Where is Ron now?

Thursday, August 1, 2013

August "Raid on the Rockies"

31 Aug, Sat: Ride with Mark V. from Hesperus to Mesa Verde, on to Cortez, Rico headed to Telluride when it started to rain and we turned back. They made it to Ouray with only a shower.

30 Aug, Fri: Ouray to Hesperus CO... The views on the million dollar highway south from are indescribable. Lunch at Grumpy's Saloon in Silverton was most enjoyable, Cynthia likes the old-time pianonplayer. Bikers, everywhere, are headed to Durango for a big rally weekend. by the time we arrived in Durango, the traffic was heavy with bikers. For the next four days we are ensconced 9 miles west of Durango at the Blue Lake Ranch. Each casita is totally private in the midst of a wilderness brimming with wildlife, including bears. The casitas have large, airy rooms, a fireplace, with high beamed ceilings, large screened windows all facing magnificent views of the Plat Mountains. Cynthia needed one more stay at a Select Registry B&B to receive the 100.00 reward following 12 stays. She is indeed thrifty: it only costs a small fortune per night but we WILL get that reward! Tomorrow, we ride on a day trip with Mark and his friends to Ouray and return.

29 Aug, Thurs: Departed Grand Junction at noon-thirty - arrived Ouray after breathtaking views right and left; cooler temperatures and the blessings of no rain until arrival at the Twin Peaks Lodge once again with a good return rate. Pam, the cook, is a delightful, jolly woman!

28 Aug, Wed: Grand Junction, CO the Rocky Raiders and Tangerine Tambourines rode off into the sunrise at 9AM on 131 to I-70 where we waved good bye to Jim and Joni, Walt and Pam; we rode with John and Holly to Glenwood Springs; they drove onto Carbondale while we stopped at the GS Brewery for lunch in time to reconnect with Pam, Walt, Jim and Joni. Pam and Walt gave us lots of big hugs before they rode on to Carbondale and eventually to Calgary. Ron made some new highly questionable best friends at a gas station. Jim scolded him for talking to a few members of the worst criminal motorcycle gang in the world. Here we are in Grand Junction on the last night of our Raid on the Rockies with our gang. A good time was had by all of the survivors!!!

Vista en route to Cripple Creek

Pat A and Ron in Georgetown

27 Aug, Tues: Steamboat Springs, CO Happy Birthday Jim. What a fun surprise birthday party at the Ore House. Jim was indeed surprised with the decorated key lime pie complete with a motorcycle, arranged by the Smooches; Walt provided the candles. Hilarious gag gifts followed the birthday song.

26 Aug,Mon: Steamboat Springs, CO Awesome views.

Ron Works

Pam Works

Carbondale

25 Aug, Sun: Georgetown, CO - delightful European hotel - arrived about 1 PM backtracking yesterday's ride to CrippleCreek. Joni, Jim, Walt and Pam took the scenic route over Pikes Peak. Visiting with Pat Ashmore.
24 Aug, Sat: CrippleCreek, CO: breakfast at 7:00 Arrived CC by 2:PM staying at the Carr Manor B&B, a charming refurbished schoolhouse.
23 Aug, Fri: Carbondale, CO Day 2: Hiked the town with Pam, Joni, Cynthia. Dinner at Russett's good, but noisy and very challenging for Cynthia to hear conversation with background noise. Did not sleep well - do not do schedules well. Here are photos but out of time sequence - and I am out of computer time to correct.

Deer ... Ouray, CO

Ouray, CO Main Street

Departing Ouray

Rocky Raiders

Jim on Rocky Mountain High

Joni

Black Canyon

Joni Photographer

Black Canyon

Curecanti Needle

Black Canyon

Smooch Smooch Riding High

Black Canyon

Black Canyon in CO

Ride Like Ron

John, Jim, Ron, Gordon, Walt

Carbondale: John H, Jim, Ron, Gordon, Walt, Pam

22 Aug: Thurs: Carbondale, CO - and the Comfort Inn - what a ride! Incredible vistas! dinner at El Karike's Mexican Restaurant.

21 Aug, Wed: Lake City, CO: Joni's bike fell Immediately at take off this AM in Ouray and later on the road followed by Pam's bike. Long, hot day even digressing from the normal route using a short cut to Lake City with biting rain the last thirty miles. Our lodging in Lake City left a lot to be desired. Poker Alice's Restaurant was fine.

