Haven vs. Shadowwood

Cracklin' Oat Bran was a big hit with our

yogurt parfaits for breakfast.

Walk around the loop.

Picnic at Williams and kayak/paddleboarding,

More Harry Potter... finding our Patronus.

I'm an Adder, which wasn't as bad as it sounds once I read the traits.

Lawn Game tournaments:

Cornhole & Cowboy golf

(It's been a looong time since I played Cowboy Golf.)

Salmon for dinner and the Rigby's taught us a new game at night: Marbles, kinda like Sorry.

They've always got new fun games.

Dan really wanted to go to bed at 9:30,

(I'm having more fun than I look like I'm having.)

But we had to wake him up while Mimi got sorted.

Pagosa with Friends

Pancakes, 

sorting Jason into his Harry Potter house

(he's never read the books or watched the movies!)

ATV's and walk around the property, 

(pro-tip: use dryer sheets to wipe off burrs from pant, socks and Kershaw!)

visit to the sheepherders cabin,

(Jason's Grandpa was a sheepherder in Pagosa Springs and 

his dad helped herd the sheep up Piedra road to the BLM "more times than he cares to remember"),

light ridiculing over the Red Ryder BB guns,

fishing practice,

(Dan didn't realize Chris' fishing vest had a sticker on the back),

Chicken salad croissant sandwiches for lunch (I finally made my own),

fishing IRL (Rob is an expert, catching ten while the others caught one or two),

Mimi caught her first fish--a 16 incher! so had to keep and eat 

(the others were caught and released),

Piedra Falls,

elk on the hill welcoming us home,

Fish for appetizers, steak buddha bowls for dinner,

cookies for dessert.

A beautiful day in the mountains.

Lots of laughs, lots of talking, good food and non-stop fun.

Friends Arrive

Lots of final cleaning (baseboards and windowsills),

power washing (porches, the Bronco, garage floor and outdoor chairs), 

organizing (Master closet, laundry room and I don't even remember what,

but aren't I always organizing something?),

and food prep -- chicken salad for lunches, guacamole for dinner, chicken, peppers and onions for dinner. 

Courtney really upped the guacamole game last week and I aim to continue!

Thankfully we had all day and finished with just enough time to shower.

At 6:30 we drove to the airport to meet our friends!

On approach!

Rigbys, Jones and Woods -- we're so glad they're here!

Happy 54th, Dan!

 Happy Birthday to my best friend!

To celebrate we walked/ran the loop in the morning.
Went to town with Marty (Tres) for Sage Burgers and errands.

First stop was the tractor supply store--a first for us--Marty needed a harrow 
(If you've done your Come Follow Me lately, you'll recognize that term.)
and Dan found a Wrangler flannel shirt, perfect for cold evenings in Pagosa.
We also saw this jeep and both of us were dying to buy it for our grandkids.
That is, until we learned it's street legal and goes 45 mph.

After green chile smashburgers and green chile fries for lunch,

we looked for a trailer hitch at a few autoshops for Marty's new harrow,

then to what Dan had been looking forward to,

 the fishing store, where he bought a new rod and flies and all things fishing.

Marty was a big help and much funner to shop in that store than I would be,

so I ran to Ace to get house project supplies.

Full disclosure, this pic was taken last month when we were at Sage. But same food, same person. Prob same shirt.

Back at home, Dan requested chicken and veggies for dinner,

and I whipped it up while he chatted on the phone with well-wishers and answered birthday texts.

Years ago someone described Dan as a person with no guile.

How true.

He loves driving fun cars, flying in his plane, sleeping in nice hotels and growing his business.

But he genuinely cares about people, 

is happy to give and give to the people he loves (and extends that love beyond normal reach),

and would do absolutely anything for his children.

I'm so grateful for who he is and that he's my guy.

I've been madly in love with him for 35 years and can't wait for the next 35!

Durango

Way back when we were planning our Pagosa trip and thought we'd need to plan activities for the four days we had alone (hence the trip to Manassa), we planned to take the Durango & Silverton train, spend a night in Durango, shop on Main Street and eat at a new restaurant.

That was before we realized we still had so many projects back at home.

I still wanted to go to Durango and look for some fun things for our home 

(ranch? cabin? lodge? camp? The jury's still out on the final name. 

I think when we say "ranch" people imagine cattle and cowboys.

In fact, the guy at the ATV store said just that. What do you think about fishing cabin?)

I didn't calculate how much time running a few little errands in Durango would take.

(I did calculate the day before, of course I did. I'm always making some calculations.)

Starting with three hours just to drive there and back. And an hour for lunch and an hour for grocery shopping once back in town. A five hour excursion and without counting the fun stuff 

(mirrors and art and fun things for the ...whatever we're going to call it.)

Thankfully Marty was willing to babysit Kershaw again, even though Kershaw cleaned his dinner plate when he looked the other way when he watched him on Sunday. We had a nine-hour day ahead of us just to look in a fun antique store and go to HomeGoods. 

Note to self, we didn't find enough treasures to warrant a special trip to the antique store

 and HomeGoods is just TJ Maxx, so a very slimmed down version of Home items.

We did stop at Home Depot and got things we needed, but Ace in Pagosa has just as much.

sooooo... remember this the next time I get a hankering to see what Durango has to offer.

However, it's a beautiful drive, Dan and I enjoyed being together for the day.

We listened to our podcasts so the time went quickly, had a nice lunch, and bonus,

saw the garage door store outside of town on our way back to Pagosa and got our

new garage doors all figured out with a super helpful sales woman.

