Fall is here

Fall has been falling. But now we are enjoying a very beautiful “Indian” summer.

To be sure it is still fall and the 70 mile per hour winds we had on Sunday stripped many a tree of its fall splendor. But we were spared a blizzard. This week the temperature has been slowly climbing, and today we went bicycling in 70 degree weather. All the way to election day we expect nice sunny and dry days. I guess, that Corrie and I will do some more riding.
Although we live in a town-house and have no yard to care for, Monique and Rick have a flower garden which needs fall clean-up. They are fortunate that Corrie likes to do this kind of work, so we plan to provide a helping hand, clean up the yard and maybe “earn” a dinner at their beautiful renovated kitchen and dining room.





















November is just around the corner and our thoughts are going toward Thanksgiving.
Many things to be thankful for... bu that will be another blog.

Good Bye, Vacation....

Good-bye to San Antonio and good-bye to our extended trip of this fall. We had very beautiful weather while we were in San Antonio. The day is rained, we were visiting the missions, just south of the town. It was dry for most of this exciting visit. We learned about the change of culture, initially mediated by the Roman Catholic Church and enhanced by immigration of Europeans from the north-east, the thirteen colonies. These change ultimately caused the formation, – founding, if you will, of Texas. Of course, the dictator of Mexico had a lot do with that. “Remember the Alamo....” It made our re-visit to the Alamo more significant as well.



Mission San Jose

The Alamo

TheViet-Nam Memorial, -- very expressive!

Tower and Torch

View NW from the Tower of the Americas,
can you find the Alamo?
and the Torch?

San Antonio is a beautiful city, teeming with life.
We walked the Paseo del Rio at least once every day. On our trip to "Fort Sam," Rick found his kindergarten-first grade school and it had not changed at all.
The housing area where we lived in 1974 no longer exist though. But lo and behold: Brackenkridge Kiddie Park is still there; unchanged! The rides are still the same, I think even the colors are the same, still. The train still runs throughout the park, but we did not see any paddle boats. I remember buying tickets for the kids to take rides, now you get a stamp. Other than that, it was déjà vue. Unfortunately Fort Sam Housten is also closed now, due to security risks. The old Brook Army Medical Center is now an office complex, but the new BAMC is much more accessible for patient care, located outside of the post security zone. It was fun, to drive across this base and reminisce.

Our trip home was uneventful; it is good to be back home after nearly two months.

Another Place to Enjoy

Last Saturday came and went; no "hike" this time. But we did arrive in San Antonio early afternoon. After a fabulous 4 weeks’ stay in Glen Eyrie, we are now on vacation in the beautiful city of San Antonio. The walks along the Paseo del Rio are wonderful too.

Rick and Jena, our children from Missouri, are here with us. The weather is very mild and we have been blessed with overcast skies. The River-walk is addictive and our condo is just south of downtown on the walk. Easy access to all the beauty of “paseo del rio” here in San Antonio, Texas. We usually do some of the “touristy” things, but this is also a time for relaxing and recovery for all of us.

On Sunday we were visited by nephew Jesse Kasper and his wife Laura. Jesse is in fighter-jet training in southern Texas, so they were reasonably close to us and came up to San Antonio to spend the day.

Glen Eyrie, Still beautiful!

Another Saturday and another local hike. This may sound like a drag, but as you have seen in the previous two postings, we reaaly do enjoy these hikes. On our third weekend at Glen Eyrie we hiked up “Lady Bug Overlook.” We were able to get a (almost) birds-eye view of the Garden of the Gods, located just south of us. Also we were able too overlook our glen and get an idea of the size. It was an effort to get proper orientation of all the landmarks we were familiar with.







On Sunday we drove through the Garden of the Gods. The weather was an another beautiful sunny day. There were some clouds in the sky to help with the contrast of the beautiful scenery we were privileged to behold. We were able to see the golden Aspen on the mountain slopes to the west of us, and noticed a bit of fresh snow on Pike’s Peak.
Our work continues to give us much satisfaction; the relationships with the staff here are awesome. Corrie is spending the evening with the girls from housekeeping on a “girls’ night out.” I get to play with the computer this time. (Corrie’s facebook activity takes away some of my computer time, just kidding!)






















Yesterday, (October 6) the cook was alone in the kitchen, two of the helpers had called in sick. My sweetheart told the cook, just ask Joh to help you, he has worked in the kitchen before... Asks the cook: “Joh Who?” “My husband,” was the retort. As I walked into the dining room for a nice quiet breakfast, I was cornered for a tete-a-tete with my loving wife, whom I had not seen for 45 minutes, because she left for work early. Thinking I would get some “sweet nothings” I instead was encouraged to help Karen, the “lonely” cook. “You can do it, you know how!”
So, what is a man to do? I talked my supervisor into letting me help in the kitchen for the day. I had a wonderfully fulfilling day, – preparing meals, doing dishes; – cutting “cold cuts,” doing dishes; – setting up the salad bar, doing dishes. But in all earnestness it was a fulfilling day in the kitchen. My dogs were barking and my back had a work-out, but we got out-of-there on time. Accomplishment melts away fatigue. (Appreciation works too.)
It is our last week here, Friday we leave this wonderful retreat, but plan to be back next year.

Glen Eyrie again

Last Saturday we went up Queen’s Canyon to go to Dorothy falls and the “Punch Bowls” on top. These are like “shut-ins.” It was a difficult climb, but beautiful none the less. We saw some awesome sights, creations is so majestic here! Our map said it would take about one hour to climb to the falls, but we took 3 hours, because every time we stopped and looked around there was something else to see and marvel at; we love the Glen Eyrie area.



















As I mentioned before, it is located just north of the “Garden of the Gods” and has similar mountains, but this area is private and soooooo incredibly peaceful. Your whole being comes to rest and you know that God is in this place. You don't have to go looking for Him, He is right here, giving you peace and rest, even on a difficult hike...
The organization that runs this place, “The Navigators”, is a nondenominational Christian organization, well known for emphasis on discipleship training. They provide a restful place for a weary bodies and a restless spirits. Even though the work is hard sometimes and we come home tired, after just a little rest, you can go on again, because of the serenity of this place.

We see lots of wild life here. The Big Horn sheep sometimes come down to meadow at our elevation, turkeys roost in the trees in front of our cabin. Every night, at sundown, they take a running start to fly into the trees, it seems they crash into their roosting place.

Deer come take a drink in our little pond and if we are very quiet, they will let us take their picture...






There are all kinds of birds and small animals as well. The local rabbit has adopted us in his territory, but the squirrels continue to be skittish. This is a wildlife preserve, and the animals have the right of way. We ate having a marvelous time.

At work: in the dining room

At work: The work shop Joh uses.