After our 20 day RV road trip from the Dakotas to California, we settled in for a couple of weeks with our daughter Carmen and her family. Here we are at Chucky Cheese with Dakota, Sierra and Hunter--a grand time with grand kids! Roaming through retirement is more than it is cracked up to be. Keep us informed by clicking on the email link Larry and Glorine.
	October 1 we set the RV up at Fort Collins, Colorado to see the sights and sound of the eastern edge of the Rockies. Here we are taking the Jeep up to Estes park and caught this scene of a big horn sheep right along the road side.	The Stanley Hotel, in Estes, was made famous in a movie called the "Shining", where Jack Nicholson played the role of a care taker when  it was closed for the winter. We found out that most of the movie was actually filmed in London and Mt. Hood, Oregon. A grand hotel, built in 1909, none-the-less.
	Relatives from Colorado promised that we would see elk as we traveled  to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park and in deed we caught this picture of an elk lounging next to a motel swimming pool. What a RACK!	While in Fort Collins, we had a bit of a family reunion with Glorine's brother and wife Ray and Ida visiting their son Mike, Molly and their grandkids. Mike and Molly are both physical therapists in the area. We got to tour their newly remodeled home, much of the work done by Mike and Molly themselves.
	From Fort Collins, we took a short trip to Colorado Springs where we were in for yet another treat. Here we are at the Royal Gorge and the world's highest suspension bridge completed in 1929.	We are on the bridge looking down 1,000 feet to the Arkansas River that flows through the area and dumps into the Mississippi River. The bridge spans 880 feet and bounced a bit as we walked a crossed it.
	In addition to walking across the bridge, we took an aerial tram that spanned 1/2 mile across and 1,200 feet above the canyon floor. We also rode an "inclinator" down to the river. For early October, the weather could not have been nicer. Here we are dressed in short sleeved shirts.	Our next stop was equally as great--the Garden of the Gods, which is made up of some of the most splendid rock formations we have ever seen. It boasts of being one of the West's most unique geological sites, with giant rock garden composed of spectacular red sandstone formations sculpted by rain and wind over millions of years.
	We took a long strolled through the park and each of these rock formations seemed to get better and better. We stopped another awe-struck visitor to the city-owned park to snap this picture. In the background, about half way up the bolder is a rock climber. In addition to the fantastic rocks, we saw trees "they" claimed to be over 1,000 years old. We were also treated to some deer grazing along the trails.	The primary reason for stopping in Colorado Springs was to visit another niece of Glorine and Maureen's, Linda and Terry. Linda is a sister to the two nieces and nephew we visited with in Rapid City. They have a multi acre site where they were in the process of completing a beautiful two-story home. While it had been a very long time since they saw one another, it didn't take long to find out these two are fun loving people. We would not be surprised if they decided to vacation in Ajijic some day!!
	Our next stop was a two day layover in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Larry's niece Susan and her husband Craig have lived in the Santa Fe area for over 25 years. They recently completed one of the grandest homes we have every been in. The design, architectural detail, and views were nothing short of stunning. After touring their home and a "happy hour", we dined out.	Santa Fe is laid out much like a Mexican village (oh that is right it was a Mexican village at one time), with the Catholic church in the center of town, next to a very large plaza. Here along the side walks are dozens of vendors selling jewelry of every style in gold, silver, and turquoise made by southwestern and native American artists.
	We took Sue's recommendation to ride the Santa Fe chair lift to the top of the ski hill to capture the grandeur of the mountains, especially with the peak fall colors and what a great idea that was. The drive up to the mountain was great and the views were all wonderful.	We took in one of the "must do things before you die"--the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is impossible to describe the wonder of over 300 balloons lifting up into the sky. Here is just one of many unique-shaped balloons.
	We bypass the entry fee by becoming volunteers to help balloonist unroll and prepare their balloons for flight. Here we just completed packing up the "Stars and Stripes" balloon, a huge square balloon with the American Flag on two sides.	At night the balloonist prepared their balloons for the evening "glow." They would do all the same tasks to prepare for flight, but instead they would be anchored to the ground and would create a blast of fire to display the colors and shapes of their balloons. Unbelievable sight!
	We must have taken 300 pictures of the balloons. Here is one that best captures the fiesta. Hundreds of balloons preparing for lift off, one unique-shaped close up and 30 or more in the sky.  It is definitely a "must see event."	While in Albuquerque, we visited the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, which is a non-profit organization made up of nearly 20 Native American villages (called pueblos in Spanish). Their goal is to preserve and perpetuate Pueblo culture. Here are Native American dancers doing just that--dancing the way they did over 1,000 years ago.
