These are the Days of our lives...

We are on the road again and went through DesMoines on our way.  We like to stay at the Iowa State Fair Grounds in DesMoines.  It is very close to my brother, Tony and Susies.  We were there for their son, Brandon's, birthday.  It was great to be their with family. Brandon is married to Jennifer.  He has two kids Lilly and   .  Tony and Susie's oldest son is Jaye.  Jaye is married to Natalie and they have two sons.  Lance and Landon.  Susie's mother, Wanda was there.  She is the sweetest lady.  We love her! Mike, Susie, Tony, Deb 

We left Colorado and are heading for Illinois.  We stopped in Dodge City, Kansas and spent the night.  We toured Boot Hill and attended a gunfight.  The actors really love their work!

Our first mushroom hunting adventure with Pat and Mike Bowline was very successful. The beginning of August is the time to go foraging for mushrooms. The down side was that we had to clean all of these. We fried some in butter and also deep fried them. We knocked on camper doors and shared our cooked mushrooms. Mmmmm good! The first mushroom we found was a King Bolete . It is dark maroon. A Bolete is a lighter color. They were plentiful, but we found out that if you pick them when they are too big, they are spongy and had bugs. The smaller boletes before they are fanned out are bug free and delicious. Astrid came back to Colorado with Michelle and got to go mushroom hunting with us. She is a natural mushroom hunter. We sent her down or up the mountain to get the mushrooms on the steep slopes. She had to help me back up and tell me where to step for support. Shaggy Mane mushrooms grow mainly close to the roadway. Mike liked these mushrooms best. They are extremely delicate. When fr...

My brother, Scott and his wife, Sherry, came to Cottonwood Cove to visit us. Scott got up early and went fishing with our friends. Scott, Mike, Mike, Mike and Marvin. We had a fish fry with several of our camping buddies and of course, we had mushrooms. We all went fishing at Continental Reservoir but did not have any luck. I love the reflection in the water. Mike, Michelle, Astrid, Scott and Sherry went horseback riding. This was Sherry's first horseback ride. She is ready for, "Cowgirl Up." Sherry and I saw an old church up on the hill behind Creede and went in search of it. Bob Ford, the person who killed Jesse James, was buried there. His widow eventually moved his body to Missouri. When we all went mushroom hunting, we stopped to see the view. It was majastic.

A Mama Bear and her two babies came into the field behind our motor home. The Mama had one black bear and one cinnamon bear. They were very cute. Of course, they came after the grandkids left.

Jacob and Astrid flew into Denver on July 20th and stayed until August 2nd. We had a wonderful time. The first morning at Cottonwood Cove, we woke them up early and went to the mountains with our friends to cook breakfast. It was delicious. After breakfast, Jacob and Astrid walked in the Aspens to find a walking stick. We took them home and peeled off the bark. In May when we first arrived at Cottonwood Cove, we took a trip to Clear Creek falls. You can see the snow on the mountains in the background. We took Astrid and Jake there. It is a long way down! The kids got to ride horses three times while they were here. They are naturals. Jacob's favorite horse is Audie. If you notice how confortable Mike and the kids look on their horses, then look at me. Ronnie, a retired fire chief from Louisanna, took us on a ride up in the mountains. It was beautiful. You can see our camp ground in the back ground. The Rio Grande River runs along one side of Cottonwood Cove. The Rio Grande begin...