A Smile to Jump Start Your Day

Just in case your day is lacking in joy, here's my little guy that is so happy snacking on blackberries, hanging with the entire family....

And here's another photo....he might be practicing his signals to a future pitcher, you think?

This is one happy and expressive little guy....hope he can maintain that joy....life is hard.

End of Summer Swimming

We've been squeezing out every last summer moment at the pool. E.Boy is gaining confidence in the water, making new friends, and LOVING the snack bar. He tells grandma that he's hungry, we walk to the snack bar, he asks to be lifted up to look at the pictures and tell the attendant that he wants candy. He now knows about candy bars. Snickers are his new favorite and he will share with his mama when asked. Although there was that one time he shoved the last big part in his mouth (it barely fit) and looked at her and tried to say there was nothing left. He couldn't really say it because his mouth was full. So full that you could see the bar in his mouth. How do they know to do that before they're three?!

He's made a new friend.  She's really good with E.Boy and plays games with him.  They found this fish squeeze toy that they fill up with water and squirt in each other's face.  Silly, but hey they enjoy it. This little girl spends her day at the pool.  J was shocked to hear this.  There are lifeguards, so I couldn't see the problem.  Especially since this is how J's father spent his summer.....swimming all day at the Club pool.  He has plenty of stories, most I'm sure he's not telling. When E.Boy was corrected by the lifeguard for running and something else, I turned to J and said "your father would be so proud".  She wasn't really seeing the humor.

Baby T was having some fun too.  Why is it so difficult to get both looking spectacular and cute at the same time? Be impressed when you see a photograph where everyone looks good.

Baby T takes a few dunks in the pool (which is tough, have you tried to hold a slippery baby and keep them from drowning lately?), snacks, and pretty much crawls all over with the two of us watching and keeping him out of trouble.....it takes two of us....while watching is big brother too.  Honestly, I have NO idea how we're going to handle THREE.  We will though.

Future Plumber?

Baby T, much like his big brother E.Boy, has discovered our bathtub.  What were we thinking when we decided to place the water works in this position?  Well we were NOT thinking of this!

We're Going To Be Grandparents.....Again

Another Reason to LOVE Living in California

Where else can you leave your home in the East Bay, ride through twisty roads among the trees (including Redwoods!), and end up at the ocean?  Passing through so many different climates we also pack clothes for temperatures from 55 to 95!

And can you tell me which of these is not like the others?

Here we are with a few of our riding friends

Good ride with good friends, even a dessert stop at Alice's Restaurant.  We were home in plenty of time to spend some time on our patio.  Oh yeah, that's why we pay the big bucks to live in California.

Hand-Tied Baby Blanket

Just in case you don't know, there's this whole blogging community that is immersed in DIY (Do It Yourself).  I think it may have something to do with our high-tech/low-touch world, or sitting behind a computer all day....but who really knows.  I make hand-tied baby blankets for family and friends and she convinced me to write a very detailed posting on how to make them.

Check it out on her blog Swenson Style.

Crafting with My Ladies

I get so busy doing, well sometimes I'm not too sure what I'm busy doing...for instance when I see someone I haven't seen in awhile and they ask "so what have you been doing?" and I can't think of what to tell them.  I'm always doing something, it just doesn't seem interesting enough to talk about.  So let me tell you one of the things that I do that I hold dear.....crafting with my ladies.

There's a bunch of us that meet for a few hours most weeks.  It started out with two and now we're up to a core of four, but some weeks we're up to ten.  Age wise we're very diverse.  We start in the twenty somethings and move right up to, well, let's not go there....but they did attend Berkeley before the riots so you do the math.  We've even had a foreign exchange crafter (her husband was on an exchange with Valley Bible Church) from Germany, sweet Anne...that was really fun....especially when she returned to Heidelberg and we set her up with the granddaughter of one of the ladies who was on a study abroad in Heidelberg....sometimes it really is a small world.

We started out scrapbooking, but then Susan arrived.  She's doesn't scrap, she makes cards.  We thought there was a lot of "stuff" to buy with scrapping but it pales in comparison to making one little card.  Now I have a craft room that my husband calls a "crap room", and he doesn't mean that as a joke.

