A poem.

Tis 74 days til Christmas 2007
I do believe Larry is a saint and going to heaven.

It took retirement to get it all done,
but alas we can call our new bedroom home.

What a pleasure it was to sleep in our new bed,
It was almost like the night we were wed.

O.K., now, don't get your panties in a wad,
We are your hip parents, maybe even mod.

Just because 60 is our new generation,
we can find better things to do than engage in "Play Station."

Now, I patiently await your many replies,
"Mom, don't be so graphic, it's making us die!"

It's time to diet!

We had a very good Labor Day weekend. Beginning Friday, the girls and I went to Neiman Marcus for a Bobbi Brown makeover, then lunch at LaMadeline's. AFter that, Amy wanted to take us to Sprinkles, a cupcake store. So we each had an absolutely delicious cupcake. After that, we all headed home to get ready to meet at Del Frisco's for dinner to celebrate Sara's birthday and Brian's last day of residency and his passing his board exams! BUT, before that, Larry and I went to a retirement party at UNT for a couple in our Home Group. Of course, I had munchies, cake and punch! THEN, we went to DelFrisco's and ate a very delicious steak dinner with all the trimmings, including dessert! Saturday I decided that I wanted to cook some hot wings, so I trapesed off to the store to get all the fixings, plus a rack of babyback ribs for yesterday. The wings were oh-so good! We had corn on the cob and beans with it. Sunday, I fixed roast beef sandwiches and then went back to the store for more ingredients for a dry rub, mopping sauce and barbeque sauce (recipes compliments of Rob). Also, on Sunday, Larry decided he wanted peach cobbler, so I made that. We ate it all! I spent most of yesterday making all the sauces and prepared the ribs for dinner. Out of this world ribs, I might say! We had corn on the cob again and black-eyed peas! O.K. - so all that food should have been what we ate for a whole week, but we managed to consume it in 4 days! Therefore, it's time to go on a diet, probably the WW diet. If I don't do that, then I will need to buy a new wardrobe! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Let me think this through!

O.K. - so we got home last night and found a massive amount of green slime in our pool. Amy says she did all she could to alleviate the problem, but Larry forgot to give her a crash course in "green slime". She did well with keeping the pool filled and the polaris going. However - no telling what's living beneath that water!

We got home about 4:30, emptied and washed the RV. Got it in clean order so that we could take it in for it's regular (same) repairs. The ominous slidout problem. I think we can take it in 2 more times before Dec, 2008 and then we can declare it a "lemon". I hope we don't have to do that, but if it comes to it - well, we know a good lawyer!

We made it back to Sunray at 3:30 this afternoon. Once again, we are having RV problems. The same as when we returned from Florida. A major problem with one of the slide outs. We will have to take it back to the dealer as soon as we get home tomorrow and get it unloaded. Needless to say, we are very frustrated. We still love the RV, the way it is set up and the roomieness of it. We just wish they would get it fixed to stay fixed! I know, Sara, that ya'll are supposed to use it next month. We are going to put pressure on them to get it fixed before you need it. we will keep you posted. Loye seems to be doing better today, physically. Mentally, he is still confused and I don't think he knew our names when we arrived. Beth said he called Rocky "Larry" all day yesterday. He thinks he can get up and move around, which is good for him to think so. But, he will fall to the ground if he does. Hopefully, he will do better each day. I don't think he will ever be able to move about on his own, but just knowing that he isn't in pain and doesn't have fever is a blessing. I probably won't blog for a while after today. The only ones that read the blogs are my kids, well some of them anyway. I'll be talking to all of you by phone after we get home.

The Wedding!

I didn't blog about the wedding while we were in Glenwood Spgs because we didn't have internet access. The rehearsal dinner, wedding and reception were as fun and unique as Jennifer and Greg. They are very fun and outdoorsy people. Jennifer has always been a fun loving and free spirit girl. The (Hoe Down) rehearsal dinner was at the Mountain Chalet. It was good to see some people we hadn't seen in 30+ years and to see some of the people that Larry worked with at Nexen. The dinner was a barbeque and was delicious. Jen & Greg did a slide show of the two of them as they were growing up and after they met. They both love the outdoors and are great hikers, skiers. white water rafters, - you get the picture. They have a huge Chesapeke Bay Retriever, but he couldn't come to the wedding. They live in Vermont and didn't want to fly him. (But Stacy and Aaron brought their very huge Golden Retriever/Standard Poodle mix - Dexter. He was in the wedding!) Anyway, the dinner was great. On Saturday, we went to the top of the mountain via the Gondola. The wedding was on the wedding deck overlooking the mountains. It was very plain and beautiful. With mountains as your setting, you don't need a lot of froo-froo! She had not attendants, but the families were escorted down the "aisle" to sit at the front. Stacie and Aaron walked together with Dexter on a leash. Jennifer was escorted by her father. She wore a simple off-white gown of either taffeta or crepe or a mixture of both, a turquoise necklace and western boots. She chose not to wear a veil or carry a bouquet of flowers, which turned out to be fine. Doug was dressed in western attire, as was Glenda and Stacie. The ceremony was simple but sweet. They exchanged vows and rings with each other. There were 3 readings, the last by Stacie. It was from the Velveteen Rabbit and she cried all through it. The music that was played by a string quartet was very appropriate for the wedding - very hoedownish and really did fit the occasion. After pictures, including a group picture of everyone there, we rode the gondola down. Part way down a storm came through with lightening and thundering. Everytime lightening struck, the gondola shut down automatically. What a fun ride! I wasn't scared a bit! Right! The reception was at The Cantina and of couse was mexican food. I ate so many appetizers while we were standing around visiting that when it was time to order dinner, I didn't! I couldn't eat another bite. Stacie did another slide show of Jennifer and included much more funny pics. Amy, you were in one of them with Wade and Matt Bagley, Stacie and Jennifer. It was at Halloween and you were wearing a Tweety Bird costume. I don't remember it, but Glenda said it was a party at the Bagleys. There was lots of dancing a the reception, mostly western, with a lady "Ethel" who taught some of the dances. It was very fun. We left there at about 11pm to head back to Glenwood Spgs.

