then & now

Our little Molly as a pup sleeping in her bed.

How she sleeps in the bed now?!?

SPS: Lake Brownwood State Park

Today, the boy and I went to our first Texas state park, Lake Brownwood. It is not very far from where we are living here in Texas.

We found a picnic area with lots of trees.

This is a photo of the CCC built Oak Lodge. The stone work was amazing.

There was a stone walkway leading down to the water, this is looking up from the walkway towards a pavilion.


We found our way to the beach and found shells.

The entire way there I kept saying I wanted to see an armadillo, because the state park website promised deer, birds, raccoons, and armadillos. We got lucky enough to see one just as we were about ready to leave the park.

Little Helpers

I was working on the wedding invitations the other day and got some very interested little helpers. They were came up to me and seemed to say, "Hey Mom, whatcha doing? Can I help" They then stole an RSVP card when I wasn't watching.

They looked them over, and seemed to think the invitations looked good enough to eat.

I guess green ink tastes mighty good!

With all the "help" I got, the invitations did get done and have been sent....finally! :)

boy news

http://www.familyotr.blogspot.com/

Oh dear, the boy started a blog.....

Unexpected showers

Greetings from Texas! :) 83 degrees today :)

I do not know how many of you have spend any time in new RV's, but we have learned some very valuable lessons.

One of the funniest ones happened the day before we left for Texas. The unit came winterized from the factory, which means they drain the water out of the lines and add some antifreeze. The day before we left, we decided to de-winterize it. The goal being to add water and let the antifreeze run out through the faucets.

After the boy realized he did not have a hose to reach the RV, he used a hair tie around the sink sprayer to put in the hole of our 6 gallon water containers used for long camping trips. He would haul one out to dump in the RV tank while the other one filled. He filled and carried out the water jugs about 6 times.

Once the water was in the tank he turned on the pump and we turned on the faucets. The boy turned on the shower and no water came out the head of the shower. It sprayed out around the handles instead of the shower head. He turned off the water and started taking off faucet covers to find the problem. (He had fixed many minor issues already found in the new RV). The problem, according to the boy, "was the factory had improperly winterized the unit and due to Colorado's wonderfully cold weather, the mixing valve had froze and cracked." Upon inspecting the valve more closely he accidently pulled it out of the wall, causing freezing cold pressurized water to spray all over him the bathroom, and even hit me in the bedroom. We both screamed like girls, and I burst out laughing upon seeing the boy soaked from head to toe. Upon calling a repair shop, the boy took the RV to town to try to get the part to fix the problem. I went into the house to finish cleaning up. I walked to the sink to start dishes, turned on the faucet and the sprayer lifted out of the sink and I also ended up with an unexpected shower thanks to the hair tie still on the sprayer.

However, the days of packing up the RV where filled with recreation time. I took my first trip up Pike's Peak. It is unlike most tourists, as I went up at night. Colorado Springs has a tradition of setting off fireworks from the peak on New Years. The Adaman Club hikes up Pikes Peak and does the fireworks. Several Colorado four wheel drive clubs come together and get permission to go to the top of the peak and bring down the hikers after the fireworks. Tradionally, the boy has done it for eight years with his family. This year he took me. I have been told very few people can go up at night, because the road is always closed at night. It was amazing, the night was crystal clear, and we could see the lights of Denver, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and all the little mountain communities. It was 18 degrees with, 40 mph sustained winds, with gusts 80 mph. So with the winds, the wind chill was about -14. I got my new years kiss on a 14110 foot mountain with fireworks super close. I would love to do it again. It was so much fun!

Lastly, as you might have noticed the blog title has changed. It is all your fault as you have encouraged the boy. He got some comments on one of the photos that he took, and it went to his head. So he asked that he be added to the blog. Since we are to be married here really soon, I agreed. The nickname of "Mr. Man" comes from my friend ASH!

Big Yards are fun

Over the holidays, the boy and I went to Tennessee with the pups to visit my family. It rained and was colder than ususal the majority of the time we were there. However, our Colorado pups loved the rain and the giant yard at the house. They also loved the big dogs that live there. The one day it didn't rain I managed to get a couple of shots of them playing in the sun.

It was here they discovered down pours and rain spouts. Oh what fun the rain spouts are! They came in dripping wet several times. They also discovered they like horse poop and mud. They also love Uncle Ken and his beer mug!

We are now back in Colorado, packing up the fifth wheel and will be leaving for our new destination in a few days. Texas here we come!

SPS: The Grottos

The return of SPS. Puppies and house (5th wheel) buying took over my life for a while. So I am getting back to posting about those public lands that are so great. The weekend before we got the puppies, Alan and I went on a jeep trip over some Colorado mountain passes hoping to find some Aspens that had turned golden. We were there a tad too early, but did manage to see some that had turned. We stopped at a little forest service area called the grottos near Independence Pass that had a neat little trail that led to an ice cave and a waterfall. There was a slight drizzle that day. Walking the trail, I found the leaves with water on them. I have always tried to get some good leaf photos, usually without much luck. I think I got lucky for once! These turned out pretty awesome with the water on them. We went to the ice caves that are carved by water and make some neat patterns in the rock. I have to credit the boy with the second to last shot, as he was crazy enough to climb down into the caves on the slick terrian. I was too chicken, especially considered I still had a bruise from the last cave I had been in.
It was a good weekend, and our last before we got saddled with the kids (puppies)!
Oh, and also that weekend, I discovered that ginger pills while smelling and tasting bad worked for me with the altitude sickness I tend to get.

