My Say What Blog Archives - Page 47 of 53

Jun 7th Camping Season – The Perils of Getting a Late Start

Can you believe it’s camping season again? Seems it was just Christmas and winter. Hey, wait a minute, it was just winter, Colorado had significant snow through April and into the first weeks of May. My daffodils, crocus and tulips did their best even through the snow.

Snow and winter weather made us late de-winterizing (is that even a word?) our fifth wheel trailer and truck. Uncovering the trailer in the wind was an experience in itself. Imagine a thirty-foot long, thirteen foot high cover billowing in twenty-five mph wind as you try to fold it up. Nearly took me off my feet (Dorthy from OZ swirls through my mine) as my hubby shouts, “Fold it the other way. ”Yeah, right, I could if I could get it on the ground,” I retorted, my words swallowed up by the wind. What’s the use of a good retort when no one hears. Kinda like that question, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it still make a sound?

Any way I digress. While parking the fifth wheel in the driveway, a strong odor of fuel permeated my nostrils, I looked under the truck and saw a steady stream of liquid puddling below the vehicle. Peering at my husband I said, “Is that supposed to be happening?” I point under the truck to the leaking fuel. “#*#? no,” he said.

After a tirade of not nice words from under the truck, my hubby ascertained the fuel pump was leaking. Okay, so you think, no big deal, just get it fixed. Right?” No way! Because my hubby trusts no one to work on his vehicles, especially brakes and fuel system, he spent Memorial Day Weekend draining a thirty six gallon gas tank. Of course we’d just filled it. He pulled the tank out and replaced the fuel pump. That done, the tank back in place, we took truck and trailer to a tire store for 8 new tires all around. Bank account drained, we brought the vehicles back and parked them in the driveway, much to the chagrin of our homeowners association (that’s a whole different story). People who don’t own an RV should never decide how long it takes to get ready. Still had to de-winterize the trailer, and get it ready for camping.

Hubby crawls under the trailer only to find a bolt holding the slide-out mechanism sheared off. What a disaster if we’d been going down the highway. Thank goodness we weren’t. Hubby sprinted downstairs to his ton of important stuff that fills the basement and found exactly the bolt he needed. Then proceeded to remind me that’s why he keeps all the junk I bitch about. Okay… enough said. Further inspection and the trailer ground brace is loose, another trip in the basement and taa daa a can of screws and the brace is repaired.

Kayaks loaded, truck full of fuel (not leaking), trailer packed with human, dog, parrot and turtle necessities

Steamboat Lake

we’re ready. Let the camping adventures begin. On our agenda this year, Steamboat Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Lake Vallecito, Twin Lakes in San Isabell National Forest, and Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Note to self: Next year regardless of what Mother Nature throws at us, the fifth wheel comes out of storage in April.

Oh, by the way, I figured you’d rather look at pictures of places we’ve camped, rather than repairs in our driveway made this year. Was I right?

Where are you going? Did you have as much trouble getting ready as we did? I’d love to hear from you! Next week, we’ll check out favorite camping spots.

Posted in Camping, For Fun, My Say What Blog and tagged Adventures, camping, Fifth wheel, repairs, Rocky Moutian National Park, Steamboat Lake, Twin Lakes by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Apr 26th 10th Anniversary – Mountain of Authors

Saturday, April 23, 2016, I had the pleasure of being part of the Pikes Peak Library 12376634_954175368023532_4984978655902082006_n District Mountain of Authors. It was a blast. Thirty-four local Colorado authors were on hand to showcase their work. A panel of three mystery authors and a panel of two authors and an agent each presented stories and their experiences in the publishing industry.

The keynote speaker was Anne Hillerman, daughter of award winning author, Tony Hillerman who penned eighteen Navajo mysteries. I loved his books and was deeply saddened at his passing in October of 2008. I own every one of his books and have enjoyed the adventures of characters, Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee and Bernadette Manuelito.

I was excited to learn that Anne has followed in her father’s footsteps breathing life into his beloved characters once again. Giving Bernadette a fresh, strong woman view point in Spider Woman’s Daughter and Rock With Wings. She also researched and wrote Tony Hillerman’s Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn. A stunning collection of original documentary photographs of the New Mexico and Arizona landscapes that were integral to Tony’s detective novels. Pictures by photographer, Don Strel, Anne’s husband. This is a timely showcase of a hauntingly beautiful region that captured one man’s imagination for a lifetime, and is a daughter’s loving tribute to her father. Yep, you guessed it, the book enjoys a place in the center of my coffee table.

Okay one more fangirl observation. Nancy Atherton, author of over twenty Aunt Dimity mysteries, including many bestsellers. These cozy mysteries whisk you away to a small village in England filled with quirky characters. Again, I have all of her books. Nancy’s participation in the Mountain of Authors – It’s A Mystery Panel was very entertaining along side her cohorts in crime, Robert Greer and Manuel Ramos.