I like the feel of a card in my hand.  It is so much more meaningful to me to receive a card in the mail.  The feel is very important to me....I walk through the store and need to touch everything.  I notice my daughter does the same thing.

To send a card takes a huge amount of effort. You need a card which requires at the very least a purchase.  Then you need the address, a stamp, a handwritten personal note (which is so funny to hear how people loathe their penmanship...I'm sure this is something from their early education experience) and then you have to actually mail it....hard stuff....first world problems.  Now some people say "meh, and they just throw it away" and others will frame the card, really....people do that.

Back to my ladies....I enjoy learning the new techniques (Susan ALWAYS has something to teach us), the good eats that the ladies bring, but I LOVE the fellowship.  The collective years of experience brings so much good advice.  Mostly, the encouragement and love from my ladies is so important I just can not imagine life without this.

We go on field trips.....scrapbook stores to shop or for a class, or a workshop.  Most recently we attended a card workshop with our FABULOUS Close to My Heart "pusher" (that's what Dave calls her).  Most of the scrapbook/craft stores are closing but there are still plenty of demos/reps for the various Companies.  We use Creative Memories, Stampin' Up, and Close to My Heart....and the  Scrapbook Expos, JoAnn's, and occasionally, Michael's.  Here's a link to check out our most recent workshop.

I think what we're doing with our crafting time is similar to Quilting Bee's of years ago.  It's a time for a bunch of women to get together and share with one another.  Especially in our high-tech era, this is so very important.  No matter how busy my life, I hope I continue to make time to craft with my ladies.

When I Woke Up This Morning

I LOVE sleeping in until the sun has warmed the Earth. I'm married to someone that can barely wait until the sun rises so he can spring out of bed and get the day started. Somehow we make it work. Today I couldn't linger since I had an appointment with the dentist first thing in the morning. I like my dentist (I liked my former dentist too, but he cheated on his taxes and went to prison and now that he's a convicted felon he lost his license, plus it was weird going to a dentist that cheated on his taxes) but I LOVE the hygienist. I liked the other one, but I LOVE this one. I was looking forward to seeing her again and finding out what was going on in her life. I enjoy the feeling of clean teeth too. 

I climbed out of bed and what did I see? Well I saw this lovely sight!

Well I might just consider getting up early just to see something this lovely......I wish I was a better photographer so I could better capture just how beautiful this looks.  I was handicapped since I was still in my nightgown and the crew was down there working which limited my angles...and I was afraid that if I took the time to get dressed, it would all be gone.

I did get to the dentist only to find that someone had come in the night and stolen the compressor (it's outside, like an air conditioning unit).  This was most likely for the copper that lines the interior of the unit.  My dentist moved here about a year ago and his neighbors didn't tell him that this happened to all of them on one night not too long ago so they now bolt and chain their units.  My dentist will be bolting and chaining his new compressor, that's what he told me when we were rescheduling my appointment.

Not Always An Errant Golf Ball

The grandbabies are over and we're all sitting at the table eating.  Well, not all of us were sitting at the table.  Baby T is on the floor, with a plastic tablecloth underneath the Bumbo.  We should have stripped him down to his diaper first, but he was really hungry.  And he can take off the tray if you don't put it on completely....here's how I know.....

That beautiful young woman is the mother of my beautiful grandsons, aka my daughter.  If any of you have children that scream at you that you're terrible, horrible, and they hate you....this is why you don't kill them....so they grow-up and then they will produce beautiful grandsons for you to love.

We hear a "POP"....can't figure it out.....look on the patio and see nothing.  Well E.Boy has super sensitive hearing (not a good thing as an infant when you want them to sleep) and wants to figure this out.  Especially since we're now hearing a crackling noise.  So I do what any grandma does, I told him to go tell grandpa.  Which he does immediately and his grandpa walks in the room and asks "what happened to the window" since this is what he saw........

 Here's a closer look

We immediately look for a golf ball, since we do live on a golf course.  There is no sign of anything hitting the window.  I went in to grandma roll, made sure the babies were out of range.  I was afraid to get close enough to see if it was the inside or outside pane.  The thing looked ready to fall apart at any moment.  Lucky for us it was the outside pain, Dave looked.  And the thing is still in place...although we're very careful until the thing is replaced.