In all honesty, that made the whole trip worth it.

What I did find: 

Route 66 sign which I couldn't get off the wall, but think I'll look for it on ebay.

Discovered my Grandma's old pencil sharpener collection which I have in a box, has value.

(But where and how to display? We loved playing with these little miniatures.)

One of my favorite books as a child.

First thing I did was look at the back inside cover to see if it was mine.

But it was blank. Not mine.

On mine, I'd written in blue ballpoint pen,

"Help! We're being kidnapped!

And Michelle and I held it up to the back window on a long road trip

because we thought that would be funny.

Unfortunately we didn't get any responses.

Thai food for dinner in Pagosa (a great spot near the store--

delicious food and gorgeous presentation). Then grocery shopping

for when our friends arrive and finally home.

 

Hands and Knees

After a wonderful lie-in (London lingo) we woke up to gray, rainy skies

and stayed in bed for a while feeling like we were all alone at a fabulous resort

with nothing to do but soak in nature.

Good thing we took it easy this morning, 

because once Dan started his Monday calls,

I was on my hands and knees cleaning baseboards all afternoon.

Thankfully I have a great podcast 

(still loving the Margaret Baker interviews on Stick of Joseph).

After Dan finished work and we finished dinner,

we finished our clean-up of the garage and outdoor bays that we started last time we were here.

We took a minute to admire the gorgeous sunset.

Then back to work hanging hooks, filling the Sequoia with unused light fixtures to donate,

the Ranger with trash to take to The Balls, and consolidating leftover building supplies.

Whew.

Road Trip to Manassa

Said goodbye to Taylor, Cole and Greta this morning.

In fact, we beat them out the door because we had a 2 1/2 hour drive

to Manassa for church. I thought it would be fun to see Manassa, where my Grandma

grew up, and may as well go on a Sunday.

We decided to do a loop, north through Wolf Creek and afterwards,

drive home south through Chama. We're so glad we did the loop. 

Both drives were gorgeous while in the mountains. 

Would you believe that the town of Manassa which only has 1,000 people, 362 households,

has three wards?! We chose to attend the 12:00 and it was big with a ton of youth.

The town was settled by Mormons, and has clearly kept a strong LDS population.

We left after Sacrament Meeting and a guy chased after us to say hello and welcome us.

What a friendly place. 

We went to the Old Manassa Cemetery but didn't know where to look for my relatives' graves.

Dan and I split up, each taking a row, but then I found a picture on "find a grave" that showed fence in the background and could narrow down the location. 

Meanwhile, Dan found it without using the internet!

We found my Grandma Adair's Grandpa, Christen Jensen. 

He was a bishop and patriarch and his grave is marked with "BP" and his wives' markers

all said "wife of Bishop Jensen."

He was a successful businessman and founded a flour mill, then a bank.

When he died it was said he was the oldest bank president in Colorado.

My grandma remembered him as very well-to-do and would give his grandkids spending money.

Carrie Jensen was his second wife and my Grandma's Grandma.

Christen's marker and those of three wives and a son, Israel Jensen, who died on his mission.

Then on to the second cemetery, the New Manassa Cemetery.

Here we found Christen Peter Jensen, Grandma Adair's father.

She loved her parents so much and always spoke fondly of them.

When we named Christopher "Christopher Jensen,"

she begged us to name him Christen, spelled like her father and grandfather.

I didn't want to name my son what now sounds like a girl's name.

But those men are still namesakes. My Grandma Adair was full of spunk and spirit

with a great sense of humor, just like my dad, me and Christopher.

We didn't know where to look for the graves here either,

but found the unique pictures on find-a-grave and once again,

Dan was first to find them.

I loved seeing names I recognized, like "Haynie" 

(I think someone with that last name had been a friend or cousin of my Grandma)

and "DePriest" who was the family of my Uncle Ray (husband of Aunt Ila, Grandma's sister.)

Sara Vilate Mortensen was my Grandma's Grandma.

She was a second wife and not close to her huband, Lars Mortensen.

But I love the Pioneer stories of the Mortensen family emigrating from Denmark.

(In fact, both of my Grandma's Great Grandparents are from Denmark.)

I love searching family search for family stories and memories that bring my ancestors to life.

Especially since I have such vivid memories of my Grandma talking so lovingly

of her siblings, parents and grandparents and her life in Manassa, Colorado.

We started our drive home and were surprised to see so many old homes preserved,

even though they'd lost roofs or walls.

We stopped for lunch at Dos Hermanas in the tiny town of Antonito.

It was a two-person crew--a waitress and a chef. The restaurant was busy

and the food absolutely delicious.

I wish I had better photos of the views from our drive. They were gorgeous.

But my phone had died.

We listened to a couple of excellent podcasts to pass the time.

(Andrea W. -- Dan's cousin's daughter, on "The Stick of Joseph"

and Margaret Barker, on the same podcast.)

At one point we had to pull over because it was raining so hard we couldn't see.

As we headed back into the mountains, we passed the Cumbres and Toltec train.

And when we got closer to Pagosa, we saw a bear on the side of the mountain!!

It sat down on the hill as we passed, then darted across the road behind us.

We arrived home about 5:00 p.m (thanks, Marty, for watching Kershaw all day),

and were welcomed by a herd of elk on the back hill.

What an exquisite place to spend time.

**BTW, I've added more photos to the past few days in Pagosa,

so if you want to see Michael's fish and more, scroll back through the last few days.**