FarmFamily's Blogorado was fabulous this year.

I managed to beg Thursday and Friday off from my job last week, so we could make it for more than a day at Blogorado. Departure from town was delayed by a/c problems, and the A/C guy came that morning and interfered with the system so the house wouldn't be hot on Sunday night. Then, with heavy heart, Himself and I took teh puppehs to board at the local place. Yes, I cried. I hate being away from the little darlings, but there was fun to be had and friends to be met.

We drove right on up through the antelope-riddled rugged beauties of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, arriving Thursday evening too late for dinner, but plenty early to scarf down some of FarmMom's leftover fried chicken and gravy without ruining our breakfast. Mmmm, gravy. Glorious stuff.

MattG and JPG were already there, as was OldNFO and AEPilotJim, Ambulance Driver and GayCynic. The next day, OldNFO, Jim and AD went to set up the range with FarmDad. I shot the breeze with Matt and LD and IRC regular Vine, FarmMom and MeeMaw. Meanwhile, GC whipped up a glorious lasagna and a chocolate cake that was sublime. I sampled FarmMom's pickles which came in varying degrees of heat. Then Peter arrived from Denver where he'd collected Wing and Oleg at the airport. Soon after, the Nerds' large but useful truck rolled in replete with an embarrassment of riches in the form of their home brew and a couple of glorious pies. We sat in a circle on fold out chairs on the lawn, swapping stories and finishing dinner. Back in Texas, Christina called Jim and instructed him to grab everyone's butt for her, which he did, to the general amusement of all and sundry.

Saturday, we went out to the range and shot to our hearts' content. I shot a couple .44 pistols that I liked. OldNFO told me he'd accidentally brought a Diamondback instead of the lovely Colt's Python he knew I was so fond of. I later overheard LawDog chiding "she won't know the difference."

Bull.

Corn.

Anyhoo, the Diamondback was lovely and all, but I most definitely prefer the Python. *harumph*

More than anything, I shot my beloved Browing .22 lever-action rifle. The funny thing is that since moving away from the city, I really don't make it out to shoot as much as I would like (excepting squirrels who have ideas about cohabiting under my roof). I was quite pleased with my accuracy, for being so out of practice, and I put the hurt on a stack of 4 microwaves and set some steel plates to dancing.

AmbulanceDriver didn't manage to kill his radiator with a buck this time, but he did kill a respectably well-fed 4' rattlesnake on Thursday. I'm happy to report there was no road-side skinning of big game this year.

Dinner Saturday night was Chicken Fried steak, and then came Salamander of kneebeard fame, and TD arrived with his gorgeous girlfriend in tow. Incidentally, TD brought an elephant gun which I didn't get to shoot, since we were leaving Sunday morning. I'm hopeful he'll bring it back next year and I can at least watch someone else shoot it.

The shooting was a hoot, and we all had a good time. Oleg brought an impressive array of guns, and I really enjoyed firing a KelTec .22 rifle he brought with a scope. The air was dry, if warm, and I don't think anyone was miserably sunburned. The whole weekend was a grand affair, but the best of all was the story-telling at the end of the day. We killed a goodly bit of ammo, but more than anything, we shot the shit and tickled ourselves aplenty. Colorado is open-carry, so I sported The Gun That Killed Santa Claus on my belt Friday. *FUN*

This is a fine gang of people, and I can't wait till the next gathering. :) FarmGirl, FarmMom and FarmDad are some of the kindest and best folks you could ever want to meet, and it is a privilege to enjoy their abundant hospitality. I came home with jars of pickles and Dixie Sauce and cucumbers from FarmMom's garden, as well as some recipes. I'm hoping to winnow out those canned delights to bring us closer to the season when we'll be enjoying Blogorado III.