On To the SLV - San Luis Valley

After touring Mesa Verde we headed down to Alamosa by way of Wolf Creek Pass. This pass is absolutely stunning and it's a must if you have never traveled that way. The majestic mountains are magnificent, and the scenic views are picturesque.

It was evening by the time we made it to Alamosa and we had to be up early for the Sanford festivities.

I won't mention who this may be, but as you can see it probably took some time to get the hair under control.

Arlene's corner is where the parade begins for Mormon Pioneer Days.

So everyone gathered outside... grabbed their camera's,

and got their chairs into a good place to view the parade.

There were cowboys with grandchildren,

Mormon missionaries on floats,

and cute little children and puppies in hand carts.

After the parade we drove to the school where mother met up with Judy and Nancy. They stood there and brought tears to my eyes as they sang one of their oh so familiar songs. It sounded almost as beautiful listening to them now as it did 40 years ago when they were at the top of the charts - in Alamosa County and Conejos County anyway.

This dear man with Natalie and me is one of our dear friends that we grew up with when we lived in Sanford. His name is Bobby Morgan and he is Nancy's son; the woman with the red hair in the above picture. We would have hours of fun with him when mother would go to Nancy's house to practice songs that they were going to be singing.

The reason we were at the school is because they were having a delicious bbq lunch . The only problem was the seating was in the direct sun so we found the most shade we could - away from the tables and enjoyed the food.

This piece of artwork is actually made from miniature photo's of all the students that have graduated from Sanford High School. They are known as the Sanford Indians, hence - the Indian.

It's found inside the school building which consists of Kindergarten through 12th grade! I wanted to show Hannah the school I used to go to so we walked inside.

This is Hannah and me sitting in my 3rd grade classroom. It was fun to share stories with her of things that I did and things that happened to me when I went to school there.

Such as working in this kitchen when I was in elementary school. This is the very sink I stood and washed dishes at....and watched sweat drip down Mrs Faucett's nose into the dish water! Yuck!

The tour of this extremely large school (not) , as well as browsing the quilt display that was in the gym must have been exhausting because everyone had to find somewhere to sit before we could venture on to the next activity.

Luckily we had a day's rest before we had to do the Manassa activities.

Here's Mother with Uncle Herman, his daughter Judy and two of his grandsons.

Here's Aunt Mary Jane and Uncle Kenneth enjoying the music that was being played by one of the bands in the park. Well, Aunt Mary Jane was enjoying it. She sat in her chair and danced her feet around as Uncle Kenneth enjoyed his zzzz's.

Hannah talked me into going on some of the carnival rides with her.

I remember as a child being so excited for the carnival to come for the 24th of July celebration. I couldn't wait to ride all of the rides; especially the scary ones! I looked at those rides this day and it scared me to get on them. How safe are carnival rides.....REALLY?

Here we are on the scrambler - my #1 choice as a child.

Here's mother and Becky on the Ferris wheel.

And me and Hannah.

She even talked me into going on this thing - TWICE!

And here's Becky and me ready to toss our cookies.

Okay Sarah, this part will freak you out so you may want to scroll down to safer territory, like maybe the end.

When I was a child Arlene would get the baby dolls out and let me play with them. At that time I had no idea that the doll I was playing with was probably an antique even then.

This is a picture of the doll Arlene's aunt sent to her a few years ago. She has a sawdust stuffed body, leather joints sewn into her cloth body, porcelain head and hands and real human hair. Does she remind you of anyone.....maybe an old movie character?

I hate to say it, but when I saw her she reminded me of the Betty Davis character in the movie Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Does anyone agree with me or am I the only one that was permitted to see that movie as a child? Here's my baby girl holding the baby doll that Arlene use to play with as a child.

I think she's a little prettier.

On the south side of Alamosa is an Artesian Well that runs continuously. Artesian Well water is always cold and tastes so good. We had to stop and fill our empty water bottles one day as we drove by. Why buy water when you can get if for free?

The night before we left to head up to Denver, Nancy and Judy wanted to get together with mother again and do some reminiscing of old times and sing a few more songs. I love these women and I was just as excited as mother was to have them come over to the motel and visit for awhile. We loved listening to them sing some of the old songs they use to sing. And we laughed when they began singing one song and mother started singing words to another one when they were in the middle of it.

To listen to them tell stories and laugh was heart warming and touching. These women truly love each other. I had to call it quits when they started talking about how sad they were when mother moved away. I will be forever grateful that I went with mother to Colorado - if it was only to see these women together again and listen to them sing.

Thanks, Mother, Nancy and Judy....

for the memories.