When John Asquith moved to Cheyenne, Wyo. some 20 years ago, he fell in love with the West and made it his home. the West and made it his home.

Today, John, his special friend, Janice Carroll, and their two dogs, Dunkin, a Golden Doodle, and Katie, a Greyhound rescue, live near Westcliffe, Colo. in a cabin they built themselves.

Their mountain home is nestled on 47 wooded acres and is over 8,000 feet high in the Rocky Mountains.  From their living room window, they overlook the Wet Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. "It took about a year to build, and we're still working," John said.

Owning a self-sustaining home was something of a dream for John so when the couple designed and built this home in 2003, they opted for solar energy.  Despite the cold temps where they live, their house produces all of the heat and electricity they need.  The phone service and Internet are delivered via satellite.  "We're not hooked up to anything," John proudly remarked.

The avid outdoors man enjoys watching the multitude of wildlife that roam nearby - including bobcats, coyotes and bears.  They do have to keep an eye on their pets.

Before retiring, John worked at IBM for 38 years.  After graduating from Rocky, John attended an electronics school.   He worked for a couple of smaller companies before he found a home with the behemoth high tech company.

Regarding retirement he said, " I love it, and I should have done it years ago."

John has five children - Leah, 42, Tabbitha, 37, Aron, 33, Adam, 30, and Andrew, 27.  He has 6 grandchildren.  "They all live in the Denver area, and I see them frequently."

John and Janice like to ski, hike, camp and go boating down the Royal Gorge River, which is about 20 miles from where they live.  They also like to travel -  anywhere is good he says.  They spent some time this summer touring the Northwest, and they travel to South Florida several times a year.

His high school memories are good ones.  John was on the swim team and enjoyed going to the basketball and football games.  He also liked math class a lot.  "I went to the dances, but I was a lousy dancer."

Bill Collins, Booker Cole and Larry Fairchild were some of his high school friends.

Boys will be boys and John fondly recalls the many pranks he and his friends played during high school,  There was the time they sneaked into a football game, but John got hung up on the barbed wire on top of the fence.   A huge gash on his hand as he struggled to free himself before they were caught served as a reminder not to pull that stunt again.

And then there was chemistry class - do you recall the day an ominous looking yellow gas floated down the halls of Rocky and everyone had to evacuate?   John and his buddies from chemistry class can be thanked for that brief respite from school.

John is thinking about attending the upcoming reunion, and he would enjoy hearing from other classmates and what you are doing.  His email is jasquith@yahoo.com.