Not cool today...COLD

Yes Cold! It is 42 degrees this morning. Sherri and I are here at the dinning room table...her with her sweater on and me with a coat. Now you are asking why don't we just turn on the heater and get it warm inside. Well there is a simple explanation for that. Both of the pigtails to our propane bottles are leaking and I had to order new ones. So as a result of that we have no heat except for the electric fire place. We had a larger than usual electric bill last month so we just decided to put on more clothes...it is much cheaper.
I could not find any replacement hoses here in South Fork so I had to call my tech in Tyler to mail me two hoses. It was not that much and I know that I will get the correct hoses for my unit.
I was commissioned to paint a picture for one of my neighbors sister. She is coming to visit and he wanted to get it for her as a surprise. I have been working on it for the past week. Between wind and rain it has been hard to work on the patio. I might have to find me a place at the community center to finish it. 
Not much going on this week. We plan on making some trips next week to see some new things here...

Somewhere in Time 

Saturday thunderstorms

Saturday morning was sunny and bright. Sherri and I started out the day as usual drinking our coffee and watching the sun rise over the mountain across from the park. It started out as a any other day until about 10:00 am when the black cloud came out of the valley. It was rolling towards us in a thunderous manner. With all the noise came the rain and pea size hail. Today was the first day of Logger Days here in South Fork. I don't know how much logging will be going on.

We decided not to go due to the chance of lightning killing us both. We opted out for a trip to Dollar General. They had a clearance on all kinds of things. 

After the shopping spree we drove over to the Malt Shoppe and had us a burger basket. We drove from there back to the RV and I spent the rest of the day painting.

Kris's little girl friend that he met up here year before last has returned to visit her great grandparents. They became friends quickly after finding out they both played the same games on the computer. He pined for her last year and this year she has returned! I know this will be exciting for him to have someone to spend time with.

We walked over to Becky and Rick's new canopy and visited until the sun sank deep into the west. Over all it has been a great day here in the cool north...

Somewhere in Time 

Trip to Durango

We up and decided to take a trip over the pass to Durango. It had been 6 years since we had been there so it was time to make another visit. We love Serious BBQ which has a restaurant there and we made that the main destination.
We also needed to stop by Wally World to make some prints of the pictures I have taken while in the mountains. I paint from those prints and I can get them made there for 29 cents each. I use the Kiosk there at the store and it takes very little time for me to have them made.
While we were there we picked up some needed items and checked out many other non essential items. 
A trip to the Railroad Museum was also on our list of things to do. Becky and Rick had never been there so we stopped by to check it out. I found a parking spot across the street from the train station which is unheard of during the summer months. What luck would be-fall me!
We had a great time and on the way home we had rain! Yes it rained and of all places it rained while we were ascending Wolfe Creek Pass! What an adventure that was...

Somewhere in Time    

Bingo is a bust

How to cool off in Texas

We had our weekly Bingo game in the community center but the attendance was down. We have decided to cancel Bingo on Wednesday nights. We will have to find something else to do other than that.
The weather here is getting cooler! Yes cooler. We are starting to see more rain and with that the temps are going down. Now in Texas they are on the other end of the spectrum. It is getting hotter which makes me more grateful I am here!
Jennifer and her bunch have moved to the lake. The called yesterday and we visited on Facetime. What a wonderful technology. Franki was at the lake swimming and Jennifer and Frank were watching her. They are so excited about their new location. We plan on joining them come December...

Somewhere in Time 

Constructed a Patio Awning

Our neighbor Becky ordered and received her patio awning yesterday. 
Sherri and I volunteered to help her get it up. We have one much like hers and we have erected it several times. We actually had a fun time putting up a tent if you can believe that. Becky's neighbors came over and they also pitched in to help. They offered some good advice on making it much more secured from the wind. How many Aggies does it take to put up a tent?
We got it up and all tied down. She is ready for the wind and the rain. She will be able to sit out on her patio now in the shade!.
One thing about here...if it is hot and you move into the shade it cools off! Now in Texas if it is hot and you move into the shade it is still hot.
We spent the rest of the morning sitting under her tent enjoying the cool shade and the company...

Somewhere in Time 

We got some rain

Yesterday I sat out on the patio and painted. About 10:00 am the rain came and then left and came again. Well, all day we had on and off rain which is wonderful!
We have needed precipitation for some time now and finally we got some and everyone was very happy.
The river is down so much the rafters had to close up shop. This is not good for their income...which by the way they only have a very small window to make it for the year. I hope that next year is a little wetter so we have some water in the creeks, rivers and reservoirs.
One thing has stayed the same and that is the cool temps. Thank heavens for that. We very seldom have high 80 degree days so we stay very comfortable. Even this morning we have on sweaters which will remain on until the sun gets high in the sky...

Somewhere in Time 

Music at the Community Center

Last night was music night at the Community Center. We had some of the RVers bring their musical instruments over and entertain the masses.
We had a wonderful time listening to all the blue grass music mixed with gospel. Made me think about starting to play the guitar again! Kris said he wanted to learn how to play...so that just might be in our future...

