Fun Valley 2006

July 13 - September 7, 2006

We have been looking forward to our time in Fun Valley, CO again. This is our 5th season and it seems to just get better and better every year.

All our “regular” friends came again this year with the addition of Kathy and Skip McKie from Trophy Club. We were especially looking forward to having the McKies with us.



We did all of our regular activities including: kayaking, biking, hiking, pots lucks, gospel and country music, etc.


We did some heavy hiking in Pagosa Springs. We went with Don and Debbie Taylor and Gordie and his son, Clint.
We hiked about 2 hours in and that’s where Joni decided it was too steep and there were too many cliffs and she was getting eaten alive by swarms of bugs. Joni turned around and hiked back by herself as the others continued on. After realizing that there may be bears up there in those mountains, Joni decided it would be a good idea to make some noise as she hiked back to the car alone. It’s best to make noise so if you come across a bear, they will not be startled. Singing to herself as she hiked back, other hikers smiled as they passed her by.

We took another hike with Gordie and Clint. Elise, Gordie’s wife was having knee problems so she decided not to join us. Again, Joni decided the hike was getting too high and steep and she didn’t go all the way to the top.

LOOK CLOSELY! Pictured are Gordie and Clint at the top. Delton stayed behind with Joni. They only had a couple hundred feet to go, but Joni just wimped out. Oh well, Delton has already taken her way out of her comfort zone and she has done real well and enjoyed every minute of it.


Kayaking down the Rio Grand was great with our large group this year. One kayak developed a rip and a leak in the air intake, so we had to double up and take turns on our ride. Also, it was a cool, rainy day, but we all had a great time anyway.

Fun Valley just wouldn’t be as much fun if we didn’t have all the pot lucks and country music. Val, Don and Tracy on guitar, Kandy and Debbie singing, and Joni on tambourine all make beautiful music together. The McKies also got to join in on the fun this year.

Casey, Kandy and Val’s daughter, is learning to be a beautician.
She had only 2 weeks till she gets her certification. Joni needed a haircut real bad, so Casey gave her a haircut. She did a great job. We wish her lots of success!


An annual event at Fun Valley is Mark and Nancy Northcutt's Pizza Breakfast. Mark makes many varieties of pizza with eggs, sausage, bacon, pepperoni, green peppers, and lots of other breakfast foods. They are delicious!!!! He has quite a crew of friends and family there every year and he cooks for all of us. He also makes great donuts!!!!!




Delton decided to go jeeping again this year with the group and Joni decided not to go again this year. Joni gets motion sick and doesn’t enjoy all the hills and curves. Pictured is the group at the top.

We were planning on staying in Fun Valley all summer this year, when we got a very sad phone call which abruptly interrupted our stay. On July 24, Joni’s Dad unexpectedly passed away. We put our motorhome in the holding area at Fun Valley and immediately headed toward Albuquerque to fly to Coral Springs, Florida to be with Joni’s Mom and family. It was hard to leave Mom and go back to Colorado, but we knew we would be back in Florida soon. We headed back to Fun Valley and called Joni’s Mom daily to make sure she was OK.

Our flight back was a little different. Security at the airports was tighter as we could no longer carry on any liquids in our carry on luggage. Travel has never been easy since 9-11 and it’s just not enjoyable any more.

Delton’s boss from IBM, Gary Miller, lives in Albuquerque and was kind enough to let us park our jeep at his home while we were away. Gary and his wife, Ellie picked us up from the airport. We went out to eat and headed back to their house for an enjoyable evening visit. We headed back to Colorado the next morning.



On our way back to Fun Valley, we were able to visit with some more old friends, Ernie and Tammy Cathy. We met Ernie and Tammy at Lake Ray Roberts in Texas. They had just bought their motor home and were ready to get on the road as fulltime RVers, so we had lots of questions for them. We have followed their travels and were excited to see them again. We had lunch with them and then continued on our way back to Fun Valley.

Since it was now near the end of August, a lot of people were heading back home after a wonderful summer. Fun Valley had a big turnover of people, although we still knew many who were retired and staying till Fun Valley closed on September 30.

We spent a lot of time with Dave and Mary Spear. They enjoyed hiking and biking with us. Dave celebrated his birthday on September 2 and had a small party at his camp site.


Jerry and Sherry Renfrow are friends which we met about 2 years ago. They have since bought a condo in Pagosa Springs which is about 30 miles from Fun Valley. We enjoyed renewing our friendship with them.


