Mile High Market

It's been a good weekend to get some things done around the rig. I forgot to mention in the last post that we rented a rug doctor type of machine, at Home Depot, and did our carpets and throw rugs yesterday. We had a spot on the living room rug where the oil filled radiator had leaked unbeknown to us and left a mark on the carpet. Luckily the floor machine took that right out and all the rugs look great.

This morning Linda defrosted the freezer, which was badly needed. Got all that done and then left around mid-day to go to the Mile High Market...a huge flea market off of I-76. They had everything there from antiques, clothing, motorcycles and ATV's, used things, food booths,amusement park rides for the kids, entertainment and produce.

Need some pinto beans ?

Very nicely done....the buildings that are there are painted bright colors to make it look like cute city streets with quaint stores and shops. The rows even had street names. The place was huge...we were there for two hours and didn't get all the way through it. We figured it was a good way to get our required 30 minutes of walking in for today....walking and looking at items.

Good thing we went to the market right after we'd eaten cause there were sure some yummy smells coming from some of the concessions. Took a lot of willpower to keep us away from them !

We came back from the Mile High Market, picked up Boomer and went to the local dog park. We haven't been there yet, since arriving in Brighton, but Linda had researched where one was located. Turns out it's only about 3 miles away. First park we've ever been to where there is also a pond. Talk about heaven for Boomer....a place to run and play AND get in the water. It doesn't get any better than that. On top of that, there were two whippets, a greyhound and some other dog I've never heard of.....all dogs that love to run.

He swam and he ran and had a ball. You would never know that he's eleven by the way he acts. People can't believe it when they see him. Friday he went to the groomer's and got his summer cut (shaved) so he's nice and cool. Today is gorgeous...72 degrees. Perfect weather ! We came back from the park, put the race on, fired up the grill and here we are. Loving it !!

Mataam Fez

Since this is our last weekend in the Denver area, I wanted to take Linda to Mataam Fez, a Moroccan restaurant, in town.

The last time I came to Denver, for a conference in 1995, I went to a Moroccan restaurant and it was really fun. The one we went to last night isn't the one I went to before but the food was pretty similar. You get a 5 course meal and the one thing you pick is your entree....everything else just comes to you. You sit at very low tables on cushions or a low padded bench. Then someone comes out with a silver wash basin and you hold your hands over it while they pour warm water over your hands so that you can wash them. You then dry your hands on towels they've given you and you put over your left shoulder. Now you are ready to start eating...We started with soup, a traditional Moroccan lentil soup. Oh, and with all of the courses you use your fingers....no silverware. The soup was very good. Next are assorted cold salads....a beet salad, spicy carrots, seasoned potatoes, fava beans, spinach, a marinated tomato salad and then a carrot/raisin/blossom water salad to cleanse your palate in between the salads.

After the salads, comes B'Stella...minced chicken, spiced egg and almonds wrapped in puff pastry and dusted with powdered sugar and cinnamon. Yum ! Sort of like having a funnel cake in the middle of your meal.

I have to tell you Linda's observations through all of this. When you first enter the restaurant, it's pretty dimly lit and all of the walls are covered with carpets and the ceiling looks like the top of an elegant tent. It's all meant to simulate a traditional Moroccan experience...a giant tent. Linda's eyes got real big as she took it all in but still had that "I'm not so sure" look about her. Then we took our shoes off and sat down at the low tables, on the bench seat. There were only two other tables of people there, when we arrived, but as the minutes clicked off, the place filled up. She liked the soup but when the salad plate came, she wasn't so sure about eating it with our fingers or if she'd like the salads. She started eating and said, "I'm not so sure if I like this" but kept eating. Kept saying it but was still eating. I think the food grew on her.

Ok, back to the parade of food.

Next was our entree. We had ordered shrimp. By the time we finished the B'Stella I was getting full....let alone have two more courses of food. The shrimp was the hardest to eat, without silverware. It was very hot (temperature wise). There were about 8-10 large shrimp to fish out of the tomato and onion sauce. The shrimp were very good but the only way to get any of the sauce was to kind of push it up onto your peeled shrimp and use it like a fork. It worked satisfactorily although I couldn't finish it all. Next came the washing of our hands again...they were pretty sticky by the end of the meal. Then the guy had a thing with rose water in it and splashed our hands with it as well as sort of a blessing with it as he splashed our heads (splattered all over my glasses...yuck !)Then he came with the glasses of mint tea. Usually there is a little theatrics with the pouring of the tea. This guy wasn't very good and seemed to be in a hurry to get done. The place I went to in '95 had a woman who could pour the tea into a cup on the top of her foot from above her head or she could pour it behind her back...was really impressive since it's scalding hot. I think the extent of what he did last night was put it on his elbow and then flip his arm over, catching it in his hand. With this came a plate of fresh fruit.

