Music! Pot Luck ! And a Rodeo!

There's music in the air! Fun Valley has many music events throughout the summer, including karaoke, pickin n grinin, DJ Street Dancing, square dancing, line dancing and more!

Kandy and Val always bring their Karaoke equipment to Fun Valley. Last year we bought our own equipment, so we both host karaoke for all the Fun Valley guests. (Pictured are Vanita, Kandy and Joni singing). (Also pictures are Kandy's kids and their friends singing).

Delton and Val dress in their cowboy hats for the occasion.

Other yearly events are the pickin' n grinin' at Jan and Carol's campsite. First we eat and eat and eat! (See all the food set up on the picnic tables - uuummmm good!) (Joni and Susan are sitting under a tree enjoying the turkey and dressing). Then all the musicians set up their equipment on the campsite patio, under the awning, and we sing and sing and play and play. (See Joni as she plays her tambourine and wood sticks - she's the percussion section). Joni is hidden behind Stu - the mandolin player.

Joni and Kandy also sing their rendition of Rocky Top. It's one of the first songs Joni felt comfortable enough to sing in front of groups of people.
Val and Tracy cooked a delicious meal - ribs and BBQ and brisket! Men are good cooks - they should cook more often! Are you listening Delton???? We also enjoyed some homemade donuts cooked on the fire by Mark and Nancy.

A few days later, we went to a Rodeo in Monte Vista, about 1/2 hour from Fun Valley. We went with our neighbors: Sherry, Mark, Linda and Troy. A bronco rider got hurt while riding. He got bucked off the horse and the ambulance had to take him away. Hope he's OK! Delton has been to lots of rodeos. This one was professional, but Delton said he'd seen some amateurs do better.

Kayaking the Rio Grande

What could be more fun than kayaking or rafting down a mountain river? NOTHING! We've done this every summer in Colorado.

This year we floated down the river with many different groups of people. Our neighbors took a few runs with us. Troy and Linda have a raft, which is a little harder to control than our kayaks, but just as much fun. Pictured are Linda, Troy, Sherry and Mark in the raft.

Kandy and Val, our Trophy Club friends, were here again this year and brought a bunch of kayaks with them, so we took a few trips with them. They also had many family members with them, including 2 little grandsons, who loved the rides.

Gordie and Elise came with their kids (teenagers) again this year (pictured exiting the river). They love to hike so we did some kayaking and hiking with them (See our hiking post)

See our big group - we made a train with each one hanging on to the boat in front. Delton missed the picture due to camera problems.




The river was very high and fast when we first got to Fun Valley on June 10, so we waited till it got calmer to ride the river. Record snowfalls last winter created the high, fast river. Some experienced kayakers would have loved it, we wanted to be safe.

Tracy and Susan joined us. Tracy bought a new kayak (blue one). He had a little trouble adjusting to us, so he dumped almost as soon as he entered to river. COLD WATER! But, as he got used to it, it turned out to be easy to handle and great for river kayaking.

If you've never experienced floating down a mountain river - do it! It's great!

Hiking the Continental Divide

Hiking is one of our favorite things to do in Colorado.

We decided to hike the Continental Divide, starting at the summit of Wolf Creek Pass. This area is about 10 miles from our campground in Fun Valley.

Joining us were Gordie, Clint, Laurie, Dave and Mary. See us all on a snow pile which hadn't melted yet this year. Imagine - it's the end of July and all the snow has not yet melted! But, we were hiking at about 11,000 feet.

The views are spectacular. Pictured is Delton hiking along the side of the mountain. Also if you look real closely, you can see our group hiking along the side of the same mountain (from a distance in another picture) .

We did a lot of hiking in California last winter. This country is so vast and beautiful, it's hard to say where the most beautiful area is. When we were out west, it seemed nothing could be more spectacular. But, just take a look at these pictures. What do you think? Can you say one area is better than another?

We hiked about three hours. We would have continued but a storm was approaching. As a matter of fact, we got hailed on for the last 10 minutes or so.

Sarah Getto at Fun Valley

Sarah Getto made her 2nd annual appearance at Fun Valley this year. Sarah is a very talented country and gospel singer who, in our opinion, will one day be a star.

Sarah and her Mom and Dad arrived on Wednesday, July 9. She performed on Saturday and Sunday of the following weekend.

We attended all performances. By arriving a few days early, she was able to meet many Fun Valley people and made many new friends. We were blessed to be able to get to know Sarah and her family.

As her Dad puts it, Sarah sings like a bird..... and plays the keyboard and fiddle, and I think she also plays guitar (not sure about that). What makes her so special is that she was born blind and with a severe cleft pallet. She has had many surgeries to build a roof in her mouth and an upper lip and has finally gotten front teeth for the first time (last year). Sarah is 24 years old. This handicap has not hindered her talent in any way. She is amazing!

Her Mom and Dad discovered that she was musically gifted and gave her every advantage that they could. She started playing the piano at the age of 3. They have a sound studio in their home and Sarah creates all her music (CDs) there . She creates her background music and harmonizes with herself creating a beautiful sound (putting sound tracts together).

If you discover that Sarah is in your area. Delton and I highly recommend anyone to go to her performances. She tours the country and has visited many states already this year.

Check out Sarah's website: http://www.sarahgetto.com/ You may want her to perform at your church or an event near you!

July 4th at Fun Valley

We spent the 4th of July at Fun Valley this year. There were lots of things to do.

The day started out with a parade through the campground. Anyone who wanted to be in it could be in it. We heard music from the Wild Rose Band (pictured playing their music on a truck) . One float carried a member of our service (pictured with Uncle Sam).

The Fun Valley fire truck made it's appearance and sprayed water everwhere from it's hose. I don't know how old the truck is, but it's very old! Elvis made an appearance (played by Fun Valley resident, Wes) and sang a few songs too.

What's a parade without horses? The Fun Valley horses ended the parade, but where are the pooper scoopers??????


The next event of the day was the Homemade Boat Race Down the River. About 150 kids made boats. The race started at the bridge on the west side of the campground. At the gun shot, they threw their boats into the river and everyone ran down the river's edge to the finish line to see which boat got to the finish line first. (east side of the campground). It was about a 1.5 mile race. Kids were lined up in the river (brrrrrr it's cold) to catch boats (see picture). Some boats may end up in the Gulf of Mexico!!!!!!!!

The evening ended with a BBQ diner and Street Dance. Dance Music of the Scott Sound Systems entertained outside the dining hall. Bruce and Mark DJed the music heard all over the park. Fun was had by all. Many danced (see Joni line dancing) and some just sat around and listened to the music.
We enjoyed a steak diner at our campsite with our neighbors - Mark, Sherry, Troy and Linda.

The day ended with fireworks in South Fork - a town about 5 miles from the park.