We noticed a new Monaco Dynasty parked across from us. Doug, Gayle and Daisy Parker lived there. We were invited inside and Joni fell in love with the new Dynasty. I guess that's our next purchase - some day! Daisy (the dog) was so cute - Joni was asked to dog sit one day. She enjoyed playing with the dog all day although she took a little coaxing to get out of her motorhome while her "Mom and Dad" went out for the day.

Joni's Dad, Ralph Marone, Passed Away

Joni’s Dad Passed Away July 24, 2006


On the morning of July 24, 2006, we received 2 phone calls, one from Joni’s Mom and one from Joni’s brother, Rich. Joni knew something was terribly wrong right away before she even listened to the messages.

Joni’s Dad had awoken the morning of the 24th and complained of “not feeling good”. Joni’s Mom called 911 and Dad was taken to the hospital immediately. He passed away about 1 hour later in the emergency room of a heart attack at the age of 87.



Our whole family arrived in Florida to be with Joni’s Mom and for the funeral.



Joni’s brother, Rich, stayed for a week to help get Mom back on her feet and then had to get back to work. We were able to stay for 3 ½ weeks to help as well. It was very very hard to leave her alone. We will go back to Florida for the winter.

Fun Valley with the McKies

July 13-18, 2006

This year was extra fun at Fun Valley, CO. Our Trophy Club friends, Kathy and Skip McKie joined us for a week in Colorado.


The McKies decided to rent an RV and meet us at Fun Valley. They flew to Albuquerque and rented their RV, then drove to Fun Valley from there.

It was a fun packed week as we tried to do everything we could in just 1 week. As usual, Kandy and Val Franklin came for 2 weeks, as did our other “regulars”. The McKies and the Franklins also know each other from Trophy Club.


Activities included: rafting down the Rio Grande in Fun Valley, horseback riding, biking, pot lucks and music.


We were sorry the McKies had to leave so soon and hope they will join us for more adventures in the future.

Terry and Terry Vance in Minnesota

Terry and Terry Vance
July 6, 2006

Our next stop took us to Eden Prairie, Minnesota and a visit with our long time friends, Terry and Terry Vance. Yes – both husband and wife have the same first name, so to make things easy, I will refer to them as Mr. Terry or Mrs. Terry.



Terry and Terry have tried to get us to visit them ever since they left Trophy Club about ten years ago. They have come back to Texas many times and stayed with us as they visited friends and family. We made up for all those visits all at once by staying with them a full two weeks. We all had a great time.

Mrs. Terry is a great decorator and seamstress. She has fixed up her house so beautifully inside and out. After checking out our motorhome, Mrs. Terry offered to make us a few decorative pillows and to update Joni’s flower arrangements. She did a GREAT job and has made our home look warm and cozy.


Mr. Terry enjoys the garden. He enjoys it sooooooo much that they decided to build a small garden at the entrance to their street and it wasn’t even on their property. As you can see, Delton helped Mr. Terry and got the job done quickly.


Mrs. Terry is a great cook and hostess. They gave a Sunday School party on the second evening of our visit. We met many of “the Terry’s” friends and saw them again when we went to church. Shown are Mr. Terry and Delton enjoying the party.


A highlight of our visit was going to the many lakes in the area and going kayaking and sea doing.
Many lakes are close to their house and as you can see we had a great time.

Mrs. Terry had fun learning how to kayak, but decided that Joni's hard kayak was alot easier to paddle than the blow up one.


Another highlight of our visit was a day on the golf course. We played one afternoon on a very difficult course. They had just held a tournament and had let the grass grow longer than usual which made the rough very hard to play out of - and we were in the rough a lot. Mr. Terry is just learning the game, so he was anxious for Delton to give him a few pointers.


Delton and Joni have been playing a lot of tennis lately and took advantage of the many tennis courts in the area. We all went to a local park and enjoyed a “hot” afternoon in the sun on the court.

July 4th took us back to the same park we played tennis in. We brought our chairs and enjoyed a spectacular fireworks display over the lake.

We really enjoyed our visit with our Texas friends in Minnesota. They plan on moving back to Texas one of these days. Both of their boys, Damon and Ryan, live in Texas. Ryan has given them two grandkids so there is great incentive to move back. Maybe next time. we will visit each other in Texas.

And now we are on to our next adventure - Fun Valley, Colorado.

Mackinaw Island, Michigan

June 20, 2006

After leaving the Mulaski’s, we made our way up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We stopped for one night to see Mackinaw Island.

The only way to get to the Island is by ferry. Cars are not allowed on the island, only bicycles and horse drawn carriages. We took the ferry and brought our bikes with us.


