50 and Counting

Long, long ago, in a place called Boulder, Colorado, a young man named John and a young woman named Carol





were attending the University of Colorado. John’s roommate Mike and Carol’s roommate Susie got married. That happy event led to John and Carol getting acquainted. They dated over the next few months and each came to the conclusion that they loved each other. Carol said, “That means we’re going to get married.” After thinking about it for a few days, John decided to accept her proposal. They married the following June.

We started our married life in a small one-bedroom apartment, moved up to a 2-bedroom apartment, then into a mobile home. A lot changed over the years, but in 2009, they returned to life in a trailer--this one a recreational vehicle.

A couple of years after we married, we had a darling blond-headed son who we named Doug. Here we are in the mobile home.  John had joined the Boulder Police Department.

We took Doug to Phoenix, borrowing John's parents' Airstream trailer. A visit to the Phoenix Zoo was a winner for everyone.

The RV parks that didn't allow children or 20-something adults weren't so nice.

Doug learned about carving Halloween pumpkins.

He tagged along when we visited friends' cabin.

After four years, we had a darling dark-haired son who we named Eric.

We all went places together.

Eric loved to go fishing.

Doug loved riding his bike.

There were Halloween costumes.

The boys spent time with their grandparents. Here is Doug with Carol's dad.

And both boys with John's dad.

Four years later they all moved to Castle Rock, where they bought John’s family’s funeral home. Life was full of family, new friends at Christ Church and in the community.  John was elected county coroner. Both John and Carol were involved community activities, from Optimist Club and Lions Club, to the city planning commission, the charter commission and the League of Women Voters.

We learned to work as a team, to minister as a team, to teach grief classes together. We deepened our faith in God. After nearly nine years in Castle Rock, they were off to Nashotah House Seminary in Wisconsin, where John studied to become an Episcopal priest. While we were there, Doug graduated from high school and entered the Marine Corps.

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After ordination, John first served churches in Granby and Kremmling. There, Eric graduated from high school and went on to Western State College.

Life was different after John's ordination. We didn't work as a team. John was busy with the church. I worked at the Winter Park Ski Area, then at Mountain Parks Bank. But we did learn to ski and bought our first camping trailer.

Next, we were off to the Denver area when John was called as rector of St. Gabriel's in Cherry Hills Village. Carol accepted a position as executive assistant to the Colorado Episcopal Bishop. But we did find ways to be a team again, leading Education for Ministry groups and teaching catechumenate classes.

During those years, we watched both Doug and Eric get married. And Eric finally graduated from college and received his master's degree.

Doug retired from the Marine Corps after 23 years of service. He was a master sergeant when he retired.

Both sons brought grandchildren into our lives. First Eric and Liz had a daughter, Kylie. Later, they had a son, John.

Doug and Sherry have two daughters, Rachal and Samantha.

The centerpiece of our retirement has been travel, and more travel and more travel. From our first  pop-up tent trailer we moved on to 5th-wheel trailers, eventually living full-time in our RV for over six years. We are still traveling, but we now have a small house in Gold Canyon, Arizona, where we spent our winters.

We have always been a team, sometimes ministering and teaching together, running a business together. Always, we have been a team in our family life. I followed him to Castle Rock, Nashotah, Granby, Denver. He supported my working for his boss , the bishop. He offered to remain in Granby where I loved my work, rather than accept the position at St. Gabriels.

Another part of our retirement has been volunteering in state and national parks and fish and wildlife areas. We worked at these places as a team--cleaning trails; hiking and telling people about Bryce Canyon; cleaning restrooms and fire pits; building signs; giving tours at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge; cleaning cabins.

At one volunteer assignment, Mount Hood was visible from our front yard.

All of it has been an adventure. The stories we remember about the many twists and turns in our life together. Today, it's been 50 years since we married. We talk and talk and talk. We are more in love that when we married. You can't beat being part of a great team like we have.

Great RV Sites

With views like this, who wouldn't like this spot in Cochiti Lake COE Campground west of Santa Fe, NM,

or this in the Whittington Center campground near Raton, NM?

At Cochiti Lake, we only had an electrical hook-up. The web site said to bring 100 feet of hose because the water hookups were shared. We learned that meant we had to string the hose across the road to the water in another site, fill our tank, then roll the hose back up. That wouldn't be bad, except we never use our fresh water tank and we hadn't sanitized it for over a year. We could use the water from it, but had to fill bottles for drinking water. We learned our lesson. And, since we think we had the best site in the whole campground, we will do it again. But we will prepare the tank in advance.

We like our site at Whittington Center. But we learned we will be sharing the area with families of 600 young people participating in a shooting competition over the weekend. We will probably learn we like this campground better in spring and fall, rather than summer.

We Finally Made It

Tent Rocks National Monument is just a few miles from the Cochiti COE Campground were we are staying. We tried to visit the monument two years ago, but it just didn't work out. You can read about the frustrating day here.

This time, we drove to the monument with our cameras carefully turned off and out of sight. As we entered the monument, we made sure to ask if it was OK to take photographs. It was well worth our effort to return. The rock formations in the monument are very interesting and different and the slot canyon we hiked was beautiful.

The layers and layers of sandstone give the rocks an interesting appearance.

The top layer is a more dense cap rock that protects what is beneath it from erosion.  Eventually, only a small amount of the cap rock remains, leaving the distinctive tent formations.

In the past we have only hiked one very small slot canyon, in Zion National Park, I believe. We really enjoyed the canyon in Tent Rocks.  Look at how the root system of this Ponderosa Pine has eroded.  Surprisingly, the tree is still very much alive.

We wouldn't have allowed either of our sons to climb all over the formations like this.

Here the canyon is getting more narrow.
 

The canyon looks even more interesting in black and white.

At times it would be difficult to look ahead and see where the canyon was going. Then someone would appear, coming from the other end.

We almost always use our diamond willow hiking sticks, which John made for us, when we go out. We do not recommend them in a slot canyon. Often, the trail wasn't wide enough to put the stick on the ground next to our feet. It ended uphill and put us in an awkward position.










Look closely at the hole near the top of this rock formation. How on earth did it fill up with small rocks, looking like river rocks. Did the main rock erode and these rocks came loose and piled in the bottom of the hole?

The Colors and Sights of Santa Fe

The major activity on the Santa Fe Plaza is shopping. There are many high-end jewelry and art dealers, as well as stores selling southwestern decor items. Would you believe that, other than our lunch, our only expenditure was a $1.63 pan scraper? Either we have incredible restraint or we don't have room in the RV to carry anything.

The Plaza was very busy on Saturday afternoon. There were entertainers on the square and a magician, as well as lots of people enjoying the warm weather under the shade trees.







 
The most interesting stores, and the most colorful ones, were those with Southwestern decorations and brightly-colored displays.

There were several  patios, surrounded by shops, where there was outdoor seating for restaurants and other interesting sights.














We also visited the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, which fills one end of the central Plaza. The interior is beautiful.