Golllleee….I cannot believe the numbers I am seeing on my c panel of the June activities already on this web site, about half way through June… Visitors are the highest ever for a one month total….17,412…hits, 155,439…that is way over what I have had for the year, around 144,000 hits Jan – May…And my postings have not been, well, too controversial, I don’t think anyway and it has been a long time since I mentioned our President. Well, ok, I did mention the phone tapping, but not the IRS picking on the Tea Party, nor the leaks and cover-ups….I have not discussed government agents reading all my e-mails and postings, nope, none of that stuff…. But folks are really coming by…… And I am really pleased. I can only say thank you and I hope you will continue to visit this site. Who knows, I might bring up President Obama…..I might even say something nice…..Naw, probably not..Pete

Scott Pelly pointed out on his news show today (6/17/13) that the government had spent 3 1/2 billion dollars fighting wild fires in the west. They showed the homes that had been destroyed by fire and interviewed a few people who would be building again on the same lots that the fires had destroyed their homes. They were trying to make a point on how insane that was to rebuild in that same area. I wondered, how many times have I seen flood waters on the same rivers again and again back east and nothing was said about them rebuilding. I guess that’s ok. Folks get hit with tornado after tornado and rebuild in the same area. Hurricane after hurricane hits Louisiana, Florida and Texas, both the east and west coast and those folks rebuild in the same locations. I guess that’s ok. New Orleans is 21 feet below the level of the Mississippi River and folks rebuild in that area. That’s ok. And Mr. Pelly wonders about the sanity of the westerners rebuilding in the trees of the western mountains. Come on CBS, say something to your announcers about equality. Give us westerners the same break as you give other folks around the nation. We love our mountain locations  same as the river valley folks, same as the tornado alley folks, same as the coastal location folks. It kind of rankles me, Mr. Pelly……Pete Hester….ps  I tried to send this to the local CBS television station but they refused to accept my e-mail. That’s ok….input from peons probably should not be accepted since it is like a box of chocolates, never knowing what will show up in your inbox and if you don’t look, you won’t have to deal with it. It’s no big deal, except to those folks in Colorado Springs……oh, and me…it hurt my feelings….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0WugJoLib5k

These guys tell the story that I heard in Roswell over and over while visiting the UFO Museum and talking with Walter Haut and the other people there. Very interesting…..Pete

Ok, I know you are growing tired of my pictures, but folks we had so much fun I need to share this with you. I promise I will quit bragging soon….well, before to much longer, after all I did forget a disk for my camera and we had to drive about 35 miles into Durango to get a disk so you could see this beautiful area, so you must have a quick look at them. I hope you like them. Our crew:

Number one grandson-in-law was the hardest fishing fisherman we had. He was getting skunked, so he got out early and stayed late, fishing hard all that time and it finally paid off. Here is his prize….nice fish, huh?

My number one son loved to be out on his Razor, well, this one was a friends as his was to large to fit in the back of his pickup. But, anyway, he had me on the darn thing, flying down a rocky trail suitable for two mile per hour travel…(maybe a slight exaggeration) but he came to a quick stop and I wondered what was in front of us….I soon found out as I staggered from the rough ride. In front of us was a drop off of several thousand feet, ok, fifty or 100 for sure. Had we gone over, I think they would have just left us. Looking back, it was fun, while I was riding, pure fright…. Thanks number one…it was quite a ride…

Pines, mainly, in the San Juan National Forest near Lake Vallecito.

That’s all the pictures for this week folks…Now, next week, its according to how this old feeble brain operates, I mean, if I can think of something to write about, I’ll write…..If not, er, maybe some more pictures….I have several good ones left…Come back to see us, ok? Thanks, Pete

Here is a picture of the two boats used on our outing. Both are two man but they worked great. The red raft type boat had a six horse outboard and would really get you across the lake in a hurry and  it also had the trolling motor. The crew worked them over pretty good, but the bank fishing was ok also.Our top fishermen were no. 1 son in law and no. 3 grandson, shown here with the first stringer full of fish they caught. There was a nice bass in this bunch of fish and was the only bass caught on the trip. (Pickups in the background haul the 4 wheelers used on the trip.)