As we got to dessert, the belly dancer came out and did her show. We didn't realize it till later on in the meal but there was another dining room. This caused the dancer to divide her time between the two areas. When I had called to make reservations, the gentleman told me that she would start at 7, so a dinner reservation for 6 would be good timing. Was starting to worry the dancer called out sick when it was 7:20 and still no belly dancer. She just started in the other room first. She was good...we stayed for her first performance and then left after that. I remember the one that was at the other restaurant, back in '95. She laid back, horizontal to the floor and could flip quarters up her abs, by using her abdominal muscles. Wow ! That was awesome muscle control. She flipped them one flip at a time, all the way up and then all the way back down her washboard abs. Not that this woman couldn't do that same feat but her abs weren't quite as "lean" as the other woman's. Still was fun to watch and a fun time out. Today I think we're headed to the Mile High Market....a huge flea market about 8 miles down the road from us.

Compounding

One of the neat things about my job is the opportunity to meet people with fascinating stories and occupations. The other day I got to chat with a pharmacist who has two locations. His second location is used to do "compounding" of drugs. As his website describes, "Pharmacy compounding combines an ageless art with medical knowledge and technology to prepare customized medications to meet each patient’s needs. Prior to medications being produced in mass quantities by pharmaceutical manufacturers, compounding was the standard means of providing prescription medication. Today, instead of your pharmacist being a dispenser of manufactured strengths and dosage forms, the pharmacist is able to meet a patient’s specific needs and avoid the “one size fits all” approach."
Here are some of the reasons to use compounding:
*Bio-Identical Hormones which are most commonly connected to the symptoms of menopause.
*Your pet’s medication in the best strength, form, and flavor for them. What works for an 80 lb. Golden Retriever would be far too much for a little Yorkie.
*“Gummies” and Lollipops for the pediatric group! Just think – no more wasting medicine when a cranky patient spits it out…we have lots of flavors too.
*Medications free of problem-causing additives like dyes, sugar, lactose, or alcohol.
*Anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving medications as a topical preparation that can be absorbed through the skin. This eliminates the gastrointestinal side effects commonly experienced by these patients.
*Flavored oral suspension for those that have troubling swallowing a capsule.
*Medications that are not commercially available or have been discontinued.

There are so many additives in prescription drugs and due to the drugs having to pass through the liver first, the dosages are so much higher than if you create a topical or oral suspension type formula. For animals this is really critical because the dosages are like 100x stronger than they need to be without all of the harm and toxic build-up in their organs. A little dab of cream applied to the inside of a cat's ear can have the same benefits, without nasty side affects.

It was really fascinating talking to this guy about his practice and the health care industry in general. The Health Care legislature has affected small town pharmacists, like him, by controlling the amount he can make on prescriptions although it doesn't affect how much the middle man is making. He said that is why so many small time pharmacists are going out of business but that there is some new legislation (I presume) on the horizon that may help. I learned a lot about his business and enjoyed learning about it.

In other news, we are finishing up in Brighton, CO. Will leave here Wednesday and go get our rig's Mor-Ryde suspension aligned and then we will head to Colorado Springs. Our schedule is constantly evolving....LOL. After Colorado Springs, we go to Gunnison, CO.

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! We've already kicked ours off with grilled veggies and veggie burgers. Yum !! Not sure what is in store for the rest of the weekend...we'll let you know what we come up with.

Bertha has new Shoes !

Yesterday we took Bertha to get new front tires and an alignment. She was starting to drive like a shopping cart with one bad wheel and shimmies and shakes. There was nothing that could be done to save the tires that were on the front so we replaced them, aligned the front end and had the back tires rotated and balanced. What a "grand" (as in $1000) day that was ! We had to cut our work day short to go to BK Tire and then to Transwest....about 4 hours spent in total waiting. She drives really purty now so we're hoping she holds up for a good long while. Not the kind of expense you want to incur too often. Next week, we get the Mor-Ryde aligned..again at Transwest. That should set us back another chunk of change !

Today was dreary and rainy. Linda and I went to have supper with someone who grew up with her daughter and was a regular fixture in Linda's house for the two years they lived in Mechanicsburg, PA. Nina and her husband Dave and their 2.5 year old daughter Lydia, live in Thornton...a suburb of Denver.

We had a great meal with them and Linda enjoyed catching up with Nina and playing with Lydia. If it wasn't for our job, and being in this area to work a park, she probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to see them. We're not sure where we're headed next. Plans to work the six parks in western Colorado and Wyoming have been put on hold. We're going to be sent somewhere else for June and July and then return to Colorado in August. We might find out tomorrow where we're headed next. A new adventure is just around the corner !

Great Visit Today....

We got to visit RV friends, Lesle and Bill,who are in the Denver area for a while, taking care of family. We had lunch together and caught up on what each of us have been doing since we last saw them at Amazon. We worked together in Coffeyville, KS in 2008 during the Christmas rush. We showed them our new Galaxy Tablet, that we received recently. We wanted something that I can use to e-mail advertisers on while Linda is doing paperwork on our laptop. We love it ! It acts as a wireless hotspot and can provide wireless connection for up to 5 other devices. Has all kinds of applications....some of the ones I've put on it (for free) are NASCAR, Speed channel, Gas Buddy, weather radar, weather radio broadcasts, WebMD, banking links, different games, and there's a zillion more out there to choose from. Linda can play scrabble with her daughter in Virginia, which she's been doing throughout today on it. The GPS is really cool. If you recall our Garmin died that we use for sales calls. With this tablet, you can just speak the destination (ex: Camping World, Golden, CO) and it pulls it up and gives you the turn by turn directions, just like Garmin. Lots of things I haven't even explored yet but we're having fun learning. And all for $199...can't beat that but the monthly wireless charge will be less than we're paying for our air card so it will pay for itself. We're loving playing with it and seeing what all it can do. It's also nice to take out during the day, to stay on top of e-mails from advertisers....alerts you when a message comes in and easy to check. Alot easier than lugging the laptop and air card....

Crazy Busy..

We moved this morning to Brighton, Colorado. Only about 45 minutes from Johnstown. On the way we were scheduled to get our truck and rig tires balanced at Transwest. We got there and found out that the tech who was scheduled to work on our rig is out to a training class all this week and next so we didn't get it done and have to go back, on two separate trips, to get them done. The tech is on an evening schedule so we'll get the truck done some night after work and we're still trying to figure out when we get the rig done.

Yeah so last week was really crazy busy. Johnstown is proving to be our best assignment yet and it's a new park to boot. Advertisers have been calling us evenings and e-mailing us to get in the guide so we've held the job open to get it all wrapped up.

On Saturday we worked on getting ads put together. Sunday I woke up with a massive allergy attack and felt like I'd been hit by a bus. I finally got my nose to stop running by the afternoon so we went to the Sculpture Park, since we'd heard so much about it. We didn't realize it but Loveland, CO is the sculpture capital of the world...heaven to artists, we were told. This is where artists who are casting sculptures come to get it done. The park is really neat as there are about four different areas, with walking paths throughout, where you can see close to 200 sculptures. Very neat ! We didn't walk the whole four areas but took in one of the areas.

While we were out on Friday, making sales calls, we went by Camping World and picked up a grill. We've been wanting a grill since we went on the road and keep looking at them whenever we get the chance. The thing that always held me back was not knowing where we'd store it. Finally with Camping World running a special on the one we wanted, the decision was made for us. We love it ! I've found a place for it in the basement and it wasn't as hard as I had thought it would be so we waited all those years for nothing. Geez !

We cooked up some yummy veggies Friday night.

Hard to get used to these cool temps here. Missing the warm weather we had in Oklahoma. Hoping we see warm up soon but tonight they are calling for rain. We shall see...

Wonderful Weekend

Playing catch-up on the blog with our activities over the weekend.On Saturday, we took a drive up to Fort Collins. Colorado State University is there...pretty campus. It was gorgeous weather so everyone was out and about....traffic was fierce. Route 287 goes from Loveland up to Fort Collins and along the route are all of the usual shopping type of venues. We went to a Whole Foods store and bought some yummy veggie dishes and had a nice lunch. Drove up almost to the Wyoming border and then back down I-25 to get home.

On Sunday we went to Estes Park, nestled in the mountains. What a cute town. We parked at the visitor center and walked along their Riverwalk. Boomer had a good time when he took a little dip in the stream, which must have been freezing considering the water came down from the mountains. Still plenty of snow in the mountains.

When we finished walking and checking out the downtown area, I went in the Safeway store and rounded up lunch. Since it was Mother's Day and our seven year anniversary, a picnic seemed to be a good idea on such a beautiful day.

It was great..A veggie sandwich on whole grain bread, Mediterranean veggie salad and deviled egg potato salad. We backed the truck into a spot with a view of the snow covered mountains, spread a sleeping bag out on the back of Bertha and basked in the 85 degree sunshine, eating our lunch.
After lunch we drove out to Devil's Gulch and up to the start of Rocky Mountain National Park. There was only about 30 miles of roads open. The rest of it still has too much snow on it. As we drove on a road parallel to the main road through town, we noticed tons of elk and deer all over the place.

Here there were eight elk laying under a tree in someone's backyard. What a surprise it would be to come out with an armload of clothes to hang on the clothesline and find these guys and gals laying there. Right in town ! The warm weather must have really brought them out cause there were alot of them around. No big horn sheep though. Was hoping to see some of them up on the rocks but no such luck. That was pretty much our weekend.

