Pagosa Springs Cabin

Dec 16 - 21, 2016

Our daughter Kathryn rented a cabin in the mountains at Pagosa Springs, CO and invited us to come.  We decided to make the 14 hour drive in two days stopping overnight in Tucumcari, NM. We arrived at the Tucumcari Days Inn on Dec 16 and planned to leave early the next morning and drive to Albuquerque, NM to pick up Rachael and Kevin at the airport.  However, as we drove to Alburquerque we got word from Rachael that their plane was delayed...for 10 hours it turns out.  We finally picked them up at about 6:30 PM and arrived at the cabin before midnight.

Cabin at night with Christmas lights

The next day we awoke to a beautiful sunny day and went sleigh riding down the hill leading to the cabin. It was a first time experience for the Keeton kids and Kevin.  We had some great fun and great wipe outs!   We also spent part of the day trying to get the cars back up the driveway from the cabin so we could go skiing the next day.  We had beautiful days with temps from 0 to 35 degrees.

Driveway to Cabin - a sheet of ice

Sleigh riding hill was the road

On the last day we went skiing at Wolf Creek Ski Resort.  After spending about 3 hours getting tickets and skis (should have rented skis in the valley instead of at the resort), we finally hit the slopes about noon.  Kevin, Akston, and Reayen were new skiers and so we spent some time on the bunny slope. They all quickly got the hang of skiing and soon Kevin and Rachael were off trying more challenging slopes.  Toward the end of the day John, Kathryn, and Lee got to try a few intermediate runs and had a great time.  I got to try out my new hip (left hip replacement done last year) for the first time on the slopes.  I found that skiing with two hip replacements works just fine...glad to know that I have a few years of skiing left.  

The Ski Trip Crew

Liz and Elynn stayed back at the cabin during our ski trip and Liz took some great pics of the cabin.

The cabin was a beautiful place and accommodated our party of 9 very comfortably.  The experience made us realize this is something we should do again and try to include the whole family....something to factor into our plans for the future.

2016 Zollinger Sibling Reunion

On Dec 1-4 we hosted a Zollinger sibling family reunion in Orlando, FL.  All of Elizabeth's brothers and sisters and their spouses attended.  We rented a vacation villa in Davenport, FL near Disney World.  The villa had 8 bedrooms, a rec room, movie room, pool and spa and comfortably accommodated our party of 17.  We had a family business meeting and dinner at the villa and used our free time to enjoy the local attractions including EPCOT at Disney World, the Gaylord Hotel Christmas decorations and the Mormon Church welfare farm.  We had a great time and it was good to catch up on the latest news of family members.  Here are some pics from the reunion.

Dinner at Chuys Mexican Restaurant

Gaylord Hotel Atrium

Family Pics at the Vacation Villa

Ouachita National Forest Fall Colors

We wanted to see some of the local fall colors so we decided to head for the Oauchita National Forest in Oklahoma and Arkansas. 

We left home on Thursday Nov 4 2016 and headed northeast.  We spent the first night at Beavers Bend campground near Broken Bow, OK.  We have stayed here before in a rainstorm so didn't have fond memories of the place.  This time we got a beautiful day and a hike in the forest with plenty of falling leaves...it was nice.  They also have a cool visitors center with a museum showing the history of the logging industry in the area...well worth seeing.

Totem Pole Outside Beaver Bend Visitor Center/Museum

Day 2 we drove north into the Oauchita National Forest in Oklahoma and Arkansas.  This mountain range is unusual in that it runs east and west.  This range has peaks of around 2500 ft from a valley floor of about 800 ft so it feels like real mountains.  We took the Talimena Scenic Byway drive that runs along the top of the mountain range providing scenic views on both sides of the road.  The fall colors were beautiful but not nearly as vibrant as we saw on our fall trip to Vermont and New Hampshire.  We might have missed the peak and this year wasn't the best for fall colors here.    We stayed at the Queen Wilhelmina State Park on the mountain top in Arkansas.  This was once a resort built on top of the mountain by some wealthy Netherlanders to honor their Queen Wilhelmina back in the late 1800's.  It has been taken over by the State and turned into a hotel and restaurant with a great view.  The day we were there the parking lot of the hotel was full of antique cars that were gathering for a car show nearby.