20 Aug: Tues: Hiking Ouray at 11,000 feet made for heavy breathing. Holly became lost on the Perimeter Trail for two hours. Lovely dinner at the Garden Restaurant.

19Aug: Mon: Ouray, CO - first destination of the Raid on the Rockies - arrival at the Twin Peaks Lodge with threatening rain overhead all the while with a deluge hitting just as we pulled the beamer under the porte cochere of the hotel. How great to see the Tappan Tangerines and the Rocky Raiders! Dinner at the Outlaw Saloon - with a wobbly Cynthia returning home; Ron poured wine and she who is not used to alcohol was hit by the experience in the high altitude.

18 Aug: Sun: Packing and preparing. We are up all night ...

17 Aug: Our stay in Pagosa Springs is scheduled to end when we relocate to Ouray to meet up with the Rocky Raiders and the Tappan Tangerines.

16 Aug, Fri: The sunrise was lovely. What a surprise for us to see a sunrise!!! After requesting Cynthia's medical records sent to an orthopedist specializing in hands in Houston we hiked the Continental Divide Trail in glorious weather. The brilliant flowers along the trail make it a joyful hike; besides, it is a ridge hike more like the AT with a familiar feeling. The view of the San Juan Mountains from the top of the ski lift made a pleasant stopping point.

Street Repair by Ron

15 Aug, Thurs: Chimney Rock was declared a national monument a year ago. Located about 15 miles SW of Pagosa Springs on highway 151 we did not think we could hike to the ruins which are off a washboard gravel road. Surprisingly, a couple at the visitors center planned to drive the 2.5 miles to take the tours and offered us a ride. Very appreciative, we paid their entrance fee, enjoying their presence on the excellent tours. More about this with photos later.
14 Aug, Wesnesday: continental Divide Trail.
13 Aug, Tuesday: Quiet day with trip to see an orthopod who diagnosed the sprained finger as a sagittal band rupture and placed the "hurted" finger in a splint for five weeks. Cynthia's classmate, an Iowa City physician, said it MAY heal to normal function without surgery, but to NOT move the finger; it would be good to gently flex the upper joints when changing bandage wrap to prevent the finger from becoming permanently rigid. Now, wouldn't that be scary to have a pointed finger when doing pulpit supply.

12 Aug: Monday: Ron and Baby Blue are in Santa Fe for 24,000 mile maintenance. Scheduling visits with friends to be arranged. Cynthia inserts: she has a quiet day planned reading the book, "The Zealot" by Reza Aslan, a controversial publication about Jesus by a former Muslim that reads like a seminary class on church history. Nothing new., but those of us that have a passion for history we are not bored. The author is knowledgeable indeed, but makes judgment calls that are clearly biased opinion. The more we think we know the less we know for ultimately we have a cloud of witnesses. The author claims to be unbiased, but he is just that. In addition, he does make errors such as: the Greek word for carpenter can mean stone mason. Yet, I can appreciate his review and insight into the political climate of the first century A.D.

The 12th is another reminder that the anniversaries are now celebrated daily.

11 Aug, Sun: YIKES: 1008 people read our blog last month!!! Do we need to clean up our act???
A second test question: Do you feel like you have lost track of time? Ed K. was quite confused reading the future dates above. That, Ed, is what happens to us all of the time! Cynthia cannot type with her "hurted hand" so the task has fallen to one who will make short shrift of updating this blog. Departure to Santa Fe is imminent camping overnight at Linda and John's house. Ho, ho, ho! she cannot even shop online.

10 Aug, Sat: BMW 4 Corners Rally at the Quality Resort. CK, the manager and desk staff are the nicest folks. Enjoyed meeting a BMW aficionado who is also a newby genealogist researching: Dozier. Today's hike was short since the rains took over our fun. Helped Matt with Rosemary's bedroom furniture re-location. She is a quite delightful 84 year old who moved back to Pagosa Springs from Arkansas assisted by Matthew. Rosemary's computer set-up prompted Cynthia to ask her if she was a "geek" too. "Oh no," she replied and added, "I write. I just write the truth about the Bible, not like those TV people, I just tell the truth." And, no ... she has not published any of the boxes of books she pointed to in the computer room.

9 Aug, Friday: Continental Divide Trail and the Treasure Falls Trail were very exciting. Cynthia declared the trail's mountain flowers as the most beautiful we have seen. See photos of the Continental Divide, Coyote Loop Trails, and Treasure Falls:

BRRR!

Continental Divide

Pagosa Springs Overlook

The Great Divide

Coyote Hill Trail Loop

Blooming with Smooch

Treasure Falls

Continental Divide Trail

Continental Divide

Fleurs along CD Trail

8 Aug, Thurs: Hiked Turkey Springs Road for two hours; it rained on the return. Fortunately, we saw three four wheelers being loaded on the trailer of a large suburban with just enough space to fit us in the rear. Nice Texas folks.

7 Aug, Wed: Hiked four hours until the rains came. Awesome experience with two deer while we stood very still watching from a distance. They heard Cynthia's camera: click, click,click and studied Ron while continuing to eat. They must have decided ,"Enough," and leaped high with such a magnificent movement we were spellbound.

Two Deer

6 Aug, Tues: Coyote Hill Loop Trail 2.5 hours. Six deer. One gracefully bounded across a meadow while we watched in amazement. Tired feet in heavy boots; knee hurt getting on bike. Post cards written while Cynthia did research for the SCS. Nello's is baking our sweet potato French fries. Yummy.

5 Aug: Two deer; lovely hike on a Coyote Hill Trail that ended in the middle of a pasture. We enjoyed the marvelous weather, lying in the shade a top the mountain peak sharing a diet coke. Dinner at Nello's.

4 August: Nice hike - saw a deer bound into the woods. Stupid restaurant manager spoke to us during dinner to alert us that fine dining meant shirt with a collar. She was very offensive. Stupid woman.

3 Aug 2013: Slept a lot; dining at hotel.

2 Aug 2013: Helped Matthew move Rosemary into her new condo. fine dining at hotel that isn't fine. The chef prepares excellent food but the ambience cannot be considered such.

1 Aug 2013: Poor Cynthia with the hurted hand; she is unable to type on the computer, so Ron is delegated. We moved this morning from the Hilltop Inn at Pagosa Springs to a room with a view at the Quality Resort on the other side of the duckie pond; pictures to follow soon. We've soaked in the springs once (for free), and Cynthia treated herself to a pedicure, manicure, and smoochacure. This morning a rider with passenger on a 2009 blue BMW R1200RT w/ similar luggage stopped to chat. Small world. Matt, the chef here, caters to our needs w/ wonderful egg white veggie omelets and baked sweet potato fries.

View of Duckies from our room

Cynthia with the "hurted hand"

View from our room

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Feliz Cuarto de Julio en Taos, New Mexico

31 July, Wed: Here ends the month of Cynthia's, Little Carol Ann and auntie Carol's birthday celebrations. Our daughter turned three, is a marvelous shot, can herd chickens with the best.

30 July, Tues: Hot Springs was nice and so was the delightful conversation with Chinese couple

29 July, Mon: Pagosa Springs, Hillside Resort. Visited AT Hiker Matthew, dinner with he and Elizabeth. We slept so late we missed breakfast.

28 July, Sun: The night in Chama was fine but the breakfast at High Country left a whole lot to be desired including the arrogant omelet chef who was irritated because he had to do something so unusual. The ride to Pagosa Springs, CO was interrupted by rain; we huddled with some unsocial Harleys from Houston in the Chroma PO veranda. Cynthia visited ER for x rays of hand. Nothing broken but severe contusion.

View of the filming of Shootout with Gary Peck in 1976.

Cumbres-Toltec train

Cumbres Pass RR station

The snobby Houston Harleys with our BMW

Happy Hiker in Pagosa Spring

27 July, Sat: Ron returned the computer to Cynthia after doing such a good job of answering two months of email messages. It will take an act of God to get his witticisms and wordsmything working on the blog for awhile. Well. It took a hurted hand and I am back only wishing I was as talented as Cynthia believes me to be!

Packing in earnest began early this morning: our gear took about an hour. Rons recycling took three hours. Cynthia cleaned the lovely log cabin that Has been our home for a month and off we drove with the BMW piled high. It only needed a rocking chair on top of the piles of stuff on the top case to complete the picture until we unloaded the recycling. and eat made it to breakfast at the Taos Diner by two PM.

Turn around to see the Black Bear

Waving adios to Taos the bike headed north on old US highway 64 where we spotted a black bear. Whipping around we turned back only to see a pickup do the same only that goofball stopped by the bear causing him to hightail it outta there. Fabulous views. Cynthia sprained an index finger. A fox followed her at an overlook but she was busy on the cell phone. Arrived in Chama at the train station T five PM in time to catch the Cumbres -Toltec sunset dinner train. Oh what fun. We saw two deer. Five glasses of different kinds of wine... About a sixteenth of an ounce each. Hors d' oeuvre on board; dinner at Cumbres was interesting: prime rib or chicken, salads, veggies and multiple desserts. The super nice conductor phoned Chama to make lodging arrangements for this evening. Tomorrow we go to Pagosa Springs and tour until the 12th when the bike gets a 24,000 mile service in Santa Fe.

Excitement builds as we prepare our "Raid on the Rockies" motorcycle tour with Walter and Pam, Jim and Joni, John and Holly. We gather in Ouray the 19th and tour until the end of August traveling very light. We thought doctors were busy people. How do they get so much time off?

26 July, Friday: Hike planned for the Long Canyon in the ski basin. Fabulous hike. One of the best trails in Taos and all creek side.

25 July, Thursday, AT hiker, Matthew phoned from Pagosa Springs; we will see him in a few days. A very lean, young coyote ran across the road in front of us as we drove to Taos for breakfast. Cynthia mailed all of her extra clothes and stuff back to the lake house. We will be traveling light during August. The northside Taos Diner had been broken into last night detouring us once again in search of food. The Plaza Taos Diner was open and ready to feed us. After arrival at the Hacienda del Sol Select Registry for our 12th stay to earn the hundred bucks we were disappointed to discover they had us registered for the month of August. Ron was captivated by the jigsaw puzzle for a couple of hours while Cynthia read an autobiography about the Dodge Luhans as they built their home that houses the B and B. We toured the Millicent Rogers Museum admiring the Native American jewelry and pottery, the highlights of the museum. Dinner at the Gorge restaurant is made doubly delightful with the addition of Sacha's twin brother Gabe. "Sacha Gorge" is written here because Sacha plans to search for his name via Google. One meets the nicest people traveling. Walked the Plaza, the Kit Carson Memorial grounds, and had a long discussion about the appearance of poverty because of gross neglect of streets, grounds even around the civic areas. Is it poverty or a cultural mindset? The conversation continued on the Piedmont Road walk to enjoy an incredible sunset with a palette of purple, reds, crimson and blue.

24 July, Wed: Packed and preparing to depart Taos Saturday morning. The boot-maker won't have the old boots ready until that day. Ron caught up on two months of email messages before and after our lovely dinner at El Monte's with Susan.

Isn't she pretty?

23 July, Tues: Taos is a terrific place. We "hiked" the Plaza taking it easy on Cynthia's owwies. She saw the chiropractor today who grimaced when he saw her knees. The boots from Mark have been terrific but are quickly wearing apart with hiking, too. The boot-maker will try to glue them; in the meantime Ron is sporting a new pair of Chippewa boots and Cynthia has Vasquez (by Red Wing); both of us are tripping over our new "big feet."

22 July, Monday: BMW service at OCD motorcycles in Santa FE; departed Taos by nine AM; phoned Cynthia to let her know I arrived one minute late OK... except for the brain damage. Mark V. will pick me up; meet Janie for lunch; dinner with John and Linda and home to my wi-fee at seven PM.

21 July, Sunday: Avoid downtown Taos; huge parade this AM; plaza is blocked off - traffic in and out of the one road city is abysmal. Today was even EVENTFUL: Determined to conquer the wilderness path to the Devisidaro during DRY but overcast weather, we began on a positive note. About 1/3 of the way past the microwave tower the path became a rutted, rocky, very steep incline. I was chatting with Beanie by phone while Cynthia followed; she must have slipped on a shoelace that became untied, fell and rolled down about 10-15 feet getting pretty bruised and wounded. Fortunately, she has Fordetude and the bones of a thirty year old (according to the January bone density test); she was shaken but wanted to continue once the wounds were treated. I climbed the rest of the way and did indeed discover the trail, but i was disinclined to have her climb further because I would not travel that path again. The walk home aggravated the cuts on the legs and knee. I made made a return trip to the trail and back in one hour and 7 minutes to retrieve the lost sunglasses. Now, that was a workout. Dr. Beatty's loving care wound management enabled her to go to dinner.

Kiddies doing Fandango in Taos Fiesta

20 July, Saturday: En route to Taos for BREAKLUNCH - close to one PM I espied a wallet on the center line of the highway. Must have been dropped off the top of the owner's car moments before. Cynthia got off the motorcycle and picked it up. We called the owner when we reached Taos Diner. From the contents of the wallet, this guy reads like a MAJORly nice guy.

About 2:30, in the bright sunlight and HEAT we headed past the Carson HotShots (firefighters) at the end of Piedmont Road planning to hike UP to the Devisidaro Trail. 19 American flags hung on the gate (in honor of the 19 firefighters who lost their lives last month). Ominous clouds to the north promised shade or wipeout in a rainstorm but one never knows. About halfway up - fighting the wind and rain we turned back. BRRRR! Huge goose bumps on cold wet skin call for much food and warmth. From there we ventured into Taos for dinner . Now we need to search for protein powder and sleep. zzzzz

19 July: Friday, cousin Carol calls Taos, and her estate in particular, a "thin place" based on the Irish legend about the spiritual place between heaven and earth. Cynthia saw a chiropractor about her right shoulder muscle (very enlarged) that became visible after the car accident. The chiro agreed saying her body torqued left just like the car locking her right pelvis and shoulder muscles tight. She had one treatment and will have another Tues. A pleasant, gentle rain started about two PM lasting three hours. We dined at El Monte rather than face the huge crowds at a fest in Taos tonight.

18 July: Devisidaro Trail in reverse searching for the side trail down to Piedmont Road. We THINK we found it. Time was about three hours. We did find a rattlesnake - about two years old - green. He let us know to stand aside: rattle rattle rattle.

Romeo the Rattler

17 July: Devisidaro Trail 6 mile loop in 3.5 hours. Mrs. Smooch is very pleased with how quickly we hike when we don't stop to rest.

16 July: Smooch Smooch celebrates her birthday for a month. What a fun month; what a fun day!

52nd birthday party at cousin Carol's Casa

beginning with a Birthday breakfast to include Carol and Rich before they departed for Denver. Now, errands to run, dinner at the Gorge and a tour of New Mexico crafts. The evening sunset walk on Piedmont Road led us to new friend Suzanne that we met at cousin Carol's wine tasting.

To my wi-fi: You're an amazing wife. I could never pick just one reason why I love you.. so much...so here's a whole bunch TO WISH YOU HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
You're a great FRIEND
You're THOUGHTFUL
You make me HAPPY
You keep me from doing anything too CRAZY
You're FUN!!
You take care of ME
You're a GOOD Kisser
You're totally CUTE and Sexy oh ah!
You're there when I NEED YOU!
You're LOVING
You put up with EME!!

Good news and bittersweet news from Texas: Everyone in Cynthia's family is gaga over Corrie and husband Alan"s ultrasound news: Think pink Dec. 1. Bittersweet news: the end of February, pink bundle and parents depart for Eastern China for three years of mission work building housing; Alan is an architect. Lauren's good news was acceptance into the research neuroscience PhD program in Australia. The bad news arrived the following day: she did not get the full scholarship to make it possible. Bright spot: Lauren moves onwards to Plan B: a two year MA program at HBU in Houston.

15 July: Wowie Zowie: We started the South Boundary Trail at two PM and finished by 6:50 PM - 7.6 miles RT. Mrs. Smooch has a photo of the finish trail sign post. Extreme hunger brought us back to the Gorge restaurant to devour TWO large orders of baked sweet potato french fries.

Photos from Ron's camera:

Devisidaro Peak

Taos from Devisidaro Trail

Cousin Carol's estate

Taos Mountain

Clouds over Taos

Rain Baptizing Taos

Taos

Cousin Carol's home in the open circular area - Rich's Pickup

Close up of Carol and Rich's property

Rich's Pick Up

Smooch Smooch and Beautiful Fleurs

Taos from western slope of Devisidaro Trail

14 July, Sunday: Carol, Rich and the Smooch Family hiked 4.5 miles RT on Williams Lake Trail returning while it was raining cats and dogs. The drive to the new Bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge proved to be fantastic. It was windy but awesome. Nice lunch at the Bavarian Inn followed by a great dinner at Mariposa's.

Williams Lake Trail Elevation 11,000 feet

Mr. and Mrs. Smooch at the Gorge looking Northbound

13 July: Saturday: Bull in the Woods Trail: 4 miles RT; pleasant hike from Twining Road in the Ski Basin. The white structure in the background is a Yurt. Thanks to dear friend Linda:

Bull of the Woods yurt is part of the Southwest Nordic Center Ski system. Last time I was in there I used snowshoes to walk out, since the ski trail is so narrow. Got bleeding blisters on my feet because I hadn't calculated that XC ski boots are one thing when you're skiing, and another when you're walking on snow shoes.

