Up the Poudre River

We had fun in August on our trip up the Poudre River valley in Colorado. I wanted to post a couple happy pictures with Donovan. As we were driving up he was saying, "I'm bored. I want to go home." Then we went to a fish hatchery and stopping at places as we came back down and he didn't want to go back home as he yelled, "I'm not going home. I'm staying here."

Visit from Hurricane Ike

We had an "Ike" visit today. The hurricane started here at about 5:00 am, the wind reached it's peak at about 9:00 to 11:00 am and the rain has been heavy from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Wind estimates in our area were about 55 mph (just Cat 1) and rain estimates about 8 inches. We're sad because a lady Nana worked with in Huntsville was killed by a falling tree in her bedroom this morning. Although our house is fine, see some of the trees that have blown over. Our lake which was 4 feet low is now overflowing. Many have had their homes destroyed including a neighbor who had a tree fall across his house. Although millions have lost electricity, we've been fortunate because our electricity never went out. We used the tractor to move the trees out of the driveway.

Coyotes

Well Nana and I saw 3 large coyotes with very long tails running in the field behind us last night and coming within 20 yards of our yard. I kept thinking they would run away so I went about watering and putting the ducks away. Later Nana yelled from the garden "GET THE GUN." By the time I got out there with it they finally disappeared. But we've been seeing them a lot lately, so I'm going to keep the gun handy.

A FISH Story

Well on Labor Day weekend this bass produced about 4 lbs. of meat & we estimate he must have weighted over 6 lbs. That's a 26 inch cutting board. He feed 5 hungry folks dinner with Nana's Special Fried Fish recipe. He was caught by Nana's aunt Linda's cousin Johnny shown here holding him. If this doesn't make you want to come fish, I don't know what will.

In Ft Collins Aug 9-19

Nana and I had a great time in Ft Collins in August with Alexa, Aaron, & Donovan. They are all special and we're glad things are going well for all of them. On "Faith Day" we went to a Rockies game with Nana's cousin's family. Speaker at Faith Day was former All-Star pitcher, Dave Dravecky and music was by five-time Grammy award winner Steven Curtis Chapman. We then went to Dave's BBQ after the game. Everything about the day put smiles on our faces. From left Sarah, Nick, & Lexy Stevens, Grandpa, Smokey with the sign, Alexa & Donovan, Nick Jr., Nana, & Aaron. Nana & I had a great time while there at Estes Park, Poudre River, the Fish Hatchery, Cheyenne, the Bud Brewery, on local trains, and even at the "Pouch Plunge" (dogs in the swimming pool at Ft. Collins).

With Jason in Austin, TX

Nana and I had a great time with Jason in Austin this past week. We really liked going to chilly 68 degrees Barton Spring when Austin was hitting 104 degrees. I liked watching (not joining in) as Jason swam laps in the 900 ft long pool. Imagine millions of gallons of cold water a day... The water is soooo cold it took my breath away. We also liked our trip over to Whole Food Market. I would weigh even more if I lived near one of those stores but I had to get the whole-wheat peanut-butter chocolate chip cookies. Monday evening we went to watch the bats come out of the bridge over Town Lake. It's eery seeing 1.5 million bats going out to eat 30,000 lbs. of insects a night. We also visited a couple organic gardens to get ideas. We especially liked the Boogy Creek Farm east of downtown. We wish we could get to see Jason more often, so we're scheming to bring him back to Texas.

Powell Family Reunion

Last weekend Nana and I went to the Powell Family Reunion in Wake Forest, NC. My great-grandmother was Lucy Powell Lloyd who's grandfather was Wiley Powell, seen in this picture on the left. The reunion has descendents of Wiley's eight children.

Wiley's g-g-g-g-g-grandfather was David Powell, a Welshman who came to Jamestown in 1615 where he had inherited land from the King of England. Wiley's wife was Alcy Peebles whose g-g-g-g-g-grandfather was Capt. David Peebles, a Scotsman who was paid Virginia land by the King. They came in 1647 on a smaller ship like those above on the right.

During the late 1700's many Virginians came to North Carolina in a northern section opened by the Earl of Grandville. The Powells, Peebles, and probably the Lloyds came to N.C. before 1800. Nana and I had a great time at the reunion, meeting all these 3rd, 4th, and 5th cousins who had stories of their ancestors. We especially liked touring Wiley's homestead which he purchased in 1843. We toured the Grandville County Historical Museum and Raleigh Natural History Museum (which had a special exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls).