Lake Cochiti Corp Campground, New Mexico – March 2018

Lake Cochiti Corp Campground, New Mexico – March 2018

Campgrounds, Traveling
We are just finishing our 14 day stay at Lake Cochiti COE campground in Cochiti, New Mexico.  This park would be listed as one of our top ten parks we have stayed in during our first seven years of full-timing.  We will definitely be back. During our stay we have hiked in Tent Rock, hiked the 5 mile long dam, hiked along the cliffs of the Rio Grande which runs through the park, and hiked many miles on trails in the park. In all we put on 61 miles in those two weeks.  Loved all the hikes we were able to take. The park is between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, 30 miles north to Santa Fe and about 40 miles south to Albuquerque so when we needed supplies or getting…
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Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rock National Monument – Cochiti, New Mexico – March 2018

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rock National Monument – Cochiti, New Mexico – March 2018

Traveling
I haven't posted in awhile but just had to write about Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rock National Monument which is relatively new, opening in January of 2001.  This Park is about six miles from the campground we stayed at, Cochiti Lake Corp of Engineer CG for fourteen days.  We did a little research on Tent Rock and picked a day that we felt the weather was perfect for a good hike.  Very glad we did because even at 65 degrees it got hot as we climbed the trail.  Tent Rock gets its name from the cone-shaped tent rock formations. [gallery columns="4" link="file" ids="5840,5826,5825,5824,5823,5822,5821,5820,5819,5818,5816,5815,5814,5813,5812,5811,5810,5809,5808,5807,5806,5805,5804,5803,5802,5801,5800,5799,5798,5797,5796,5795,5792,5793,5791,5790,5789,5788"] Tent Rock is a relatively small park with only three marked trails which we decided to do two of them.  Our first hike was on Slot Canyon Trail,  a…
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Michigan – 2017

Michigan – 2017

Traveling
After Nashville we were going to meet up with Cassie and her family in WI for the 4th of July and decided to go to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for the two weeks before the 4th.   On our way to the UP we decided to drive along Lake Michigan and stop to visit one of Joe’s fellow Toro friends who retired a few years after Joe and recently bought a summer cabin outside of Traverse City in the beautiful woods of Michigan.  Paul spent a day showing us the sites in this area of Michigan which we had not been to.  We eat lunch at Joe’s Tavern in Empire which was quaint.  We took a walk in Sleeping Bear sand dunes, checked out a lighthouse, and just enjoyed a drive through…
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Nashville, TN – 2017

Nashville, TN – 2017

Traveling
After leaving Ohio in June we drove to Nashville, TN for a four day visit with Joe’s brother Art and his wife Nancy and Joe’s sister Betsy and her husband Tom who drove to Nashville from WI so we could all spend a little time together on the lake.  Art had just bought a new pontoon boat which we all enjoyed taking rides on.  We spent a wonderful afternoon walking through the Grand Old Opry Gaylord Hotel.  If you ever get the opportunity to visit this place it is so much worth the time.  It is a huge facility with shops, a river that runs through it that you can take a boat ride on, restaurants, waterfalls, and beautiful gardens.  It was gorgeous!  We had a wonderful time in Nashville…
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Minnesota and Ohio – Summer 2017

Minnesota and Ohio – Summer 2017

Traveling
Seems like we just got back to Minnesota and we are already making plans for leaving in October.  Time flies when you are having so much fun!  We are so blessed with four beautiful grandkids and have been able to spend time with each of them this summer.  With Cate and Alex because they are getting older we went to movies (I love animated movies), Chuck E Cheese (only grandpa and grandma can take them there – lucky us) and parks and more parks. We enjoyed a day at the Minnesota Zoo with Alex, Amanda and Adalyn.  Cate and her Girl Scout troop hosted a Mother’s Day brunch which grandma was invited to. It made me realize just how grown up Cate is getting.  We had sleepovers with Cate and…
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South Dakota – 2017

South Dakota – 2017

On Our Minds, Traveling
We went to South Dakota to get our driver’s license expecting that both of us would be able to renew them at the same time.  Joe needed his by the end of March and mine was due at the end of September.  The rule of being a resident of South Dakota and getting a SD license is that you must stay overnight at least one night and you must prove you receive your mail in the state.  We decided to stay three nights at the campground of our mail service (worse campground we have ever stayed at). We gather all the paperwork we needed from our mail service and off to the DMV we went on the 28th.  Joe successfully renewed his license but not so fast for me.  I…
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South Carolina-2016

South Carolina-2016

Traveling
Our goal was to head to the ocean in South Carolina to start our winter.  But before the ocean we made a few stops.  Joe’s brother and his wife bought a second home in Nashville, TN and we wanted to stop to see the house and a short visit.  The house was beautiful and the visit was very nice.  We don’t get to see Art and Nancy very often so even a short visit is nice. We then made a few days stop in Ashville, NC to check out the city and also to visit the Biltmore House.  We were fortunate to see the Biltmore when it was decorated for Christmas.  There are 250 rooms in this estate and the ones we were able to see were amazing.  General admission…
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Our Four Legged Companion – Lily

Our Four Legged Companion – Lily

Traveling
Lily had a really rough few months fighting off big dogs.  At three separate campgrounds she was attacked by big dogs.  Her first was by a golden retriever who was not on a leash ran out and jumped on her.   I think the dog wanted to play with her but scared her enough not to want to be by big dogs.  The second was a standard poodle that was tied to a lawn chair and as Lily and I walked by pulled the chair to the road and took Lily to the ground with her mouth.  Needless to say I did a lot of screaming to get the dog off her.  The last was the worse when a Rottweiler broke his leash that was tied to the picnic table, ran…
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Ohio – Summer/Fall 2016

Ohio – Summer/Fall 2016

Traveling
With a new granddaughter in Ohio we made four trips to Cincinnati over the summer and fall.  After our initiate meeting of our beautiful Vivian in June we went back in August for a short visit.  She had already changed in that short period of time.  It is so hard to leave but we knew we would be back soon.   We made the trip back to see how much she had grown in Sept.  Her smile and cooing were so precious.  I tried to get in as much “grandma” time as possible.   Vivian’s baptism was Oct 9th and we were able to make one more trip to Cincinnati to enjoy the celebration with Zach and Lauren.  It was really hard to leave knowing that we wouldn’t see them again until…
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Summer 2016

Summer 2016

Traveling
It is always wonderful to be back in MN for the summer so we can spend time with our kids and grandkids, friends and family.  We celebrated grandson Alex’s 3rd birthday in July and were able to go with Cassie and the kids to the Scott County Fair and have a really fun day.  In August we went to granddaughter Cate’s pre-school graduation.  Kindergarten is just around the corner for her.  Where did those years go?  We spent 5 days in Grand Marais, MN with Cassie, Aaron, Cate, Alex and Eric.  We will always call Grand Marais our favorite spot to camp.  Oct brought a baby shower for daughter Amanda, get-togethers with friends and family and of course, we had to take Cate and Alex to Chuck E Cheese, their…
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