Yes, Salzburg, Austria is on our itinerary for today, so I won’t be writing my usual blog post. Our tour ends on Tuesday, so next week, you will be getting stories and pictures from this fabulous trip.
In Salzburg, we will be visiting some of the sites where they filmed the Sound of Music, one of my favorite movies. Also for the evening, we will be going to a Mozart concert and dinner. It will be a full day because it’s a 45 minute drive from Bernau am Chiemsee, Germany to Salzburg, Austria! Two different countries that close together—that’s hard for me to imagine!
I will be back next week with lots of pictures and stories of our 12 day tour of Bavaria with Tom, Gina, Curtis & Trevor Crisp. And updates about my new book coming out this year! You won’t want to miss it!
I can hardly wait to write up my blog posts about our trip to Bavaria!
Lin and I are in Germany on our square dance trip, so. . .no post today because we are going to Oktoberfest in Munich. Here’s more information about this amazing event:
Three years ago, Oktoberfest in Munich was one of the highlights of the trip for me. We saw parades with many traditional outfits and wonderful bands. We visited several beer tents and listened to German music. All in all, it was like a state fair on steroids!
Afterwards tomorrow, we are going to a barbecue with one of the square dance clubs in Munich and then dance with them. So it’s going to be a late night.
Be sure to know, I will be sharing lots of pictures and stories about our experience there this year!
Bear experiences on our ranch have been far and few between. My first was with Dad and Mom years ago before cell phones and digital cameras. My second bear experience was last week.
Bear Experience #1
Because of my teaching career, I spent lots of summer time in Colorado on the ranch with Mom and Dad. This had to be in the late 80s and early 90s.
As we were driving down the Scotty trail into our canyon one morning, Dad had just said, “This used to bear country.”
We pulled up beside the well there and checked it as we always did. After crossing the creek bed, we looked up, and there was a brown bear. Speechless, we stopped, grabbed the binoculars and watched this sizable brown bear run off.
“Wow! Dad, a bear, here in the canyon, on our ranch!” I marveled at the site. Mom and I both squeaked now that the bear had run off. This was my first sighting!
We had planned to camp out that evening not too far from the sighting of the bear, so Dad grabbed a gun to have it if the bear bothered us.
What a Joyful Evening We Had!
Mom cooked hamburgers out on an open fire while Dad and I set up our three-man tent. We rolled out our sleeping bags inside—the ten overflowed with sleeping bags! We played Rummy and laughed a lot. Also, we had brought a cassette player and had music blasting. My ten-pound miniature poodle, Windy, ran around, but I had to put him on a chain so he didn’t run off and explore too far away.
When it became time to go to bed, what an exercise that was! To manage the size of the tent, we filed inside in order of who needed to get outside first—that was Dad to pee! Windy bounced around inside enjoying us all being together. After much laughter and shifting in our bed rolls, we finally thought it was time to say good night.
“The gun is in the pickup!” Dad announced, “should I go get it?”
Dad kept saying, “What if the bear gets the gun?” Then we burst out laughing.
After much discussion and deliberation and laughter, we decided we were safe. We had no nighttime visitation of the bear, and we all slept soundly. For years, that was my only bear story!
Bear Experience #2
Last Tuesday, I didn’t go with my brother to the ranch because I wanted to clean out my garage. Because of recovering from the shingles in 2022 and 2023 and the dog attack in 2024, I hadn’t done any work in the garage for three years and it was a mess.
When my brother came in for lunch, he said he only saw turkeys and his buddy. I let that hint slip by and after lunch, he said he saw a bear.
“Where? What color? Oh, my God! I didn’t go and you saw a bear!” I exclaimed, “I am so jealous!” Because we have game cameras set up around the ranch, I have seen a variety of bear colors: brown, black and cinnamon.
“Brown bear,” he replied. So, that energized me for the next day.
So, the next day, I went out to the ranch with my brother, armed with my camera and an extra battery, like I always did. Right outside of Branson, a nice size buck antelope stood close to the road, so I grabbed my camera to take a picture. The battery was dead! No, worry! I had my spare. After putting it into my camera, the red light came on, saying, “Dead battery!
My brother and I looked at each other, and he said, “That means we will see wildlife today.”
I Felt Like an Idiot!
Never have I done that before! In the past, I was hypervigilant on making sure my batteries were charged. I’m going to blame this on the gabapentin I’m still taking for the nerve damage to my foot and leg. We’ve decreased the dosage, but I’m still taking 300 mgs.
As, we drove down the Harper Trail, we worked our way to the Scotty well. We arrived across the creek from the well. I turned and looked at the stock tank and I saw something in the tank.
I exclaimed to my brother, “There’s a bear in the tank.” He grabbed his binoculars and agreed.
