California Trail and on to Jackpot

Today we traveled from Lake Tahoe to Jackpot Nevada. It was a long driving day and we arrived here about 6:30 pm. We are staying a the Casino Petes RV park. It is a nice place...lots of big RV's behind the casino. We had the traditional casino buffet for dinner and it was pretty good. We traveled across I 80 today which is the same route the pioneers traveled on the California Trail. It took us only hours to travel up and down the brown windswept hills that it took the settlers in wagon trains to months to traverse. The weather was hot with a wind that had sand and an alkali dust that coated everything. It had a spectacular beauty thru our windshield but we were glad to get to the cooler hills. We will head to the Tetons tomorrow and maybe some fishing in our future.

Lesson for the day: The pioneers were hearty....they are the stuff us Americans are made of!

Leaving Lake Tahoe

Tomorrow Mike, Riggs, the Big Bad Boy and I are leaving Lake Tahoe on our continuing journey of the west. We plan to drive to Jackpot NV tomorrow and then on to Jackson Wyoming and the Tetons the next day. We continued our fun with a great hike to Sponner Lake with sisters Bonnie and Colleen ..and friend Carl. Riggs had a blast and we saw some great views. We have had wonderful meals , fun games, relaxing time and lots of laughs. This is a really beautiful area.. . Sun, blue sky cold water, mountains in the distance with snow,boat rides and great company. Thank you to all the Nolans and friends.

Lesson of the Day: Great times, Great family!!

(still having trouble downloading pictures...I will add later)

Kathy, Mike and Riggs

Beautiful Lake 'Tahoe

Lake Tahoe sunsets are fantastic. We took another boat ride up the coast and the captain told us local stories and pointed out some of the more lavish homes. Tons of fun with the Nolans and friends. Thanks once again to Karen and Jack for that lovely treat. Mike and I did a hike up a big hill/rock called Shaksphere along with Riggs and friends. It used some new muscles but the climb was worth it!

Lynn Nolan(of the Seattle Nolans) arrived for the last half of the week and after spending only 10 minutes in the casino after our boat ride won over $4,000 playing video poker. Then sister Colleen Nolan won $1000!! I felt the good karma going so Mike and I played the penny machine and I won 4 cents!!!(I actually lost $1.96 but took home the 4 cents) I guess the karma was done. Lots of laughs, cards, games, beach time and relaxing. Does it get any better!!

Lesson of the day: Every one does not win at the casino...that is why they are in business!

Kathy, Mike and Riggs.

Computer Fixed

We are in Lake Tahoe with Mikes family and have had computer problems which has made it impossible for me to make a blog entry. So it is almost been a week and we have done lots of fun stuff. We arrived on Saturday amid tons of other fun seekers to South Lake Tahoe. It is post card beautiful with the lake and the snow topped mountains. The traffic was terrible but we were able to find our campground and had our first campfire. Sunday we visited several beaches and took a great bike ride on a trail that winds around a California park and several beaches. Sunday evening we arrived at the house the Nolan family has rented in the Glenbrook area which is on the east side of Lake Tahoe. A great house to gather in and we have had some fantastic meals as is expected with brother in law Jim Demartini in attendance. Friends Karen and Jack treated us to a boat ride on the lake as they are "high rollers". The boat took a whole crew of us to Emerald Bay which was fantastic...heard history and facts from the captain and feasted on food and drinks . Long walks have made Riggs very happy and yesterday we took a long hike to a secluded bay and had a swim and picnic. Another great dinner last night with pre dinner entertainment with Steve playing the accordion and the Lipinski sisters singing along. After dinner entertainment involved a game of skill...Karens version of Minute to Minute..lots of laughs...and the very wonderful team of Collen,Jack and Kathy being the WINNER!

I have not been able to add pictures to this blog entry so will try at a later date.

Lesson for the day: Explore your world, there is beauty everywhere

Kathy, Mike and Riggs

Whiskey Flats

Today we left Lost Wages and drove north toward Lake Tahoe. We passed several dude ranches/houses of ill repute. The landscape changed from low desert lanscape to high desert landscape as we climbed over red/brown hills. It was still very hot with lots of cactus. Tomorow we enter the mountians where Lake Tahoe is..and hope it will be cooler. We ended up at the Whiskey Flats campground in Henderson...it is a flat campground but really very nice with a great sunset over the hills. We had hamburgers on the grill...see picture.. and a nice walk in the cool of the evening. We want to thank the Jacksons of Las Vagas for their hospitality and wonderful help in getting around for Mike and I...they are very generous and we are lucky to have them as family. We are comfortable and cool in the Big

Bad Boy tonight thanks to Harry's help with our electrical problem tonight.