Queen Wilhelmina Hotel and Restaurant

View of Oauchita Mountains from Hotel

Steam Engine at Queen Wilhelmina State Park

Day 3 found us at Cedar Lake Recreation Area, a beautiful little lake nestled among the hills in Oklahoma.  Here we did some hiking around the scenic lake.

Cedar Lake Recreation Area, OK

Next we headed up to Fort Smith and spent the night at Sams to replenish supplies.  We spent one night on Lake Ouachita at the Denby Point campground.

Then we headed home, planning to spend our last night at the Choctaw Casino where we could watch Hillary Clinton's victory in the presidential elections on Nov 8th.  As the election returns came in it became more and more apparent that our worst nightmare was going to come true...despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million, the Donald was actually going to become the next president.  We drove on home late that night wondering how this could happen and what the effect will be on our kids and grandkids.

2016 Dayton Sibling Reunion

On October 12 - 14 we attended a Dayton sibling family reunion at a cabin in Sundance Ski Resort in Utah.  The reunion included Lee's mother and all his brothers and sisters except Eileen and their spouses except Becky.  This was our first reunion without Dad who passed away in August.  We had a great time together hiking in the beautiful mountains, riding to the top of the mountain on a ski lift at night in the moonlight, and taking a wagon ride to see the beautiful fall colors on the mountainside.  It was also a good time to remember Dad's life and to catch up with siblings and their lives.

Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon

Vivian Park Area in Provo Canyon

Fall Colors on the Alpine Loop

Stewart Falls below Mt. Timpanogos

Siblings & Spouses walking to the Steward Falls trailhead

San Antonio Missions

Monday   October 3, 2016

San Antonio Missions

In our quest to visit all the National Parks and Monuments, we discovered one in our own back yard that also boasts a biking trail.  The San Antonio Missions Historic Park is a string of Missions built in the early 1700s along the San Antonio river. These missions were built by the Spanish to manage the territory, convert the Indians to Catholicism, and provide a base for commerce and trade.
The park consists of five missions, counting the famous Alamo in downtown San Antonio.  The other 4 follow the river downstream and are each about 5 miles apart.  They are named Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan, and Espada.  The missions are connected by a lovely bike trail that follows the river.
We biked to three of the connecting missions along the San Antonio River.

Mission San Jose

Mission San Juan

del la Espada Mission

At the visitors center located at Mission San Jose we learned about the native people who lived in south Texas.  One interesting fact about the Indian population in this area was that instead of one or two dominant tribes there were 30 or more small tribes. This made it very difficult for them to mount a defense against the Spaniards.  When these missions were built, they brought in Indians from all these tribes to live and work within the missions.

We had a great time discovering and touring the sister missions of the Alamo and enjoyed a great biking trip as well.

Texas Hill Country

Our travel plan takes us from the Dallas area to San Antonio and back - an exploration of familiar areas but we are planning to visit new places and some unfamiliar backroads.

Our journey began on Wednesday September 28 - a truly beautiful day.

Starting from home - Fairview, TX - it is always such a relief to get through Dallas - then on 67 and finally on 281 - which gives the feeling of a genuine Texas country road.  The familiar Texan towns with their authenticTexas flair were there to greet us - starting with Glen Rose then Hico on to Hamilton to Lampasas where we stopped to eat at Alfredo's - a fun Mexican restaurant we have long wanted to try. It was delicious! We took a new road - 183 up to Cedar Park near Austin and turned on 1431 toward Marble Falls - following the (Texas) Colorado River. Green, beautiful hill country - ranches with some bailed grass but mostly hills and trees and open country. Love seeing it all!

