While we knew we wouldn't be able to live on our property in Alma, Colorado through this Winter, we had been hoping to start building a house in the Spring and, optimistically, have something livable by next Winter. Reality set in 2 days after we closed on the property in early October and got 6 inches of snow that slowly melted over the course of a week before getting 3 FEET of snow the following week! Instead of having what we thought was going to be 5-6 months of snow to deal with, it now appears that we may have more like 7-8 months of snow, depending on the season. We're now reevaluating what type of structure to build on the property. The year round residence is probably out of the plan and our thinking is now more of a "docking station" of sorts for STEV to enjoy the property during the Summer months. We'll see...
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| Shonah and Chip working to clear (and burn) some of the dead wood from what will become the driveway of our Alma, Colorado property. |
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| Hanging Lake is a Colorado treasure and a rare example of a travertine geological formation located in the heart of Glenwood Canyon in the White River National Forest. |
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| The 1.2 mile (1.9 km) trail is steep and rigorous, but rewarding once you see the natural beauty that awaits you at the top. It’s a Natural National Landmark and is popular with travelers for its awe-inspiring beauty and gentle Colorado waterfalls! |
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| Shonah and Chip taking one more look at our property covered in snow before leaving Colorado in November. Poor Chip had to jump from foot hole to foot hole as the snow was taller than he is AND it was hard not to laugh at him when he tried to go to the bathroom in the tall snow. |
After leaving Colorado, we headed East to spend time with Shonah's parents in Illinois where we celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas early and helped Mom get the house ready for the holidays. Toledo was next with a quick visit with Todd's niece Angela and her husband Greg who had recently purchased their first (100 year old) home. A few days in Cleveland after that allowed us to resettle and sort some things from our trailer storage into a climate controlled storage unit for the winter and visit with friends and family for Thanksgiving before heading off to New York for a visit with Todd's Aunt Lou and Lynn.
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| Chip and Todd taking in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree just before the lighting ceremony later that day. We chose to visit earlier in the day to avoid the crowds and from being "locked in" the area during the ceremony. |
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| Todd, Chip and Shonah in front of the biggest Christmas lights we've ever seen in New York. |
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| Heading south from New York, we stopped to visit Todd's niece Emily and her husband Matt in Charleston, South Carolina. |
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| Escaping the cold north, Chip and Todd were excited to get to warmer weather and beaches on our way down to Florida. |
Heading toward our destination in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, we stopped for quick visits with Todd's cousin Becky and her family in Jacksonville, Florida, Todd's Aunt Linda in Titusville, Florida and Todd's Uncle Art in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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| Chip and Shonah in font of the Ft. Lauderdale "snowman". We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in mid-December with a plan to stay for a month or so. Todd's Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim live a few blocks off the beach and we have a free camping spot nearby that we've used in past visits. |
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| Christmas Parades in Ft. Lauderdale involve lots of lighted boats parading on the canals and intercostal waterway. This year's Winterfest Boat Parade had a very 80's theme. |
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| Chip getting into the holiday spirit with the help of a hat from one of our Cliff Lake Villa friends, Kathy. |
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| Christmas morning mimosas with Shonah, Aunt Sue, Uncle Jim and Jackie before brunch with a dozen friends. |
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| While "bomb cyclones" were wrecking havoc up north, Todd and Chip were enjoying kayaking on the canals in Ft. Lauderdale and checking out the quite large bearded dragons. |
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| We also saw a few manatees while kayaking around the Ft. Lauderdale canals. |
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| As our planned time in Ft. Lauderdale came to an end in early January, we started to head for Texas to help celebrate Shonah's grandfather's 90th birthday. Unfortunately, STEV had other thoughts and wanted to stay in warmer Florida where he spent a week and a half having very expensive rear axle surgery. |
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| Not wanting to miss grandpa's birthday, we rented a car and drove to Texas while STEV was being repaired back in Florida. After fixing up a bike that grandpa had salvaged, Todd is trying to help Grandpa prove that once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget....although I am not sure you could call it a success. |
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| We celebrated Grandpa's birthday at the home of Shonah's cousin Megan and her husband Tim and their girls near Corpus Christi, Texas. |
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| Shonah's sister Stacy, her husband Jeff and their family from San Antonio, Texas were also able to join in the grand celebration. Also helping to celebrate were Shonah's nephew Jeffery Jr, niece Tiffany, and his great-nephew Issac Jr. |
Since it was still cold everywhere else in the country after our visit with Shonah's grandfather, we decided to spend more time in Ft. Lauderdale after picking up STEV.
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| We were fortunate to spend some time with Todd's cousin Lisa and her boyfriend Chris while they were in town visiting her parents for the Superbowl. |
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| And because we are fortunate enough to have a pretty flexible schedule, we were also able to stay in town to visit with Todd's Aunt Lou during her weeklong trip to Miami, Florida. |
As we prepared to leave Ft. Lauderdale in mid-February to head toward Colorado, Shonah started to have strong feelings about the option of becoming "snow birds" where we spend summers in Colorado and winters in Florida. The sun and warmth really had an effect on him! Todd's not yet convinced...
