Thursday in Fullerton means Farmer's Market with fresh organic fruits and vegetables, live music and fun activities for the kids. Dakota is excited about a fund raiser to expand the arts in her school.	Along with piano and swimming lessons, the girls take gymnastic lessons twice a week at the YMCA. Here Sierra is learning some fancy moves on the balance beam. She loves gymnastics and the lady that teaches it.
Hunter is a preschooler at this center--owned and operated by Fullerton Community College. It is the same preschool Dakota and Sierra attended, with some of the same staff still there. He doesn't like going, but once there, he enjoys the staff and playing with the other kids.	We met up with Larry's cousin--Don and Elsie Barth in San Diego. We enjoyed a gigantic breakfast at a local restaurant, toured Crystal Pier on the Pacific Beach, then checked out Mission Bay RV Resort where Don and Elsie used to winter before they bought a condo here in San Diego.
Even though the weather was nice outside here in Minnesota, the kids are getting ready for ice hockey. Here Clara is posing in the locker room prior to her lessons.	It is hard to believe how great these kids are on skates. We were in MN last year when Chase just started and are amazed how well he is doing.
School didn't start until after Labor Day, so we were there to see Clara and Chase off at the bus stop. Clara is in the third grade and this would be Chase's first day in kindergarten--a very special day for both.	There is 50+ years separating Grandma Glorine and Clara, but that didn't stop her from teaching Clara a couple tricks with the jumping rope. We were all impressed how well both did. Very good.
The weather was great for early September and the kids know how to take advantage of every moment. So out we went water skiing. Grandpa Larry and Grandma Glorine also got in their annual trek of water skiing around the lake. It is a great feeling knowing that we can still do it.	On Chase's birthday, we went to the Mall of America, which we call, consumerism gone crazy. Next to the American Doll store is a "Build a Bear Workshop." The kids each picked out an "unstuffed" animal, put in a heart, had it stuffed, then picked out a bunch of custom clothing for them. Wow!
Chase had the traditional backyard birthday party. The weather man was wrong and it did not rain on his parade. Despicable Me was the theme and the kids had fun making slime, playing games and enjoying the tacos and cake. Chase is now six!	Chase made a killing in all the presents he received. He had a great day and that is what matters most. LEGOs are still the hot item for six year olds and he didn't waste any time putting them together.
We met up with friends Rich and Nancy Pointer for a great breakfast at the best restaurant in Burnsville. Nancy keeps amazing us with her innovative genealogy projects. She is using a new software that allows her to click on the name of a descendant and a picture of them pops up along with other information. Awesome!	We also met up with friends we met in Ajijic. Carol and Allen Bensman on the left hosted the get together joined by us and Kay and Gary Thompson. A wonderful meal and great conversation, which made for another fun evening together. Interesting how bird of a feather flock together--in this case snowbirds!
About a week after leaving MN, we were standing on Four Corners, the only point where four states come together. While these lines are political distinctions, all the surrounding land make up two large Indian Reservations--the Navajo and Southern Ute Nations.	We met up with Larry's cousin Dennis and Nancy at a campground near Durango, Colorado--which we used as a jumping off spot to tour the rugged San Juan Mountains and historic points of the area. Here we are enjoying drinks at the historic Strater Hotel, a place Miss Kitty could have run?!
Our timing was perfect to view the turning of the leaves. We took a two-day road trip along a scenic highway from Durango to Telluride, including the Million Dollar Highway. It provided for a most breathtaking journey.	Along our route, we spent time in Silverton. Yes, a former bustling silver mining camp, much like Williston, North Dakota is today. It is now a National Historic Landmark District. Hmm Williston!!!!????
We packed a picnic lunch and found this spot just outside Ouray's million gallon mineral hot springs. Ouray is also known as the "Switzerland of America" because it sits in a deep narrow valley, surrounded on three and a half sides by steep mountains.	Our destination was Telluride--8,750 feet in elevation. Another quaint silver mining town, its on the National Register of Historic Places and is also one of Colorado's 20 National Historic Landmarks. It is now ranked one of the top ski resorts in Colorado.
We rode a gondola from Telluride to the top of the ski mountain and down the other side to its "up-scale" sister city--Mountain Village. It is home to the rich and famous including Oprah, Tom Cruise and Dennis and Nancy.	Rocky Mountain High lives up to its name as the first state to sell Marijuana legally. We looked around a bit, but beings as Larry never inhales, we took a pass. Colorado is making lots of money from its new found Marijuana tourism.
On the way back to the campground, we stopped in Ridgeway for breakfast and met a delightful couple who bought the old city hall block. This fire truck came with the deal and they were nice enough to parade us along town.	The property included this jail which was used to shoot some of the scenes in the original movie--True Grit with John Wayne. Dennis (the cowboy) got a big kick out of being locked up, but thankful that it was only a few minutes.
The next day we took another road trip, this one to Mesa Verde National Park, home of hundreds of cliff dwellings lining the canyons of the park. Mesa Verde is surrounded by the Ute Nation Reservation and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This particular site, known as Cliff Palace, is the largest and once home to about 200 people.	Archeologists believe the ancient Pueblo people inhabited this area as early as 400 A.D and began building these dwellings near the end of the 1100. Many of the dwellings are southwest-facing, providing greater warmth from the sun in the winter. Due to a 25 year drought most of these dwellings were abandoned by the end of the 1400s.
Dennis and Nancy have a two-person kayak, which Dennis steers and Nancy paddles. We rented a couple of small kayaks and spent an hour paddling on Vallecito Lake, which was next to our campground. What a great way to relax!	Dennis and Nancy are great traveling companions as we have explored parts of Germany, France, Mexico and many parts of the USA together. We are starting to plan for more in the near future.

September's web page includes September 1 through September 30.