We called the local home glass repair shop, got a quote ($400 dollars!!!!! but she is going to see if she can get that discounted), and now we wait at least a week. Oh the joys of home ownership.

T-Ball Time

E has very good co-ordination.  You may remember a prior entry about his ball skills, or let's just say my earlier bragging.  Really, he is very good at this.  So of course I bought a T-Ball set!  He sets the ball on the T and swings away.  He's also started to throw the ball up and swing....not so great at that yet.  And he even has G.Pa pitch to him....yeah, that all needs more practice too.

Swim Time

We had the boys for the entire day and it was a warm summer day so we figured the pool would be a perfect activity. As soon as T wakes up from his am nap, we start packing up to go to the pool.  The kids told us we should borrow the double stroller, but we figured we were fine with our umbrella style stroller...little error....T is very heavy!!  Anyway, we're all ready to rock and roll....off we go to walk to the Club pool.  I'm wearing flip flops, big mistake, I had a blister that lasted almost a week after the walk.  That's because our house is about one-half mile from the pool.  And E walked the entire way there!

I'm holding E's hand, while he's walking on the berms, or whatever he can find to explore.  I could tell he was getting a little weary, and it was so far.  I thought I was going to pick him up and then I got the look from Dave.  He told me I can't baby him..... but he is a baby!  Now E is chattering the entire walk and Dave said "if he can talk, he can walk".  E never asked to be picked up, or even slowed down. What a trooper.

Living so close to the Club we keep an "active membership" so we can use the facilities.  Mostly that's the little gym for workouts.  We also have pool privileges and the pool is fabulous.  Dave has a love affair with this place.  He has such fond memories of his youth spent here.  He even said it is a strange sense being at the pool, sort of deja vu.

We staked out an area in the shade.  I sat on the lounge chair with T, big mistake, I sat in a wad of gum.  Why don't people throw their gum in the trash can?  Fortunately I was able to get this off when we got home (LOVE Amway stain remover).  T is such a content little guy.  We put a blanket out and he was happy to sit on it and eat crackers.  Dave and E went straight to the pool.

When you get in the pool, do you jump right in?  Or do you ease in, little by little?  Dave's a jumper and I'm an easer.  The pool was a perfect temperature and I was able to just walk right in. The pool is one huge pool with a separation to make it swim team size.  We kept to the side that starts at 2 feet and works up to 4 feet.  This is perfect for E.  He can stand at the shallow end.  E did get a little cold...isn't he cute in his Spiderman swim trunks?  Thank you Swenson cousin for the hand-me-down.

There's a snack bar at the pool, so we decided to have lunch poolside.  I walked over with E to get something.  They have photos of stuff right by the order window.  So of course E selected a Butterfinger for lunch (Sorry J, I know you're screaming about now).  I suggested "growing food" but he wanted a Butterfinger.  I'm sure he had no idea what a Butterfinger is, since his mama would NEVER allow that.  I'm the grandma, so of course he got a Butterfinger.  He ate half.  Dave and I split a burger and fries, sharing with T.

I lathered up the boys with zinc sunscreen.  They are both pretty white, most especially E.  I see by the photo that I could have done a better job rubbing it in.

I think Dave will be swimming with E for lessons next Spring, it's time....and J has her hands full so it most likely will be Dave.  It is SPECTACULAR living so close to our grandsons..oh, and their parents too.

Theo...the Mess

My sweet handsome baby grandson is the messiest baby I have ever seen.  He's chubby so we know he's getting enough to eat, but honestly, we hose him down after every meal.  I've thought of putting down a shower curtain when he eats but he has an arm and he hurls his food all over the place.  In fact, we should maybe wear shower caps and suits just being around him.  I don't even want to tell you what he's doing to my hard wood floors. When I'm with him I make sure I'm wearing machine washable clothing, no jewelry that he can tug on, and my hair pulled back. Doesn't this sweet smile melt your heart?

He's also an explorer.  We are now clearing the coffee table of everything since he can now pull himself up.  All the doors are closed too, just trying to contain him.  He can not be trusted.  He wanders off and is content to look around and try everything out.