Yesterday, we packed up and headed to Colo. Spgs. Last night we went to the Flying W Ranch where we ate barbeque and had some entertainment. We sat at a table with some people from Conneticut. The lady, Donna had on a short sleeved shirt and once the sun started setting, it got cooler. I had on a short sleeved shirt with a long sleeved one over it. I also took my wind breaker in case it rained. I offered it to her, but at first she declined. As it got darker, it got colder and I started getting a bit chilled. I wanted to put on my wind breaker, but didn't have the heart to when I kept seeing huge goosebumps on her. Finally, I offered it to her again, thinking if she declined I would just put it on. She accepted! I tried very hard not to shiver in front of her. Anyway, we both survived the cooler temps and enjoyed the eveing.

We will leave this morning and head to Sunray.

Fishing is my favorite pasttime.

Yesterday was a fun day for us. We decided to take a fly fishing lesson with a guide. He took us to a park in the morning and taught us all about casting a fly rod. My arm & shoulder was really tired by the end of the morning. He taught us about the different types of flies and nymphs we would be using. Then we had a picnic lunch in the park and then headed to the river to launch the raft and set off on a fun afternoon of fly fishing. Well, it was fun for me and Larry, but not so much for the guide. Even though he told us we did a good job, I'm sure he hit the bar when we were done to drown his agony in beer. We fished for about 4 hours. When we started out, the sun was shining and it was so much fun drifting with the currents and going through the white waters. Our poor guide had to keep getting us untangled and replacing fishing line and flies for us. Once, Larry got hung up in a tree, so Mark had to row backwards against the current and wanted Larry to step out on the bank to get unhooked. Larry was in the back of the boat and I was in the front with Mark in the middle manning the oars. Well, all of a sudden, Mark and I heard this big splash. We turned around to see Larry in the river. To us it was so funny, but at the time, I'm sure Larry was not finding much humor in it. He still doesn't know how he lost his balance and ended up in the river. Anyway, he got his line untaangled and got back in the boat and started laughing at himself. (Good sign that all was well and we would continue to have fun) Larry had worn clothes that dry quickly so he wasn't wet for long ---- from the fall in the river. BUT, not long after that a storm came through and it started pooring. We got so wet it was unbelievable. Yet we continued to fish and have fun. At the end of the day I netted 2 brown trout and dropped 3 before I got them to the boat. I think Larry netted 2 and dropped about 1. Mark said we were the best beginners he has had all summer. (Right - I bet he says that to all his beginners.) Anyway, we have decided that if/when we come back here, we are going to try it again, but next time we will wade and fish. That's supposed to be easier for beginners.

Today is a relaxing day. We did laundry this morning and I dusted and vacuumed. Yes - you still have to do those things while on vacation. We are at the library right now and will go to the store - once again- before heading back to the RV to sit in the shade and watch the river flow, the geese fly and the rafters go by. It's a hard thing to do, but somebody's got to do it.

We arrived in Salida yesterday at about 3:30pm. We set up the RV, not without a lot of trepidation - that's another story. We decided to get cleaned up and go have a romantic dinner at the Twisted Cork Cafe and Winery. It was so-o-o romantic. We sat on the patio where they had several tables set up with umberellas. Our table overlooked a beautiful creek and farm. When they brought our very delicious dinner, it started to pour. We scooted as close under the umbrellas as we could, but trying to eat with our faces against the umbrella pole and trying to stay out of the blowing rain left much to be desired in the way of romance. We finally convinced the waitresses to find us a table inside. They accomodated us with that request along with a roll of paper towels to dry off with. It was an experience not to be soon forgotten.

This morning we went to church at Salida Vineyard Fellowship. It was a contemporary service and the minister that gave the lesson was really good. He is a professional potter and he did his pottery all while relating it to us as the clay and God as the potter. He did an awesome job of making comparisons through each step of making the vase. It was a very meaningful lesson.

After church, we returned to the RV park and had lunch. We then strolled the streets of old historic Salida and are presently at the library using the wireless internet. The RV park has wireless, but the codes they keep giving us don't work. So, I guess we will be frequenting the library while we are here.

We are having a good and relaxing time. I would like to go fly fishing and the cost of the guide is not bad, but then you have to buy everything else that you need, including waders, tackle, flies, license, etc. That makes the cost prohibitive. Guess we'll just go kayaking. Our RV is back up (and over) the ARkansas River and we see lots of kayakers, rafters, and fishermen floating past (very fast where we are). It looks like fun.

Well that's all our news. Will try to blog again later.

And we're off!

It is 7:25am and we've just hooked up the RV. We will now wake up PaPa to tell him "bye", then head to Salida, CO.

PaPa isn't doing so well. Beth had to call the hospice nurse to come out yesterday because he was running a slight fever and was coughing. His oxygen level was at 80, so she called the doctor to get some oxygen ordered and an antibiotic. We hope the oxygen will help with his motor skills as well. He really can't help at all in getting up and into the wheelchair. He has no strength whatsoever. Beth ordered a bed alarm so she can tell when he's trying to get out of the bed at night. She's also convinced him to use the urinal as well. He fell twice during the night Thursday trying to get to go to the bathroom.

I will try to update this blog when we get to Co. I hope we can get wireless internet there.

Love to all of you!

Mom