Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Way Back Machine

The time: June, 1979
The place: Silverton, Colorado


One of the Farmer's first jobs out of college was working for one of the largest producers of dairy products in the U.S. He was invited to participate in a business seminar that was being held at a resort in Silverton, Colorado. We'd only been married for 6 months and luckily for me, the wives were invited along for the trip.

We flew a jet from Chicago to Denver. That's a story in itself, as days before our departure a jumbo jet crashed after taking off from O'Hare, killing everyone onboard. It made for some nervous travelers on this trip. This is the plane we took from Denver to Silverton, although I remember it being much smaller.



We stayed in this dramatic resort on the side of mountain.



Not much sleep for flatlanders who were afraid of sliding down the mountainside in the middle of the night.

Look how young the Farmer looks! And relaxed too. He was a workaholic even back then.



One of the activities offered at the resort was a trail ride up into the mountains where you'd go fishing in a lake. Most of the group from his company decided to participate. I don't remember alot of the wives being along on this trail ride.

I pretended to be a cowgirl. I'd never spent more than 20 minutes on a horse in my life.



The Farmer kept looking back to make sure I was still in the saddle.



We rode for about an hour, up into the high country. There's was a shack where they kept all the tackle. Yes, it was THAT beautiful.



Do you see all those guys at the water's edge? They're the big executives from the company. They thought it was a good idea to walk down to the edge of the lake right in front of the shack and just start fishing. Hmmmmm.....

It seemed to me that they never had a grandpa who loved to fish. The kind of grandpa that required you to learn to fish if you ever wanted to spend any quality time with him. Nope, they never had a fishing grandpa.

I did.

My grandpa showed us how to walk around a lake and scout the holes where the fish might be hiding. Like this one.



He taught us how to bait a hook, be patient and jerk the line to set the hook. He taught us how to reel 'em in and string 'em on a line.

And that's what I did.



Lots of them.



So many that we were able to have the resort's chef cook them up for appetizers at that evening's meal.

The executives on the other side of the lake? They weren't very good sports about the whole thing. They kept asking the Farmer, "What's your wife doing over there?"

"Oh, nothing," he answered. "Just a little something her grandpa taught her."

NOTE: I do not remember EVER being that skinny. The South Beach Diet starts today!! Yes, our glasses are so 1970's.

20 comments:

Schnitzel and the Trout said...

Wonderful pictures! SUch great memories, yes? I am amazed how organized you are. You can just pull these old pictures out of your hat? I need to learn from you.

non said...

I love it- I am blessed to have had the opportunity to fish with both my grandpa and my father as a girl growing up in East Texas. Love the pictures and thanks for sharing your memories.

chocolatechic said...

Way to outdo the men!

I love your hair and glasses.

Mine looked just like that in 1979 too.

RoeH said...

Mmmmm....must be trout. It's the best. I miss it. Your husband looks soooo....70's ish. I remember when 30 years seemed like an eon and I see your pictures and realize it's ONLY been 30 years. So fast. Where did that go. Time has the most interesting perspective. I love this post because of Colorado. Wish I still lived there sometimes.

Martha said...

What a great story. Yes, real fisherman know where to fish!

Michelle said...

I love these pictures. What a great trip and the resort looked beautiful. We went on a little fishing trip in a local creek yesterday. We love to fish here in KY as well.

Louise said...

Those executives... can't handle a girl doing better than them.

LOVE the pictures!

Vee said...

...and you leave me laughing. You two look marvelous! Have mercy on yourselves...that was over thirty-something years ago for heaven's sake. =D

Well you showed them and that's the important thing and you looked cute as a button doing it, too!

Vee said...

Oh, if you've never read this post from Brin at My Messy Thrilling Life, I think you'd really enjoy it:

site

Vee said...

Well, I don't know what I did there, but it does take you to the right place.

Steph said...

Thanks for the comments on my blog! I have a few more farm pictures here http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b189/turtle3539/Farming/?albumview=grid if you'd like to see them! I have always wanted to visit Moline, IL! And back to the fishing story...as many times as I have been fishing, I've only caught a fish once. It was when I was camping by a lake, and I left the pole and line dangling in the water overnight, next morning, there was a fish attached. I was so proud of myself, haha. Other than that the only thing I've ever caught was a lawn chair, seriously. I reeled one in, lol.

Unknown said...

Those are very cool photos !!

Good on you for showing those men, that a mere slip of a girl could outdo them :-) LOL !!!

Heidi said...

OOOO TROUT! LOVE EM! You look good in those pictures my friend and the Farmer LOVE THE HAIR! LOL I had/have a fishin grandpy, but he cant fish with me anymore. He said you dont walk up to a hole that you want to fish so that your shadow falls on it - walk up from the opposite side and walk soft, fish have great hearing. :) Cant wait till you come up and we can go fishing together! YOu are SO full of surprises!!!

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

Wow - talk about coincidences - we had been on that plane that crashed, only earlier in the day. It took us from San Diego to LA - where we changed planes and we flew on to Kansas City - and the doomed plane went to Chicago. We heard later that night that it had crashed on take-off out of Chicago. We could have stayed on and taken that plane to Kansas City but we decided to change planes because we would get home two hours earlier to our little kids. What a tragedy that plane crash was - and if I remember the cause - it was faulty inspections and one engine fell off.

What a day that was for us.

Glad you had a great time at the lodge - love the glasses.

Significant Snail said...

Oh, I love trout! I was born in Colorado and I sure do miss the mountains! If you get back that way again there is an old steam train that runs between Durango and Silverton and it's a beautiful ride, especially in the fall!

CrankyProfessor said...

I would NEVER have said anything about the glasses!

But treasure the memory of your skinniness! I came across a college picture of me not long ago and wondered what WAS I thinking about myself back then? And how thin does that mean I am NOW, comparatively?

dara Ickes said...

I had a fishing grandfather! I loved going with him. It has served me well knowing how to bait a hook and remove a fish.

Michelle said...

Thanks for commenting on my "fishing" post. My daughter is too concerned about devouring a bag of cheese puffs to concentrate on her casting! However, she does occasionally get a good cast, instead of landing them in the trees. "Squirrel Hunting" as her Daddy calls it.

Cathy ~ Tadpoles and Teacups said...

Loving the glasses! It is fun to go back in time.
Fun post~

cotedetexas said...

great story!!! loved you showing them how it was done and you do look really skinny!!!!! i hate seeing old pictures of myself - too depressing how old i am getting. yuck!!! why can't we all just stay skinny?