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| This is how the super moon looked with just a little help from Photoshop. The photo was taken the night before the actual super moon. |
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| I got a good photo of the super moon but not a good photo of the moon with the mountain so this is a composite of two photos. |
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| We are smelling the smoke today. The town of South Fork has been evacuated. |
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| This is how the sky looked when looking from our RV west toward the office. |
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| This is how it looked to the north. |
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| And this is how it looked to the east. There were blue skies to the south. |
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| We went out to Jen and Ken's to watch them pour the foundation and took this photo of one of Jen's rolling pigeon babies. Is that not a face only a mother could love or what? Rolling pigeons do just that - roll. They will be flying along and all of a sudden start to roll backwards. It is thought the rolling is a way of avoiding predators and is a very odd thing to watch. One of the birds forgets to stop rolling before it hits the ground but so far seems to be doing okay. |
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| Waiting for the three cement trucks to arrive. |
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| Good old Duck Tape! |
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| About 2/3 finished. |
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| At this point we have not been able to smell the smoke but the fire turns into three fires (The West Fork Complex) and threatens the Wolf Creek Ski area and the town of South Fork. |
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| Galen took this shot of some very photogenic clouds. Little did we know how much the sky would change over the next couple of days. |
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| This is more smoke than clouds from the West Fork fire. |
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| The smoke made for a spectacular, end-of-the-world looking sunset. |
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| A closer view of the sunset. Those curved structures are shelters over the picnic tables at the campsites here at San Luis State Park. |
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| Galen and I were asked to play a few songs at the Saturday night bonfire in the San Luis State Park. The program, including roasting marshmallows, was supposed to go for an hour but went on for two because everyone was having such a nice time. Galen's final song, Mama's Soup Surprise, was a big hit. Mama's soup surprise has things in it like chicken lips. Ewww! |
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| I hope the little girl in the background doesn't have a whole giant marshmallow in her mouth. :-) |
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| This is the way to cook a marshmallow! |
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| June 13, is digging the trenches and getting ready to pour the foundation day. It was also the day for a couple more inspections which went very well and all is ready for the pour on Thursday morning. |
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| Charlie and Sandy are the Rangers at San Luis and Sandy had a birthday on June 3, that we celebrated at Cavillo's in Alamosa. She tried to bribe them not to do the birthday routine, but to no avail which made me happy because I got this fun photo! We got to meet some of her family, their pastor and his wife, and had a very nice evening. |
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| Some of Kens family stayed for a quick visit after helping Ken's daughter move out to the land. A customer who had also had lunch at the Oasis took these photos of us in front of the Great Sand Dunes. |
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| Closer. |
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| Until you have seen them up close, you can't imagine how huge the sand dunes behind us are. You appreciate how big they are even more if you try to climb them but I don't advise going on a windy day because you will be sandblasted. |
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| Work on Jen and Ken's log cabin is progressing nicely. Rough plumbing is being installed in this photo. |
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| The septic system. |
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| The cistern. |
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| Wind in the valley is not unusual in the spring but toward the end of May we had an extremely windy day that blew up enough dust to hide the mountain behind us. Trying to see the road in places on the way home from Alamosa was also a challenge. The mountain behind us is Mt. Blanca, a fourteener - a mountain over 14,000' high. |
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| This is our usual view. Walking out the door and seeing this view is a great way to start the day. |
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| The dogs aren't exactly in time out but they can't be running around loose with builders and inspectors on the property. They are up much of the night chasing away coyotes and such so don't really mind some nap time in the kennel during the day. |
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| This is the baby of the dog family, a Great Pyrenees puppy with a sweet, sweet disposition. |
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| Playing with a ball. |
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| Playing with the cat. I must admit watching this unnerved me a bit but apparently these two do this all the time and the cat is sometimes the instigator. |
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| Simon is the old man and by far the smallest dog in the family. |
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| Simon and I are buddies and have been since we first met in Kentucky when Jen and Ken were riding their trikes across the USA. Simon remembers me and is happy to see me even when we've been apart for a year or more. I am wearing my Colorado Parks and Wildlife Volunteer hat and shirt which I might not do again next time I go visit all the dogs and kitties. :-) |
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| The temperature in this pool is generally a very pleasant 98 degrees. |
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| No kids under 15 are allowed in the 106 degree therapy pool. Note the jets going on the right side of the pool. Jen and Ken got a family pass so we go at least twice a week. There is a grill right at the pool with good food and lattes or you can pack your own food and stay all day. The pool is open from 10 to 10, earlier if you want to swim laps or take swimming lessons. Free wifi, too. We like it there. |