It was thrilling to visit with the above authors as well as many other talented local authors. I look forward to next year’s Mountain of Authors. I’d love to see you there.

Thanks for putting up with my fangirl musing. Oh did I mention I sold a few of my books too. Exciting adventure for a new author. Warning shameless promotion! June 15th my third book, A Witch’s Journey will be released. You’ll love it!

I enjoy hearing from readers and other authors. So please feel free to leave a comment. Until next time, take time out of your hectic schedule to read a good book. Its a great stress reducer, if only for a few hours.

Posted in My Say What Blog, The Pikes Peak Region and tagged A Witch's Journey, Anne Hillerman, Authors, books, Mountain of Authors, Mystery, Nancy Atherton, PPLD, Tony Hillerman, Writers by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Mar 8th Spring and Family Collide

Shamrock4 small March is here! Yea! The wearing of the green, always brings me into a Spring mood. This year Easter is right on it’s heels, which makes decorating my house for Easter a short-lived experience. I love all those pastel eggs, bunnies, butterflies and happy things. No I don’t forget the reason for the season either.

It’s time to encourage the brown grass to bring up new green shoots. Daffodils, tulips, crocus all have their little green sprouts above ground checking for acceptable weather. Inevitably, they get snowed on at least once here in the Rocky Mountains, but they persevere anyway and put on a colorful show. I love Spring.

I’ve been planning our 2016 camping excursions since December, making those all important reservations at Steamboat Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Twin Lakes and many more. A trip to Lake Vallecito this year is exciting, especially to meet up with friends. However, last night I discovered that maybe, we’ll have to rearrange a few details this year.

A death in the family, and failure to keep in touch with cousins I was close with growing up gave me pause for thought. I received a letter and an obituary in the mail of a favorite uncle a few weeks after the fact. Why… because my cousin didn’t know how to contact me. She located my webpage, facebook page, but a death is something you don’t want to post on social media.

When I received the letter, I immediately looked her up online and located a phone number, made the call. After forty-five minutes of catching up, I was sad how much we’d missed after we grew up and life intervened. The reason for lack of communication is not always what you think. What a shame.

So… plans to return to my childhood stomping grounds may lessen the amount of time we spend in state and federal parks this year. Connecting with family and friends I haven’t seen in years, seems more important. To my credit, I always send a newsy Christmas Letter with pictures of where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing. That’s how my cousin knew my address. Life is unpredictable, what you assume will always be there when you are ready… can disappear in an instant.

I’m not one for genealogy, but connecting with family that helped make childhood memories so precious is something I wish I’d done sooner. But better late than never. I hope this acts as a reminder to pick up the phone, call someone you’ve put off too long connecting with, because… you never know. Sorry for the less than inspiring post this week.

Some good news. Copy edits are done on my next novel, A Witch’s Journey. A story about how meeting the right person can make all the difference in the world. No matter who or what your are. I await excitedly for a peek at the book’s cover, soon to come. I’ll share it of course.

Do you have people you wish you’d stayed in contact with? Look ‘em up, give ‘em a call. If only to say hi, how are you doing?

I love to hear from readers. Take a minute, write a comment. You’ll be glad you did, and so will I.

Next week I promise a happier topic as I discuss favorite camping haunts. Places to enjoy in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Also the challenge of gardening in a short growing season. Until then, make each day count!

Posted in Food for Thought, My Say What Blog and tagged A Witch's Journey, camping, Colorado Rockies, family, flowers, remember, Spring, writing by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Feb 1st It’s Party Time!

mavp2016 This year has been a blast so far. After mega hours at the computer and too many phone redials to count, finally got most our camping reservations for spring and summer set. Still missing the elusive Rocky Mountain National reservations, but I’ll get ’em. Love that place and apparently so do thousands of others from around the world! I’ll be blogging about new camping spots we found in the next couple of months.

I am celebrating with The Romance Reviews, they have more than 300 participating authors and publishers, and more than 300 prizes up for grabs during the whole month of February. Grand prize is $200 Amazon Gift Certificate! Plus over $300 Gift Certificates and more than 300 book giveaways! What are you waiting for, get over there. You are not going to want to miss this!

Charm Me will be featured on the center of the The Romance Reviews Party Event Page from February 8-12th with a chance to win an ebook for the right answer to a question about Charm Me appearing on February 18th.

You’ll need to register at TRR and log in before you play the games for prizes, to keep track of your points for each game. Registration is free an easy.

Here it is February 1st, huge fluffy white snow flakes are falling, there’s six inches of wet white stuff on the ground and counting. No can’t be measured in feet… yet. We’ll be able to use our snowblower for the fourth time this year. Bought it three years ago, used it only once until this year. Little did I know that’s how to moderate the snow in Colorado. Got snowblower, no snow. Kinda like washing your car in the summertime, it’s guaranteed to rain. LOL Remember camping season is right around the corner! Ok, maybe a long, long corner. Stay warm and safe.