Goan Visit

We were surprised by a call from Dan and Merlene saying they were in Albuquerque and wanting to come our way…..yippee!!! 

We met the Goans at Betty’s RV Park last March and renewed our friendship this last fall and during Mardi Gras again at Betty’s.

 

 

 

 

 

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you will remember all the fun I had knitting a shrug for Merlene.

 

 

 

 

After there arrival in Alamosa and setting up in “Camp Chapman” by us, we took them to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, El Charro.  This place has been around for a long time…Jim remembers coming here when he was a young child.  We all enjoyed our choices especially the green chili.

   

Afterwards we went for an after-dinner-drink to San Luis Valley Brewing Company, since Dan and Merlene like microbreweries. The beers are brewed on the premise with the wife of the young couple as brew master, while the husband is in charge of the kitchen. This place was built in a former bank and they have the old safe door on display behind the bar.  Dan got a lot of heat on Facebook for having his eyes closed in the last photo. He said he was just drunk and we propped him up in the chair just for the photo ha-ha.

             

We went back to our rig and chatted and made plans for the rest of their stay. 

 

Sunday morning we went to Campus Café for breakfast…their homemade bread toast is amazing.  Again their green chili is outstanding.

 

 

Then is was off to Great Sand Dunes National Park nearby.  This is the newest addition to the national park service and features the highest dunes in the United States at 750 feet.  Being early in spring the Medano Creek appeared in its ebbing flow like a tide.  It disappears in the summer and reappears in the spring.

On returning back to the rigs I prepared an Easter dinner with ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus and green bean casserole with strawberry and angel food cake for dessert.

    

As our food settled we enjoyed a single malt liquor from Washington that Dan brought over….it was so smooth I don’t remember much after that.

Monday was another breakfast out, to Jim’s favorite for breakfast, Ef’s on Sixth Street….he likes their skillets.  Forgot to take an photos, sorry.

Next we took a trip up towards South Fork to show them a little of where we spend our summers.  Most of the campgrounds are still closed but a part of Upper Beaver Campground was opened and we got out and investigated.

    

 

We stopped by Rich and Terri Deacon’s at South Fork Campground which they manage, and invited them to lunch. They are in the midst of cleaning up the campground from the winter to be ready to open May 1st.

 

We wanted to go to Three Barrel Brewing in Del Norte for lunch and get their wood-fired pizza, but alas, they were closed for lunch on Mondays.  Pooooh

So we decided to go to Boogie’s for lunch and enjoy each other’s company.

    

After lunch we went across the street to Haefeli’s Honey to check it out.  We bought whipped honey because it doesn’t crystalize.

	This is their Christmas room
Here’s a cabinet with candles made from bees wax in many decorative motifs	Shelves and shelves of honey products.

Driving home we saw a herd of buffalo on the side of the road.

      

Soon we saw a sign for elk meat and, of course, stopped.  Driving in we found Grammy Jan’s Meatery, where Merlene bought some elk and bison meat. Look at that pile of elk horns.

     

That afternoon it was nice outside without much wind (unusual) so we decided to have our happy hour outside.  Finally figured out how to take a time-delayed photo.

 

All too soon, in our opinion, it was time for Dan and Merlene to leave and move on over to Colorado Springs and eventually Denver.  So on Tuesday morning we took one last photo and said “goodbye”.

 

Thank you so much, Dan and Merlene, for stopping by and seeing us.  We really enjoyed sharing the sights of the San Luis Valley and Alamosa, in particular, with you.  There are so many things to do here in “The Valley” so come back again, please, so we can show you more.

And for all those of you reading this blog….remember, you are loved!