I had an entire hour, all to ourselves, to spend time with him.  I just loved on him the entire time.  That doesn't happen very often with two, so it was very special.

Patio Time

Dave is in love with his home.....always has been, and most likely always will be.  I knew when I married him that one day I would be living in Castlewood.  The guy is enamored with the place.  I was pretty pleased with our other home....within walking distance of Downtown Pleasanton, good neighbors.  Alas, the move was on.  I feel at home now.  Mostly I'm just really happy that he's really happy.

Just about every afternoon, when he's finished working, he announces that "it's Patio Time" and he walks out back.  He usually has a glass of wine and something to read.  I know if we had lounge chairs he would be fast asleep.  This is particularly funny to me because this is exactly what his dad did when he was alive and living here.

You must admit, this really is like living in a resort.  Can you tell me why we ever leave?

Oh, and Dave is teaching our oldest grandson to call this Castlewood, and not Grandpa & Grandma's.  E.Boy says it so cute too......Castle.WOOD.

Back Home!!!!!!

The sun was shining and it was still a bit chilly....perfect conditions for our ride home.  As we headed out of the desert and began to see some trees, Donna declared "TREES!!!".  I hadn't realized how much I missed seeing trees.  I know there's plenty of beauty in the desert, yet I don't think I really appreciate it. There were plenty of twists on the road, and we were behind yet another crazy RV driver.  The first time Dave went to pass, the crazy old guy must have been looking in his mirrors, or something crazy, and came over in to the lane and squeezed us.  Not a good feeling.  Dave eased back, waited, and then successfully passed on the next attempt.

We were on State Route 120, Tioga Pass Road, headed towards Yosemite.  There is a stretch that has "moguls" (that's what Dave calls them) or dips as the sign warns.  It feels like riding on a roller coaster.  At the end I was feeling a bit nauseous.  Then we pulled in to Lee Vining, CA.  This was like the Twilight Zone for us....and not just because the price of gasoline was absolutely outrageous.

I think it was the crowds.  We have been in sparsely populated areas and with all the people and activity in this parking lot and market, it was making us a little anxious.  We were country bumpkins back in the big city.

We rode over the Tioga Pass, which you should really do sometime.  It's closed most of the year because of snow, so plan ahead and make this drive.  As we headed in to the park there was a very long line.  They had a Ranger walking down the line of vehicles and if you had passes, they waved you in.  So you know we got waved in....and now we're totally in the money making zone on that annual pass!!!

This is where the madness begins.  We were not the only ones enjoying Yosemite this fine day.  It took us 90 minutes to drive through the Park.  It was very stressful because the people were everywhere and not minding their driving.  We had to be on the defense the entire time...and we're not accustomed to traffic after one week in the desert.

We didn't stop until we hit Oakdale....at McDonald's.....because I'm now LOVING the snack size Rolo ice cream desserts.  Dave and I split a burger and then he eats most of the fries and I order the dessert.  We're such a team.  After all this road food, I didn't gain any weight on this trip.  I think because I wasn't able to snack, which is my weakness.

This entire trip, including gas, hotel, food, & entertainment, was right around $1,600...for nine days...SWEET.  I told you it was a good value.

We made it  home safely and we're already planning on our next adventure.....

Are We Alone?

At dinner we had a meeting and decided we have had enough of the desert.  Dave figured out the shortest way through the desert and we would be traveling on some roads that were new to us.  This is difficult since I think we've been on most of them.  This day was going to be really hot so we made sure to leave early.  The towns are few and far between so we would stop for breakfast in Caliente, NV at the Branding Iron.

The way we (actually it's mostly Dave) do this is by using Google Maps and mapping a route.  I honestly think Dave has all the roads memorized by now and just checks in with Google Maps. Then we Google the various towns to see if they have services (gas, restaurants).  We use TripAdvisor and Yelp to make our selection.  Sometimes this is really easy.......Caliente has two places to eat.

Our first new road of the day is Highway 375, aka the Extraterrestrial Highway  We didn't see any low flying aircraft, even though there were plenty of signs with that warning.

 The one and only stop is in Rachel, NV......the Little A'Le'Inn in Area 51 is VERY interesting.

I wish I had taken photos of the owner, Pat, and her two friends....and some of the stuff they were selling.

