A Year of Change

Even though the ranch has sold, we still stay in touch with the neighbors and community up there. They still refer to the ranch as the Fugate Ranch. At least we have that. Mom would not be happy we sold it but it is what it is. Here’s a picture of what the neighbors call “The Fugate Rocks” that they posted on Facebook a few days ago.

This is on the right of the highway before the river headed to Wyoming with Devil’s Kitchen way up high. They intentionally started a back burn to try to get it to burn up to the wildfire so it’ll run out of fuel. Hope it works. Not sure if the only remaining tepee in the State made it or not. Not to worry though as it’ll all be green in a couple years.

We’re dealing with objections after inspection from the buyer on Minturn. Most are fine but they did want the hardwood floors refinished. That’s not going to happen. It’s a used home. Hope we get this handled. All others are silly little things.

The boys are fine but pretty much useless when it comes to helping out around here. This has to change. It’s hard with all our lives being turned upside down but this could be the way it is for a year or more so we have to adapt.

The ads on tv are relentless and mostly all lies. Especially from the democrats. I watch them and can’t believe they get away with it. They say the republicans will take away your health care and ALL pre-existing conditions won’t be covered which is 100% not true. They’ll be covered, just not by the failure known as Obamacare. Hickenlooper says Gardner is against ALL background checks on guns which is also 100% not true. This coming from a guy who was convicted of lying and covering up his misuse of public funds! Pence trounced Kamala last night in the VP debate. She was condescending and snarky while Pence was Presidential. She also refused to answer if they’d pack the court meaning change the number of judges on the Supreme Court if they don’t get their way. I pray that Amy Comey Barrett is confirmed as fast as possible. Thankfully it doesn’t seem the dems can stop it. With Trump and Biden both in their mid to late 70’s (Biden is 78!) you have to consider that one of the VP’s could end up President. God help us if it’s Kamala. What a joke. Oh well, all we can do do is pray and prepare.

I had a flu shot yesterday and the boys need to get one today. I think Jag goes back to CU Saturday. I went shopping yesterday at Whole Foods only to find most things out of stock. Take note people, this is going to become more common.

Time to go, be well and God Bless.

Heading to Minturn this morning to clean the garage as James’s son came up from Boulder so we’re postponing our trip until probably Friday. Yesterday we repaired some tile in the bathroom and did some other work around the house.

Looks like cases and coverage of the virus are up. You hear about tons of cases but thankfully not tons of deaths. Again we wear masks but pretty much go wherever we need to. Jag went golfing yesterday afternoon. I think he hit a drive 270 yards! No new cases at CU and the cases have been dropping dramatically over the past two weeks. That’s good news. I think Jag goes back Saturday.

Lori is really doing well at work. She’s getting things done they only dreamed of before she was there. I think Dixie is coming out soon. They said she could travel. I’ll be giving up my office as we turn it into a makeshift bedroom for her. You do what you have to do, right mom?

Lori is walking the dogs and I need to get in the shower so time to go. Eddie Van Halen died yesterday. James called me as he knew him a bit. Sad. Throat cancer. He’d been battling it for 10 years, RIP.

God Bless.

Nice and cool up here this morning. We sleep with the windows open so you can really feel it. Lori goes in to the office today and I have a tile guy coming and our chairs being delivered. I also need to get the vault organized.

Ty and I went for a flu shot yesterday but the line was too long so we left. We’ll go back sometime today. Lori and I were on the phone most of the day while Jag had class and work all day and Ty was at school.

The political ads are overwhelming. Sad part is most all of them are not true or at a minimum really stretch the truth. Trump is back at the White House. Dems are ripping him for saying don’t let covid dominate your life. Maybe if it’s that contagious Biden will get it too. Who knows, still hard to get the facts on this just like anything these days. Think for yourself and God Bless.

One month until the election. Sure will be glad when it’s over but I have a suspicion it won’t be over on election night. Anyone remember George Bush and Al Gore and the hanging shads? This year could make that look like child’s play. We’ll see. Keep stocking up on supplies and necessities. Even if they don’t run out, things will be much more expensive. Our freezers are packed!

Ty has school today and I think Jagger has to go to CU Wednesday night for an in person class on Thursday morning. James and I are headed to Denver Wednesday too. Lori and I found some inexpensive chairs yesterday in Frisco. Hopefully they’ll get over here this week.