Lessson of the day; Be sure your plugs are straight1

Uncle Bubba and Daniel

Well it happened...Uncle Bubba did a cannon ball in the pool and Daniel was right with him. It is so hot here and the pool is heavenly. We have had a great time with Daniel and the squirt cannons...does it get any better for a 5 year old. Mike has had some long trade show days but we are on the downhill now with only today and a short day tomorrow. We went to the Ashton dinner last night at Postino's which is Wolfgangs' restaurant in the Venetian. It was fantastic food and an incredible amount of cigar smoke. We sat at the head table with the owner of Ashton and the head of Fuente. You will all be glad to know that Mike behaved himself. It was a fun evening. I am about to go for a morning swim and then will join Mike at the Venetian for the afternoon.

Lesson for the day: If you live in LV you have to have a pool!!!!

Hot day in LV

Greetings from the sun of LV...we are at Fran and Harry's wonderful house enjoying the pool and relaxing. Well at least i am doing that as Mike has been down at the Venetian all day and as he is now on the board of directors of the IEPEC or as I call it "that cigar group" It is the organization that runs the Trade show each year and Mike has been involved with the legislative committee ...that's what all those Washington DC trips were all about. This is all toward the end of making it so he still has a business and that he does not get taxed and regulated out of business. A good thing to work towards. He also does lots of buying of product, looking at new products and looking at all the LV babes. He sure sees good enough to do that.
We had dinner with nephew Ken Jackson and his adorable son Daniel who I have featured today on our blog.
Riggs update. We took him to a vet yesterday and we are giving him an antibiotic and pepcid. He slept all night, seems to feel much better and no squirts so far! I hope we have solved the problem.
Lesson of the day: When it gets too hot...go in the pool.

Four Corners

Today we traveled thru beautiful landscapes. Red hills and towering mesas. We paid the price and went to the 4 Corners to be able to place 3 more states on our map of the USA. We already had the Colorado sticker. Patrick and Heather gave us a US map to put on the Big Bad Boy and place state stickers on it as we went thru those states. We could not resist getting 3 more in one turn off the highway. ($3/ person to the Navaho tribe for that experience) If it keeps them from opening another gambling casino it is worth it.l The changing landscape was feast for our eyes. Riggs continues to not be his normal self. We will arrive in Las Vagas tomorrow and may take him to the vet to have him checked out. We are camping next to a family who have a black lab and were in Colorado...that dog had the same issues and they have him on medication that has cured him. Riggs got us up 6 times last night so we are very interested in curing him. We made lots of stops to be sure he was ok and could do his business. No food for him today. Just pedialyte , water and a little chicken broth. We will try some ground cooked turkey and rice tomorrow.

Lesson for the day: $6 will let 2 people and a dog stand in 4 states at once.

The drainage divide

This is a picture of Kathy at the Continental Divide as we left South Fork today on the way thru Durango and then to Mesa Verde where we are camped tonight. Mike has informed me from Geology 101 (rocks for jocks) that water flows on the we stern side of the divide to the Pacific and on the eastern side to the Mississippi. The majority of water flows to the east as does most innovation, research, knowledge and basketball prowess.

We had lunch in Durango, walked the downtown which is delightful and made our way to the campground. The only snag for today is that Riggs has diarrhea...not sure why but he seems to feel ok. We gave him pepto tablets and hope that will stop the squirts. We are sitting here watching the sunset at the foot of the mountains. Tomorrow we will move Las Vagas and the Jackson Bed and Breakfast

Lesson for the day: water runs downhill

It pays to stay on your feet!

Our son Patrick once fell into the river while fishing in Montana 5 times in one day. This record will probably never be broken. It is similar to the record of Cal Ripkin Jr playing over 3000 consecutive baseball games. Today Kathy tried to break Patricks record, she' Fell' short by only falling 2 times in the river while fishing. Its all part of the game. We waded some beautiful water on the Rio Grande, saw gorgeous places but the fish did not cooperate. David has been a great host in South Fork. He has taken us to some great fishing water that unfortunately has not produced many caught fish...but that is why they call it fishing and not catching. We leave tomorrow in our trek to Las Vagas and will arrive there on Saturday. Thanks to David and Fisher for a great time.