Bicycles were everywhere. It was the best way to get around. We rode around the island and through the downtown area.
It was a typical tourist trap with many gift shops and fudge shops.
The Grand Hotel, a beautiful and expensive hotel, is located there.


After a nice outdoor patio diner at the Pink Pony, we left the island and prepared to travel on through the Upper Peninsula toward Minnesota to see the Vances – our Texas friends who moved to Eden Prairie, MN about 10 years ago.

A Lake Cabin in Tawas with the Mulaski's

Tawas, Michigan
June 12 – 19, 2006


We decided it was time to visit with Mary Jane and Dave Mulaski again. This time the place would be Tawas, Michigan – at the Mulaski’s summer cabin on Lake Huron.
They have a beautiful cabin with a gorgeous view overlooking their private beach and Lake Huron. It’s a summer paradise!


Mary Jane and Joni kayaked daily. Lake Huron is one of the Great Lakes and it’s beautiful, big and has sparkling clear water. We would kayak north and south of the cabin along the coast.
Pictured are the 2 kayaks on the beach in front of the cabin overlooking Lake Huron.



Delton and Dave went fishing for walai in Dave’s fishing boat.
They caught their limit of 5 each on 2 of their outings and almost caught their limit on the third. We enjoyed eating the fresh fish and were able to take some along with us when we left.


Since the Mulaski’s had just moved into their new cabin there was a lot to do, so we helped them rake leaves and do a few other odds and ends.
They bought 2 “tree faces” to nail onto their many surrounding trees. They blend right into the tree and look like they are apart of the tree.

Among our other activities were biking, walking, bridge and tennis. Also, Delton played some golf. We have many interests in common with the Mulaski’s. Our times together are very enjoyable. But, after one week together it was time for us to move on. We look forward to seeing them again in the fall when we go back to Texas.

Greenfield Village, An Old Town in Michigan

June 7, 2006

Greenfield Village is like stepping back in time.
It takes you back to the sights and sounds of our past. It’s like an outdoor museum that comes alive. The people that work there are all dressed in traditional clothing of the time and work as they did hundreds of years ago.


Shown is part of a “working farm” which is run as it was years ago. They (volunteers) grow their own food and eat it, raise their own animals and dress as they did years ago.
Shown is an old saw mill and a machine shop.

Many houses and shops were moved to Greenfield Village so that history could be seen in one place.
Shown is Thomas Edison’s house. Edison wired his house with electric lights – showing his inventiveness.


Also seen at Greenfield Village are Model T’s driving all over the town, people playing 1867 baseball, the workshop and home of the Wright Brothers, Robert Frost’s home, the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law, and much much more. We watched glass blowers, pottery makers, weavers. We watched “life” as it was long ago.

Pro Football Hall of Fame

 
Canton Ohio: June 5, 2006

Delton spent most of the day at the Pro Football Hall of Fame museum. Joni is not much of a football fan, so she decided to spend some time back at our camp site.

The museum is an interconnected five building complex with exhibits (some interactive) that give you a sense of both past history and current information on the game and those that made it great.

 
The Hall of Fame Gallery includes a bronzed likeness of each member. It also has several interactive computer systems where you can get film footage, interviews and biographical information on each member. Of course, I looked for all of my favorites including Roger Staubach, Tom Landry and a few other Dallas Cowboys.

 
The Dallas Cowboys exhibit included these inductees: Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Tom Landry, Tex Schramm, Tony Dorsett, Randy White and Mel Renfro. Troy Akman was inducted last year.

There were a couple of video rooms. One featured last years Super Bowl teams and their preparation from training camp to the big event. The other had a variety of films that they rotated through. I sit in on a NFL Bloopers film. 

Niagara Falls, New York

June 3, 2006


We left New Hampshire and headed to Niagara Falls. Joni had seen the falls many times when she lived in upstate New York, but Delton had never been there.

We drove through New York and passed Rochester, where Joni’s sons Jim and Chris were born. Next trip we will travel throughout upstate New York as there is much to do and see there.


Since we had only one day to see it all, we decided to take a bus tour around the falls area and since they are best seen from the Canadian side, we took the Canadian Tour.
Shown is our bus driver Jim, who had many interesting stories to tell.


As part of the tour, we took a ride on The Maid of the Mist, a tour boat that goes as close to the falls as anyone can get – from below. Shown is another sightseeing venture you can take by hiking down to the bottom of the falls on steps that take you behind the falls.

We were given rain ponchos, but still got real wet from the mist. It was also very windy.

This is a view from the top of the Canadian Falls.

Since it was a rainy day, the bus was not full, so we were able to get to know our fellow tour members.
Shown is our group!