BAGLES, BENEDICT AND ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END!

We left Saturday morning for Raton, NM and Bearadise. I had one of my favorite breakfasts, Eggs Benedict,

at a local place called Baglemania. It's off the beaten path and mainly locals eat here. We found out about it last year and the food is delicious, so we make a point of eating there several times when we're in Santa Fe.

We were on the road by 10:00 and on our way to Raton. We decided to stop in Springer, NM, where Frank was born and go by his old homestead. Things have changed so much that we hardly recognized the place.

This is where Frank and his two brothers grew up and where he took me 52 years ago to meet his parents. There are lots of wonderful memories under that roof.

From there we went to the cemetery where his parents and his middle brother, Tommy, are buried.




It's a beautiful spot in the summer when the trees have their leaves. It was a trip down memory lane. We visited and talked about all the old friends and family members who have been laid to rest there. It is the town's history.

Frank's eldest brother, George, was killed in WWII and is buried in France. When we were there about 15 years ago we visited his grave. It was a very special time for Frank as well as for me. I did not have the privilege of knowing George, but through family stories and memories, I feel as though I knew him. He received a Medal of Honor which was cherished by the family.

From there, we drove by the church where we were married 50 years ago. With the exception of several new coats of paint, it still looks the same even though we don't.

We arrived in Raton around 1:30, had lunch, and went to our little casa in the mountains aka Bearadise.

As always, the welcome sign was out, and we unpacked and called Bev and Larry to let them know that we had arrived safely.

As it happened, Larry was in Albuquerque on business and would be back the next day. FYI, here is a little background on Larry. He is a brilliant man and highly respected in his field. He spends a lot of his time working with the government on projects that he cannot speak publicly about. He spends a lot of time overseas, in Russia as well as Washington, DC. Here is a little background on our dear friend.

Larry G. Stolarczyk received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering in 1960 from the University of Colorado, the M.S. degree in electrical engineering in 1965 from the New Mexico State University (NMSU), the Sc.D. degree in electrical engineering and related areas of physics and mathematics in 1970 from New Mexico State University, and the M.I.A. degree in business in 1975 from the Robert O. Anderson Graduate School of Management from the University of New Mexico. He worked from 1960-83 as Chief Scientist and director of Research at A.R.F. Products, Inc. before establishing Stolar, Inc. in 1983. He is co-founder, Vice President of Research, and Chairman of the Board of Stolar, Inc.
Dr. Stolarczyk is a member of IEEE Circuit and Systems Theory Group, Antennas and Propagation Group, and Vehicular Technology Group, Geological Society of America, Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute. He has been nominated for the National Technology Medal by the U.S. Bureau of Mines for his contribution to the development of underground radio technology. He has also been nominated for the medal for the development of the radio imaging method for tomography scanning of subsurface geologic structure by NMSU. He received the 1986 National Award for Energy Innovation for Development of the radio imaging method. He was named an outstanding alumnus at the 100-year Anniversary of the NMSU College of Engineering. He is also a member of the Nation Physics Honor Society (Sigma Pi Sigma). He is Vice President and trustee of Raton Public Service Company.

To give you an idea how special he is, here is a photo of him teaching their new dog, McKenzie, how to drink Vodka in case she goes to Russia with him on his next trip.

I neglected to mention early that at Bearadise we have a "Room With a View". There's nothing like living on top of the world! In fact, to quote Barbara Streisand, "On a Clear Day, You can See Forever" :-)

When we first arrived, Beverly said that they had a new pup. I asked what kind and she said. "She's an American Staffordshire Terrier". When I got my first look at her I said. "That dog is a Pit Bull"!

As it worked out, the breed is a relative of the American Pit Bull Terrier. Early Bulldog-Terrier crosses were brought to the US with the British and Irish settlers, especially after the Civil War, where they were mainly used as fighting dogs, but also as hunting dogs and farm and guard dogs. This is good for Bev since they live on top of a mountain and she is alone a great deal of time while Larry travels on business. McKenzie is a sweet dog but would scare you to death if you didn't know her, and that's good.

The next day we took a drive and went by the hospital where our youngest, Franklin was born.

From there we drove by Frank's first office where he started in General Practice in 1958. Talk about lots of old memories! I worked with him for a short while and then we both decided that I would be better off at home being a Mother and homemaker. He practiced out of this office for 7 years and then decided to go back to school and specialize in Orthodontics. It turned out to be a very wise decision.

The next day Frank and Larry decided to go to Cimarron Canyon and fish. They have had so much snow here that it is not safe for them to go to the San Juan and fish as they had planned, so Frank waved goodbye and he and Larry were off to catch and release so big trout!

The next day the weather forecast was not good, so after having lunch, we decided to come on home and hopefully beat the storm.

We made the right choice. We drove as far as Amarillo and spent the night. The first few hours on the road were dreadful as the fog was so thick that you could barely see beyond the front end of the car, but we made it into Texas safe and sound, went to bed early and got an early start the next morning. We were safe and sound in our wonderful home the next day in time to go to lunch and come home and unpack.

As I said in the title of this post. "All good things must come to an end", but I'm looking forward to our next trip to The Land of Enchantment in the late spring. I hope that you have enjoyed traveling with me.

XOXO, Pcasso