Yes, it is true! On September 26 of 2006, our lovely Kristina turned 21! It was a grand celebration! We couldn’t celebrate on the day as the boss lady (Kristina) had to work at the last minute and we rescheduled for the next eve. Grandma Peggy had come out from Des Moines to help us celebrate and we just couldn’t let the actual day go by without a little notoriety for Kristina. We gathered a balloon bouquet and a warm plate of cookies and headed to the salon to surprise her. She had not told most of the staff so they were all surprised when we arrived. I’m not sure how she got any work done as Kristina had gotten so many phone calls from friends and family calling to wish her Happy Birthday. A number of them sang to her as well! How awesome is that?! Funny, she didn’t look any older! The next day we were able to all gather at our house for Kristina’s favorite meal and carmel apple pie with candles. No cake for this girl, just one of Armetta Keeney’s award winning pies! Welcome, Kristina to the “adult” world! We love you, Sunshine.
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The site is going to be messed up for awhile as I struggle through several major upgrades that I have been putting off. This has actually been a real pain. I had a feeling that it would be fraught with gotchas and I was right.
The actual upgrade to WordPress version 2 went exceedingly well. It’s all the extra 3rd party customizations (called plugins) that end up being a problem. Like the little email notification thing that is not supported for this version, and the clever little photo gallery thing that was embedded in quite a few of the posts.
I’m working through these things one at a time. I found a pretty good replacement for the photo scenario. All the relevant pictures for a post will be found at the bottom of that post. If you click on one it will open up a window and allow you to cycle through all the pictures. Unfortunately I have to go back through each post and manually convert it.
The email notification is bit tougher. I have not found a replacement for it yet and will probably send out notifications manually for now.
Please be patient while I work through these issues.
Click on the photos to enlarge them
Ronda and I finally managed a short backpacking trip out into the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness. The wilderness area is located right on the Continental Divide. We drove up through Cottonwood Pass and down the western slope to Taylor Reservoir. Then a little north to the access road that follows Texas Creek. The forest road is in pretty bad shape and even though it’s passable to regular vehicles ther are so many rocks in the road that the going is mighty slow. This went on for about 5 miles and then the road becomes passable only to high clearance vehicles.
Of all the roads I’ve encountered designated as 4WD this one lived up to it. Nearly all 4 miles of it were rough and tumble. Much later than we had planned we arrived at the trailhead. Everyone put on their backpack (including Abby) and off we went down the trail. The trail follows the Texas Creek drainage area and is a pleasant hike that has very gradual elevation gain. We saw quite a few beaver ponds, an old abandoned mining cabin, and made several creek crossings without getting wet.
As the afternoon wore on we scouted out a camping site that was off the trail and near a water source. We set up camp then lounged around, had supper, and enjoyed a nice campfire before retiring for the evening. The temp must have dropped down under the freezing point as there was heavy frost on the tent and bushes the next morning. Poor Abby spent some of the night shivering as she has no sleeping pad/bag. We’ll have to see what we can figure out for her that will stuff into her pack!
We spent the morning being lazy and finally packed everything up and hiked back to the Jeep. It was a nice escape into the woods even if it was short.
Click on the photos to enlarge them
I have written about my own personal hike up the great Majestic Lady, Pike’s Peak. That trek was a pre-event to the Ascent Race, which is why I went up the mountain in the first place. Doris and I were there to assist in running an aide station. After the summit climb, we met with our team captains, Amy and Jeff Solverson, got our camp made, and had a very welcome dinner. There are a number of aid stations on the mountain for the Ascent and the Pikes Peak Marathon. They are designed to support the racers with water, Gatorade, fruit, candy, and medical help, which is given by the El Paso County Search and Rescue teams. Everything that is needed for that support is packed in from the top or the bottom of the mountain and then back out when the races are over. There are pounds and pounds of Gatorade powder to bring in, water purification equipment, food, cups, bowls, the all important duck tape, trash cans to hold the water, Gatorade, and of course, trash. Volunteers are crucial to the success of these two interesting races. I have realized after this experience – volunteers make the world go round! Continue reading
Doesn’t seem possible that summer is winding down already. It has been a very busy time for me at work. I have been transferred over to the Systems Engineering department at ITT and have some new and demanding responsibilities. It has required a fair amount of overtime and travel recently.
Several trips to Ft Huachuca, AZ (south of Tuscon) to setup a system for security testing and a trip to Ft Meade, MD to brief NSA.
Have not accomlished any camping trips and only a few hiking trips this summer (bummer).
Back in school again taking a course in Systems Analysis, Design, and Modeling.
Sold our old Jeep and bought another one just like it. We had such good luck with it I decided to try for seconds. This one is green and only has 92K miles but is identical otherwise.
Josh and Kristina relocated across town when their lease ran out on the townhouse. They like their new place a lot better but it’s a longer commute.
Thats’ all for now.
As you already know, I turned 50 this year. Not a milestone that everyone wants to herald but I see it as a threshold to the banquet that is my life. Five decades! WOW! How cool is that?! There were a few things that I wanted to accomplish this year since it is a “significant” birthday year. Only one of my goals appeared to be manifesting. These are the “special” goals I had for this year.
1. Make a trip to the Grand Canyon to hike and camp. We made a plan with our small group to go together since several of us had decade birthdays.
2. Climb a ‘fourteener’ one of the 54 mountains in the state of Colorado that is 14,000 ft or more. It meant being disciplined and training.
3. Decide what God wants me to do with the rest of my life, now that I am truly grown up.
I figure if you aren’t grown up at 50, you have a challenge that may need professional help! There will always be a kid inside but I am trying to be grown up on the outside, just to make those around me feel more comfortable. It is a hard thing at times! Continue reading
My apologies that there are several ‘old’ stories being published. I have had stories to write and publish as ‘history’ here and they are just now being done.
Wednesday after the 4th of July, we sent two van loads of folks to the East!. Terry and his family in Mom and Dad’s van that they pull behind the coach and Ted and his family in their classic ride. They headed out together, had lunch in Kansas City, decided Interstate 70 beat the trip on Interstate 80 by a long shot and split up to return to their respective homes in different states. Continue reading
