Alone

Well, Kim has gone to coaching convention. I'm sure he's having a great time. I've used this time to get the bedroom redecorated. I think I'm done but I need Jill or Kristy to come in and give me the final "go-over." They've been a great help.....from Jill's "Mom, those doilies have GOT to go!!" Kristy never says something's bad but she has a little look that let's me know it's not a good idea. She's still not quite able to tell me that something is really bad. I'll give her a few more years. HAH!

Sad news....a favorite family friend of Kim's passed away. Pete Schutte was a great man and a wonderful mentor/hero type to Kim as a young man. Pete was a little rough around the edges but would give you the shirt off his back (or the tools off his tool bench). He will be sorely missed by us and I believe the entire community of Quincy, IL. He's probably having a great time partying with Kim's dad in heaven right now.

In case anyone reads this, our comcast e-mail is still not working. I'm now using my kimandjudy@gmail.com address. Please write often!

what a great week-end

We had the pleaseure of having Curtis, Jill & Jacob spend the week-end with us. They had a table at church to talk about NFP. They are such a pleasure to have around. Responsible adults and a beautiful baby. Jill is helping me update the house. I don't want to have the "old lady" place. It's amazing what a few new picture frames can make! Back to the old grind tomorrow. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

Back to reality

Well, we got home Sunday night to no phone service and no internet. Somehow our Road Runner modem and computer must have been affected by the storms while we were gone. Luckily we had our cells phones and were able to get some things done. It's amazing how dependent we are on our computers now. I couldn't pay bills or balance the checkbook etc. Luckily I had the laptop I had put quicken on in May. I had to just input everything from past statements and hope we're close. I'm hoping Jacob can look at our computer tonight or Sunday.

Thanks to everyone who looked at our blog during our trip. Hope it gave you some enjoyment. Time to go back to laundry........

I've decided that Reality Bites!

Amarillo

Well, I've seen a lot of interesting places but last night may just have been the most unusual. We're in Amarillo and Kim wined and dined me at the Big Texan. We watched two teenage boys try to eat a 72 oz steak in an hour (we didn't stay for the end - I thought it was rather disgusting) and then we went to the Cadillac Ranch. That was really strange but kinda fun. There were empty spray paint cans everywhere. We tried to leave our mark but couldn't find one with anything left in it.

This morning we woke to a flat tire on the truck so Kim is outside fixing that while I type. We also need to replace our wiper blades before getting into all the rain we've been hearing about in mid-Texas. Home today or tomorrow. Check out our hilarious pictures of yesterday.

Leaving Estes

Well, this morning Kim is fishing in Rocky Mountain Park and I'm starting to pack up. This has been a beautiful "resort" with lodge, mini golf, pool, spa, nightly entertainment and a wonderful view of the rockies. Our site is actually right behind the sign welcoming people to Rocky Mountain Park. Today we're making a short drive to Golden to the Coors Brewery and then possibly to a Rockies Game. We're going to hit the road the next few days after that and expect to be home somewhere around Monday or Tuesday. Love to all.

Estes Park

Well, we made it to Estes Park yesterday. Kim is out fishing while I do some laundry, blog updating and reading. It's nice to just stop and enjoy a lazy day. It rained a little last night but just a drizzle to keep the dust down. These poor people in Wyoming and Colorado need rain so desperately. The fire danger is extremely high everywhere.

Our trip to Mt. Rushmore was very eventful. We had heard it may be crowded around the 4th but had no idea that the fireworks were on the 3rd. We shared the monument with about 40,000 other people. Honestly, we parked in Keystone and hiked 3 miles up the mountain to see it. I've been having a hard time with the altitude and getting dizzy at times. That wasn't fun when we reached the top. it just takes some time with my head down and ice on my neck. After about 10 minutes I'm fine but it sure was embarrassing at the time! The monument was worth the hike up the mountain though. We had the pleasure of sharing some of it with a very nice black gentleman from Georgia. It made it so poignant when we read about Lincoln freeing the slaves but then realized that Jefferson had made the importing of black men and women from Africa illegal. It took our country so many years to finally realize the horrible things we had been doing.

On to more pleasant things....we are planning one more night here and then on to Golden. I really want to see the Coors brewery. After that we're going to really start our driving southward. I'm really missing the kids! And of course my Curty!!!!!

Electricity!!!!

We're back to civilization but still in Wyoming. We left Yellowstone this morning trying to make it to Mt. Rushmore but the drive was much longer than we thought. We'll go tomorrow. Yellowstone was beautiful but everywhere you go, you have to drive. We've put over 2400 miles on the truck and haven't even started back home yet. The reason for my header is that we have been camping in national parks with no water or electricity. Yes, Judy has not had electricity to do anything! I've had instant coffee each morning and couldn't charge the cell phones so a call to the kids was quick. We even had to pay for our showers....$2.00 for 6 minutes. My nails are horrible!!!! Oh well, such is the life of a camper. Kim and I have so much to tell everyone about Yellowstone......bison, bald eagles, cut throat trout, moose, elk, deer, and even a grizzly. Although we didn't have the luxuries of home, I'd go back in an instant if the kids could go with us. I'll hopefully get to post again tomorrow. The only part I really regret about the trip is the fact that our camera somehow lost the formatting of the card inside and we lost all the pictures we took. Luckily, I had the ones already downloaded to Picasso. I've posted LOTS more. Thankfully, we had another card. All our love......