Colorado, Summer 2019

 Before any camping plans could be made, we went up to the Lyons' cabin in Drake for a few days of R and R.  It was delightful, but much too short.

Boo was so happy to be out of the car and into his bed
in the fresh air of the Rockies!

There is a wonderful creek below....

And a delightful place to rest below the cabin.

The old man and his sons kept time with us on the road.

At our friends' house on the plains, a beautiful rainbow greeted us as we
planned a trip to Westcliffe, CO for our first camping trip of the summer!

They have the most incredible house and the views are to die for.

We'd never been to this part of Colorado before.  This is the Wet Mountain Valley.  It is on the Eastern side of the
Sangre de Christos Mountains.

We lucked out of the weather and the campground-Alvarado.

We camped up in those foothills ahead.

Enjoying the breeze

Oh, to be a horse in this country!

Harley makes some veggies in their new camper.

They had the site above and we had the one below and to the left of
the rest rooms.

I just adore this picture of Jimbo and Boo relaxing.  Finally!!

There are still many wildflowers about.

Chatting in the shade

Maxine is happy with her spot!  And, so are we.

Lushness is everywhere-might be why these are called the Wet Mountains.

Awaiting dinner at our place

A pretty nice table, if I do say so myself.  Note the
Equestrians in the background - gramma, mom and
a young girl of maybe 8, camping down the road with
their horses!

Attempting to solve the problems of the world

Just hangin' out, enjoying the day

And, occasionally escaping the sun...

Must be an Amish or Mennonite community here.  All were
going to Sunday services.

For Labor Day, we rented a double site up by Brainard Lake at Pawnee Campground and entertained some friends and family.

I think this is my favorite view in all of Colorado.  We used to camp up here before they disallowed it because of overuse.

A great place to fish for trout but not today.  We decided
to hike the lake-about 3 1/2 miles around.

Jason and his fiancé, Katrina, joined us for Labor Day BBQ.

Such a happy time!

Julie joined us for most of the time we were here.  She
stayed in a tent the first night but dreamed of bears all
night, so slept in our extra bed afterwards.

Gail and Harley stopped by for a glass of wine on the way
home from their stay at their cabin.

Lynne, having a quiet moment on the hike.  She did a
great job of watching out for me on our hike!

Oh, how I love this hike!  So many memories!

Taking a break!

Do I look like I'm going to keel over?

A little picnic by Long Lake

And, on Friday, The Dyerdings arrived to camp a few sites up from us.  It had suddenly turned rainy and cold, unfortunately, but the guys kept the fire going and we had some great food and a wonderful time.

Chris and Meg

Carter, Chris' brother-a delightful guy and knowledgeable
camper.

Jamison thinks that sleeping in the camping is one of the
highlights of a camping trip.

Julianna brought a friend to share her tent.  They
were the bravest of the bunch, considering the
torrents of rain and the warning of a bear in the area.

We had a delightful Sunday afternoon at Chautauqua with the elders of the Cunningham/Kyer clan.  We were thrilled and blessed that Janet was well enough to join us.

Jim, Lynne Anderson (a friend of Libby's and ours) and MPK

Janetski, Liblet and the Handsome One

Timmy

David

Kathy and I

Derf

MPK and Michael

FAMILY!

The Big Apple - June/July 2019

Janet had some serious medical issues and ended up in the hospital in New York.  No sooner had we returned home and started into resettling than we loaded up the car and headed to New York to be with her.  (I am intentionally leaving out the details of her very private medical journey and our involvement).

New York greeted us with a lovely rain.

The brothers and I in the lobby at The Rio

My niece, Julie, came up to be with Janet immediately and when she went home, Rick came up from Savannah to help.  We arrived a few days later.  We certainly got our exercise while Janet was at Weill Cornell, as the hospital was a good mile and a half or two miles each way.  The hospital sits right on the East River, facing Roosevelt Island and the waiting room had a gorgeous view of the river and the barges moving up and down.

Most days the three of us went together to the hospital and sometimes, there were so many other things to attend to, we took turns.  We sometimes went to the roof for happy hour.

We were up 40 some floors and it was a bit scary at times!

I stopped at this church on the way back sometimes and lit a candle for Janetski.

 We met Rick's stepdaughter and family in the theater district for Father's Day for BBQ.

Janet was eventually transferred to Mt. Sinai, where her Orthopedic Surgeon worked.  Mt. Sinai is right on 5th Avenue facing Central Park.

It's been awhile since I have been in a hospital, I guess.  I was surprised  by
the whole team of doctors who wheel their computers around the floor,
discussing various patients' conditions.

Central Park

You can't imagine all the wonderful musicians who
sit down to play in the lobby throughout the day.

And, my goodness, pot is being sold out of campers(?) on Broadway!

Mostly, we were at the hospital, or at Janet's apartment and ordered in.

Boo was not too crazy about New York, as there is so little greenery that
he was forced to do his business on the pavement or on a building!!!
But he did like it when we came home to Janet's to be with him.

We took the fourth of July off to do a tour with Jessie Nelson and her friend, Nicole, who were just starting a touring business, Most Fun Tours, in the East Village.  Jessie put on different outfits for each part of the tour and would just show up-either playing her fiddle or just joining us with stories but always in costumes that she kept in a roll-along suitcase.  Each character had a different outfit and a different personality.  Below are some of the highlights:

Jessie, in character

Jessie, as another character, and Nicole, Jessie's
partner in the business.  

The best ever cannolis at a famous bakery.  At each stop,
Nicole would go into various ethnic restaurants
and regale us with treats!

This time Jessie was a lady doctor, playing the fiddle
to our delight as well as the amazement of other
customers at this Pizzeria.

Jessie and Debbie Damp with us on the road.  We are our
crazy selves and Jessie is Miss Liberty.

There is a fabulous theater in the East Village, where many
famous people have written their names in the cement in front.

Jessie really is multi-talented.

Best friends!

And no blog on Manhattan is complete without a dog walker!

Stopping for a beer and a wine on a very hot day!

You can't tell from the photograph but we are on top of Janet's building again on the Fourth of July.  We saw 360 degrees of fireworks from hundreds of little towns surrounding NYC.

When Janet's insurance pulled the plug at Mt. Sinai for her to move to a sub-acute care facility, we spent days and nights trying to find a decent place for her to go.  She ended up in Valhalla, NY for a little over two weeks.  The only great part of that experience was being able to have visits with Boo.

We hurried home again to Colorado while Janet was rehabbed so that Jim could fly back, pick her up on discharge and bring her to an Assisted Living Facility in Boulder.

About half way-St. Louis, MO

Hays, Kansas:  July 22nd - the 50th Anniversary of our engagement

We had a BBQ picnic to celebrate!  I think we look pretty worn out.
Driving across country isn't the exciting event it used to be!