Hello from Evergreen, CO

Hello from Evergreen, CO

Saturday evening August 21, 2010

Wow, it has been over two weeks since I last posted.

First, I would like to post a picture of the grandkids at the campground. Boy are they growing up fast. I noted that Brando is wearing a shirt we gave the kids from a bus rally several years ago. That is our bus on the front of the shirt.

The rest of the family vacation week was a combination of relaxing, eating, and generally having fun. The remaining two families went home Thursday. Their busy schedule dictated early departures. We felt lucky to have had them at the campground as long as we did. We left Early Friday and had a good trip home.

We had two of the Jeute kids with us all week even though their folks were only able to stay a couple of days. Nathan got to ride up the the campground in the bus and Isabella got to ride home. Pat drove the PT Cruiser both ways so that we had a car with enough seats.

We had planned to travel from the family vacation to a rally in Indiana and then several stops including Ohio, a friend in KY and then to TN to visit friends and install a system. After weighing the cost of the rally, the fuel and all of the other costs, we decided to pull the plug on the trip. We would have also been fighting some terribly hot weather.

In lieu of the long trip, we were going to make a quick trip back to Iowa in the car to visit the relatives. We have delayed that trip a couple of times. May try in a couple of weeks.

We thought when we got home with an “empty” schedule, we would get a lot of projects done. So far, it does not seem like we got much accomplished.

We will be traveling to Iowa and then on to a couple of bus rallies in the bus next next month. In the mean time, I will try to make a couple of posts just so that you don't think we have been abducted by aliens.

That is all for now.

Hello from Fort Collins, CO

Hello from Fort Collins, CO

Wednesday afternoon August 4, 2010 (First travelogue of this trip).

We are at the KOA Lakeside Resort for our Family Vacation (map). During parts of this week we will have all three of our daughters and their families here in their RVs. That includes 8 grandkids.

Each year we plan a week long get together. For some, that may seem strange, as we all live within a 50 mile radius of our house and we get to see them often. However, this week is special, as we get to just relax together. Judy and her family were only able to make it for two days. However, we get to keep two of their kids for the week.

Two families arrived on Saturday and two on Sunday. Because of hectic schedules, the last two families will leave on Thursday (we leave on Friday).

We are only 87 miles from home. Kind of nice. Two of the husbands have been able to work a couple of days so that they don't have to count it as vacation (actually, one is a real estate broker, but he is able to keep up with some important business).

This campground has a ton of things for the kids to do. Some cost money, but they got a wrist band for $44 (for the entire length of stay) and they have gotten their monies's worth. There are paddle boats, electric bumper boats, a huge jumping bag, large playground, etc. They also get one free meal at the “chuck wagon”.

Yesterday, we took an eleven mile bike ride along the Poudre river. A wonderful trail culminating at the fish hatchery. The kids have been riding their bikes a bunch in the campground area (including riding around the lake) and I have enjoyed riding with them.

The weather has been a mixed bag. During parts of the day it gets uncomfortably warm. Several afternoons, it has rained. As I write this, it is very windy and raining pretty hard.

Because of all the water in the area, the mosquitoes are pretty bad. Fortunately, they only come out late in the evening.

That is all for now.