A Visit from Grandude

When Mr. Ranch and I told his parents that they were going to be grandparents his dad announced that he was too young to be a grandfather and was going to be Grandude, not Grandpa or Grandad.  (My parents on the other hand were thrilled...I think they have been ready for grandkids since we got married).
Grandude, being fairly recently retired, likes to travel.  This summer he drove from his home near Phoenix to Ohio (via Michigan) for a family reunion and on the way back stopped at our house. He travels with his faithful companion, Maggie the Dog, who loves visiting our dogs who are her nieces or cousins or something...
A couple years ago, during a visit from the Parker Hauses and Grandude, we attempted to buy tickets for the Pike's Peak Cog Railway.  Unfortunately, they were sold out for the day by the time we arrived at 10 am.  This year, we were smarter (or something) and bought tickets online the day before.  We dragged The Girl out of bed early (The Boy was up, of course) and headed for Pike's Peak.  The trip up was very pretty for about half the trip.  Then it rained.  Then it snowed.  Brrrr....It cleared back up on the way down though--a beautiful trip!

 After the Cog Railway, we had a nice walk around Manitou Springs, dinner and then headed home to let all the dogs out of their kennels.