Stopped at Marble Falls for the night.  Next day we traveled through Texas Hill Country where every plant seems to be defending itself. Pear cactus, gnarly live oak, sunflowers grow among craggy rocks and open grass lands with cattle grazing.

We enjoyed seeing Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. 

Enchanted Rock

Then we drove through the willkommen Germantown, Fredericksburg, a destination place we plan to return to soon. 

Next to Kerrville and then the small, windy, backwood roads that follow the Guadelope River that led us to Lost Maples State Natural area and our campsite for the night. 

Lost Maples Campsite

On Saturday, Septemer 30, a pristine fall morning, we were up early and hiked the Maple/East Trails - a  rigorous 4.6 miles up and down the mountain following stream beds filled with large boulders.

 Lost Maples Trails

We enjoyed the scenic drive out - as we drove toward Boerne, Texas.  The road was narrow and windy with  dips and climbs  We were impressed to see the "mountains" of Texas.

Wichita Mountains Oklahoma

Lee needed to find some mountains to hike in near Dallas (which is a little hard to do in the middle of the prairie) so he found a decent size mountain in Oklahoma (Mt Scott at 2464 ft) in the Wichita Mountain range.  Unfortunately, there is a road all the way to the top of Mt Scott, so not much of a hike.  However, there are other mountains in the range with no roads so he hiked Elk Mt. instead (trail was only 2 miles but substantial vertical climb).  The mountains are in a national wildlife refuge that has a bison herd, an elk herd and a long horn cattle herd.  We were very impressed with the scenery which reminded us of a mini Hayden Valley in Yellowstone, large meadows with bison surrounded by mountain peaks.  Not what we expected to find in Oklahoma.  On the drive up to the mountains we stayed one night at Waurika Lake, a Corps of Engineers lake that had a nice campground.  The second night we stayed at Doris campground in the wildlife refuge.  Overall a beautiful area and wonderful drive on backroads to and from.  One surprise was the Holy City.  Who would have thought that you'd find a stage for a reenactment of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ in the middle of the Wichita Mountains but there it is!  Every Easter the local community puts on a Passion Play for tourists. An elaborate set has been built here that includes all the major sites of the play.....definitely worth a look.

Until next time,

Lee & Liz

View from the top of Elk Mountain

Holy City in the Wichita Mountains

Tetons/Yellowstone, Lake Tahoe, Lake Powell

June 13, 2016.  We left early for our annual trip to Lake Powell because we wanted to make some stops along the way.  After overnight stays in Amarillo, Santa Rosa State Park, and the Sandia Resort & Casino near Albuquerque (a very good place to stay overnight in the RV) we drove on to Navajo Lake in New Mexico and Colorado.  Here we met up with Jim and Anna Maria (Liz's sister) and spent an afternoon on the lake.  The next day we drove to the the Aztec National Monument ruins near the town of Aztec, NM.  These ruins contained many kivas and other structures that had religious significance for the Pueblo Indians.

Liz, Jim & Anna Maria by a Kiva at Aztec Natl Monument

On June 19th we headed to Provo, UT and arrived the next day.  Here we found a beautiful campsite in Provo Canyon right on the Provo river at Nuns Park.  The Provo Canyon bike trail goes right through Nuns Park and we took full advantage riding our bikes up to Bridal Veil Falls and down the canyon into the valley where we found another great bike trail (the Murdock Trail) that winds through the valley.  On our last day at the park we invited Lee's Mom and Dad and  Rick and Ruth (Lee's sister) to join us for Mom's birthday dinner.  We had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings.  This would be the last time Liz & I would see my Father alive....he passed away in August.