	During our stay in Albuquerque, Larry's nephew Rick and his mom, Gloria, were driving from Bismarck to Phoenix with a layover at his sister Sue's place in Santa Fe. So we drove the Jeep back to Sue's home for a short visit. We had some pizza and wine. Opportunities like these do not come up that often--and it turned into another great time to catch up.	Our next stop was in Truth or Consequences, formerly Hot Springs, New Mexico, The city entered a contest back in the days when this game show was popular and won. The town lies along the Rio Grande River which starts in the mountains of southern Colorado, runs through New Mexico and at El Paso, it forms the Eastern border, between Mexico and the USA. In the foreground is one of many hot spring baths overlooking the river. It was a treat!!
	Our next campground was at the Holy Trinity Monastery, of all places. It is near Larry's cousin Dennis and Nancy's place south of Benson AZ. Here we are saying farewell to Maureen and Wayne. After nearly 20 days of touring the central part of the US together, they left to spend their remaining US vacation with friends in Tucson and Phoenix.	Dennis is one of Larry's nearest and dearest friends. Their lives have crossed paths many times throughout the years--since they were kids living on nearby farms in North Dakota to vacationing together in Germany and Mexico. Dennis is recovering from open heart surgery, having had an aortic heart tissue replaced, just two weeks prior to this picture.
	We normally stay with them in their beautiful house that Dennis built, shortly after he retired. However recovery was of primary importance, so we RVed nearby. We spend three to four hours visiting with them each day, which still gave him ample time to rest. With our summer vacation winding down, it also gave us an opportunity to start preparing for our five month vacation in Mexico.	Our final campground for the season was at the Anaheim (California) RV Resorts, across the freeway from Disneyland. Here Carmen, Mike and the grandkids are packing up after spending a night with Nana and Papa in the RV. For the next two weeks we divided our time between spending it with Carmen's family, getting the RV ready for hibernation for the winter and packing the Jeep for another trip to Ajijic.
	Among other things, the end of October means Halloween and birthdays. Here, Dakota and Sierra are showing off a pumpkin turned into Mr. Potato Head, thanks to a little guidance from Papa.	One of the neat things that Carmen's work place (Southern California College of Optometry) does each year is to invite the children of both students and faculty to get an early start on Trick or Treating. Here Sierra is dressed up as Cinderella and pulling in the treats.
	Dakota is now in Kindergarten and with it comes many school related activities, including fundraisers. Here we are at a school carnival with dozens of booths with games to win prizes. Dakota got her hair sprayed at one booth. Looks pretty good as a red head.	Dakota and Sierra are two years apart in age and their birthdays are three days apart. So Carmen and Mike put on one grand event to celebrate their birthdays. Along with their current friends, Dakota invited all of her classmates (about half made it).
	Lots of fun activities but the main event was a live band for the kids. The one-man band played a dozen songs that got the kids jumping and dancing.	In addition to dancing, Dakota got to show off her hoola hoop skills. Nice for a five year old.
	And Sierra twirling around waving a colorful shear cloth in the air. It was a grand birthday for both.	And not to be undone, little Hunter is sporting a fancy balloon hat that Nana and Papa made.
	On Sierra's actual birthday, which is October 25, we took her to IHOP and had her order anything on the menu. This included fruit, a chocolate pancake and Mac and Cheese. IHOP, threw in a slice of birthday cake. It was a fun time for Nana and Papa to have the alone time with Sierra. She definitely has her own personality.	On October 28, we repeated the experience with Dakota on her special day. She ordered the same thing, minus the Mac and Cheese. She took the free slice of birthday cake home as left overs. It is hard to imagine that five years have gone by since we were blessed with Dakota as our first grandchild.
	From Mr. Potato Head pumpkin, to the real thing. Here Papa and Dakota are going through all the steps of making a real Jack-O-Lantern. She enjoyed seeing her creation come to life. Later that evening, we received an amazing treat from both Carmen and Denise's families--our very own iPad. And we have put it to good use ever since.	Halloween is not just for kids at Carmen and Mike's home. Here they are all dress up in custumes. Nearly every house on the street next to theirs is decorated to the hilt and the street is crowded with mostly "treaters." After the trick or treating was all done and the kids were tucked into bed, we got the Jeep all packed and got ready for an early wake up and a long drive for another wonderful Mexican winter vacation.

October's web page includes October 1 through October 31.