Together Again

We made our annual stop at Barbie and Chris' RV Park in Centennial, Colorado (southeast side of Denver). One of our very favorite places.

Actually, the RV park is their driveway where they let us park and plug in and hang out.

Many many moons ago, Shelley was born in Oklahoma City. During the early years Shelley and Barbie's moms were best buddies. Barbie and her sister Linda and Shelley and her brother Tom all went to church together, played at each other's houses and got into trouble together. Somewhere along the line, the going to church part and the getting into trouble parts went by the wayside. However, over the last few years we have returned to playing together, mostly at Barbie's house.

Friday night Chris, Barbie's husband, treated us to paella for dinner. He not only cooked the dinner but actually made the pan he cooked it in. Chris is an excellent welder and had taken an old worn out harrow disk and turned it into a fabulous paella pan that he uses outside and cooks over a wood fire. It was a really fun, and might I say delicious, dinner.

And the food hits just kept on coming.

On Saturday night we were joined for dinner by Shelley's brother Tom who lives northwest of Denver and neighbors Len and ILlynn. I think that as a prelude to July 4th Barbie fed us a huge BBQ dinner with baby back ribs and all the fixins – YUM. If there is anything that I love it is BBQ.

Sunday was spent whiling away the hours in Black Hawk, CO at the casinos. And just like the last time we went to Black Hawk with Barbie, we all came away winners – which of course makes it just that much more fun.

Went out for Mexican food for dinner and introduced Barbie to the Mexican drink Horchata. If you have never had this – you must ask for it the next time you are in a Mexican restaurant. It is totally non-alcoholic and delicious. It is a milk made from rice and flavored with cinnamon and vanilla. We first had it last year in San Antonio and have never seen it on a menu but it seems that if you ask for it all Mexican restaurants have it. I highly recommend it. (if you order it, don't pronounce the H, just drop it and ask for orchata).

And I forgot the Chocolate Chip Cookies. How could I forget that. When we first arrived Barbie came out of the house and I thought that she said she had to go back in because she was baking cookies. When I went in the house there were no cookies :( and I found out that what she had really said was she had bacon cooking. So, since I was expecting cookies – she baked a huge batch of excellent chocolate chip cookies. Thanks Barb – just what I needed.

So until next year – keep that RV site reserved for us and thanks for the hospitality.