Cousin Carol had a Spanish wine tasting; we certainly enjoyed meeting a whole host of Taosites. The food looked VERY good; BUT, Cynthia found some chicken at Cid's with corn relish on top to feed the hungry Smooch.

Bull Man in the Woods

12 July, Friday: Gallegos Trail off HWY 518. Wrong description in the Forest Ranger's trail maps. This is NOT for motorcycles, ATVs or bicycles. It does NOT have views. It is UP UP UP. We likely hiked about 6-7 miles RT.

Where is the promised peak? The trail never ends.

11 July: Aqua Piedra Trail off Hwy 518

10 July: The South Boundary Trail once again today! What happens when two smooches finish breakfast at two PM? Despite the late start, we hiked 3.6 miles RT. The computer has been used very little this past month until Smooch Smooch lays down the law. It feels good not to be answering the hundreds of e-mails that fill the inbox.

9 July: Hiked south on 518 on an old wagon road rutted and rocky. It ONLY took 2 hours to climb 1.3 miles.

8 July: Boy, oh, boy are we worn out. The hike up the South Boundary trail was one plodding step after another all due to three days without hiking. The Gorge restaurant is our favorite place to dine because the chef prepares BAKED sweet potato fries for us. The wait staff is very accommodating, too. The youngest staff member works on a ship part of the year and at the restaurant for this summer. Super nice guy!

The Balancing Act

Terrific "Emancipated" 16 year old working at the Gorge

Map Reading and Eating Go Hand in Hand

7 July: Fun Fun Fun! With so much fun, only rain causes the Smooches to slow down after sleeping and eating and eating and sleeping. Fortunately, rain is baptizing northern New Mexico with flooding now forecast for the forests closed by fires. We will have rain for the next seven days in Taos. The daily appearance of rain about three PM provides a new incentive to get out of bed before noon thirty and get to hiking. We plan to do that one of these weeks. Tonight we are on the veranda reading Blood and Thunder; it is the bloody story of Toas' Kit Carson. Did I say it is bloody? It is.

Carol and her grandson Joey are leaving today for Carol's Denver home with Joey's friend from Taos Pueblo; early AM Hawk and Joey knocked on ourselves door pleading for "Uncle Ron" because a toy was accidentally thrown up on the rooftop. A ladder, a climb, toy retrieved, happy boys.

Joey is an armful of boy joy

Here is a list of the greatest places to eat in Taos:
The Gorge - (they bake sweet potato fries just for us)
El Monte Sagrado (resort) high end but so blessedly quiet.
Taos Diner (on the north end) for daily breakfasts.
Lombard's Restaurant (small portions, and menu does not change)

We dined at the Love Apple Restaurant in Taos last night; don't bother.

6 July: Sat: Slept, ate and went to a Taos art exhibit by America Morgan, a lovely post-modernist artist from Los Angeles. Cousin Carol bought a large Picassoesque portrait of a Taos Indian. One of the guests at the exhibit was a Georgia O' Keefe wannabe look alike: thin, elderly, flat rimmed black hat, gray long braid over one shoulder. An elderly visitor to the gallery is Toas' oldest living artist dressed the part in leather vest, long, loose gray hair, mustache and goatee; most men wear the Mexican bolero and lots of jewelry. One of the lines from the book Blood and Thunder "the frontiersmen dressed like the Indians; they were happy to be taken for an Indian brave." So evident in Taos today.

5 July, Fri: South Boundary Trail until the afternoon rains came. Dinner with cousin Carol, Rich and Joey at El Monte Sagrado.

4 Julio: Feliz Cuarto de Julio! Cousin Carol and her husband Rich have their 8 year old grandson who loves (Uncle) Ron. Carol, Cynthia are 12th cousins to Ron; Carol is Cynthia's first cousin. Carol is the executive director of the Sudan project for Colorado and a most interesting woman with fascinating stories to tell.

Carol's BBQ guests were Tiwa Indians from Taos Pueblo. Hawk (8) and Joey (8) are best buds. And the Cuarto de Julio ended with a lot of bangs at Eagle's Nest Fourth of July celebration.