travel tuesday: do go chasing waterfalls

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Shoshone Falls has been on my radar since 2017, when we were in the area and didn’t have time to stop. I made sure to include it in our itinerary for our Montana road trip this summer, which I’ll write more about soon.

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travel tuesday: hanging out at rifle mountain park

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Did you know that Rifle Mountain Park offers some of the best limestone climbing in the world? You do now! It’s a quick drive from our house, so we took the Jeep there when we had some free time over the weekend.

On the way to the park, you’ll pass Rifle Gap State Park, which boasts a 350-acre reservoir that’s popular for fishing, paddle boarding and boating. Plus, the Gap is where artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Valley Curtain was briefly hung in 1972. Past that, it’s a beautiful drive up to Rifle Falls State Park, which features beautiful caves and a breathtaking, cascading triple waterfall. Next up, the Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery that’s linked to the park via hiking trails.

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travel tuesday: sippin’ wine in palisade

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If you’re starting to think we like Palisade, you are correct. This was our second mini-staycation there this year. We attended the Sip into Spring Wine Fest for the first time, and it was fabulous. The location, the wine, the weather, the food, the hotel…all fabulous!

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travel tuesday: north clear creek falls

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This came from the archives! We were camped just outside of Lake City, Colorado, in July 2005 and took a day trip to Creede. The falls are located within the Rio Grande National Forest. North Clear Creek is a tributary of, and not far from the headwaters of, the Rio Grande River. The scenery in this part of the state is spectacular.

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we need to talk

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Siblings 1985

This is not going to be one of my funny, light-hearted posts. It’s been five months since my brother Norman died, and I’m still heartbroken. Writing is cathartic for me, so I’m going to get very real with you.

If you didn’t read my last post about Norman, you should. He was a loving, kind, generous, devout man who should be excited about hunting season, spending the holidays with his kids and playing with his beloved grandsons right now. But, on the morning of June 1, he took his own life. My life will never be the same, and I want to do anything I can to prevent others from choosing his path.

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sign up to save a life today

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UPDATE: Brian found a perfect match and the transplant has taken place. Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Our cousin Brian has Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, or CML. He was diagnosed three years ago and, until very recently, his meds were keeping it in check. That changed, and now he needs a bone marrow transplant. You can help without leaving your home.

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good boy

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We said goodbye to Jackson yesterday, and the nest feels very empty right now. It’s been 10 years since we adopted him as an adult, but it seems like yesterday.

At the time, we’d just moved into a new house and were dog-less for the first time since 1986. That lasted about three weeks. I started looking at rescues in the paper, then moved online and spotted an ad for Red, a black lab coming from a kill shelter in Rawlins, Wyoming. His name came from the color of his collar; they had so many black labs that that’s how they identified them.

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remembering Mom on her birthday

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Mom

I’ve been struggling to write this tribute to Mom for almost a year. She passed away last February, and though I’ve worked on it several times I’ve just now been able to finish it. Since today would have been her 85th birthday, I’d like to share some of what made her so special. Continue reading

New Year’s Greetings from the Nest

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On the Pauite Trail

Riding the Paiute Trail

Happy 2017! Facebook has been quite diligent in reminding me weekly that the Tales From the Empty Nest page is woefully inactive, so I thought I’d start the year off with a blog post in hopes that I’m a little more consistent over the next 12 months. No promises, but I’m hoping to spend more time writing this year. Continue reading

30 years go by, in the blink of an eye

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Rehearsal Dinner

Our rehearsal dinner

Thirty years ago today, I walked down the aisle with this handsome guy. We’d met less than a year earlier, and had a whirlwind romance that had me saying “I do” in the blink of an eye. I was so smitten; I just knew he was the one.

wedding pic

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Scott Gauldin!

Fast forward three decades, and it’s hard for me to comprehend the life that we’ve built, the adventures we’ve had and the family that we’ve created. I’m not sure what I imagined our life would be like, but I couldn’t imagine spending it with anyone else. What a wild and wonderful ride it has been! Continue reading