Nestled in the San Juan Mountains is the beautiful Vallecito Lake. Several creeks and rivers  feeds water into this lake which feeds its water to several entities there in Colorado, but mainly for the Ute Indian Reservation just south of the lake. The water coming into the lake is right off the snow melt of the high mountain terrain surrounding the lake. The boys gave me a ride on the 4 wheelers back into some pretty rough county. It was beautiful country, horseback riding country, rough and rugged and it only takes a few minutes of seeing this vast wilderness to note that it contains a lot of snow melt. The lake was down this year according to Bob Croll, owner of the Croll Cabins, but most of the time the lake is lapping at his cabin property. Several photos will be forthcoming but here is a couple of mountain shots I would like to share with you.

I don’t know the area, but somewhere back in here is Sunlight Peak, 14,089 feet and Windom Peak, 14,082 feet. Even in early June, evening and mornings are pretty nippy. The trees in this photo have been attacked by a bark beetle killing many trees in the area. Pete

Need a place to just get away or do some fishing or horseback riding. Bob Croll’s cabins are nice, stocked with all you need except food…It is nice and quiet, wonderful views and the fish are a good size. Last year at Platoro, the fishing seemed to be a little better but the fish were smaller. The good thing about the Croll cabins, they are right on the water. At Platoro, you have to drive a ways to fish if other than river fishing. AT Vallecito, you have to drive a ways to 4 wheel. That helps make it quieter  and less dusty at Vallecito but a little unhandy for some of the boys. It all worked out and we had a wonderful time. Click on the picture to enlarge it. Give the Croll’s a call if you are looking to get away. E. V. Pete Hester

Look out Colorado, here we come. I hope we bring back lots of fish, lots of good stories and lots of good pictures. You might recall after our trip last year, numerous pictures were printed on this site. I know you can hardly wait. Well, I’m excited about being out with my sons, grand sons and  in-laws. What a pleasure they all are and they are so nice to yours truly….Wow…There are several boys in this bunch that are good cooks, but no. 2 son watches all the cooking shows on tv and then adds some of his own touches and feeds us so well….. really fishing is secondary…Eating is what this trip is all about….I’m ready…Keep coming by folks. By the way, May 2013 was the busiest month ever in the history of hesterbooks.com, over 13,000 visitors and nearly 45,000 hits. Thank you for that…..click on some of my advertisers, ok? Thanks for that as well….

Thanks to our veterans we can enjoy this holiday weekend anyway we wish and with whoever we wish to celebrate it with. We call it freedom. Thank you men and women for your military service. This sent to hesterbooks.com from a friend in Dallas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKqT0-3JV5E&feature=youtube_gdata_player

First off, I don’t know the person who claims to be a boy now that she, er, he, er, it….(can you use it when referring to a person? Well, maybe not.) Ok, let me start over. This person wanted to walk on graduation night in a black gown, normally worn by boys. She had changed her name from a girls name to a boys name and identified herself as a boy. This person was born a girl and girls wear white gowns  at graduation. Now this is a Catholic School and Catholic Schools don’t put up with no crap. They kind’a said, “you came to this school as a girl, you gonna leave as a girl”, probably a little more refined than that, but meaning, you walk in a white gown, as a girl, or you don’t walk at all. Well, she, or he did not walk. Graduation went on and everybody but she or he, graduated….She or he stayed home. Her dad kind of said, if she wants to be a boy, she can be a boy and I don’t know him either. But you think he would know, huh? Surely he changed some diapers during its younger years. To me, you got to be one or the other, but that’s just the way I am…I don’t like grey area’s…..You a boy or you a girl. You got boy plumbing, you a boy….You got girl plumbing, you a girl. The other thing is, which rest room did she or he use during school, huh, the boys or girls….Now that would be a pretty good clue as to which gown the person must wear. I think the school handled it correctly, boy plumbing, black gown…girl plumbing, white gown…..end of story….But watch the media, this story will not die…You wanna bet? We’ll see….Pete