Back to work on Monday. Yesterday, I had a mobile wash and wax guy do our rig. Wow, does it look nice.

What a shine...snapped some pictures before the rain came. Rained all night, off and on, and is rainy today too. A cold rain...today it's supposed to stay in the 40's. Up in Estes Park area, they are expected to get 4-8" of snow today. Glad we saw it last weekend if it's getting dumped on today. Ewwww...

Finishing up the job here in Johnstown. Will leave here on Tuesday and drive to Brighton...just outside of Denver and start our next assignment.

Dinner Theatre

Thursday evening we went to the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse
that is located right behind the campground. I've only been to one other playhouse before and what a fun treat it was. We had great seats and the food was good too. Our appetizer was the best part of the whole meal....could have made a meal of that. Baked Brie in puffed pastry with peach chutney, candied walnuts, roasted garlic and toast point. Oh my was it good !The Creme brulee, that we had for dessert during intermission was really good too. Having it during intermission gave our tummies time to digest some of dinner before adding more. We both had the tilapia for our entrees, and it was ok but I wouldn't order it again. The play was The King and I and it was very good. Outstanding vocalists in the show....some of the women had opera-style voices with an immense range. The place was about 3/4 full on a Thursday evening so I can only imagine what the weekends must be. Residents are very lucky to have the playhouse here to take advantage of. We went to celebrate our anniversary which is on Sunday. Seven years ago on May 8th, I drove from Williamsport, PA to Harrisburg to meet Linda at a Borders bookstore. We spent hours talking and from that point on, a beautiful relationship developed. Beautiful weekend in store here. Not sure what we're doing today. Sunday we're driving to Estes Park to check it out. Sure wish we had a trike....would be a wonderful day for a motorcycle ride into the mountains. Someday.... Hope you all have a wonderful weekend wherever you might be and love the one you're with !

Look at those buns....

There are some serious downfalls to staying right next door to a restaurant that advertises that they have the best cinnamon buns in the world. Especially when it's open 24/7...oh yeah. The bun in this picture is on a dinner plate...that's how huge it is. When we had it for dessert last night, it was alright but when we nuked the remaining piece this morning, at breakfast, it was yumlicious ! (Spell check has a problem with that word but I think it's entirely appropriate.)

Busy day today selling. Johnstown is a cute town. Reminds me of the town I grew up in. Small town with something for everybody in a quaint setting. And what a backdrop the Rocky Mountains make...The campground owner told us, the other day, that usually the road up in the mountains (I think the one that goes through the national park) is usually open by Memorial Day. He said an article in the paper said that it wouldn't be the case this year (due to natural thaw) because there's still 10' of snow up there and that they may need to cut a road through the snow. It's so pretty when the clouds open up over the snow capped peaks and the sun lights them up. Really spectacular ! There's also a crisp freshness in the air, when we aren't downwind of the cattle ranches, that is intoxicating. We found out today that we're picking up more Colorado assignments so between Colorado and Wyoming, we'll be here till September. We're looking forward to exploring more of the area.

Tomorrow night we're going to the dinner theater production of the King and I. Look at the menu choices... We're looking forward to it. Going to celebrate our upcoming anniversaries. We met on May 8,2004...married on May 28th...five years later. We haven't finalized our weekend plans but there's a Moroccan restaurant that I want to take Linda to at some point. Also want to visit friends in the area but might do that when we move down to Brighton in another two weeks. Life is good !

Colorado

We left Oklahoma City Saturday morning and started out for Johnstown, CO. Gorgeous weather on Saturday. Beautiful blue skies and warm temps. Spent the night in Salina, KS area. Today we started out about 10 and we've stopped for the night in Limon, CO. Today was sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy...and by the time we arrived here (4:00 mountain time), it was downright cold. 44 degrees and calling for 21 overnight. Yuck! Denver is supposed to get snow showers tonight. We are going to try and get into a truck center tomorrow to get our rig and truck aligned. Want to make sure that everything is A-OK with the Mor-Ryde suspension...tires looked a little odd when we stopped at a rest area. We had them aligned about two years ago in Florida and that's when the Mor-Ryde was really messed up and we had to wait a couple days for parts to arrive. Hoping it's not the same thing but before it ruins $900 worth of tires, gonna get it checked.

Our oil filled radiator, that we use on chilly nights, crapped out on us....started leaking oil so we had to throw it out in OKC. We've ordered a little electric one which should arrive in Johnstown by Wednesday but sure wishing we had it now as I'm freezing. Got the furnace running and the heated mattress pad will sure be fired up tonight if it's gonna get down to 21.

We arrive at the new park on Tuesday. Will keep everyone posted on what we see and do.