The Middle of Nowhere

We left Crazy Horse in South Dakota and drove down into Denver. There were a lot of storms in that area, but none directly over us. We were very grateful! 

Got to Denver in the early evening and just spent that night relaxing in the hotel. This was a nice sized room, and the hotel had an indoor pool. We definitely took advantage of that!

Beth and I hadn't seen Chuck's sister in a few years. She had a major stroke 25 years ago, and another one two years ago. She's been in rehab ever since that last stroke and she's not sure she'll ever be able to go home again.

We'd bring her lunch every day and sit out in the lounge for a few hours talking and reminiscing. It was really good to see her again.

After a few days we continued south to the bustling metropolis of Walsenburg, Colorado. Population 3,000. The Aspen Acres fire was burning in that area of the state and we could see it as we drove.

We were getting alerts on our phones about evacuations. Thankfully the town of Walsenburg never needed to evacuate, neither did my brother-in-law. But we certainly kept an eye on the fire and the alerts.

 

On July 3rd, we checked into the motel, then headed out to Ken's. He and my sister Kathy bought 40 acres and were building a house when she suddenly and unexpectedly passed away.

We were out there in October of 2020, and it was the last time I ever saw her. These two pics are from that visit -  

Ken's in his 70's and lives in the 5th-wheel on the property but he keeps working on the house. And it's 22 miles from Walsenburg, in the middle of nowhere. Yep, this is the road to his house. 

Still going - 

There it is! He's done so much work on it since Kathy died.

We sat out on the porch to catch up and talk about life.

My niece and her boyfriend were there as well, staying a week to help her dad with the house. As we started back to the motel that afternoon the fire really picked up.

We went back out to the house on the 4th and right around dusk the wind really picked up so he didn't shoot off fireworks this year. We were okay with that, Beth and I were still festive! He barbecued some amazing steaks, and we had salad, and cookies for dessert.

Then we sat outside 'til it got dark, talking and watching the storms roll by in the distance.

My niece took this one - 

It was kind of cute, Beth had a little crush on my niece's boyfriend. Here she is teasing him, then getting embarrassed and hiding behind her phone. He was sweet, and they teased each other the entire time we were there. It was fun to watch them!

I know these posts are long, but there's so much I want to remember about this trip. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! Just a couple more post I think. Well, maybe three. 😊

Down and Out

 The smoke was so bad in Seattle last week from all the wildfires. So many people had sore throats. 

 

 On Wednesday I visited a friend in the hospital. It was a little strange because I was able to walk right into the hospital. I was wearing a mask but no one stopped to ask me covid questions or give me a visitor's badge. I just went right to the elevator, and right into his room! That's the first time that's happened since before covid hit.

 

I ran to a few stores to get stickers for the Trunk and Treat happening this coming weekend. I figured Target or at least The Party Store would have Winnie the Pooh stickers but not one store did, and I went to four different stores! So many of the shelves were empty. I ended up just buying them on-line.

 

 Thursday after work Beth and I went to the grocery store. By that point my throat was feeling tight. It didn't hurt, just felt... constricted. I figured it was due to the smoke.

 

 By the time I went to bed that night my head was sloshy. That's the only word I can think of that describes what I was feeling. I didn't feel bad, nothing hurt, just didn't feel... right. And by the next morning I had a stuffy nose, I was coughing and my throat hurt. I ended up staying home from work that day and have been home every day since.

 

I took a couple of covid tests over the weekend but both were negative. No fever, no chills, just a good old-fashioned head cold. I've been sleeping in my recliner so I don't keep Chuck awake with all the coughing. Going through a ton of kleenex. I don't remember the last time I was sick. It's been many years.

 

Hoping this is over soon so I can get back to work and back to life. In the meantime I'm watching a lot of Christmas movies and drinking a lot of tea! I hope you're doing well!

Babysitting, Rooftops, Weekend Project

There have been a lot of wildfires burning here in Washington and the biggest one is about 30 minutes east of us. Our skies have been so smoky lately, our eyes burn and a lot of people get sore throats when they head outside. We can't complain though because there are so many who have lost everything. It's just heartbreaking.

 

 And now Hurricane Ian. I was watching the Weather Channel today and the storm surge is just crazy! The way the water has been drained from the bay?! It's scary. I've been praying for everyone in Florida.

 

Diana and Peter went up to Canada for a couple days last weekend and we watched Poppy. I never knew I could love a grand dog so much! And Sharaya's been sending pictures of the cats. I miss them more than I thought I would!

 

 

This was the view from their hotel room! They had a great time, I'm glad they were able to go.

We've been having some issues at work, there's an interesting smell in a few of the hallways, on different floors. Some say it's gas, others say a dead animal. We bought some detectors and ruled out gas. To me it's more of a stale / musty odor. We're in the process of installing new air conditioners and are wondering if it's coming from them so G, our maintenance guy and I went up onto the roof to see if was one of them but it wasn't. The mystery continues! But I love being up on the roof! Such a different perspective of the building I see everyday.

 And speaking of roofs, here is a before and after picture of our gutters. It's hard to really see the difference between the brown and the white in these pictures. We also had them put on some moss killer. It's been so nice getting these things done!

 

We've had an extremely old TV stand for years and just never really thought about getting a new one. It worked for us and I'm a 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' kinda girl. But I figured it was time. I mean, look at this thing! It's got a CD tower! 😂

So we ordered something on-line and began the daunting (to us) task of putting it together. And actually, it wasn't that bad! Took us about 90 minutes. And I love it!! Now I just sit in the living room and stare at it.

Before

 

After 

We had some rain today, the weather is definitely changing. I hope you have a great weekend. Can you believe it's October already?!