Our Day with Great Guys!
Howdy Folks!
Well, we had ourselves a ball yesterday and met some really great guys. I enjoyed their company very much indeed... once we finally got there, that is.
We started out from Aurora with a tank of gas (had to take out a second mortgage) and headed down 225 toward the south. My wife and I chatted about the new Walther PK 380 I bought her the day before as we drove down and why I felt an automatic pistol was better than a revolver for her. She really likes her little S&W J-Frame, so she was puzzled about why I felt the .380 was a better pistol for carry.
Anyhow, we plugged in the address of the IHOP in Colorado Springs and headed down. For reasons known only to the Lords of GPS, the darn thing took us on a scenic tour of the Springs and guided us through a circuitous route that rendered us tardy reaching the meet. We did get that nice view of the statue of General Palmer situated smack in the middle of the intersection at Platte and Nevada.
When we got there, Since9 and Beau were already there along with Beau's kids. They were great kids too, and well behaved. Shortly after my wife and I arrived, Ilikesa came along and joined us. What a terrific fellow he turned out to be too!
Now I gotta tell ya folks, this medium of the internet is great, but you don't get much sense of the real people behind the monikers. As we sat chatting merrily at the IHOP, I got to enjoy these guys as the gentlemen they are as we shared stories over breakfast. And you know... breakfast is the most important meal of the day!
We had plans to visit the range, and left IHOP with the idea we'd be following Since9. He turned onto Chelton with me behind him when I noticed nobody was following. I glanced back to see that either Beau (who wasn't going to join us at the range anyhow) and Ilikesa were still in the IHOP parking lot with their hoods up! I swung myself around to see if I could help.
Once we got the problem resolved, Ilikesa said he would lead the way to the range and I felt relieved because I had no idea where Dragonman's was. He led out and I managed to lose track of him and soon decided I was lost. Fortunately enough, I had my Android along and was able to access this thread on the forum and find the address in one of the posts. I loaded the address into Google Maps (also on the android) and were soon on our way east. I was a bit surprised how far out of town the range was situated. I figure a couple of blocks further and they'd have a Kansas zip code!!!
We had a ball on the range, and my wife had her opportunity to fire the new Walther
PK.380. She really likes this new weapon. Ilikesa gave me the opportunity to fire his 1911, which is the first time I have fired a 1911. He also let me shoot his .357. I let him shoot my Judge. There were some really nice young guys from Fort Carson to our right, and I enjoyed chatting with them during "cease fire" periods.
jskp229 (John) showed up at the range and I met him only briefly but he was a real nice fellow too. We were so focused on our shooting that I really missed the opportunity to chat very much with him. Hope next time around, we have more time to spend getting to know him.
All in all, except for my own personal navigation issues, we had a wonderful day and met some terrific people. I also had my Mossburg Maverick 12ga and got to fire that as well. We enjoyed shooting, and the company of our forum friends on a really beautiful day in Colorado.
I hope we can do this again real soon, and will continue working on something up around the Aurora area for June. Hope we can meet more of our fine forum folk!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin