Yup. We’re still here at Ridgway State Park in Colorado. Pretty much the same thing could be said again that was said in the earlier post from June. June? Wow! Long time ago. About the only changes as you can see from the photo are the mountains getting smaller and the moon getting older. And except for our deep farmer tans, wood ashes caked in our nostrils, and enhanced skills in shoveling out firepits, nothing much with us has changed.

Oh, I guess I’m writing a blog. That’s a change. The blog policeman, who is in the Witness Protection Program in Minnesota and answers to the name “Anonymous,” finally figured out where we are and how to bug me about no blog posts. And so, you’re getting it.

We are trapped, ahm, that is we work 5 days in the park, and are off 2 days. Tough schedule for a couple of old retirees. This is way too much like a previous life working for a living. However, we have managed to get a way on our days off. We often travel to Grand Junction to visit with Shannon’s sister and go to the movies. Couple of weeks ago we traded in our car for something more comfortable for older folks…us. Gotta stay away from visiting Grand Junction too often; we might end up buying a house there.

We have had some visitors. I believe I may have mentioned a visit by Shannon’s sister and at another time her cousin Joan and Joan’s husband Ron. Ron and Joan camped next to us, and we had a delightful time laughing our way through a couple of days. Last week Kedric (our youngest son) and Pollen stopped by on their way to Portland, OR. They sold their house in Minneapolis, decided they wanted to live in Portland, and Kedric managed to transfer to a different position within the same company in Portland. We took them to Telluride, which Kedric had visited on several occasions when he was younger. Shannon kind of shook the dust off her sandals as we were getting ready to leave Telluride. Too much has changed in Telluride and in herself for her to go back again. In August we are expecting a visit from another cousin and her husband. Shannon has also had the opportunity to visit with friends she grew up with in Telluride. To be able to see Shannon’s side of the family, “old” friends, and the opportunity to spend time with her sister are the reasons we took this volunteer gig. We try to remind ourselves of that quite often.

We have also been able to visit places that we remembered from another time. We, of course, visited Telluride on several occasions, traveled over the spectacular Red Mountain Pass to visit Silverton, and…

…spent a day visiting the Black Canyon of the Gunnison being surprised at how much deeper it has gotten since the last time we visited, as well as…

…taking a trip over the Grand Mesa marveling at how similar it is to Northern Minnesota, mosquitoes and all…

…and being treated to the spectacular flowers on top of the Mesa.

So, we are surviving despite the excitement and newness having worn off more than a month ago. Shannon is starting to count the days left. She might even be able to give you a count of the minutes and seconds left. This is not a gig we will return to, but that is a story for perhaps the next blog post. I might be able to get that one out by November.