Interior of 5th wheel

While looking at pattern choices for the 5th wheel, we both decided that the midnight was by far the best choice that suited us and our lifestyles. We chose the bigger fridge, and that is a king size bed! There are two leather recliners, two HD tv's. I am still learning it's secrets, kinks, and it's personality. We have yet to actually try out any part of the kitchen, or bed. We watched a movie on the larger tv, I fell asleep half way through it. :)

Our new home

In October, we put down the initial payment on a brand new 2009 Landmark Augusta 5th wheel. When Alan and his dad went to get the 5th wheel, they learned that we were actually getting a 2010 Landmark Augusta. Apparently between the time we put down the down payment and the time they went to get it, there had been enough changes for them to label it a 2010. They had been making them about 2 weeks before we picked up ours. Our new home is here and it is beautiful. Inside pictures to come soon!

Nap time

The are super sweet when asleep!

Election Day!

Election day caused quite a stir in our house. The pups fought over who got to wear the "I voted" sticker. As you can see, they had to share, which is such a hard concept for siblings.

Puppy Love

What can I say, other than, look how big they are? Look how cute they are!

Big news on "The Plan" front. Our 2010 Landmark Augusta is sitting next to our house...pictures soon, I promise!

The Plan

It has been a while since a post. We have brought two puppies who are quite demanding into our lives. We bought this truck to pull a 5th wheel trailer we also recently purchased. It will be coming to us within the month. "THE PLAN" has come together surprisingly well.
The plan is to pack up what we need in the RV and take off with my job to travel the USA and see things we haven't seen, and go places we haven't been.
Yes, we plan to live full time in an RV!
The plan was to start this adventure in May, however due to various circumstances we are moving up the time frame a bit. We now plan to start traveling in December.
I am buying my first home, granted it is a bit unconventional in nature. It will take me where I want to go.
The wedding plans are still in place and also going well. We are so close to having invitations done!

The puppies are growing so fast and demanding more and more time and attention. They have come into their own and we were so wrong about them. We initially thought Molly would be the lover and friendly one, she turned out to be more aloof and wanting attention on her terms. Baxter has to be the center of attention...literally. He gets mad if you pay attention to things other than him. We are working on getting him out of that habit.

BathTime

The other day, the pups were filthy, so we had bath time. The first photo is of Baxter and Molly in a place they cannot get out of, the dreaded tub. The second is of Molly getting shampooed. The last of Baxter back in the tub drying off. They are now 10 pounds each, when we got them they were just over 6 pounds. Growing and eating like crazy. Cute, even when wet!

They are so much fun

So our little cute fuzzbutts have turned into cute little monsters! Just kidding, they are so much fun, but they love to dig. In the dirt, in the water dish, and add water to the dirt and watch out!
The first photo is of Baxter, post digging a hole. They second is Molly digging in the water dish.

Crystal Mill

Before the fuzzbutts came, Alan and I went on a trip around Colorado to find some aspens that had changed colors. While we did eventually find some good color, it seemed we were a bit early. However, we did go to the Crystal Mill. I have seen it on postcards, and heard about it from locals. Apparently, it is one of the more famous places to photograph here in Colorado. While the aspens behind the mill were not changed, it still proved a pretty photo. Getting to the mill is not exactly easy, it is a bumpy narrow 4 wheel drive only road. Scary when trying to pass another vehicle. Worth the trip though. This photo is a panoramic of three. I have some wide angle photos I will post at a later time.

FUZZBUTTS HAVE ARRIVED!!!!

The fuzzbutts have come home. We got our Corgis. Molly is mostly black, and Baxter is mostly brown. They were 8 weeks old on Friday. They have been here 8 hours, and we are totally in love and have learned some of the different personalities already. Molly loves toys and to sleep, Baxter loves to bark and chase the cat.

Got Corgis?

We will.

Next week, we are bringing home two puppies, brother and sister, eight weeks old.

This week is puppy proofing the house week.

This week is also readying Alan to be a puppy owner, the boy has never had a puppy before. Only grown dogs.

This week is getting puppy supplies.

I cannot wait for those fuzzbutts to arrive.

As the saying goes, "CORGI BUTTS DRIVE ME NUTS"

SPS Castlewood Canyon State Park

Yes, I have been a slacker on SPS lately. I have miss two weeks. I do not have an excuse. What can I say, I should be disowned by SPS. Last Sunday, the boy and I took out his jeep and drove to Castlewood Canyon State Park. It is a pretty little canyon with lots of green, a color seen very little lately. It has be a relatively dry summer with little rain, and little green. See, we do go places that aren't national parks :)