Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?

Well, Colorado, I'm telling you now!
Our vehicle above traveling on the Million Dollar Highway.
O Beautiful, for spacious skies! For purple mountains majesties!
We met a shepherd and his 2,300 sheep and three dogs along the way.
The above is where we stopped to decide if we needed to turn around before the

going got any rougher. Just so happened I backed into a bear cave. Don't know

if she was at home!
The abandoned silver and gold mines of Colorado. There's gold in them hills!
Untrailering for the day!
We ate our lunch every day on the mountain. Nothing ever tasted so good!
Relaxing after a long drive. The wildflowers were in bloom everywhere! I love you, Colorado. I can't wait to return.

Mobile

Mobile in the Palisades of Cimarron Canyon, New Mexico from Junebug57 on Vimeo.

This is the reason I didn't take a photo of the Palisades. I was videoing it. I did not even realize that I had captured it on video.

Hello, Hello

Hello again, neighbors!


Last week was an epic week for me. We moved two children back home from college and one daughter to her new apartment. Lots of moving! Then we took our youngest daughter to the airport off to Italy. You know how the best laid plans can go awry? We made plans to communicate with our daughter in Italy with her laptop and a program called Skype. We tried it out at home and it was very easy and fun to use. We could talk and see each other with the video camera, all for free. When she got to Italy and the hotel where she will be staying, she discovered she could not get online. Her roommate has the same computer as she has and her laptop could get online. So I talked to her for a few minutes only. Now apparently no one is able to get the internet connections to work. So the next thing I had to do was upgrade her cell phone to international plan. It is free for me to call her but she has to pay 99 cents/minute to call me. She got a phone card also. But the timing will be the problem. Perhaps they will get the internet connection problems figured out soon. Anyway she is having a wonderful time. She also informed me that the wine is very good there. Hmmm....now my son is jealous because he likes red wine with a meal. Maybe she can bring him back a bottle. She is only 20? There are older people with her though.  She also told me they have to walk up this huge hill to their hotel every day when coming back from the town.  It is beautiful there and she said she will be getting plenty of exercise.  

     Last week I also had internet problems of my own.  We finally got it fixed after spending several hours on the phone with internet support from India.  That was fun!  :(  It turned out that my phone line was broken across the street and rubbing on and off and finally completely broke.  It was fixed on Saturday.  Such a little thing, but a lot of effort.

     I have missed reading a lot of posts last week, maybe I can catch up soon.  I need to get caught up this week on my work at home and the office too.  I kept my oldest daughter's dog (Apple) this week-end and she kept me busy.  She's a real sweety but I'm not used to keeping a dog in the house.  Our yard is not completely fenced in so I had to take her out on the leash to potty.  

     I am going to make some curtains with appliques on them for my daughter's bedroom window.  And some pillows for her bed too.  I really will like getting my sewing machine back out.  I just need to get some of the clutter and extra furniture from kid's moving situated so I can reach my machine.  I love to sew.  

     I received two new Blythe's in the mail recently.  I will take pictures soon.  One has very long brown hair and the other long red hair.  I may sew them some clothes too while I have the sewing mood going.  I really should get back to quilting.  Perhaps I will be inspired.  I wish I could knit better.  I find it hard to follow a pattern.  

    We had some heavy rain the past three nights.  Every thing is growing well including the weeds in our yard.  My son took scuba lessons this week-end and got his license.  He wants me to get mine too.  I guess I will attempt.  It would be fun on a vacation to do that.  I am looking at vacation homes to rent for a week on the east coast of either North Carolina or South Carolina.  I want a beach house right on the ocean front.  Anyone have any suggestions about a beach that they have been to?  I have been looking at Wilmington, NC or Myrtle beach.  

Brother and Sister and the Tallest Man on Earth

These pictures were taken several years ago at Ripley's Believe It or Not in Branson, Missouri.

Tagged

I have been "chosen"~ er~ tagged by Crown Princess to reveal 7 random things about myself.
1. I wanted be an archaeologist when I was little.
I loved King Tut and the pyramids.
2. I loved "Heidi" when I was little, I so wanted to live
in Switzerland.