Lesson for the day: Stay on your feet!

Fishin Fishin Fishin

Today we drove up to Creed north of South Fork and looked around this cute town first before heading out to fish. They have a nice downtown with fuddgy stores and art galleries. Lots and lots of RV parks all around Creed and South Fork. I guess the Texas crowd comes north to get away from the summer heat as it is in the 70-80's here with night temps in the 50's.

We fished on the Rio Grande again but up near the Rio Grande resivior...lots of state forest land and campgrounds. Once again it was sunny in the morning but by the time we got on the river it started raining as soon as we geared up. Still beautiful water, lots of caddis flies but no fish coming up. We had lots of rain last night and the water was a little off color...those fish had probally gobbled up all sorts of other food with the rain and could care less for the fllies hatching.

Boo Hiss!!

The picture is of Mike fishing near some cabins that people lease the land from the state. Very cute.

We bought ourselves some great straw western fishing hats at a shop in Creed. We are now ready for the sunshine of Las Vagas and Montana....we hope to leave the rain here in Colorado. The picture is taken on Davids deck with his mountian view. We will be fishing on the Rio Grande below Davids house tomorrow...weather is suposed to be better so we are hopeful.

Lesson for the day: Plan for sun!!

Fishing and Rain...not bad

We finally got on the Rio Grand River to fish today and as soon as we got outfitted up it started raining. We fished anyway, saw some flies hatch but not really any fish going for them. Lunch was a David special of chicken salad sandwich's and chips. We moved several times with more intermittent rain. Then David took us to the South Fork river which is the river that runs into the Rio Grand in the middle of the town of South Fork. It is a delightful river with rocks, pools and fish. It smells fresh and clean with birds and hatching flies. Mike caught 3 fish and Kathy caught one...12 incher. Mike says his fish were the same size..(.consider the source)

There were caddis flies hatching and few fish up but it was lots of fun. We then came back to Davids for a pasta dinner...fantastic. We will plan out the fishing options tomorrow.

The fish picture is of Kathys fish. The River picture is David fishing.

Lesson of the day: You can still catch fish in the rain.

South Fork

We had lunch in Salida with Carol adn Dennis before leaving for South Fork. The Arkansas runs thru town and they were having a kayaking compitition. Lots of people and excitement...it seems like a town with a lot going on.

We parted with the Ahnens and drove down to South Fork ...a beautiful valley drive with hudge vistas. We got to Davids with no difficutly and took a tour of his fantastic house...he built it all himself and I had never seen it...just heard stories.. it was better than i could imagine. It has great views and we had happy hour on the deck before being treated to a great dinner. For those of you who do not know David is a wonderful cook. We had fun watching Riggs and Davids dog Fisher play and run around. We plan to fish tomorrow on the Rio Grande river which is about a half a mile away.. I hope to be saying "fish on" over and over tomorrow.

Lesson of the day: Family is the best and Brothers are great!!

We caught fish and peach cobbler

We had happy hour on the river with the dogs. Tacos and gin and tonics...what a great combo. We met some Masons and the guys charmed the mason ladies into giving us some cobbler from their dinner....we may even get initiated into the Knights Templar.It was Fantastic!!! Tomorrow we head down to my brother David in South Fork. He says the fishing is wonderful...so the fishing quest continues.
Riggs and Nino the good buddies...aren't they great looking dogs!
Mike and Kathy after fishing on the Arkansas
We fished and we fished some more and actually caught some fish. It is very windy, the river is very high but we still caught fish. The red/black gigantic ants attacted us at every opportunity but we still caught fish. At one point Carol had ants in her pants, a fly attached to her boot(which made casting difficult)and more misquotes than you can imagine...don't you wish you were here!

The beer in the picture above was well deserved.

