My friend Pam came to visit me over the 4th of July and what a blast we had! Pam & her daughter got to experience a little bit of hometown America - complete with a parade down main street. The 4th is HUGE in Pagosa. Mainstreet is lined with people....thousands of people. You have to get up and get downtown to get a place to park.....actually...people park their flatbed trailers along the street the night before to assure they get a great place to view the parade. Seriously, there were signs posted downtown that you could not park before 2 a.m. alongside the street.

After the parade we went and had massages. While we were sitting on the veranda of the therapists porch we looked over at Kip's Grill and there were horses tied up at the posts while their owners went in for a bite to eat.....it was classic!

The next day we went to the Hot Springs..... outdoor hot tubs of varying degrees....and soaked up the healing (but stinky) sulphur water. No matter....you don't smell it after a while and it's not THAT bad!

About the grill......I thought I needed a barbecue grill but I did not want the mamba jamba gas ones not being sure that I would grill that much. So I bought an
- okay - cheap charcoal grill to test this whim out. Pam and I were sure we could do this. H., her daughter, sat on the hammock swing and watched. We arranged the charcoals and wet them down with lighter fluid and lit the match......20 seconds later....no fire.....no nothing.....even though the directions said "do not put lighter fluid on hot coals" ....we did anyway....they weren't even warm....still no fire......so Pam soaked the coals in lighter fluid again. I was a little scared about setting ourselves on fire but I dutifully handed her the matches while I held the fire extinguisher because friends always have their friends back....LOL....she lit the match and threw it on the coals..................WHOOSH......this tremendous tongue of fire leapt up through the air! Holy Smokes....would it stay lit? Well, not for long. We continued this procedure until finally we had FIRE and even better....finally....HOT COALS and we grilled our steaks.
While the steaks were cooking, I googled "how to make a hot charcoal fire". I have the instructions and have tested them and the last time I grilled....I could have grilled for hours!!!
Our other adventure involved birds. I have no pictures but I assure you it was a crazy sight. I had birds in my dryer vent and they were driving me CRAZY. I asked Pam to help me get the nest out. My washer and dryer are in my halfbath upstairs. We shut the door and pulled the washer/dryer unit out. I pulled the vent from the wall and this big nest fell out on the floor and three little baby birds that were learning to fly also came flying out. We had birds flying at us and around our heads and we were screaming and batting them away! I am not sure who was most scared but I finally got one bird cornered and caught it with a plastic bag and took it outside and let it go. Now for the other two.

As I let myself back into the bathroom, one little bird escaped. Pam was on it. I was able to usher the second little bird back out the drying vent hole. Now for the last one. Well, it got away from us and we didn't know where it was. While we were eating our lovely grilled steaks, the little bird flew out of the loft and landed behind my freestanding wood stove.....and went under it. There was NO WAY to get it now. We tried several times to get it but could not even see where it was at.....oh well....we will have to sleep with the little birdie in the house.

The next day I left the doors open but the screens shut and went to work. When I came home at lunch, the little bird was back up in the loft, claws in the screen, crying for its mother as she flew at the screen trying to get her baby. I caught the little bird in my hands and took it outside and let it go. The Barbie condo is free of birds.....

At Ms. Jaye's house, as Gilda Radner "Rosana Dana" of Saturday Night Live used to say....."It's always somethin'".....LOL