-law spoke with him. Turns out this is one of the largest stands of Ponderosa Yellow Pine in the state of Colorado. Mountains, stream, ponds, blue sky, great company, shared evening meal preparation, such quiet, private quarters. We were so blessed!
Bob and I had headaches the first couple days due to the altitude. Bob had some difficulty breathing especially on exertion. We did not let that stop us from having fun though!
Correction: Pagosa Springs is in Southwest Colorado. It takes about 3-1/2 hours, about 306 miles too travel from Corrales to Pagosa Springs. We planned a stop at Abiquiui Lake at Abiquiui, New Mexico near Ghost Ranch where Georgia O’Keeffe used to paint.
Dan and Bob walking Jessie the Golden!
We had packed a lunch, but decided to drive on to Pagosa Springs as none of us were very hungry yet. And we were all anxious to arrive at the Notch Ranch.
Yes, that glorious clear blue sky was our companion for a few days before the smoke from the California fires traveled our direction. So sad, that vast destruction that is still going on today.
We are always amazed at the colors revealed when erosion peels back the layers of earth and shows such variety of colors in the Southwest states. Here is part of our drive north on Route 84.
We found the fruit market my sister had told us about. Stocked up on fresh tomatoes, Paradise peaches!! (yum and last of the season), corn on the cob and other goodies. Ate our picnic lunch in the cars in the parking lot as the sun was blazing. Took a tour of town. Found the grocery for a few more items and off to the Ranch!
When going to southeastern Colorado, Pagosa Springs area, you can fly to Durango, Denver or Albuquerque and rent a car. When your best friends live in Albuquerque and plan to travel to Colorado with you, then ABQ is the obvious choice. The Governor of New Mexico had a rule that if you live in New Mexico and travel outside the state, when you return you must quarantine for 14 days. We were uncertain until the very last minute if the Cookseys would be able to go with us or not. If they had to quarantine that would knock out their volunteer activities for a total of 3 weeks. We prayed the Governor would change her mind and she did!
We had planned to spend a couple days with them to get accustomed to the 5,000 foot elevation, then travel on to the San Juan mountains where we would be at about 8,000 feet. In Ohio we live at about 600 feet of elevation.
From El Dorado Drive looking towards the Sandia Crest
Not only is their terrain radically different than our green lawns and maple trees, but the wild life is too. Walking in the neighborhood I noticed the house below with weird fencing.
The landscaping is called zeroscaping.
When I asked the Cookseys what the deal is with the curved fencing at the top of the extra-tall fence they said it is to deter the coyotes from getting into the yard. We have coyotes in Ohio, but nothing like Corrales or Albuquerque.
Below is sunset on Sandia Crest, also known as Watermelon mountain because of the sunsets!
We took a couple weeks out of our routine quarantine-Covid-older generation routine and went on a trip. We were lamenting that we could not hold an open house or anniversary party for our 50th celebration. My sister offered us use of her ranch in Colorado in the wilderness on the edge of the San Juan mountains. My doctor said, “GO! Get out of your four walls.” We flew to Atlanta wearing our N-95 masks given to us by a friend who is a nurse. We made our connection to Albuquerque with barely minutes to spare.
The airports were eerie with the lack of people and activity. For the first time in years TSA did not give us Pre-check! Hum. Then the x-ray officer wondered what the folding scissors in my purse were. I usually carry those as I crochet and need to cut yarn or thread when I change colors. After examining my purse contents he let me keep them. First time ever a TSA officer has questioned those!
To give you an example of the airports these days, I made this short video on the way home. We had a several hours layover in Atlanta. I actually found a bench without arms across every seat! After wiping it off carefully, I laid down to try and rest. Once while checking my phone I realized I could show you how weird it was. Very quiet, not too many people, almost every single person wore a mask, seats marked off with huge stickers for where one could and could not sit. Of course, with artistic license (LOL), I filmed it sideways 🙂
So now that we are home and getting more settled in, I hope to write the blog more often with tales of our journey!
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 