3. We celebrated our 30th anniversary on a ship in Alaska.


4. I love Orangina. I got these glasses
at a cafe in Paris. We asked if we could
buy them but the waiter let us take them.

5. I love Paris!!!! We visited Paris in 2000.
This is my daughter, Melissa, and me.

6. I love Switzerland. I would live there if I could.

7. I am part German on my mother's side of the family.
"Kimmel" is the surname. This is a picture of my mother
and me in Heidelberg, Germany in 2000.

Wordless Wednesday-"Royal Gorge"

Dune buggies

Our last dune buggy

Little Sahara
Does sand get in your eyes?
Yes! And every other crevice you have!

Climbing a dune

Our second buggy

Big VW motor, not stock anymore
My hubby builds every bit of it

Our first dune buggy

New paddle tires, uncut

I sewed the little cover on top!
That was my contribution.

Me and dune buggy
These were the days before children. We spent every week-end we could
going to Little Sahara, camping out. We belonged to SBOT (Sand Buggies
of Tulsa) and had lots of fun. Late 70's, early 80's.
The most beautiful and fun part of the dunes is when
you go out at midnight with a full moon and little twinkle
lights on top of your antenna and no head lights. There
are a trail of twinkle lights going to the top of the dunes
and over and all you can see is twinkle lights disappearing.
The thrill of going over the top of a dune with no backside
and flying off into the air! Such a rush! I would have dreams
about it for several nights later and could just close my eyes
and envision it all over.

Popeye the Sailor Man

Popeye
Our road trip many years ago took us through Arkansas and Missouri,
I believe this Popeye was located in Sprngdale, Arkansas.
We drove our converted van and camped out everywhere.
My husband is very talented. He put paneling and carpet
in the van and made a bed in the back. I sewed curtains
and made cushions for it out of fur. We had a little
moon roof that he installed. Oh, the talent! The
side of the van had an eagle on both sides made
out of racing stripe tape (made by hubby). If you enlarge
picture perhaps you can see it. It was irridescent. Also,
as you can see I didn't wear enough clothing, remember please
this was the middle 70's and I was not as bright as I am now!

Creation

How could anyone deny there is a creator God? Everything displays His splendour.

Horses, Caves, White Water, & Family

Who would have thought that the Arkansas River could be so lively? We rafted in May and the water was cold, about 50 degrees. We had wet suits on, but after beginning the trip, it all seemed fine. Our guide instructed us exactly what to do and when to do it and we obeyed!!! She told us we were good too. Ha ha. Just look at us! I had the time of my life. I never laughed so hard, all the way. I'm ready to go again. The water was up that day and we had all Class III's and two Class IV's that day.

This cave was beautiful. I was amazed at the variety of things to see and do in Colorado.

Horse-back riding in the mountains, yes, it was rocky but much fun. We rode for two hours which was a little hard on bottoms that aren't used to riding. I rode horses as a young girl, but only once since I've been married. That's a 32 year span of time.

Alaskan Cruise

For our 30th wedding anniversary, we took a cruise to Alaska with some friends from church who also were celebrating their anniversaries too. It was the best trip ever. 7 days and nights of luxury! I would recommend this cruise to everyone. Alaska is breath-taking. The mountains, the glaciers, wildlife, the ocean, Alaska has it all. We went in July which is the warmest month and the best weather. It was 50-60 degrees. Beautiful. We traveled on the Diamond Princess which was new that year and they had the best service and food. I tried everything, wild Alaskan salmon, lobster tail, grilled shrimp, prime rib, everything imaginable. The best part was being on the promenade deck and watching the ocean and sky. You felt like every care in the world was gone away. The glacial water was 1000 feet deep and so blue green. The trees were spectacular.

Diddle diddle dumpling

My son, John. It's hard to believe that my little boy could have grown up. He's a good one. There was a time he would pose for pictures, but now it's very hard to get a photo. Kinda like pulling teeth.

Daughters and giraffes

We visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs where my children (not so small anymore) got to feed the giraffes. Here are Becky and Melissa, up close and personal with the giraffe. Do you see any similarities? In the girls? Giraffes have very long tongues. They like to eat crackers too.