I’m going to try to take the boys and Lori and I for flu shots today. This is not the year to mess around. Hope it’s not too bad this year. Snow might come in a week or so. That’d be good. Still have things around the house to be fixed. Typical of builders in that they move on to the next house as quick as they can and you have to bug them to get the little things done. You have to stay on them. At least our bbq is in and functional. Just need to finish having the metal wrapped on the hood.

Time to get moving. It’s the first week of October, 90 days until 2021! WOW! May God Bless and protect us all!

Last night we went to our neighbors who are the closest ones we have down the street. We’ve met them on the road but haven’t spent any time with them. There were 10 of us in total with the other 8 being our closest neighbors on all sides. The good news is Brian and Michelle, who hosted the party, and KC and Shannon, our closest neighbors above us, are super nice and both guys hunt! In fact Brian has an office with probably 50 mounts in it. He imports fireworks from China and must do really well. They have three girls, one in 9th grade, one who is a sophomore at CU and another who is graduating from Drexel this year. We all hung out from 7 until about 10 and had a nice time.

Earlier in the day Lori and I went to Costco and the storage unit, the hardware store and the dry cleaner. Jag had some work to do and Ty went skate boarding from about 4 until 8. Not sure what we’re doing today, probably cleaning up around here. Our water bill dropped to $750 a month. Still unacceptable. The neighbors say it’ll be less than $100 in the winter but Lori told the boys to stop taking long showers, ha.

Snow maybe next week, if we’re lucky. That’s it, 8 o’clock now. Be well, safe and God Bless.

Starting to cool down. Mid 60’s today. Lori and I went to Aspen yesterday and it was beautiful. Yellow, gold and red abound. Had a nice lunch with Rollie and Dave who were married last weekend. Then we made a quick stop in Basalt at a furniture store before heading home. This morning it’s off to the gym.

Tonight we’re going to the neighbors down the street for a little party. It starts at 7 so we have the whole day ahead of us. Not much smoke up here but the closer you head to Denver, the thicker it gets.

Shit’s getting crazy out there folks. Trump has covid and some people on line are posting things like “I hope he fucking dies”. What is wrong with people? No matter which side you’re on, if you’re wishing death on the President of the United States, get the hell out of the Country. This shit is getting too real. It’s like you can’t put a yard sign in your yard without retaliation by some, especially if you’re a republican. Democrats are unhinged with their hatred of Trump. So much that they hate anyone who supports him too. Well, good riddance if you’re going to hate me over my political views. Given the current climate, I won’t hesitate to push back strong against anyone who gets in my space. Watch your top knot!

The ranch up near Walden is on fire on the north side of the highway. Sad. It’s been a bad year. We need snow as soon as we can get it. I picked up ribs from Hickory House in Aspen on the way home so we have leftovers today to snack on.

Time to walk the dogs. October 3rd, 20 days until Robi’s birthday, whoo hoo.

God Bless.

Yea, Friday! I need a weekend. October 2nd, wow. The Broncos won, the President and his wife have covid and the mornings are getting cooler. The trash is out and the dogs are fed.

We need two living room chairs. Not sure where to find them. Maybe we should go west instead of east. Would be nice to find a couple on a deal. You’d think more stores would be having sales but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Marty, James, Clark and I hung out for a bit last night. We’re trying to find a night when we can cook up some elk and our prized huckleberry pie. Would like to get to Costco today to see if they have any bunk beds left. Lindsey said she didn’t think so but was going to check for us.

Next week James and I are headed to Denver to exchange our rings. Not sure what day. Would like to get out bird hunting soon. It opened yesterday. We’ll give it a week.

Skipping politics today. It’s such a drain on your brain and doesn’t do much good anyhow. Keep preparing for the coming months. If you haven’t started yet, start now. You might experience shortages on some items you’re used to running down to the store for. Take a look around the house and think about what you use daily. It’s the weird little things you don’t think about that you’ll miss.

Make it a great day. The colors here are beautiful. They’ll be gone soon. God Bless.

We headed out from the meat processor at about 8:15 and were home by 6 pm. That included about an hour worth of stops so I made it in about 9 hours. I drove the entire way which probably saved us an hour.

When I arrived home no one was here. I started putting meat in my freezers and soon realized I didn’t have enough space so I called Margaret (our cousin Lee’s wife) and she sent Robert and Lindsey over to pick some up. I must have given them over 50 pounds of elk.

