our photographer/artist in residence

09 Sep our photographer/artist in residence

Blessed we are in so many ways but when family flew out to be with us for a few days… we really were fortunate!

Sister Pegi and her husband Clark flew into Rock Springs, WY recently and we drove down to pick them up for several days of Western fun and of course the usual shenanigans that always ensue when Clark and I get together! The wives are generally disgusted immediately but we’re accustomed to the “noise” and give it absolutely no attention. Fat cigars, good whiskey and crude talk ensues pretty quickly.

We first headed to Boulder, WY were we were the guests of John and Mikie Patterson to their huge cabin way atop the Boulder Lake at a very remote ranching community. Liz and I already had taken our RV (PipesTraveler.com’s International Headquarters) up to the Patterson Ranch and got all set up.

The drive up took us about three hours so we stopped and had dinner on the way. Upon arrival at John and Mikie’s we were met by several other old friends from our hometown of Bartow, FL – namely Rip Campbell, Skipper and Susan (Russell) Holland, Frank and Bobbie Mae (Godfroy) Clifton. We all had so much fun catching up on many missing years since our high school graduation back at the turn of the last century.

Pegi has always had an “eye” for certain things…. fashion, interior decor, photography and in the last few years as an artist painting in oils. Like me she also has an eye for cookies and any kind of sweet baked goods as such I struggle with my weight. We both love our mom’s chocolate fudge recipe and when we’re together you can bet that fudge will soon be cooking.

Following three days of frivolity in Boulder and the surrounding area with our dear friends we headed out to explore the region by car, I was the primary chauffeur for the most part with Clark riding shotgun and the girls in the back seat giggling all the way. They kept me supplied with all manner of snacks and candies so I wouldn’t complain. We drove and drove through areas like Jackson Hole, the Tetons National Park ($35 entry if you don’t have the National Parks Pass which we did and got a FREE entry), We did a hot air balloon ride along the front range of the Tetons, visited Yellowstone National Park with a stop at Old Faithful for the expected eruption….later we checked out Cody and Sheridan, WY and many points in Montana’s Big Sky country. BTW – if you ever get to Cody, WY (we strongly encourage) you must go down adjacent to the Irma Hotel and see the cool murals created by Brian Timmer! He’s quite talented and you may have seen the post on our FB page.

The driving and touring continued as we went through so much beautiful country, enjoyed scrumptious meals and just stopped everywhere and anywhere that a photographic moment seemed to occur. There were many. I’m not going to bore our readers with anymore details about the places we visited but DO want to share with you a few of Pegi’s photos as promised earlier on social media.

Best part of the whole trip was to have shared this time with old friends and family…so many laughs but also knowing we’ve got lots of memories and many more years of fun and adventure ahead!