2008 October - The Durango Loop!

Each year we make several 'bike' trips (rides on motorcycles).

One of our favorites is a Fall trip on the Durango Loop.

250 miles of incredible scenery!

This year we started in Cortez, Colorado on Sept 29th.

The next few pictures catalogue an amazingly picturesque view

of the fiery colors nature produces this time of year!!

Isn't this gorgeous!!

That's our good friends in front of us, closest is Bud & Beth,

and in front of them, Dick & Terri.

The camera hardly does the colors justice!

The orange trees directly ahead of us jumped

out like fiery darts from heaven!

Beauty and the Beast!

We are approaching a fun little community set in

mountains of Colorado - Silverton. We have

talked many times on this trip that we would love to

have a place here, or another small town you will see below.

One of our traditions in Silverton is to get a funnel cake for lunch (chili, cheese and the works)and a sugar and cinnamon funnel cake for dessert.

Gliding along the winding highways. This time Dick & Terri are directly

ahead of us on their Gold Wing (I call it a car on 2 wheels)

and Bud & Beth farther ahead on their Harley

(which I jokingly call the bucket of bolts).

This is Ouray! We love it! Is that Pig Latin for Rou??

Anyway, this little town is gorgeous.

It's a quaint place that calls out our names as we pass through!

I hope to return for many years to come!!!

We finish the ride going through Telluride, Durango and back to Cortez.

Telluride is a fun place to stop and shop. It's certainly touristy which

the women love. Neat shops with antiques, leather clothes and trinkets of all kinds!

The guys head over to an ice cream shop tucked neatly below a restroom!

Can't wait 'til next year!!

My Chinese Fortunes - The Explanation

As you read the next series of blog entries, you should know a few things. First of all, I have accumulated these over quite a number of years. They probably represent $400 of meals! I've gotten them from all over the world at many different Chinese restaurants.

Secondly, I don't actually believe in them. I don't believe in horoscopes or any other type of traditional 'fortune-telling'. I believe you create your own luck and 'fortune' by how you deal with life and its many challenges. As many have said before me in not so many words, challenges are opportunities just waiting to happen.

I believe much more in the power of positive thinking! You'll see this as you read my comments below. Enjoy........

My Chinese Fortunes

I've always felt fortunes and horoscopes happen because you choose to make them happen. Whether they're good or bad, you read them and then your choices influence the results. So, why wait for a fortune?!!! Go out and make positive things happen!!!

The "You Will" fortunes. These are always great.

My Chinese Fortunes - Silly Ones

Sometimes I think something gets lost in the translation on these fortunes.

"Small Lucky Package"

= Not a child, unless it's a grandchild!

"Rainbow Treasures"

= Gold? Colors?

"Movies"

= I go to a movie once every 10 years.

"Something Unusual"

= Me.........

"Entertainment"

= I've always wanted to have a radio show, talk show or something?

And in the next one, "Serendipity"

= What does it have to do with the rest of the fortune?!

My Chinese Fortunes - More

Urgency: Don't you find that some of these silly fortunes go a little too far??!! These suggest something immediate will happen or that I should do something now!

My Chinese Fortunes - And More....

This set is pretty complimentary - if only they were true!! :) Hopefully some of these traits have, or will enter into my life and yours!

My Chinese Fortunes - That's All Folks

As you can see, this set of fortunes has sage advice about all the people that bless and influence our lives. These suggest happiness, good company, good advice, friendship and joy all are derived from others. Perhaps more importantly the second one says to praise others. "Someone" said that we usually only offer 1 compliment for each 10 negative comments. Let's reverse that......

I have a saying for my kids: "Life isn't fair and will have its problems. You can be happy or grumpy about it. So choose to be happy."

I guess I will travel to many exotic places including on the water! How true it has been and continues! I've been to China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Brazil, many islands of the Carribean, Central and South America, Canada and some cool places in the US! And it continues...

Well the journey through my Chinese fortunes has ended.....for now. Hope it was at least interesting for you, if not fun! I don't really believe that 'luck' happens, but rather that it is created. People that work hard, do things, try, think, execute, network, etc., tend to also invite 'luck'.

Create your own 'luck'!

From Studio Apt to Penthouse!

A few months ago Karli went to a specialist to be tested for allergies. She tested positive for a number of things such as fruits and pesticides used on fruits, so the doctor gave her some prescriptions and some advice about dealing with these allergies. The doctor also asked about animals in the house. Well we haven't had animals in the house since moving to Utah 9 years ago, except........Dr Dre. Meg and Chase acquired a lovable rabbit. However, when they rented their last apartment, the landlady was very explicit about no pets. So we adopted Dr Dre into our household for now. That has been extended since, if you read my blogs, you know that Meg and Chase are in China.
Well, to get back to my story, Karli's doctor emphatically stated that we could not have ANY pets in the house if we expected Karli's condition to improve. I was worried about approaching Meg about moving Dr Dre outside (or Pooch as I call him). Meg, however, told me that she 'had resigned herself to the possibility of even giving Dr Dre away!' That nearly broke my heart! There's no way we could give Pooch away now even if Meg said so! And I knew that Meg really didn't want us to give him away either, she was just trying to be understanding and sensitive to our situation.
Well, as you can see from the first picture below, Pooch's home became his wire carrying case which we kept in our washroom inside the house. So the short-term answer was to move Pooch and his wire cage outside.

My feeling was that this wasn't going to provide adequate protection from the elements and from the 'wild' animals roaming freely in the night. I felt cats could easily jump up on the table and the cage and antagonize Pooch, which is something he has not been used to. Additionally, I felt a clever cat or a large dog could knock the table over and further antagonize Pooch. To better protect him from the elements, we did have some small sheets of plywood covering the top and he had a small box Chase built for inside the cage to provide additional protection.

Much to the chagrin of my family, I decided to remodel our existing rabbit hutch and add a second story for Pooch. We already have 2 rabbits, Fufu and BBQ, which come with their own stories. Lance (or Elder Williams as I now call him) built a STURDY hutch predominantly out of two by fours! Wow what a tank! So as you see above, after a month or so and several late nights, I completed my task. I cut 12 inches off the bottom of the hutch to make the second floor more accessible. While I was at it, I decided to add something to catch their 'deposits' if you know what I mean. So you can see below the right side of each level is a frame to hold removable plastic bins to catch and redeposit the 'deposits' into the garbage can or garden or whatever! Pretty clever, huh!?!

I then added the second story with a large door that opens down instead of up (which I believe is better, but I get the impression no one else in the household does - in fact I changed the door on the bottom to open the same way. These are reasons my family roll their eyes every time I take on such a project - which is rarely because I seldom do so with the approval of my family - oh well.) Now the 3 dinners - I mean rabbits - can be safe and sound against the house relatively protected from the elements. If I get another wild hair - or is it 'hare' :) - I plan to add some side flaps on hinges that can be opened and closed to provide even more protection from nasty wind, rain and snow storms that we occasionally get. Stay tuned.........

Elder Williams Update

Serving others, that's truly doing the Lord's work:

Elder Williams says they go to a Senior Citizen's home in Frederick, MD each Friday to visit with the people there. This man is 101 years old!

Some of the people Elder Williams and Elder Nelson taught decided to be baptized. Elder Williams was blessed to have actually baptized them.

We tend to get pictures of his adventures on P-day (Preparation Day) which is on Mondays. He loves the outdoors!

Sometimes his love for the outdoors carries over...here he is climbing a branch of a tree that they stuck into the ground...

...and this is the result you and I and any other sensible person would have expected! There's an object lesson there somewhere and I will figure it out.

Stalking the wild beasts of the city!

We are so grateful for Lance's service! He has been in the Maryland Baltimore Mission since Nov 2007. Wow almost a year already. Sometimes it seems to be dragging, but lately it seems to be flying by. I guess it takes me back to my service in Florida in the early 80's and I realize all that you want to do and never seem to have enough time. His service is blessing our lives and I'm sure his life and the lives of those he meets!

Well I'm trying to get this caught up. Hope you're enjoying the various pictures to date. I'll be adding more descriptions in future posts to give you a better feel for our family.

Chase & Megan: 06.2008

I'm having serious withdrawals from 'Trains'!
Love
Dad

Chase & Megan: 06.2008