Gillaspie Dinner

{Sorry about the placement of the photos, etc. but Live Writer is still not up and running so I have to use Blogger itself to blog post...urg!!!!! It is so clumsy with few options, so please just bear with me.}

Every year it has been our tradition to have our first meal with Nina and Greg upon returning back to Alamosa.  This year we came home about two weeks later than usual and that happened at the same time as Nina goes to Florida for a vacation with gal friends.

So last night we finally got together at our usual meeting place, Grille at Cattails, our local golf course. 

Although the Grille has had trouble finding a manager that can "make a go of things”, this current manager is doing it right.  

Nina's HUGE Taco Salad

Greg's and Jim's Burger

My Grilled Salmon Lite Portion

Our dinner was very good and we will definitely be returning.  I hope others in the Alamosa area will go to The Grille at Cattails at the golf course and give it a try....they deserve an opportunity to show what they can do.

Remember, you are loved.

Salai's visit

The last two weeks I’ve been volunteering daily at the library, working on projects that will help them out.  I really enjoy working on a project that needs to be done, but that no one wants to do.  Usually it is because it is tedious or stupidly repetitive…that’s my kind of fun.  I usually volunteer for a few weeks in the spring when we arrive and again in the fall before we leave for the year.  

Plus I spend all day with my buddy, Salia.  We bring items to make a salad which we sometimes eat in the adjacent park or at our desks if the weather is iffy. Once a week we go out lunch to one of the many independent restaurants we have here in Alamosa.

Sunday Salai came to knit with me.  She brought over a couple of large skeins of yarn and used my swift and ball winder to cake “yarn cakes” that is used to knit (think of a ball of yarn in beautiful mixed colors).

Come dinner time my wonderful husband grilled some ribs…Salai’s favorite (think of previous photos of Jim's tender and juicy ribs).

We all had a very enjoyable day together…dinner was so good!

Remember, you are loved.
(Not as interesting without the photos)

Problem with Live Writer

Seems like there are problems with Live Writer, which many of us use to create our blog posts.  Our blogs will not publish.  So we have to resort to using Blogger itself to write and publish our blog posts.  Biggest pain in the A** is inserting photos into Blogger...it is not a smooth operation as with Live Writer.  So for how ever long it takes Live Writer to fix it's problems, I'll be blogging only text...no photos...

Remember, you are still loved

Alamosa Arrival-May 11, 2015

 

 

This is always a welcomed sight when we come to Colorado

 

 

 

Another year of travel is completed with our arrival in Alamosa, as we retired from here in May, 2007. 

First thing I did was call my BFF, Salai, and surprised her by asking if she wanted to go to lunch.

 

 

 

Then I text Heinz and invited him to come over after work, which he did bringing along wife, Angela and pup, Tootsie

 

The next day I started volunteering at the public library for a few weeks.  Each year I ask Salai (she’s the Library Director) to give me a project I can complete for the library. This year I’m helping to digitize obituaries so they can become available online in the future.

Wednesday night I attended my local fiber group called The Fiber Floozies…we meet once a month in the library.

Our group of knitters, those who crochet, spin and weavers.	Beautiful shrug made	Look at that detail
Here’s a shrug I made for Salai		Look at the beautiful mural one of the library staff members drew…very talented

Last Thursday Bernie and Dodo arrived from New Mexico and stayed with us through the weekend.  First night we took them to Cavillo’s Mexican Buffet…but had some Margaritas first.

Friday we took them to breakfast at the Campus Café before we drove up to Creede. We drove them up Bachelors’ Loop, but it started to snow and visibility was dicey, so we turned back.

As we drove back to Alamosa we stopped in South Fork to show Bernie and Dodo our old haunts, like the campgrounds we hosted for so many summers.  Although online all the campgrounds were suppose to be open, we found them all padlocked.  We were able to drive up to Big Meadows to look around, but with the snow falling so much you couldn’t even see across the reservoir.  We stopped to take a few pictures and then hastened down the mountain.  The camp sites we could get to looked eerie with all the snow. 

 

Friday night we went out to dinner to The Hideaway.  We haven’t been there to eat in years and years, but the original owner has taken it back over and is doing the cooking again.  Barb Parker grills a good steak and I enjoyed the my favorite of hers, the shrimp.

Saturday we continued our sightseeing by taking Bernie and Dodo to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which is located about 15 miles from Alamosa.  It didn’t snow that day, but it was very windy.

Here’s a shot of Mt. Blanca on our way to the dunes.

We enjoyed the very well done visitor’s center and watched the folks climbing the dunes from a telescope.  The 750 foot dunes are really spectacular and are the highest dunes in the USA.

On the way back to Alamosa we stopped at The Oasis for a piece of pie.  Diane is the mother of the owner and she and her husband took my computer class when I worked at the public library.  Her pies are really “to die for”.

That night Bernie and Dodo invited us and the Berganns to dinner at their motorhome.  Dodo prepared tasty sea bass, roasted vegetables and salad.  Oh, it was sooo good.

