Blanche & Lucy getting used to Arvada, Colorado

Sunrise overlooking the pond where we live.

Blanche is sitting on her hammock on our little deck, while Lucy is looking out.

Lucy is sitting at the doorway waiting for her morning walk.

This is another sunny sunrise looking out at the pond where we live.

Lucy likes to look outside in the morning to watch people & pets come and go.

This is a great little park across the street from where we live.

We take Blanche & Lucy walking at this park almost every day.

There are lots of Geese that live around here & make their home on that pond - so we watched the families of geese with their babies.

The babies are in different stages of growth with the mama geese.

The park is beautifully landscaped with lovely seasonal blooms

The tulips were the first flowers to pop up in this park.

All around the pond in this park are these exercise stations

So if you have the energy while you walk around the lake you can stop at each station and do an exercise.

Tyler was on Blanche & Lucy's walk so she tried out all the circuit stations.

And of course this park has a great children's playground.

And Tyler enjoyed playing on the swings and monkey bars too.

After a long day outside - Lucy & Blanche went right to bed.

Blanche was so tired she fell assleep on my jammies.

Until we get the spare room set up with a bed - Tyler is camping out beside us when she stays over.

Good night from all of us here in Arvada, Colorado

Blanche & Lucy move into their new home

As we crossed into Colorado from New Mexico we ran into rain and slippery road conditions so we drove slowly

And it's a good thing we did - we passed through a little snow and a really bad car accident - cowboys on the slippery roads....

Once we got to Canon City, Colorado - we rested at our friend Dory's place overnight (thanks for the hospitality once again Dory!)

We loaded up the moving truck with the boxes & 'stuff'  that were stored at Dory's within a very short time.

And then 'Off we went' to drive from Canon City (just south west of Colorado Springs) up to Arvada (10mi north west of Denver).

It was a perfect day for a move - clear and cool.

We set up the RV at a Bear Creek Lake Park - a campground near Arvada so that we could do the move over the entire weekend and stay at the campsite each night.

Back at the Condo - within the first 2 boxes of moving stuff (too quickly) - Cheryl fell off the back of the truck and sprained her ankle (this photo was taken earlier in the move  - premonition?)

So within the first half hour of the move - Cheryl got 'benched'.

Keeping a good sense of humor - she let me wrap her leg with the only frozen thing we had - Bratts! and tied it with Blanche & Lucy's leach.....

My Son-in-law Gary and his family came to our rescue while Cheryl rested in the camper with ice on her foot.

Michael & Pete were just what the doctor ordered.

Thank goodness for brut strength of the boys to lift all that furniture for us.

By the 2nd day of moving stuff and furniture I couldn't even lift bed rails.

Even my grandson Ethan pitched in and helped.

Of course he had more fun sliding down the ramp....

The boys had a little trouble getting the couch through the door...

But after removing the door it slipped in snugly...

Now at least the living room was done.....

After winning her Vollyball game Tyler came to help out....

Tyler had fun getting the movement on moving day with my camera.

Cheryl in the meantime was getting used to her new crutches at the campsite.

Making the best of it and going slow.

We played alot of Mexican Train at the campground.

Tyler spent the weekend with us at the camper and enjoyed the playground in between nursing Cheryl.

Tyler learned how to play Mexican Train so well she beat us a few times.

Blanche and Lucy enjoyed resting in between the hard work of moving.

After 2 long days of moving Tyler got this pic of Blanche & I taking a walk.

Cheryl will be on Crutches for a little while longer as the ankle heals - but at least the worst is over and everything is moved into the condo.... now the fun starts.... unpacking --- woooo - wooo....

Blanche & Lucy say Goodbye to Arizona

The last few days before we left Apache Junction, Arizona for the season we decided to enjoy the blooming cactus

A real treat for us was seeing the Night Blooming Cactus which only blooms once a year for only 24hrs.

Many of the folks who live in our park have this Hedgehog cactus - so those were blooming all over right now.

Some folks who head back to their summer homes early miss this site - the little Hedgehog cacti in our park were all blooming.

Some of the Hedgehog blooms are red, some are yellow and some are pink.

The night sky in the desert is unlike anywhere else - so we drove around for a few evenings to enjoy those before we left for the season.

Cheryl loves the views of the Superstition Mountains so we couldn't leave for the season without enjoying that sunset view.

Even the colors from the sunsets in our park were different every night.

So after saying our goodbyes to the gals that were still in the park - we loaded the RV and left Apache Junction for the season.

For our first stop-over, we headed to the White Mountains of AZ, Pinetop-Lakeside where the weather was cooler than the high 90s of the valley.

In fact the weather was so much cooler that we actually found snow in some areas....brrrr a bit of a shock for our warm blood.

Our friend Jakota opened up her home to us and hosted us for a couple of nights while we "decompressed" from our active winter season & prepared to head north for the summer.

Jakota played tour guide for us and we discovered that Pinetop-Lakeside was aptly named for all the beautiful lakes and pine forests in the area.

Springtime brings the fishermen out to catch the early crop of fish.

Jakota gave us a little thrill doing a some 4-wheeling to get to this view.

This root stump was a beautiful big natural sculpture in the forest.

Hawley Lake is on Apache Reservation and for hundreds of years people were able to lease a lot of land for $25 a year, for 99years - But the day came when the Apache wanted their land back so many of the residents who had built beautiful summer homes here on the lake had to just walk away from their property.

Now the homes sit vacant, with broken windows, and some had inhabitants or visitors like this steer on the porch.  Some residents burned down their homes or destroyed their homes rather than just walk away from them... a pretty sad sight.

The Aspen Groves reminded me of the photos in B&W that I had seen of Ansel Adams work.... beautiful white bark against dark green forests.

And of course as in many other of nature's beautiful landscape - humans must make their mark... graffiti carvings made bold statements.

Another beautiful sight was all the new baby pines coming up everywhere.

We stopped for lunch at the Greer Cafe where we couldn't help but put Blanche and Lucy in the sleigh prop for the restaurant.

Blanche & Lucy enjoyed being along for the day long ride through this part of the White Mountains.

We left the White Mountains and Arizona and headed to Colorado - our first stop was to spend the night at the San Felipe Casino just outside of Alburquerque, New Mexico on the way to Sante Fe.

The campsites were only $10 a night and were clean and level with electricity.

This is a smaller casino but very hospitable with a restaurant for those who didn't want to cook.

We decided not to try our luck in this casino as we were too tired from a long day traveling.  Tomorrow will find us in Colorado for the night - see you then.

Blanche & Lucy say goodnight from the road for now.