Passing O'er Wolf Creek Pass (CO)

Vallecito webshots -- It was sometime after 1:30 pm, Sunday, Duchess and NW Okie were driving up the eastern portion of Wolf Creek Pass last Sunday afternoon, November 12, 2006.

Big trucks were stopping -- other small cars were stopped to put on chains... waiting out the blowing, low-visibility, fine snow that was ravaging Wolf Creek Pass. BUT... NW Okie and Duchess slowly, steadily kept tracking upwards in their Toyota Highlander pass the ski resort -- towards the Summit of Wolf Creek Pass -- onwards to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Just the same morning, Wolf Creek had about 6 inches snow before we traveled it that same Saturday afternoon. They had graded it once in the morning. By the time we reached Southfork around 1:30pm MST and started upwards, it began snowing again with a fine snow flurry around the area of the new tunnel and continued to cover the road all the way to the ski resort and summit, and coming down the other side. About a mile on the other side of the scenic overlook the snow packed turned to slush and wet roads where we passed a snow grader heading the other way. It took us 50 minutes later to find ourselves across the pass.

It was really low visibility closer around the ski resort and summit and slowly clearing as we got closer to the scenic overlook. It got better and better and better as we approached Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Traveling through Kansas was with a chilly, northerly gust of wind on Saturday. On Sunday It was dry from Blanca, Colorado to Southfork, Colorado along Hwy 160, except for a light snow around Monta Vista, San Luis Summit and LaVeta Pass area.

Duchess was glad to get back home and looked forward to one of Sadie's greetings as we climbed out of the car. David said that Sadie had been moping around the last couple days. Duchess had been doing the same. When we turned on the road to our adobe south of Bayfield, Duchess got excited, recognizing a familar scent in the air -- wanting this NW Okie to stop the car right there. When we were making the turn into the driveway, Duchess was whimpering and knew she was home. Sadie was so excited to see us -- to see Duchess. She finally had someone to chase her around the yard again.

Yep! We made it over the Pass, arriving south of Bayfield, Colorado around 3:30 p.m. only to find later restrictions for commercial trucks and chains for vehicles traveling the Pass.
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NW Okie Goes Mac

From PC Windows Laptop to MacBook Pro OS X laptop, that is what this NW Okie has been experiencing, re-learning this last week.

Don't know why we didn't do this sooner. Actually, the Mac OS X window format is slowly growing on this middle-aged NW Okie. We are slowly getting data, software installed to run things from the "Mac." All in All... We love the MacBook Pro with the 17 inch monitor, OS X 10.4.

When we get a little more confident with it and figured out, we will try to educate, inform you all the best we can.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we would like to wish Y'all a Happy Thanksgiving.
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Monday Snow In the Colorado Rockies

Nov. 12th, 2006 Weather in the Rockies saw the mountains receiving 3-inches of rather wet snow accumulating by 7:30 a.m. We hear that the sun was trying to shine through since about 9:00 a.m., Monday, in the higher mountain areas with some melting in the mountains.

The Valley south of Bayfield, Colorado accumulated about an inch of wet snow, Tuesday morning and maybe almost a 1/4-inch on Monday. It began snowing around 7a.m., Tuesday and by mid-morning the flakes got bigger and wetter.... we had about inch of snow the whole day until the sun and wind came out Tuesday afternoon.

The cold weather last weekend brought the bucks and wildlife down from the mountains. This Colorado Buck must have thought there was a Buck's garden party going on Sunday morning, November 12, 2006 at our SW Colorado Adobe. Sadie was the one who first spotted this buck three (or four point) buck hanging around the greenhouse. Yep! Sadie sounded the alert -- got David engaged with his digital camera, sneaking around behind to get this photo and more. You can veiw the bucks and first mountain. valley snow photos on our Vallecito webshots.
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Little Mac & Blackie

"These are my two Pug Dogs. They are about 6 years old and Blackie is 1 week older than Little Mac, But they think they are brothers. Little Mac weighs 21 lbs. and Blackie weighs 38 lbs. They are family to us." --- Cheers, Homer Hawkins View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Dog Says, "I Love You"

"Cute video - dog who speaks back to his mom. I am sure that Duchess could do this. This dog looks just like her. I had a Yorkie once that would patty cake for a belly rubbing. Dog are so smart." -- Ann
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The Rest of the Story

Our Green Thumb... "I didn't even know that Jade plants bloomed. What a beautiful plant."

Our Green Thumbs... "Well, looks like the plant realized just how precarious its lifetime was and now showing you how much it appreciates the 'save'. BEAUTIFUL! (Guess I didn''t realize they bloomed like that either)"

Funny Vocabulary Spin... "I laughed all the way through the list. Thank you, Roy, for sending it in."