Not sure if it was the company, the jokes or the drinks, but Dodo really got the giggles…..

   

Oh, we soooo enjoyed our visit with Bernie and Dodo, and were very sad to see them leave…….

Remember, you are loved…..all of ya’ll…..

Espanola 2015

We love stopping here before heading into Colorado.  We consider the Abeytas part of our family.  We first met them when we camphost at Big Meadows outside of South Fork, CO.  They asked us over for dinner one night and they have been feeding us ever since. We developed a deep love for these fine family.

We parked in Abeyta’s yard Thursday and they took us to Santa Claran Casino for dinner .

No buffet here – take a look at this prime rib and lobster dinner!  And it wasn’t a little 3-4 oz. tail either….oh, no, that was at least a 6 oz. along with a huge prime rib, baked potato and salad.

 

Friday Birdie fed us pulled pork for dinner after we lounged around all day – for me it is getting use to higher altitudes slowly.

Saturday was a big Mother’s Day celebration with family and their friends.  Teddy and Tim watched over the brisket and two racks of ribs.

    

Carla brought this half gallon of fresh salsa…oh, so good

Add in a big pot of beans, red chili, salad and you have a yummy meal.

Paulo and Tim brought Birdie flowers and even brought me flowers too….so sweet…

 

We had four family dogs all together. Here’s Chaps, Chico and Cinch.  Tim has all the dogs mesmerized holding court for treats.

      

We partied till about 7 p.m. and then we gave in to relaxing at the RV.

Sunday Jim made biscuits and gravy while Birdie added ham, eggs, beans and a fruit salad. 

     

 

 

 

Teddy likes to make a tower of food, putting one thing on top of the other.

 

 

 

 

 

I finally had the whole family in the house at the same time so I was able to take a family photo.

Thank you, dear friends, for your hospitality and love.

Remember, you are loved.

Albuquerque and Santa Fe

From Albuquerque we drove Sunday to Cochiti Lake COE about half way between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.  With our America the Beautiful card (old age pass), we pay $10 for water and electric in a newly renovated park. With Santa Fe RV parks charging $35 to $45 a night, staying at this COE has been our choice for many years when we come to visit our daughters and grands.

Sunday afternoon we had a good visit with our grandson, his lovely wife and our great-granddaughter.  They were having a mini-vacation staying in a hotel room and enjoying a pool.

       

Monday we drove back down to Albuquerque to have lunch with our friends, Bernie and Dodo R. who were in the area.  You know how it is with fulltime RVers….if you are within 100 miles you are close enough to meet.

 

We met at the Cooperage which is shaped as a barrel and is known for their prime rib.

 

The restaurant also has a wonderful salad bar. It is imposing sitting right in the middle of the restaurant with the salad fixings in pewter bowls sitting atop huge mounds of ice.

We had a great visit, lingering a while and laughing a lot.

Tuesday we went into Santa Fe to have our visit with our daughters and son-in-law.  Traditionally we meet at our daughter’s apartment, have a meal and watch a movie.  There’s a lot of stopping of the movie to discuss something we saw or to talk about a memory we were just reminded of watching the movie.  There is always a lot of laughter and smiles.

         

Christine made a delicious casserole with pasta, chicken and spinach. 

 

We brought a delectable Tuxedo Cake with cake, chocolate mousse and a thick chocolate glaze.

 

After lunch we drove to a park and took a nap then we went to dinner over to our buddies, Tim and Paulo. Tim does a great job barbecuing and we come over to their house when we drive up to Colorado.

Using new bbq grill	Chaps, Chico and Poncho get treats	Wonderful dinner, onions, chicken & asparagus
Chico balances himself on Chaps to get treats	Jim, Paulo and Tim	Saying good night to my buddies

Wednesday we went back into Santa Fe to take the family to breakfast to The Pantry. It’s a great place that is very popular and at 9 o’clock on a week day, the place was packed!  Food was fabulous with a lot of different breakfast offerings.

We went back to the park and got things ready to move the next day, then drove back to Santa Fe to have dinner with our daughter’s parents-in-law.  We love going over to Luisa and Frank’s home.  Here everyone is helping to get dinner ready and then a photo of part of their creative home.

    

Luisa and Frank are both professional potters and I love to go into their studio and see what they have created since last we met.

This is Luisa’s latest creation	The 5 pieces are hallow inside and nestle together perfectly. Love it!!!
Luisa used cooper wire to get the blackened area	Here are some more of her creations.

Frank is a real master at “throwing” pottery.  Here are some of his creations….just stunning.

Thursday we went to have coffee with Bernie and Dodo, who had moved from Albuquerque to join us at Cochiti Lake COE. 

 

They will be following us to Alamosa next week so we will see them again soon.

 

 

After coffee we took off for Espanola, where we will stay at Teddy and Birdie’s…..Tim’s Mom.  More tomorrow.

Remember, you are loved.