Joni's Mom Moves to New Hampshire

September 21, 2007

After returning to Texas, Joni went to New Hampshire to help her brother Rich and his wife Adele, get Mom situated in her new home. Delton stayed in Texas with the motorhome to get caught up on "business". On her way to NH, she visited her son, Jim, and his wife, Barbara, for 2 nights in NYC. (See the story on Jim and Barbara's wedding - dated June 1, 2007)

After a very hard year, the decision was made to move Joni’s Mom from her home in Florida to an Independent Living facility in New Hampshire called the Inn at Spruce Wood. Pictured are views of the front of the building and Mom standing under her apartment. As you can see, Spruce Wood is very nice and very new. Mom’s 2 bedroom apartment is located on the 3^rd flood and is only 1 of the 3 apartments that have a bay window in the living room. She has a corner apartment so she has windows on 2 sides. See mom standing on the patio which is under her bedroom window. She has all her meals in the dining room which overlooks the back yard where the trees were just starting to turn to their beautiful fall colors.

Joni’s brother, Rich and his wife Adele, live in Dover, New Hampshire. Rich went down to Florida to pack her up, get some of her stuff moved and bring her back to NH with him.

Joni flew up to NH and stayed with her at Spruce Wood for 1 week, while Delton stayed in Texas. Aside from visiting her Mom, Joni wanted to help her get acclimated by getting her into her new routine. There are a lot of activities to get involved in and lots of new people to meet. They went to every activity they could, so their days were full.

Pictured are some of the many things they did. An afternoon cruise up the river lasted 2 ½ hours and was enjoyed by the bus full of residents that signed up to go. Pictured is the Spruce Wood bus unloading residents that went on the cruise. Another cruise is planned for October. Pictured are Joni and Mom on the boat.

Entertainment was enjoyed by all who attended the event in the Great Room. The singer got Mom to join her in a little dance while she sang. It was so cute.

Mom enjoyed making Halloween decorations. She could also do water color painting, among other crafts.

Among other activities she did were: a backyard croquette game, trivia game, daily morning coffee get together, got her hair and nails done, read in the library, (pictured is Mom reading in the library,) went to an exercise class, plus more stuff.

Pictured is Mom with Stacy, the activities director for Spruce Wood. They are standing in the foyer, right outside the entrance to the diner hall. We got to know Stacy pretty well. Mom suggested a new activity - BINGO. Stacy said they will start bingo in October.

The internet is also available for those who would like to use it. Internet classes are on the schedule of activites. Needless to say, she will not want for things to do. Pictured is Mom sitting in the backyard with some of her new friends.

I know we made the right decision to bring her to NH. It was a good time for her to move with the holidays coming up. She may even get to see SNOW for Christmas this year.

Bears In Fun Valley, CO

September 5, 2007

Black bears have been coming into the campground nightly for about a month. Many people have seen them while walking around after dark. And every morning we seen many garbage cans turned over with the contents all over the ground. (Pictured are Mary and Dave with a bear looking around the tree and helping them find their way back to Fun Valley………yeah, right!)

One evening Mary, Dave and Veronica drove to our site in their pickup and said, “Come join us! We’re looking for bears!” Joni was already in her PJs, but she quickly changed her clothes and was ready in about 1 minute to join them. Delton decided not to go – he’s said he has seen bears before………

We circled the campground slowly with our eyes glued to the garbage cans and trees. Bears like to climb trees. We came upon an overturned can and slowed down. We heard some funny noises. Veronica said the bear had just climbed the tree! We stopped and looked. Sure enough, there he was. High up in the tree!

We got out of the pickup and flashed our flashlights up in the tree. Since it was so dark, our flashlights didn’t light up the tree very much, so most of our pictures didn’t come out well at all. Pictured is the bear we saw climbing down. As you can see - he was very big! We got back into the pickup and waited. After about 1 hour, he finally started down the tree. As he almost reached the ground, Dave turned on the headlights to get a good picture and the bear darted back up again. We waited for about another 45 minutes. The bear started down again. Some other people in another pickup started snapping pictures. The bear, again, ran back up the tree.

We decided we’d had enough! We had a great time and it was getting late.

The next morning I looked out our windows and I could see 5 garbage cans that had been turned over during the night – with trash everywhere. All I would have had to do was to stay awake all night and looked out the windows!!!!!!One day Dave and Delton decided to repaint a wooden bear which was set up at the top of a mountain across from Fun Valley. He's there so all can look up at the mountain and see a bear walking across the mountain top. It looks very real from below.

Earlier in the season, Ron and Trude (Delton’s brother and his wife) were walking to our camp site from their cabin. As they walked past the Fun Valley restaurant they saw people shining their flashlights up in a tree. Sure enough – there was a bear up there. Trude came running to our spot to get us to come and look but he was gone by the time we got there. He had gotten frightened and ran away.
Pictured is Fun Valley after a rain. Could a rainbow be more beautiful than this - from mountain to mountain. This has nothing to do with bears but it's just plain pretty!

Fun Valley, Colorado 2007

June 9, 2009 – September 10, 2007

We’re back in Colorado for the summer. Once you come to Fun Valley RV Resort, it’s hard to stay away. This is our 6^th summer here. The people are great, the weather is great and it’s really a lot of fun here.