Lori is killing it at work. The Steadman clinic is all upset as they saw Lori’s Longevity Conference series in the paper and obviously were not included. The paper said they had about 15 calls from doctors and others at the clinic asking how they could be involved. Lori took charge of this and secured the sponsorship and ran with the ball. People in the valley say Dr. Braxton is everywhere and she’s already picked up a bunch of new patients. Steadman has been coasting on their name and now they’ll need to up their game as Lori means business, ha.

Sorry about the pictures yesterday. I also couldn’t read the comments. Here’s another try.

Have a great day and God Bless

6am, after a quick breakfast we’re headed into St. Anthony to the meat processor to pick up 6 large coolers full of elk meat. If we don’t have enough space they’re giving us some extra Styrofoam coolers to take home. On top of that one of the cooks here is sending us with 12 jars of huckleberry freezer jam. If you don’t know what huckleberries are you’re missing out. It’s a step up from blueberries and the only way you get them is by going and picking them. Around here folks guard their secret huckleberry spots like prize hunting spots refusing to tell anyone where it is. The other cook is making and freezing us a huckleberry pie to take too! Some women occasionally sell freshly picked huckleberries for about $100 a gallon!

It’s been a great trip. The three of us had a blast and are planning a bird hunt in a week or so. This is such a release and refresher for all of us. No stress at all, just good fellowship and friendship which is hard to explain. The three of us are pretty close to each other which is a rare thing these days. Brutal honesty with no posturing or hidden agendas among men is rare.

I miss Lori and the boys and am so excited for Lori as her new ad was picked up by an important publication and she’s already getting new patients from it. She’s such a hard worker and full of honesty and integrity which is paying off. Such a loss for her previous employer and they don’t even realize it.

We have about 10 hours of driving tomorrow and I’ll do the bulk of it if not all of it. It’s better that way. More pictures to come as the ones I posted seem to be elongated. I saw two comments but can’t open them. Anyhow I have lots of elk sausage, steaks, jerky, roasts, salami and more if anyone wants some. Should be about 300 pounds as my bull was over 800 pounds!

That’s it, hope you all are well. Wish everyone could enjoy the peace, quiet and harmony I feel when hunting in the wild. It’s hard to explain but is like being in another World at another time. God Bless.

I was right, not only about me but James too. We both scored record book bulls yesterday. Around 7am we were out the door which is late compared to when we leave when hunting Colorado. We didn’t have as far to go or hike this morning. Early on, about 45 minutes after we left, James came upon the largest bull I’ve ever seen. He immediately set up his shooting sticks and put a perfect shot down range on the bull. The bull ran a little bit and soon went down. We gave him a few minutes as they are tough animals and can get up if provoked and run or severely injure you. We quickly field dressed him and loaded him up for the trip back to camp to skin him. He’s a great bull.

After skinning him we headed back out to hunt for some more elk. It didn’t take long before I saw some tines shinning in the sun sticking up out of the sage brush. It was mid morning so this bull was bedded. I slowly approached him after circling him so the sun was at my back. When I came within about 100 yards he became nervous knowing something was up. I decided not to go any closer and waited for him to make his move. As quick as you could blink he jumped up and I squeezed off a shot just as quick and he went down faster than he got up. James and Marty were way up the hill looking down at me and said he dropped in an instant. I was close enough so I shot him in the neck so as not to ruin any of the meat. I too gave him a few minutes before approaching him and poking his eye to make sure he was dead. By then the guys had made their way down to me and helped me field dress him too. I said a prayer thanking God for this beautiful animal and the opportunity to take him. He was a true gift.

Later in the day we went out to help Marty find a bull but didn’t have any luck. We’re headed out this morning searching for elk for Marty. Hopefully we’ll find one.

We were tired when we made it back to the lodge around 7pm. I had started a load of laundry earlier so I finished that up before dinner. We had chicken fried steak, mashed potato’s and gravy and yes, corn. Not healthy at all but really good. I need to stop eating this kind of food but I worked up a big appetite.

I talked with Lori and she and the boys are well. The three of us were talking about how lucky we are to have such great wives that actually want us to go have “guy time” together. They’re great women. Much better than us! Ha. (but don’t tell them, Lori never reads the blog)

God Bless.