Lesson for the day: Ask and you shall recieve...as in peach cobbler

Hats Hats Hats

BLOG FOR JULY 7TH

We traveled up to Salida yesterday in the Big Bad Boy. The road was twisty with lots of beautiful views and some thunder storms and rain. Denver has had lots of rain yesterday that we missed. We made several stops along the way. In Fairplay we went the the Colorado Hat Company and Mike picked out a new hat. It is custom made hat so the store owner had to measure his head. The device in the picture is a hundred year old head shape measurer...very cool. So it is a big head, as you all know...but not the biggest he has ever measured. Mike's was 24 1/4 and the largest he has ever measured in 30 years of making hats is 26..a football player for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The hat will not be done for 10-12 weeks and will made of felted rabbit

It is a great store and we had fun talking with the owner.

We arrived in Salida at the 4 Seasons Campground which is on the banks of the Arkansas River. A beautiful site with the sound of rushing water at our doorstep. Carol and Dennis Ahnen joined us for Happy Hour and dinner. Great sleeping night with cool temps.

We hope to catch fish today and will send out a blog fish report tonight.

Lesson for the day: Head/hat size has lots to do with how smart you are....Really??

PS for those trying to leave a comment I think I fixed the problem so give it a try

Good times in Denver

We arrived in Denver Colorado yesterday at the Ahnen house and have been enjoying their hospitality and family. Yesterday we had fun going to Nicole and Bens soccer game, appetizers at Gina's house(and met her friend Andy) and then had a wonderful dinner made by Carol and Steven on their back porch. Today we went to downtown Denver to check out a cigar store and do some shopping. There was a big thunder and lightening storm so we took cover on the steps of the capital after sitting by the mile high step. (see photo) This evening we went to Nicole's friend Ben's restaurant Tocabe, which specializes in native american food. It was fantastic and a good time was had by all. If you come to Denver you have to check it out. We were also joined by Andy Zemke from Traverse city who lives in Golden..Yea Andy. The photo includes Carols service dog in training...Nino who goes every where with her! It has been wonderful to see the Ahnen girls and their guys. Tomorrow we head to the mountains with Carol and Dennis to try a hand at fishing.

Lesson for the day: For a good time call the Ahnen's in Denver!

Rolling hills, quilts, cornfields

Today we traveled thru Iowa and Nebraska where they say you can watch corn grow. True true true. It is humid, wet and fertile. They have had record amounts of rain and everything is green. The hills roll along with green fields of corn, hay and green beans. They look like a quilt to me with patchwork and lines and swirls of quilting. Very inspiring....the clouds rolled in and out but it was sunny and warm for most of the day.

We stopped every few hours to exercise Riggs and ourselves. We found a boy scout eagle project at one rest stop in Iowa...plantings of prairie plants and flowers as a restoration of the prairie...beautiful. Our campground tonight is IN a corn field...swam in the pool and walked Riggs around the corn. Early bed for us. On to Denver tomorrow.

Lesson of the day: Every place has its own beauty...epically the American prairie

Kathy and Mike

Tired after a long drive...

Today we drove from Traverse City to Davenport Iowa..yes they have corn fields that go on forever. But they also have bean fields..and are camped next to one...lots and lots of green beans! Patrick came and helped us finish packing this morning and sent us on our way. Thanks to Patrick. Victoria Sutherland brought us two boxes of books on tape!! We are set on that score...thanks to Victoria.

Riggs did great with the traveling but was very excited to get out of the Big Bad Boy as were we when we arrived at our campground. Today was a holiday weekend so traffic was light with less trucks and no construction. We made good time thru Chicago but it was still a long day. A little rain is expected tonight and it is warm and a bit humid. We had a dinner of TC pasties...and will now take Riggs for another walk before bed.

Lesson for the day: Riggs is happy to be with his "pack"

ps..sunset on the bean fields of Iowa...does it get any better

Last night in Traverse City

We packed the Big Bad Boy all day in the heat and humidity and as the evening cooled off we went to Cindy and Ray Kleppers for dinner and drinks. It was our luck that Cathy and Kevin Harrington, former neighbors, arrived today so we could have a reunion. It was great to talk about old times, how the kids have grown up and what everyone is up to now.

We plan to leave at 8 am and drive to Davenport Iowa tomorrow night...at least 8 hours...so that is why we need an early start.

Thanks to all the good wishes we have gotten from everyone and we will keep you posted on our excellent adventure.

Lesson for the day: It is hard to leave...but exciting to think about the adventure.

Kathy and Mike