So, we sat and watched for 20-30 minutes laughing at his antics. This cinnamon colored bear splashed and moved around. At one point, we feared for the six goldfish my niece put in there a couple years ago because it looked like he was hunting and eating something.
What a joyous time that was to see that bear thoroughly enjoying the wetness of the water that cooled him down and the playfulness of his attitude. After a while, he crawled out of the tank and he roamed around the tank. At one point, he dug up an ant hill close to the tank.
At no time was he aware we were there! Bears’ eyesight isn’t that good—their sense of smell and hearing are. We decided to drive closer and see when he would hear us. When we did cross the creek bed, he ran off.
Over by the stock tank, we investigated his attack on the anthill. He demolished it. Also, we looked in the tank for the fish. With all his movement, he had stirred up the tank so much, we couldn’t find any of the fish. A couple days later, we counted all the six large goldfish and about twelve smaller ones.
A Lesson from My Bear Experience
I always know there’s a lesson in something like this. Sometimes, I need to let go of taking pictures and just be present in the moment—and enjoy that moment for what it is! I will never forget sitting next to my brother and the spirited conversation we had about the amazing sight of a bear “bathing” (really cooling off) in our stock tank.
Finally,
I love the wildlife experiences I’ve had on our ranch, but this week’s bear experience tops the list. Do you have any wildlife experiences, bear experiences? If so, share them!
What does it mean to honor your mother? Here we are in the month of May. I could be talking about flowers, spring, the beach. But no, I’m still talking about my mom.
I want to honor my mother by remembering her by sharing some pictures that really show her personality!
1950s
While They Were DatingDad & Mom’s Wedding Picture
Mom and Dad married August 28, 1951. She married a cowboy and moved to Branson, Colorado, 50 miles away from her parents. In this move she adjusted! Eagerly she settled in and became a cowboy/rancher’s wife with the dust and manure that came with it. She also became a stepmother to three children: Fred, 7 years old; Larraine, 6 years old; and Sue, 5 years old.
That’s what Mom did—she adjust and adapted. I don’t have any pictures of her younger scanned it, but I have so many of her in elder years. It is in these you see her sassy, fun-loving personality come out.
1999
Mom Dancing in Krakow, PolandA Moment on our East European Trip
Mom and I took a trip to eastern Europe that was so amazing. We went because her great grandfather, Frank Joe Ulbig, entered the US as a stowaway, so there’s no record of him at Ellis Island or any other port of entrance. She did find out he lived in Prussia, so that was the reason we went to eastern Europe. Here she is in Krakow, Poland dancing up a storm and a special moment on the trip.
2002
Mom & Larada in our Branson, Missouri t-shirts
Mom and I scheduled a trip to Branson, Missouri before the Branson-Trinchera Reunion. What a great time we had there. Afterwards, at the Branson-Trinchera Reunion, we wore our t-shirts we bought.
2003
Larada, Mom & Candy Celebrated Larada’s Birthday in Cripple Creek, Colorado
Before my birthday, Mom and I met my dear life-long friend, Candy McMillan Vargas, in Cripple Creek, Colorado for any evening of gambling. We had a blast. Mom was pregnant with my brother when Candy’s mom was pregnant with her, so our shared lives went back to their births!
2008
Mom’s sense of humor shines through!
At the Branson-Trinchera Reunion, Mom donned a Mexican hat that was the table decorations and gave me a photo opportunity. I loved her sense of humor and willingness to jump and participate. I guess I got that from her.
2009
Mom & Helen Waldroup respond to Larada taking a picture!
Again, we were at the Branson-Trincherar Reunion, and I was taking pictures. So, I wanted a picture of Mom, so this was her response. Again she made me laughed with her raspberries response.
2010
Larada & Mom wear our Team Candy t-shirts!
Our dear friend, Candy, was diagnosed with kidney cancer, so a friend of hers made up these t-shirts for the people in her support system. We took this picture and sent it to her, hoping to boost her morale.
Finally,
I am going to stop there and continue this parade of pictures next week, to continue honoring Mom.
How do you honor your mom? Do you call her? Enough times during the week?
I had a horrible experience with my mom. In 2006, a major snowstorm hit Branson, Colorado and Mom was out of electricity for three days, basically snowed in, and I didn’t know it. When I called her, she was frantic. Luckily a neighbor dug her out because the snow had piled in on her door.
When I talked to her, I realized her devastation. From that point until she died, I called her daily.
Especially for a widowed parent, a simple daily call helps the parent know you are there. For the child, it honors that parent and helps her know what’s going on that day. Remember that!
I honor you, Mom!
I honored my mom and dad with this book, A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter’s Grief Memoir.