Nuns Park on the Provo River

Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon

On June 24th we left Provo Canyon headed to Bear Lake (stopped in Garden City, UT for raspberry shakes) and camped overnight at Allred Flats, WY.  Then on to the Tetons Natl Park, staying one night at Gros Venture campground and 3 nights at Colter Bay.  The Park was simply beautiful.  We were joined by Liz's sister Barbara and we hiked and biked together through country as beautiful as heaven.

The Tetons

Mt Moran on Jackson Lake

Selfie by Heron Pond near Colter Bay

Barbara and Liz

On June 29 we went to Yellowstone and stayed 2 nights at Grant campground with a campsite right on Yellowstone Lake.  We went for a day trip to Yellowstone falls and hiked down to an overlook.  There was a young couple that wanted us to take their picture kissing by the falls.  After we took the pic they asked if we wanted one too......I never turn down a chance for a free kiss!

Kiss at Yellowstone Falls overlook

Liz at hot springs in Yellowstone

Yellowstone Lake near our campsite

From Yellowstone we traveled to Burley, ID to see Liz's family.  Then we pressed on to Lake Tahoe, CA stopping at Jackpot and Winnemucca Nevada along the way (great rest area outside Winnemucca with a dump station).  At Lake Tahoe we stayed 2 nights at Granite Flats campground where we met up with Bruce (Lee's brother), Becky and Aubrey and d, Zhouyi and grandbaby Meila.  We enjoyed dinner with Bruce & Becky who left later in the evening while d & Zhoyi stayed on for 3 days.  On July 4th we rode the Truckee River bike trail down to Tahoe City where we had an ice cream and enjoyed the beauty of Lake Tahoe.  The next day we moved on to Fallen Leaf Campground at the south end of the lake.  Here we took a bike trail to the beach at Taylor Creek.  The water was a little chilly but Meila still enjoyed it.

d, Zhouyi & Meila ready for biking

Swimming in Lake Tahoe

From Lake Tahoe we headed out on the last leg of our journey to Lake Powell, stopping in Provo to buy food for our week at Powell.  We picked up the speedboat in Green River, UT and made it to Lake Powell safely.  We were hoping for a great time at Powell this year because all the kids were there for the first time in many years.  John and Kathryn and their three kids Akston, Reayen, and Elynn, drove out from San Antonio with their boat and arrived on Monday July 11th.  All the rest of us (Liz & I, Topher, My, Denae, Beau, d, Zhouyi,Meila, Rachael, & Kevin) arrived on Sunday July 10th.  We had a good  day boating up river from Bullfrog on Monday.  On Tuesday we headed down river with the houseboat and found a great campsite in Clear Creek Canyon on the Escalante River.  Then trouble struck.  People began to get sick with the 24 hr stomach flu.  Before we were done more than half of the group had  been sick.  Fortunately, the symptoms only lasted a day or so and everyone was better by Friday, but it did take a toll on our fun.  Also, the houseboat generator only worked intermittently so we couldn't run the air conditioner.  To make matters worse, on Thursday while we were exploring the canyons on the Escalante River, I hit a rock with the propeller of our boat.  It bent the propeller so we were unable to use the boat except at idle speed for the rest of the week.  (When we got back home and took it in for repair we found out that the propeller, drive shaft and rudder were all bent and had to be replaced and the hull was cracked and had to be repaired to the tune of $10K - thank goodness for insurance).  Fortunately, we had John & Kathryn's boat so we still had fun for the rest of the week.  Despite our troubles, or perhaps partly because of them, we had a good time at Lake Powell as always.

Grandkids having a "danceoff" on the top deck of the houseboat

Kevin enjoying the scenery

Rachael, Denae & Topher at Davis Gulch

Beau reading the instructions on his life jacket

Meila wading with her dad

On July 17th we left Lake Powell for home with two of our grandkids, Akston & Reayen, in tow.  It was great to have them with us on the return trip and they were real troopers on the long trip home.  We arrived home July 20th having been gone more than a month but with the memories that only come with being in beautiful places with loved ones.