And yet another rest stop.....with a gravel lot.....and fresh toilets, even though they're not "flush".  Don't laugh, these are very welcome sites on a long, lonesome highway.  A comfort stop.....stretch our legs.....remove extra layers of clothing....drink some cold water (which we are grateful that Donna and Bret didn't leave their ice chest in the hotel room on the very first night like we did...our most favorite ice chest that we've had for years).

Refreshed, we can soldier on to Tonopah, NV!

Note*** Did you notice that this post is out of order?  I was just testing you.  It really should have been BEFORE the Tonopah post.  Let's pretend it was......

Tonopah, NV

We finished our ride on the ET Highway without event.  It was so deserted, even when we passed the Sandia Test Site.  We didn't think anything was happening there since our friend, Jim, was still at home in Livermore.  We also rode along on the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, U.S. Route 6, which honors the American Civil War veterans.  Will there ever be a time that we are not fighting one another?

We arrived in Tonopah, NV for lunch.  We heard that the Mexican place was really good.  That's info from Pat, the owner of the Inn in Rachel, NV.  She had also heard the food in the Mizpah was very good.  She said the people are VERY proud of the Mizpah.  And guess what?  That's where we're staying, the Mizpah Hotel!!!!!

The Mizpah was a grand hotel, once upon a time.  It sat vacant for eleven years and was in terrible shape.  A couple purchased it and completely renovated it.  You can tell they had a passion and put enough money in to it to make it special.  It just opened last fall and I hope it stays afloat because it is special.  The rooms are small, sort of a European feeling.  They have plenty of little touches that show they cared about the renovation.  The staff are all so proud to be working there.  And really....there isn't that much else going on in this town, that we could see.  The mines are booming.

I again ask...how do you get here?  Are you born here and never leave? drive through, break down and stay here?  I asked a woman working at the JC Penney catalog store/Western Store and she told me she came to town because of a man, that she no longer has anything to do with, and just stayed.  She was so nice, but difficult to listen to because I kept staring at her mouth which was missing many teeth....and I think she was about my age.  It's a hard life in the desert.

After a very good lunch at the Mexican restaurant we strolled around town.  Many of the stores were closed and/or empty.  We did find a used book store.  All hard backs were $2 and paperbacks were $1, we were in heaven.  If I stay in this town I'll be working at this store. The woman working there was wonderful.  They had a table set up with a jigsaw puzzle that people can work on.  I wanted to stay and work on the puzzle, but that would interfere with my afternoon nap. We each bought a book and we were off.

We had dinner and breakfast at the Mizpah.  You get a $5 credit towards breakfast when you stay there.  The breakfast I ordered, full eggs with potatoes, sausage, toast, coffee was $5.75....another GREAT value!  Plus the food was very tasty.

In the morning as we were leaving, a man came up and chatted.  He retired in this town from San Rafael.  He searched around for a place with a very low cost of living and infrastructure (hospital, etc.) and this is what he came up with.  He likes it here.  I suppose he was on a restricted budget though.  But really, everyone we met was so pleasant, I can see how you would like this place.

We were like horses headed back to the barn.....back to our home........

Marching to Zion, again

It was nice and cool when we left.  A little too cool for us.  We thought we had chosen our clothing properly, but as soon as we were in the shade it was just too cold.  We had to stop and put on sweatshirts.  Fortunately for us we found this lovely rest stop.  They seem to be big on gravel lots here. Again, treacherous for a motorcycle.  The toilets are somehow fresh smelling, even though they are not flush.  They also come equipped with hand sanitizers.  We are really appreciating these features....not the gravel.

This is our third visit to Zion National Park.  We LOVE the long tunnel on the way in to the Park.  And this time our visit put us in to the bonus of our annual pass purchase. LOVE the value!

The road driving down in to the park is filled with tight twists, HEAVEN for a motorcycle.  The down side is the SLOW RV that was right in front of us.  Most of the RV's are rentals and the drivers are so slow and careful.  Good for them, not so good for us.

We seem to be tracing our prior trips.  We stopped for the evening in Cedar City, Utah again.  We snagged the last two rooms at the Best Western where we've stayed before.  They got the King room with the spa tub, we got the Family suite with three Queens.  And we have experienced our very first Asian tour group.