Somewhere in Time  

Fishing at Road Canyon

Today was fishing day. I had not been in some time and my supply of trout was running low. Three of my fellow campers and I headed out to Road Canyon to try our luck at catching some trout.
We left about 6:00 am for the hour long drive up 149. This is a beautiful drive with looming cliffs on one side and dramatic drop offs on the other. Below is the Rio Grand River which by the way is slowly dwindling away due to the lack of snow and rain this year.
We arrived just in time to get our favorite bank site. If you go too late you have to settle for rough rocky terrain which is not conducive to sitting comfortably.
We fished for two and one half hours and we all got our limit which is about normal. The fish were eating size and we were satisfied with our catch. No one was skunked which is also a good thing. There were some stories of those fish which got away but after all we are fishermen...

Somewhere in Time 

A Day to paint

Kris burning off some of that energy

A work in progress

Woke up this morning with the urge to paint and do nothing. I carried out a portion of that by working on a painting I started sometime back. Kris wanted to go to the playground and climb around a while so I took off and went with him. We had a fun day together. We ended up the day by playing Battle Ship...by the way I won.
Just enjoying paradise here...

Somewhere in Time

Drive in movie

Now this is the way to see a movie

Kris enjoyed the playground

OK I'm through playing when does the movie start?

Plenty of snacks 

Our neighbor invited Kris to go to the drive-in movie with them. Not real sure what the movie was about but it was a Marvel Comic Book production. Something about an ant and a wasp? I knew that Kris would like it so we agreed to let him go. 
As things would have it Harold and Carmen asked us to go with them. We had been talking about going to the drive-in ever since we had been coming up here. This was our chance to try it out and see how it was. 
I am sure glad we brought our jackets caps and a warm blanket! It got cold half way through the movie. Without all our warm things I am afraid we would have froze to death!
We will be going back for sure. Kris enjoyed the playground at the front of the screen. He had plenty of kids to play with. The ant and the wasp was good too...even though we had a little trouble following what was going on...but then we are a little behind the times...

Somewhere in Time

Almost blown away

We returned from Alamosa yesterday and sat out on the patio. It was not long and the wind started blowing out of the east! We don't normally get the wind from the east but it started blowing and we had to batten down the hatches! 
Our porch faces east and when the wind comes from that direction we really feel it. And if that was not enough it started raining. We have no protection from the rain so we had to call it a day and retreat to the indoors. It did not last long but being that late in the day we decided to call it a day and stay inside.
I watched the "Five" and a few HGTV shows and then kicked back in the recliner and off to sleep. 
Not a bad day except having to pay for an oil change. At least that does not come around but twice a year...

Somewhere in Time 

Oil Change and re-calls

Yes today I have to head to Alamosa to get my oil changed and some re-calls done on the truck. We have a 9:00 am appointment.
We will be eating lunch at Chili's. I think we will split a salad...Kris eats free...can't beat that...

Somewhere in Time

A Day of Painting

I made my coffee and went out on the patio and started a new landscape painting. I had been browsing through some of my pictures of different places and came upon one that really made me feel good. This is the one I said to myself. This is the one to paint and I started gathering up all my paints and brushes and went to work.
The next time I looked at my watch it was time for lunch. Sherri came out to see if I was still there and we decided to fix some lunch. 
Kris has a new Jurassic World game so he has not come out of his bedroom since he loaded it his XBox 1.He is creating a new park and all the dinosaurs. I am creating a new landscape and Kris is creating a park.
We ate some lunch and then some friends came over and we sat and talked the rest of the day. Life is simple here in the mountains. Relaxing is the main part of the day...

Somewhere in Time 

The Parade

We had our 4th parade on the 3rd. Don't ask me why we just did. Sherri and I were asked to decorate the golf cart here at the park and drive it in the parade. We did not have much time to get it decorated but we did our best and I think it came out real nice.
Kris rode his bike which he decorated and we all had so much fun entering in to the ride around town.
After we returned from the parade we had our hot dogs and celebrated the 4th as one big RV Park Family...

Somewhere in Time

Smoke on the horizon

Colorado is really dry this year. Not much snow to speak of and the absence of rain is not helping at all. I guess you are going to have those types of years. I know in Texas several years back we had a drought and the lake was almost completely dried up. They keep calling for rain here but we have yet to see the first drop.
Other than the drought here all is well and we are enjoying the cool weather. 
We are not doing much since the kids left for Texas. We enjoy the patio and looking at the mountains that surround us. I would love to live here if it was not for the winter cold. I need to find me a winter spot and then I will be all fixed up.
Today is a do nothing day. We have many of those and find them rather comforting. Tomorrow we have to drive to Alamosa and pick up a few things. I need to see about getting my oil changed on the truck. It is a 45 minute drive so we try to get all we need while we are there...

Somewhere in Time  

Kids make it over the pass

As I had mentioned the other day the kids left early to take care of some business at their company. They planned to leave out over Lavita Pass. This is located on hwy 160 just east of here past Alamosa. Word was there was a forest fire raging just south of that location so we told them to take caution in going that way. I checked with Colorado DOT and did not see where the road was closed so the ventured on their way.
Well when they got to the pass the fire was not too far off the road and they got some pictures of the smoke coming their way. This fire tripled in size in a very short period of time. 
Thank the good Lord they made it over safely.The pass closed the next day.
They made it home safely and are planning on returning...

Somewhere in Time