Take me where the sunlight glows...

We are jumping off this tommorrow! Nana and I with our fishin gear!

Fishing River The Bulldog made the fishing expendition!

I will begin this blog with a story from last night...there is neither an eloquent way to tell this story, nor a way to make it colorful. I brought barkley to go to bed and we are on this huge bed so the pooch is sleeping with us. Sometime, throughout the course of the night he had maneuvered his body where his butt was inches away from my face, and in case you have never smelt a bulldog fart-it is the most rancid smell i have ever encountered. Anyways, he let a rather large fart go right in my face and woke me in a dead sleep. Needless to say, the stench lingered either from that fart or a continuous strand of farts throughout the night and i slept with my head under the covers, haha.
Today we ate brunch at this place called Luna, which happens to be Gran's favorite restaurant. We proceeded to go an adventurous quest for fish all afternoon. Today, I discovered I prefer fly fishing over regular fishing. I love being outside and the only sound is water crashing into the rocks with never ending movement. You are also constantly moving up stream or across to get to the other bank. I like being active in my quest for fish! We came home empty handed, however, are not discouraged enough to throw in the towel. Anna and I are continuing our quest tomorrow at 7 a.m. We will not fail! haha.
After we made it home, it was dinner mode, the pressure and rush to get dinner on the table in an hour for our guests was chaotic, in a sense. Mark cooked steaks, and stuffed jalepenos. Anna and I were in charge of preparing, setting the table, and dishes. Bud and Janet were our guests tonight. They live in one of the Grappe's cabins and take care of the one we all stay at in the summer and winter when we aren't here. They also get the cabin ready for us when we are planning a trip here. They are so wonderful and full of stories. You can see the wisdom in their eyes and love in their hearts. I enjoy every word that comes out of their mouths with a profound acknowledgement that their voices are 70-something years old.
After second helpings of food and Bud's third helping of a heaping bowl of banana pudding, the only logical thing to do was to get into the hot tub. Anna, Gran, Janet, and I all sat inside the hot tub and talked about parents, kids, plans for present and future while being immersed in fresh, crisp, and COLD air with views of the mountains that were so soothing.
As of now, Us young'ens are feet away from each other watching Hot Rod and dispersed among couches and recliners, hardly speaking because of exhaustion, except the occasional laughs at Barkley doing something ridiculous. Its about that time...sleep calls my name!! I will post pics of all the fish anna and I catch tomorrow with expert coaching of my lovely husband!

Then there is morning, each one feels like the first...

So we made it to Lake City, Colorado yesterday. Its a wonderful 10-12 hour drive (depending on speed and stops, ha!) from the lovely town of Lubbock. Mark, Anna, Barkley, and I carpooled all under the influence of dramamine except Mark, who drove. We had a drunk bulldog on our hands that was hilarious to mess with. Mark and his cousin James immediately started painting the cabin upon arrival while anna, barkley, and I sat by the river and enjoyed the fresh air.
Today anna and I got to sleep in while the boys went fly fishing til this afternoon. It has been raining all day, which is the most welcoming weather in my opinion. Its been cold and glorious. Ive been bundled up, get to wear my scarf and cuddle up with a blanket and watch girl movies while the rain hits the floor to ceiling wall of windows. I love love love being up here! Its been really peaceful and relaxing. I was listening to The Weepies : Antarctica, one of my favorite songs by the way, and felt like i really understood the song, FINALLY! haha. Its about having a connection with a place where you feel most like yourself and just being in the presence of its surroundings makes you forget about all the clutter in life. Its such a beautiful thing. For me, in this place and takin in the beauty of nature makes me feel at peace. I feel most like myself when i am here with an incredible abundancy of clarity. Its always nice to sit back and put life in perspective. The things that weigh your thoughts are rapidly forgotten, and being thankful for all the absolutes in life always emerge. Colorado, Lake city, these mountains, this cabin, this river, this flower is comfort to me. There is no pressure to be anything or anyone, the only demand is to be present. Maybe its because of the lack of society for hundered of miles, or the fact we are literally in the middle of nowhere, tucked in between moutains, and there is such a simplicity to life here. I desire SIMPLICITY! I want to not fix my hair for weeks at a time, and wear sweats every morning where matching doesnt matter, walk a short distance to the only grocery store for 100 miles, read by the river every morning, run through mountains, and fly fish every afternoon....one day, for now i have to settle for summers.

.

No bread crumb trail to follow through your days...

Today, we were back in the car. We got up this morning and I made a run to Starbucks which was in our hotel, it was so fabulous! Where i got some Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal and dumped everything in the sack into it, and drank a Skinny Vanilla Latte, breakfast of champions! Nothing can start my day better than some really great coffee. About 11:30, we preceeded to drive about an hour and a half to Logan, which is smaller than Lubbock but has a lot to do! On the drive, i took some pictures of the scenery which is undoubtedly gorgeous and GREEN! no tumble weeds,ha. here are some of the drive.

The boys started their class today at 3. I, took a long needed and quiet nap in the hotel and later joined my mother in law to take pictures of the town and such. She has been taking this photography class and I see her stuff and tell her " teach me how to do that!", so today i learned a lot. Here are some pictures i took today!

The plus about taking photo lessons with her is that we have the same camera, therefore being really easy to translate. We eventually met up with the boys for dinner, all of which were beeming with smiles like their lives have changed. The guy who is teaching the class took us all out to dinner with his son and son's girlfriend to this great restaurant. The boys talked about guns and hunting the whole time, normal day for the grappe family. Needless to say, the boys cant wait to continue the class and shoot tomorrow morning starting at 6 am until dinner, I believe. Tonight after dinner, Mark, Michael, Aaron, and I went to watch the new terminator movie, which was INTENSE! I have to watch ultra-masculine movies being in a male dominant family. On the way home, Mark drove without the lights on, we got pulled over! He didnt have his license and wasnt registered to drive the rental car, to our surprise the police man gave him a warning, thank goodness. The man has two outstanding tickets already ( 1-littering on arbor day! 2-parking the wrong direction on a street). So now we are in the hotel rooms listening to the rain hit the window and resting for the long day ahead. Its been a great day!