Again, we had dinner at the Garden House of Cedar City.  The soup here is excellent.  We weren't quite as impressed this time around though.  It's located within a couple blocks of the hotel and an easy walk.

This was a lovely riding day and Zion is truly a national treasure.

Arches, CanyonLand and on to Richfield

We had a lovely evening in Moab, Utah.  We stayed at the Bighorn Lodge which was located right smack dab in the middle of things.  It's a funky old place and it's a good value.  Clean rooms and everything worked. The Wifi was a little iffy in spots though.

We had dinner at the nearby MicroBrewery.  Dave and I ordered beers here, we weren't in to the adventure of ordering wine.  Dave's received his wine in a single serving bottle with a screw top, similar to the old airlines style of serving alcohol.  And there was the time it was a plastic screw top bottle....that may have been the Gallo.  His only good experience was at Mesa Verde.  It's become a joke for us.

The sleeping hasn't been all that great on this trip.  The air is extremely dry up in this high desert which has dried out our sinuses and we're forced to run the air conditioning all night because of the heat.  When we stop early we do have time for an hour nap, decadent fun.

We ate breakfast at the diner attached to the hotel.  It had recently re-opened and we thought the food and service were both good.  Another good value.  Really, once you get out of California the costs are really reasonable.

We toured through the Arches National Park and then off to Canyonland National Park.

Canyonland isn't as popular as the Arches.  You need to ride in a bit and then you're looking down, not as spectacular as the Arches.  And nothing compared to the Grand Canyon.  Still, it is magnificent. The hiking is better in Arches too, not that we're concerned with that.

We finished our day in Richfield, Utah and ended up staying at the Holiday Inn Express.  This was the Taj Mahal compared to our other places.  The room was HUGE and we walked next door to a very good BBQ place for dinner.  Dave's only wine choices were White Zinfandel or Chablis...he ordered iced tea.  We left a bit later in the morning so we had breakfast at the hotel.....the world famous cinnamon buns!

Four Corners and on to Moab, Utah

Have you heard about the Four Corners?  Well I've always thought this would be very cool.  To stand in four states at once.  Donna and Bret thought it would be cool too.  It was on their bucket list.  Dave, not so interested.  It was out of the way and he really saw no use for it.  He was right, we were all wrong.  It was a bust.  Actually, it was worse than a bust.  I could say hate, but I don't want to use that word....even though it is the one that comes to mind.

Here's the scoop.  This is the only place that four states meet.  There's a monument that you stand on and you can be in all four states at once.  Some people get on all fours to take a photo.  In 2009 someone finally came clean that the monument is incorrect, this is not exactly where the four states meet.  Don't tell that to anyone, they get cranky.

The ride to the monument sucks, big time.  It was hot, the roads are straight, and there is NOTHING to look at along the way.  Unless you count the tremendous amount of litter on the side of the road.  I have NEVER seen so many beer bottles.  I didn't see any cans, only bottles.  And they were the quart size, brown glass.  So do the natives not drink out of cans? Or do they pick those up because they're more valuable to cash in?  Dave thought the bottles were thrown, but they weren't broken up and they seemed to be in clumps, as if they partied on the side of the road and left the bottles.  Dave did bring up that old commercial with the Indian (that's what we called them back then) with the tear running down his cheek because he saw litter.  He wondered what he would be doing if he saw this....UGLY.

Now when we ride up, we see that it's a National Park but they do not honor the pass because it's run by the Indian Nation, UGH!  I just cannot wrap my mind around allowing a separate nation within the US.....do we really have that much guilt?  Crazy.

Here's the photo that proves we were here.  It was so HOT, we were miffed, and we were also miffed at the gravel road and parking lot.....treacherous on a motorcycle.  These aren't smiles, we're grimacing.

 You basically stand in a line and then take a photo.  Some of the people were letting their small children take photos...which really ticked me off because I didn't want to be there, it was hot, and I didn't want to wait just because they wouldn't tell their precious snowflake "NO, you cannot take a photo while others are waiting in a line".  Oh, and can you tell the perimeter is lined with stalls where they're selling Indian junk? I wouldn't even look. Enough of me showing my cranky side.

