Thursday, August 16, 2018

August 16, 2018
11:13 p.m.

 

August 17, 1957
Mountain Home, Idaho
 Paul and Joyce Shablo

Some stories are more fun to write than others. Some stories fill you with gratitude with each word you type.

This is one of those types of stories.

Sixty-one years ago, in the merry, merry month of May, boy met girl. My father was in the Air Force and stationed in Mountain Home, Idaho. This just happened to be my mother's hometown. They met when they were set up as dates to other people--people they basically ignored for the rest of the afternoon while the talked and got to know each other.

Sixty-one years ago on this day, they married.

Over the next several years, they added five children to their family and set about raising some fine people. (We are!)

 



Today, sixty-one years later, they have five children, fourteen grandchildren, and seventeen great-grandchildren.

I would say they've contributed to the gene pool!

I don't know how to express the love and the gratitude I feel in having these two wonderful people in my life all these years.

How did I get so lucky? How do I explain how blessed I have felt all my life to have them as my parents?

 Paul &Joyce

Erma and Lawrence Aulbach, my mother's parents.

 




These pictures are some of my favorites in the world, and I just wanted to share this with you all. I am so very happy to say, once more, Happy Anniversary!

Sixty-one years is a long time, but we'll shoot for as many as we can get.

I love these people more than life.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!


What a Beautiful Couple!!
Happy 61st Anniversary!






Saturday, August 4, 2018

Saturday, August 4, 2018
10:25 p.m.


Class of 1978 Get Together



Once Upon A Time-- forty years ago, for Heaven's Sake-- I was a kid. We were all kids. Of course, we had just graduated from High School, so we thought we were all grown up, but the truth is, we were kids.

Sigh.

It doesn't seem like forty years.

Photo by Lynnae Stice Seeley

There was a formal Class Reunion earlier this summer. It was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I am told that a good time was had by all who were able to attend. 

I was not one of those people. I had too many irons in the fire to add another trip and spend money I don't have, so I had to let that reunion pass me by. I know I would have loved it had I been able to go, though.

Anyway, it turned out that I was not the only one who would be unable to attend. One of my classmates decided we needed to have a get together in our own hometown so that everyone would have a second opportunity to see old friends. Tracy Mosley Miller arranged an informal gathering, and enough people got on board with it that it went from a bring your own bag lunch to a deluxe pot luck affair.

It all started with a meet and greet at the bar downtown on Friday night, where many gathered and ate sandwiches and had a drink or two while talking and laughing over old times. 










I tried, but there were a few people there who I failed to get pictures of. Darn it. 

The next day, we were blessed to have Tim Seeley to make us a marvelous roasted pig! For those of you who don't know Tim, let me just say that cooking is one of his great joys, and he is really, really good at it.

Everyone one else showed up with dishes to share, and no one went hungry. The weather was cooperative as well--it was a cooler day than we'd had all week, so it was pleasantly warm instead of stifling. 


             Our wonderful chef, Tim Seeley                                     Our ringleader, Tracy Mosley-
                                                                                                                  Miller






This is just a sampling of our graduating class. Cheyenne Frontier Days is a thing around here, and happened to fall in the same weekend, so we had competition. And I'm sure many of our classmates were otherwise occupied, because summer is BUSY. 

So, for those who came, it was great to see you! For those who couldn't make it this time, we missed you and hope to see you sometime soon!

We're getting up there, so let's not wait another forty years for the next one. 

See ya, Class of 1978.

P.S. I can name names if you want me to. Just let me know.

For now, Good-night!






Sunday, July 29, 2018

Sunday, July 29, 2018
9:06 p.m.

Rafe and Great-Grandma Joyce, 2015
This is one of my all-time favorite photos!

I need to start tonight's blog by saying Happy Birthday to my cute, loving, sweet grandson, Rafe. He is 7! 

I don't know what happened! How much longer will we be able to hold him on our laps?
_________________________________________________________________________________

I promised to tell you some good places to eat in Trinidad, and so I shall.

Last time we chatted, I mentioned going to Sonic. A little word about Sonic, then. No matter where you go, if there's a Sonic, you can rest assured that it is the same as the Sonic in your own hometown, and any other towns where you might find one. We sometimes eat at Sonic in Colorado, and we have eaten at Sonic in Oklahoma.

At the Trinidad Sonic, I didn't order food, but I'm positive that if I had, I would have gotten the same food I get anywhere. They are dependable that way.

What I did get was a great big Route 44 Watermelon Slush. It was hot, and those things last all day. It was, predictably, delicious. 

I travel on a tight budget, as I am sure most people do--unless they're rich. We stayed at La Quinta, which has a wonderful breakfast buffet. They are not stingy with food or hours of availability. It's open a good, long time and has a great variety of foods to choose from, including gluten-free selections. You can even make your own waffles. What's not to love? Even when the buffet is closed, fresh fruit can be found in bowls in the lobby area, so no one is going hungry. 

The rooms at La Quinta offer refrigerators and microwaves. You also get a coffee maker, which is priceless, believe me. This gave us the option to hit the market and prepare sandwiches or re-heat leftovers, and that can be a lifesaver. 

But we all know that at some point, we're going out to eat! 

We're quite the crowd, but Trinidad's own Tequila's is more than up to the challenge. The Shablo family was dining in style.

See those chairs? I think they weigh about ninety pounds each, but once you're seated, it's not going to slide away from the table when you get down to feasting. 








The food at Tequila's does not disappoint, and there's more than plenty of it, making those in-room microwaves an even better deal. 

While doing our history museum tour, I took a picture out the window of one of the houses-- it is a shot of Rino's Italian Restaurant, where the waitstaff might burst into song at any time. 

The building was a church, originally, and after a rather interesting and unsettling occurrence in the basement I asked a local if it had any reports of haunting.

Indeed, she told me. 

Now, I'm not crazy. My sister-in-law was with me, and she saw what happened. I went to enter the restroom, and something pushed the door back at me, so I thought someone was in there. When I prepared to excuse myself to whomever I'd nearly barged in on, I discovered an empty room. 

Hmm. Curious, no? 

Anyway, besides being an interesting place, the food was terrific. The waiter did indeed burst into song, and I that was quite a treat! He was a talented guy. 

I tried to upload video, but the file was too big to be supported on this platform, so you'll just have to take my word for it--that was fun!




Once in a blue moon--usually less often than once a year--I will decide to have an adult beverage. Generally speaking, I choose something tried and true, but for some crazy reason, I decided to try something new. It was called a Lemon Meringue Pie Martini. I'm sure you can tell by my expression how very much I LOVED it. Uh huh. 

  



It might be two or three years before I get the urge to have a drink again! Water, water!

I'm sure there are many other great places to eat in Trinidad, but I wasn't there long enough to try them out. Maybe next time.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, so this doesn't count as an eatery in Trinidad, but if you're ever traveling through Minturn, Colorado, you owe it to yourself to stop in at BC Backcountry Wings on Main Street.

The wings are HOT. They were a hit with my brother, but my sister was still babying her tongue from her one taste an hour after we ate.



Personally, I'm not crazy enough--or brave enough--to try hot wings with "levels". Too scary for me. I got the cheeseburger with bacon jam. Oh. My. God.

I hope we go back soon! Ha ha.
_________________________________________________________________________________

So, it's the middle of the night and I've made myself hungry with this post. No, I'm not going to eat. I'm just saying, write food blogs before dinner.

Thus endeth the Shablo family reunion saga for this year.

I'm ready for the next one!
_________________________________________________________________________________

Speaking of the next "reunions", the following weekend it was time for the class on 1978 Get Together.

Stay tuned!

Good night!