On the Road Again!!!

 We have hit the road again and are driving to Albuquerque  to visit with our friends, Mike and Rita.  It would appear that all roads lead through Albuquerque and they are always great hosts for our travels throughout the southwest.  It is always great to hook up with them, catch up, and just enjoy their friendship.  As with many of our friends, Mike and Rita make us feel like family. 

The last few days in Colorado was very busy with family and friends.  It is always tough to say good bye and we seemed to have planned as many activities into the last couple of weeks as possible.  (think stuffing a 10 pound sack of flour into a 5 pound bag - that was us).  

David started our final weeks at Chatfield when he hosted a great dinner at his place.  He has started to get life back together, with a big help from a young lady named, April.  David and April have been friends since high school and were recently reconnected.   Together they pulled out all the stops to ensure everyone had a great time and a wonderful meal.  Next up was a weekend with Jeff and Maria, our "adopted" daughter, (actually she is our friends, Bob and Donna's, daughter) when they came up for a family weekend at Chatfield. The weekend started with a pancake breakfast, for Kris, Amy and the super Ks, and included a BBQ rib dinner and our entire family gathering around the campfire with a couple of cases of refreshments.  Next up was Monday night football.  George and Amy watched the Broncos make short work of the Oakland Raiders.  Since Kris flew to Washington DC, George was Amy's date.  Even though he was late meeting Amy, they managed to down a few beers tailgating before going to the stadium for the game and more refreshments.  Tuesday, our friends, Doug and April ,who flew in from Florida,  spent the day with us.  We caught up just like we had never been apart.  As the saying goes, "Good friends are never far apart no matter the miles that separate them".  Wednesday was our final preparation day and we finished packing up all our gear, check the fluids and pressures, cleaned inside and out all in preparation for leaving at O 'dark thirty on Thursday.  We arrived in Albuquerque tired from the wind and driving 9 hours from Denver.  Friday, we met Mike and Rita for breakfast at our favorite breakfast restaurant in Albuquerque," Millies".   We will all be "catching up" until at least Sunday.

 

April, David, Kris and Amy at David's 

David are you asking for advice or did April put too much wine in the crockpot?

 

 

Amy staying warm around the campfire, or maybe too many refreshments!  Sleep well Amy - this is the very first picture of Amy not smiling!!!

April, David and Pat at Chatfield SP

 

 

George and Amy at the Broncos vs Oakland beatdown!

 

Lunch with Doug and April

 

 

Taking in a late lunch with Mike and Rita

 

We had fun this summer and it went by so fast.  We appreciate everyone we met at Chatfield SP, the staff and all the camp hosts and the majority of the RVers who passed our way.  It was quite an experience and another great adventure.  But now as we drive away we will miss some thing's very much. 

 

 

 

WHAT WE WILL MISS

The morning balloon flights

The family nights around the campfire

The family get together and cooking over the open fire

Kasey

Karsten

 

New backyard adventures await us but we will be back for the holidays.  We loved our time with our family and will be counting the days until Thanksgiving.  Next adventure -  Tucson with Tom and Maryann Graue, their family and their grand daughters including baby Emme!

Where did the summer go?

Oh my gosh!  Our stay at Chatfield is coming to a rapid close.  We plan on leaving our camp host positions on September 25th and drive down to Albuquerque to visit with our long time friends Mike and Rita.  After Albuquerque the motorhome head  south on I-25 and east on I-10 to Tucson.  We have been planning this trip before our summer began and we will finally see Tom and Maryann's newest granddaughter - Emme.

It seems like yesterday that we were posting a mid summer blog and celebrating David's 33rd birthday.  We have had a wonderful stay here and made friends with the staff and other camp hosts here at Chatfield SP that will last a lifetime.  There is no way we could cover the entire summer with this blog posting so we apologize for not posting earlier (that may be a mixed blessing). 

 

 

Roxborough State Park about 5 miles south of Chatfield SP.  We drove the scooter over to Roxborough SP to take a hike through there magnificent geological formations but a storm came up and we hurriedly got on the scooter and sped back to our campsite.  Yes we got wet!

Amy's birthday and two future bronco players help her celebrate.  Can't believe she is finally 21!!!!

 

Kris arranged a VIP tour of Coors Brewery and a visit to the employees only "Bills" bar above the brewery.  Kris really believes this is a dream job, he has two bars at his office downtown and of course when he comes out to the brewery... another great bar just for him and his guest apparently.

 

 

We get hot air balloons launching everyday here at Chatfield but this is the first to land near the motorhome.  We took this picture from the back of the motorhome (no, I do not know who the guy in the picture is)

Amy went to South Dakota and Kris came over for supper and a little relaxation around the camp fire ... of course he supplied the beer and even got Pat to drink a beer called Redd's, an apple cider beer.

 

The Super Ks had a sleep over with Grandma and enjoyed "morning coffee" with Grandma.  This summer we got to have a couple sleepovers with the boys.  It has been one of the highlights of our summer and we will miss our "alone" time with the super Ks

The supper Ks being picked up from their school by Grandma and Grandpa.  We looked forward to picking up the boys and volunteered many times over the summer.  They always asked Grandma for her special snacks of fruit animals.  Just so all of you non grandparents know...you can learn a lot from listening to three year olds. 

Pat and Maria Marten (Bob and Donna's daughter) at Maria's daughter, Indy's marriage 1st Anniversary party in the Black Forest.  We are fortunate to be considered a kind of extended family to Jeff and Maria,  Maria babysat for Kris and David when she was 12 years old and they were 2 and 4, so anything that they now do wrong we blame on her!!!  Hard to believe she has a married 22 year old daughter.

 

We are leaving Colorado to go see the young lady pictured below.  She is the miracle daughter of Carrie Graue.  Carrie is the daughter of our friends, Tom and Maryann Graue.  Emme Graue was born at 29 weeks and has fought everyday of her young life.  Emme is now part of an amazing family.  She is also part of an amazing story that began when her mom, Carrie, decided to have a baby at the age of 40.  Born a twin, Emme survived numerous problems and will face many more but she is a determine young lady and will grow up to be much like her mother and grandmother...a strong independent and smart young lady.

 

See you soon Emme!

 

We will try to be better at posting our backyard adventures but our life seems to moving at an incredible speed and we are having trouble finding time to post...or.... it maybe that we are just a tad lazy and like resting after a day of camp hosting.  The good news that adventure will be over in a couple of weeks but the bad news is ---- it is football season.  No more watching ribbon dancers and no more watching reruns - it is Ohio State and Denver Broncos football time!  Go Bucks and Go Broncos!!!!