We left here and continued in the heat along the absolute worse road on this trip.  Again, nothing to look at but litter on the road, HOT, straight, and the roads had ripples in them.  Hard to describe but we vibrated along the road.  We were so happy to arrive in Moab, Utah for the evening.

Mesa Verde vía the Million Dollar Highway

Off we rode to the Million Dollar Highway.  This runs between Silverton and Ouray, Colorado.  It is a small two lane road that winds through the mountains.  Beautiful, a bit annoying with the summer construction, but NO comparison to the beautiful passes through the Sierras right here in California.  Really, we are so spoiled.  Not complaining, just saying.

I have been longing to ride on this road for years.  Perhaps my expectations were too high?  As you can see, it truly is beautiful.  It's just that I had heard so much about this road.  The beauty, the twists, the treacherous view if you looked down.  Not so much.....

While we stopped for gas, just before the climb in to the pass, we chatted with two other couples who were riding.  They trailer their bikes from North Carolina to Denver every year and then ride for a month. Hey, sounds good to us.  Anyway, they were talking about how they were staying in Mesa Verde National Park for the evening.  We ran in to them again at a pull out.  They were looking forward to their stay at the Lodge.  They were really happy there was a vacancy.  So of course, since we get our dining recommendations from the gas clerk, it's only natural that we'd get our accommodation recommendations from complete strangers just because they ride Harleys.  We don't really have a plan, and we did mention that Mesa Verde would be interesting if it worked out, so this sounded interesting.  Dave called, they had two rooms, so we had a plan for the night.

We all agree that this is the BEST part of the trip.  It doesn't take much.....a clean room with a spectacular view and good food.  We are so easy...but NOT cheap.

This National Park has contracted with Aramark to run the lodge and dining.  It is fabulous. And the great view helps too.  There's something grand about sitting on the top of a mesa, looking out over the grounds...even if there is a thunderstorm brewing.

The next morning we took a tour of Mesa Verde National Park.  Just another use of our Annual Pass...we're loving the good value!  We ended up not taking the formal tour, which would have provided more details of how the Cliff Dwellings were actually built and their way of life.

There was also plenty of wildlife to see, right along the road.......here's a coyote and bear.

Now on to the Four Corners.......

Fruita, Colorado

We arrived in Fruita, Colorado hot and tired.  We're staying at La Quinta for two nights.  We have the great wedding rate, $89 a night.  Again, great value.  We each did a load of laundry because that's how we roll.  It was agreed, we all brought too many clothes.  We mostly did this because we have plenty of room...so of course we had to fill that space.  We just weren't up to the wedding party festivities that night, so we walked across the parking lot to Rib City and had a good dinner.

The wedding wasn't until 6:30 so we had all day to roam around.  The road to the Monument was right by the hotel, so we took about an hour and made the loop.  This also involved math because we had to figure out if it was good value to purchase an annual pass.  This isn't easy.  The National Parks have different fees.  For motorcycles we can get one pass and it will admit the two bikes.  The entrance can be anywhere from $10 to $40 for the two bikes.  Dave is just months away from the $10 lifetime pass!!!

We also took a few hours to visit a friend from California that now lives in Grand Junction.  We took a tour of her wonderful home and then off to downtown Junction to the Bagel shop for lunch.....where we saw two young women typing away on manual typewriters...that's right, not laptops.  One had bright, neon red hair so I'm pretty sure it's all about being noticed.

Not that we would ever move from our lovely home, but Fruita and Junction are really nice little towns.    Junction even has a Hobby Lobby!

then off we went to the wedding.  Now this was interesting.  I'm wearing my cute little dress over jeans and boots.  We arrive and park the bike in the soft dirt parking lot...placing a rock under the kickstand so it would be upright when we returned.  I slip off my boots and jeans and step in to my sandals, right on the side of the road....we walk across the street and there we are...so much fun.  Maybe I should have left the jeans on......sitting on the bale of hay would have been more comfortable.  At the reception we randomly chose a seat right next to a CPA...what are the chances of that? The wedding was so sweet and wonderfully done.  This is Lindsay's turf, so she really was the star.  Cliff looked content and happy to join the Fruita community, it's a love match.