Bar D Chuck Wagon

 The Bar D Chuck Wagon in Durango is fun place for eating and entertainment.

About 100 miles from Fun Valley, we drove to Durango with our friends from Trophy Club, Kandy and Val Franklin.  Good eats!  Good friends!  Good show!

Kandy and Val

The Wranglers are a musical comedy group who entertain nightly during a dinner / theater style show.  If you are ever in Durango, this is one place you don't want to miss.  It's one of the funniest western musical shows around.  There is outdoor seating for diner and show. Diner is bar-b-que with a choice of chicken or beef.  We've been here before and the menu is always the same, but good!   If it rains, there is a big canopy which covers everyone, but the show goes on.  We had a beautiful evening, warm and clear.

Fun Valley 4th of July Parade

The Wranglers

 Just one more thing!  July 4th was the usual fun time at Fun Valley. See the picture of the horses in the annual parade. For more on the parade, see previous year's posts.

Kayaking in Fun Valley

Kayaking in Colorado has been great, as usual.  But, we couldn't go down the river until July.

There was a lot of snow this winter, so the Rio Grande River was flowing fast and high.  We didn't venture into the river until late July and early August.

Joni hauling Kacy's kayak

Joni took a trip down the river with good friends, Kandy and her daughter Kacy.  What an exciting trip that was.

Kacy ran over a rock and put a hole in her kayak.  She slowly deflated and had to pull over to the side of the river.  We were only half way down the 10 mile float and had no one to pick us up and no car nearby.  After thinking of several options, we decided to put Kacy's kayak on Joni's kayak.  Then Kandy and Kacy rode double for the rest of the float.  We had a blast.

Joni and Whitt

Luckily, we made it down to the our take out point and our car.  That little kayak held up 2 people pretty good.


A few days later, a friend of ours named Whitt wanted to go down the river.  It was his first time so we went on a slow, easy float.  And had a great time.  Kayaking is great fun and great exercise.  Just be careful!

More of Aiden

Aiden and Jim at the Beach

I guess you are all going to have to put up with lots and lots of pictures of Aiden.

In the backyard pool

I just can't help it.  He makes my heart melt!

Barbara, Aiden and Uncle Chris

Jim, Barbara and Aiden have just moved to Florida from NYC. We will be able to see all of them more often as we spend our winters in Florida.

Aiden will probably turn into a little fish, with the ocean near by and a pool in his backyard.

Before moving to Florida, Aiden's uncles, (Joni's sons), went to see their new little nephew.  They are excited to be uncles for the first time.

Rest assured, there will be more pictures of Aiden to come.


Has anyone noticed the Texas shirt on Aiden?  He will no doubt be a Longhorn (Chris's school) or a Gator (Ken's school).  Since he's now a Floridian, he will more likely be a Gator.

Isn't he cute?????

Aiden and Uncle Ken

Three Generations

Hiking the Continental Divide in the Snow

Road closed due to snow

 While it was sweltering hot in Texas and the mid section of the country, we went on the Lobo Ovelook Hike on the Continental Divide.  At least we tried to!

Friends we met in Florida came out to Colorado for a few days and we decided to hike.

Too much snow to hike

There was a lot of snow this winter and it hadn't melted yet.  The road up to the trail was actually closed, but we tried to go up anyway.  Well, it was closed for a reason.  There was too much snow to get through.  We parked and walked up.  Elevation was about 12000 feet.  The air was cool and crisp and thin!

As you can see, we didn't get very far. But we had a good time.

What a view

 But, we got far enough to see  a most spectacular view.

Dana, Delton, Joni and Karen

 John and Karen Shampfli, Dana and Karen Lemmerman and us!  Hiking in shorts and sweatshirts!  The campground was about 20 degrees warmer at 8000 feet elevation.

John and Karen

The girls

Oh, I almost forgot!  Breezy the dog was also with us.  He really enjoyed the cooler temps!

John, Dana and Delton also played in the Annual Mac Henson Golf Tournament together. They enjoyed the golf and the company, but didn't win.  Oh well, maybe next year.

Pagosa Springs

The Hot Springs

 While our husbands played golf, Karen L, Karen S and Joni went to Pagosa Springs for some shopping and some basking in the Hot Springs.

Our friends from Florida came up for a golf tournament, at least the guys did!

 

Karen S and Karen L

There are many little pools at the Springs and they are all different temperatures, but all HOT!  We preferred the ones in the upper 90's, but there were some that were about 106 degrees.  Hot and smelly! But they felt soooooo good!

 The Springs are located along the San Juan River in the town of Pagosa Springs and the scenery is beautiful as you can see.  We watched rafters float by as we sat in the pools.

There was also a "regular" pool there, so we could cool off!

Before going to the springs, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in a Mexican restaurant that overlooked the pools.  That's where we took the picture of the Springs from up high.

Joni and Karen S

We think the guys missed out on a fun day, but they thought golf was more fun.  What do you think?

Delton Catches Fish

Delton on his Fishing Float

 Delton was determined to catch a lot of fish during our stay in Grapevine, TX this season.

He bought a pontoon style fish float, as seen in the picture.  What a hoot!

He put out a bunch of "jug" lines and checked the bait every morning and every evening.  Joni would catch the bait, perch, and Delton would use the perch for bait on his lines.

Delton's Catch

With flippers on his feet, he would paddle out to the jugs.  It was like a floating chair with pockets for fishing equipment.  It even had a "work tray" with a ruler imprinted on it, so he could measure the fish he caught.

He wasn't very successful, only catching a few fish the entire 6 weeks in Grapevine.

We met a guy in the park who had a boat and he offered to take Delton out fishing one morning.  That day they caught 18 fish.  

Delton was pumped.  Now he wants to "drift fish". You go out in on the lake to a depth of about 25 or 30 feet and let the boat drift as you fish.  You can't argue with success!

Byron Nelson 2011

Joni in front of her banner

 We volunteered to work at the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament again this year.

The year 2011 has a little more significance this year for Joni.  She celebrated her 25th year of service as a volunteer.  That's a long time!  You have to be very old to have been a volunteer for that many years.


But Delton has her beat!  This year was his 37th or 38th year as a volunteer.  He has volunteered so many years that he can't remember how long it's been!!!!!!!


In honor of serving over 25 years, volunteers get a banner with their name on it.  Also we get a service pin every 5 years.  

Delton has a 35 year pin and Joni has now earned her 25 year pin.

Standing in front of Delton's banner

Delton has a goal to be the "oldest" volunteer, having served more years than any other volunteer.  As it stands right now, we probably have more years served as a couple than any other. I guess that's pretty good???????  We're getting OLD!

Aiden Has Arrived

Jim and Aiden

Loving Grandparents

Barbara and Aiden

Aiden has arrived....  a Beautiful Baby Boy weighing 8 lbs 3 ounces!  We are very proud grandparents. Aiden was born on March 24 in New York City.

Joni is so excited and her heart is melting as she hugs and kisses that beautiful baby!  Delton and Joni are very proud grandparents, Nana and Papa.  Joni's son, Jim, and his wife, Barbara are the proud parents of their first child, Aiden.

We went to see Aiden right after he was born. He's the most beautiful baby ever born.  Joni went to NYC again when Aiden was about 2 months old.  It's very hard to be so far away from them all.

Jim and Barbara moved to Florida in July.  We will be able to see them all more often, as we winter in Florida and will be there for about 4 months.

There will be many more pictures to come.  These pictures were all taken right after Aiden was born.

The Tennis Party

The Ocean Resorts Tennis Party is the highlight of the tennis season. 

After many tournaments, in house and traveling team matches, the season finishes with a big party.

The theme of the party was Pirates of the Treasure Coast.  Sooooo we all got dressed up with a pirate theme.  Take a close look at Delton's teeth.  They were ugly and hard to look at!!!!!!!

Nancy looked great.  I would give her the best costume prize.

Karen always does a good job of getting into the party spirit.  Andy was hardly recognizable.  We had a great time, as usual.

Ocean Resorts is one of our favorite spots.  As you can see, the fun never stops.

The Luau

One of the highlights of the Ocean Resorts season is the Luau.

  Delton's brother and his wife Trude were visiting us during that time, So they joined us for fun, food and entertainment.

Ron and Trude filled the dance floor.  Imagine!  Ron was dancing!

Food was great, but the best part was sharing time with friends.

Ron and Trude Visit

Delton's brother Ron and his wife Trude came to visit us at Ocean Resorts.  We had a wonderful time.

We did a little of everything.  First of all, Ron and Trude wanted to spend a lot of time on the beach.  They overdid it a bunch on the first day and got pretty sun burned.  They had to slow down the beach time for the rest of the week.  That disappointed them.  I guess we will never learn!!!!!

Tennis was on our agenda.  We practiced a bit and then had some "serious" tennis.  Ron and Trude joined our Sunday afternoon couples group.  The format is a round robin type of play with everyone serving once and then rotating on and off the court.  It was much fun and Ron and Trude got to meet many of our tennis friends.

Ron and Delton went to the Pancake Breakfast which is a fund raiser for the Tennis Committee.  We all went to Bible studies and church. The Ocean Resorts Luau was also held during the week they visited.   We didn't have a lot of down time. 

The weather was great for kayaking.  Ron joined Joni and her friend Karen for a float on the Indian River - (Intercoastal).  Trude wanted to stay out of the sun, so she decided not to come.We gave Ron a good workout!!!

By the time the week was over, Ron and Trude had to go home (Texas) to rest from their Ocean Resorts vacation.  But, they had a good time.