Fun Valley is like a small town. The Fun Valley family comes back year after year, so it’s like a community reunion every summer. We have made many friends here and continue to make new friends every year.

Our RV spot is located on one of the many ponds. We set up a hummingbird feeder this year, which has brought us many birds to observe. Joni has to refill the feeder twice a day. Those birds LOVE sugar.

This year many of our friends and family from Texas have come to vacation here. We have shared many activities with them.

Delton had it on his heart to teach his Revelation Bible Study Class while here, so we stayed for 3 months this year. The Book of Revelation is a 12 week study, so we had to stay long enough to get through the whole book. Pictured is Delton teaching in the Fun-A-Torium. Delton was also asked if he would “preach” at Sunday church. He agreed and “preached” 3 Sundays and with God’s help, did a great job. Sunday church at Fun Valley consisted of about 150 to 200 people.

We spent July 4^th in Fun Valley this year. It started with a parade. The parade consisted of the floats, old cars, horses, the Wild Rose Band, the kids and their bikes, patriotic dogs and their owners, and many decorated vehicles. Later in the day, the kids had a boat race. They had to make home made boats, and the boat that rafted down the river to the finish line first was the winner. About 150 boats were entered. The evening event was a street dance with a DJ in front of the Fun Valley Cafeteria. Sometimes Elvis shows up at Fun Valley and sure enough, he made a appearance. (Played by Wes Richards - He does a great Elvis.)

Fun Valley has a “resident” named Leroy. Leroy has a antique cars. He brought his 1931 Model A Ford to Fun Valley this year and loved giving rides to anyone who wanted a ride. It was a great addition to the fun at Fun Valley.

KAYAKING DOWN THE RIO GRANDE

Rafting or kayaking down the Rio Grande is one of the most exciting parts to being here. We have kayaked with old friends and new. The first week we were here we met Donald. Donald agreed to kayak down the river with us. The river was still high and there were many rapids due to melting snow. He has been a river guide and said we were in white water rapids measuring about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. Believe me, they are big enough! Look carefully at the picture of the river and you will see 2 specs in the river. That's Us!

Later in the season, we kayaked with Delton’s brother Ron and his wife Trude. Ron and Trude tipped over almost as soon as they entered the river. They rented a 2 man kayak and the water was swift. They hit a bridge abutement and had trouble getting back in the kayak. It was deep. They were fine, but didn’t trust us or the river after that. We made it down the 12 miles from Creede to South Fork. They weren’t sure they wanted to do that again.

We also kayaked with Kandy and her daughter, Kaci. We’ve gone down the river with Kandy and her husband Val many times in previous years.

Gayle and Walt Fenoglio went down the river also. Gayle and Walt rented the same 2 man kayak that Ron and Trude rented AND they also tipped over. It’s much harder to control a 2 man kayak than a 1 man kayak. But, we all had a great time.

MOUNTAIN HIKING

Hiking is a major event when visiting the mountains. We both have camelbacks now. A camel back is a back pack which contains drinking water. The “bladder” has a tube which rests over your shoulder. You can drink while continuing to hike.

We hiked with Gayle and Walt Fenoglio and their dog, Rio. The hike was long and steep, but the view at the top was worth it. The day was beautiful and the exercise was great.

On another occasion we hiked with Ron and Trude Jones, and Dave and Mary Spear. This time we hiked around a lake and then up the mountain. Another beautiful lake with lots of great exercise.

Fun Valley is located in a valley between the mountains and there are also great trails right at the camp grounds. Trude and Joni took a 2 ½ hour hike one afternoon while Ron and Delton golfed.

Delton's brother Max and his wife Rita stopped by on their way back to Texas from Utah. We took a mountain drive and came upon some deer. Notice how camouflaged he is among the brush. Pictured is one of the deer we came upon.

One afternoon we decided to take a drive with Carol and Gene Heathcoat. They are friends from our church in Grapevine. We drove to Lake City, CO, a 1 ½ hour drive through the mountains. Joni and Carol were alittle nervous as we snaked through the winding rounds and over the mountain passes.

PICKIN’ N GRINNIN’ and KARAOKE

Music is a big form of entertainment while staying at Fun Valley. We gather round the camp fire for a pot lunch and then set up sound equipment for singing and playing. This is done at the camp sites or at the “big barn” or at the “Fun-A-Torium”.

Along with the pickin’ n ‘ grinin’, is karaoke. Kandy and Val Franklin bring their karaoke equipment every summer and set up in the big barn. It’s a very popular event and lots of families come to be a singing star for a night.

This year Venita and Hank McPhearson showed up and entertained us with a few songs.

Delton and Joni helped Val and Kandy keep everything running smoothly. Fun was had by all.

We wanted to get our own karaoke machine for a long time. After Kandy and Val left, we got one. We have hosted 2 karaoke sessions in the big barn so far and plan to do karaoke at other campgrounds and at family get togethers.

A special treat for us this year was a very talented composer and singer named Sarah Getto who came to perform at Fun Valley. She is a young girl (20's) who was born blind and had a cleft palate. She has overcome her many handicaps and worked very hard to learn music and graduate from college. If she is ever in your area, you will be blessed to hear her perform.