The Term Okie... "I moved from Bartlesville to New Jersey then to Belgium and France -- all while dear old dad worked for Phillips. I was always an okie. Born there so thats how it is. When I moved to California, amazingly how the okies and mexicans still run Salinas and Watsonville just south of Santa Cruz where I have lived for 30 years. Okies are a state of mind and god bless Bartlesville and the old Phillips petroueum company. Boots addams. Frank Phillips."

OkieLegacy Guestbook - Osburn's... "Please contact me about these Osburns. I've been searching for info on them for quite some time." -- Dixie Lee Kennedy - EMAIL: dlkenn@earthlink.net
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Free Ellis Island Search

Celebrate your family's American legacy -- get an early start on your holiday gift ideas with a FREE SEARCH directly from the Archives of Ellis Island. For you and your family, it can be a truly meaningful moment of discovery, and it's available now directly from WWW.ELLISISLAND.ORG
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Happenings In Perry (OK)

"Thought you might like to know what's going on in our town this week. The rest of the 'band' article says: 'admission and $35 for couples. Tickets available at the Chamber office, First Bank, Exchange Bank and Charles Machine Works, or from band members.'

A VISITOR'S GUIDE TO TULSA (OK)

VISITOR'S GUIDE TO TULSA

• 1. First you must learn to pronounce the city name. It is "TULL-SA" and it does not matter how people pronounce it in other places.
• 2. Tulsa has its own version of traffic rules. Never forget that downtown Tulsa is composed entirely of one way streets. The only way to get out of the center of town is to turn around and start over when you reach the river.
• 3. All directions start with, "Go down Memorial"
• 4. Memorial has no beginning and no end.
• 5. The 8:00am rush hour is from 6:30 to 9:30am. The 5:00pm rush hour is from 3:30 to 6:30pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.
• 6. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you cannot be from Tulsa. If you don't slow down at a yellow light, you are from Tulsa
• 7. Sapulpa Road can only be pronounced by a native, so do not attempt the phonetic pronunciation. People will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you.
• 8. The falling of one snowflake causes all traffic to immediately cease. Fortunately all schools, businesses and city government close when the word snow is mentioned.
• 9. Construction on the Broken Arrow Expressway is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment. In fact, construction on the BA will not be completed in your lifetime.
• 10. Many bizarre sights can be explained simply by uttering the phrase, "Oh, we're in Brookside"
• 11. Construction crews aren't doing their job properly unless they close down all lanes except one during rush hour.
• 12. If someone actually has their turn signal on, it was probably left on at the factory where the car was made.
• 13. The only city where a church of 2,500 members is considered a small, but quaint church.
• 14. What you need to know when arriving at the Airport: Your arrival gate is at least 32 miles away from the Airport parking. Walking shoes are advised.
• 15. Never honk your horn at another car in traffic. Native Tulsans don't like that. The bumper sticker that reads, " keep honking, I'm reloading" is considered a fair warning.
• 16. Exit and entry ramps on the expressway are just the recommended way of entering and exiting, feel free to exit at any grassy point you wish. Everybody does.
• 17. 90% of drivers trying to make a left turn on Harvard, Yale, or Sheridan are actually attempting suicide. Stay out of their way.
• 18. Those orange traffic cones are considered by many citizens to be the designated "City Tree" of Tulsa. They are replaced, however, after nine or ten dents.
• 19. Remember that you may be rear-ended if you decide to yield at a "Yield" sign.
• 20. Be sure to take something with you to read while waiting in the 45 minute line at any of our convenient, efficiently run Post Offices.

New Search Engine

"Try it, You'll like it. Ms Dewey Search Engine. I think it's fun just to watch her." -- Steve
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Happy Big 70, Rosalea

You Ain't Dead yet! Thanks for sticking around for the first 70 years! AND... We hope you stick around for a long while preserving the prairies and their skyscrapers. Here is a Happy Birthday wish to that infamous Kansas lady & president of the Balmer Fund Organization. Thanks, Rosalea, for your valuable time, energy and perseverance that you have given unconditionally preserving the history and culture of Kansas.
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Rustic Weaver Thank-You

"I forgot to tell you a plus from the story in the OkieLegacy. Homecoming, Saturday, Nov. 4th, 2 men came in early and said they were sure glad I was here. So I asked them where they were from and they said "Stillwater, we read about you on the net". Seems a friend reads the Oakie and told them. so I expect the news will help over time. Once again, thank you!!" -- Eva Welch View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe