Visitors welcome!!!!!!!

I think that I mentioned we have space for guests. Just to clarify, you will not have to sleep in Steve's office. Our good friends, Charlie and Conni Ess (at right) visited last week from Missouri and can verify the accommodations if needs be. Since leaving TCU in 1972, we have been fortunate enough to visit with Charlie and Conni on and off over the years.

I think Charlie and Conni are some of the few folks who travel even more than we do. They reached our cabin having just de-planed from France and Bulgaria.

In fact, it has been our good fortune to keep up with many TCU folks. Ralph and Jan Stone, our neighbors here in Jemez Springs and TCU allies, are a magnet for the TCU crowd. We were veryf fortunate that our arrival brought us just in time to celebrate the Stone's anniversary (50 and counting)! We enjoyed a wonderful lunch and a leisurely, scenic drive through the mountains north of Santa Fe (thanks to Jan).

Whether you attended TCU or not, friends and family are always welcome at our humble abode. We guarantee that we will show you a good time, not the least of which will the be unbelievable scenery on the drive up to our cabin. Don't forget that both Santa Fe (huge art market and opera) and Albuquerque (museums, route 66) are just an hour away ... not to mention the wonderful opportunities for hiking in our lovely mountains.

It's not all rest & relaxation ...

Once we arrived at our cabin in Jemez Springs, we did indeed have a list of projects. Thanks to Sue's brother, Jon Lloyd, we were able to make some rather major adjustments to our cabin ... and in record time. We tore down a wall between the existing living room and master bedroom to make one large living space, which included repair and replacement of the pine paneling in many places. While in destructo mode, we also did some rewiring (which involved JD crawling under the house through the mouse poop, always unpleasant!). Thanks to JD, we now have upgraded electrical outlets in new and convenient locations.

After the walls came down, we put down a brand new "floating" laminate floor (replacing the 1950's green striped, rubber-backed carpet) ... wow, what a change. When we pulled the old carpet up, the rubber had turned to gray dust, which flew over everything. Despite the previous submission about relaxation, we invested some major sweat equity in our little place and drew the oohs and aahs of neighbors and visitors alike.

Shortly after Jon left, Steve's new workspace arrived. He now has his very own office (which also doubles as a guestroom). Lest you think that his space is just a shed, let us assure you that it has all the comforts of the main house (electricity, overhead fan, area rug) PLUS two large windows that afford him a fabulous view off the national forest that borders our land. The only thing that disturbes him are the chipmunks that beg peanuts at his door. Of course, Steve's office will never to compare to Sue's shed (known as the "Moose Works") which houses all the tools, lumber and camping supplies!