Autumn

Life has been a little crazy since I last posted. Most of the Northern part of Colorado flooded. We had a little of that here too. On the 15th, we drove to La Junta to pick up Morgan and celebrate birthdays. Her’s was on the 10th, and Dan’s was the 16th. We were a little concerned about the weather as most of Colorado was rather wet. We watched the clouds, and didn’t worry too much, and drove to Pueblo.

We took Morgan to the Texas Roadhouse for a steak dinner. She’d never been there, and her face after she bit  into her steak were great. After lunch, we did a bit of shopping and then went to see the movie Elysium. Interesting movie.

Around 7pm, we started to head back to La Junta. It started to rain. 15 miles from Pueblo, we hit an area that had about 8 inches of water on the road. When we got to Fowler, the rain was coming down so hard, it was difficult to see. The rain let up and almost stopped by the time we got to Rocky Ford. It was a long 60 mile drive.

After we got her some groceries, we headed home. La Junta is 73 miles from Walsenburg. It had started raining just as we headed out. About mile marker 40, we saw a vehicle flashing their lights. We stopped and the driver warned us that there was water on the road. We thanked her and drove a bit slower, looking for the water.

Just about the time I said “The ditch is full of water”, we hit the first ‘puddle’. It threw water up on the windscreen, but it wasn’t too bad. Then we started watching the ditches. Keep in mind this area is farmland and the road usually sits up high from the fields. At least 1-2 ft higher.

We hadn’t gone a mile before I saw the ditch was full, and we hit deep water before I could even finish the sentence. This spot had water flowing across the road. Active flooding. It threw water up and over the cab of the truck. That was scary!

We almost had our breath back, when we hit one more place where the road was flooded. We warned drivers as we headed west. 15 miles from home, we hit a fog bank. It misted away just before we got to town.

Dan checked the truck, and we bent the license plate back with all the water. Otherwise we were safe, but just rattled. We’ve had more rain in a week than we have in 3/4ths of the entire year. 9.5 inches.

From there, our week was hectic. Wwe have been working on getting the house ready for winter, which means lots of little DIY projects and trips to Pueblo for bits and pieces. Especially when I cut the cord that supplied electricity to the Wendy House. sigh… I felt so stupid when I did that. However, I now have good wiring. We converted the back porch to a workshop which has helped as well. The drill press, miter saw and other bits and pieces now have a home.

It was cold last night and we woke to snow on the Spanish Peaks… Not bad for the first day of Autumn.

Last, but not least, we went to the Ludlow Memorial. 100 years ago today, the miners went on strike. As usual, the service was a good mix of memories, Union, politicians and history.