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.

Jim and Barbara's Wedding

June 1, 2007

Jim, Joni's son, and his beautiful bride, Barbara, got married on June 1, 2007, in New York.


It was the best! Jim and Barbara had been engaged for 1 ½ years. We have all been very excited and couldn’t wait for the big day!

We flew to NYC from Dallas. Delton’s brother Larry and his wife Linda joined us on the plane. Pastor Larry co-officiated at the wedding with Father Tom, Barbara’s family priest.

Pictured are Larry and Jim discussing final details.

Pictured is Joni's son, Chris.


The wedding was held at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church in Long Island City, NY, just outside of NYC.

Many family and friends came from all over the world. Thirty members of Barbara’s family came from Ireland. Jim’s family and friends came from California, Texas, Florida and New Hampshire. And many lived right in NY. Pictured with us are Joni's Mom and Joni's son, Ken.

Also pictured are Linda and Kathy and Joni with Delton and Larry.

It all started on Wednesday, May 30, with the rehearsal and rehearsal diner. We all took a taxi to the church in Long Island City and then proceeded back to NYC for the diner at Nick’s Italian Restaurant. Joni’s son, Chris, and his stepbrother, Alex, and the best man, Paul, didn’t make it to the rehearsal. Their plane was late coming in from DFW due to storms in Dallas, but they made it to the diner. Chris and Alex were groomsmen, along with Joni’s son, Ken, who came in from California, and Matt, a friend of Jim's from NYC. Ken wasn’t feeling well, with a head cold, so the weekend started off a little rough.

Thursday, May 31, was a free day, since the wedding was on Friday, June1. But, Jim had a lot of work to do. Not only was he getting married on June 1, but he and Barbara were moving into their new apartment, which had a move-in date of June 1. Jim spent much of Thursday moving furniture with the help of his brothers and friends.

Pictured is Jim with his Dad.

Our friends, Kathy and Skip McKie, flew in from DFW on Thursday afternoon, for the wedding. We spent a lot of time touring around NYC with them and Larry and Linda. The McKies stayed at the Doubletree Hotel in NYC as did the bridal party. We shared an apartment that we rented with Larry and Linda. We were walking distance from the hotel.

The wedding ceremony was at 2:30 p.m. and the reception didn’t end until 11:00 p.m. It was a long wedding day.

We decided to dress for the wedding at the hotel and used Chris’s room to change. We all took taxis to the church from the hotel. Joni’s Mom, Lee, and brother Rich and his family stayed on Long Island and drove to the church together in Rich and Adele’s car.

The ceremony was beautiful and special. Pastor Larry and Father Tom together officiated to create a very special ceremony for both families. Pictured is Barbara walking down the aisle with her dad, Joe. In the middle of the ceremony, Joni and Barbara’s mom, June, lit candles and gave them to Jim and Barbara, who then lit the Unity Candle. Pictured is Joni being walked down the aisle with her sons, Ken and Chris, with Delton following.

Joni brought a lot of tissues. She had many many happy tears. Jim was her first son to get married and also was her Mom’s first grandchild to get married. It was a very very special day. Joni finally has a daughter (in-law).

On to the reception at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY...
The bridal party and parents rode in a Hummer Limo. It sat 18 of us. We were crowded as you can see in the pictures. Since it was Friday afternoon, we hit rush hour traffic. The ride to the reception on Long Island should have taken ½ hour, but with stop and go traffic, it took almost 2 hours. AND because we couldn’t get up a lot of speed, the air conditioner didn’t work well and we were hot!

Jim and Barbara rented 2 school buses to take the guests to the reception. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the buses, but I got a picture of the groom's cake with a toy school bus on top of it. They were concerned that they would be very hot because school buses in NY don’t have air conditioning. I think they were cooler than we were in the limo because they could open the windows.

We arrived at the reception, first for a large, gourmet cocktail hour and then for a wonderful diner. It was an outstanding spread of many delicious foods. The cocktail hour was originally supposed to be presented outside by the pool and garden, but due to threatening rain, it was moved inside, And it didn’t even rain afterall.

Wedding pictures were taken out in the garden. What a gorgeous setting it was, as you can see.

Pictured are Joni, her brother, Rich, and their Mom. Also pictured are Rich and his wife Adele with their children, Justin and Ryan.


After a grand entrance into the reception, Larry said a blessing for the bride and groom and the party began. Pictured is Larry saying the blessing.





The reception had a multitude of themes, Irish, Texas, and NY. It was such a joy to see all of Barbara’s family enjoying their family from Ireland. Pictured is Barbara being carried around the dance floor by her brothers. We all danced and sang Irish songs, with a mix of country and western, and to finish the night, we all got on the dance floor in a circle, holding hands, and sang NEW YORK, NEW YORK along with Frank Sinatra!



The bouquet was caught by Amanda. Amanda is Joni's nephew's Justin Marone's girlfriend. See Amanda holding the bouquet and waiting for the garter to be placed on her leg.

The reception ended at 11:00. The buses brought everyone back to the hotel, where there was an after party. It was a late night for many.

Jim and Barbara went to Hawaii for their honeymoon, but didn’t leave until Monday morning. They wanted to enjoy all the family and friends who came from so far for their special day.

On Saturday, Jim, Barbara, Ken, Chris, Alex, Larry, Linda, Kathy, Skip, Ron (Jim’s Dad), and his girlfriend, Lyn, joined us for a day in Central Park.

Many left on Sunday, including us. Larry and Linda stayed until Wednesday so they could enjoy more of NYC. Jim and Barbara allowed them to use their apartment after they left for Hawaii. It gave Larry and Linda a real NYC experience. Ken went back to CA on Sunday morning and Chris joined us on our plane back to Texas.

Joni says it was one of the happiest days of her life. The smile never left her face. We pray that Jim and Barbara will have a long, loving and Christ centered life.