We Have Found It

 

Our own little piece of “Heaven”.  We are way out in the country, near a small little town called Preston, Minnesota.  This Park is called Maple Springs Campground.  The people that own it are the sweetest people you could ever meet.  It used to be a dairy farm and was converted to an RV Park in 1993.  It sits right on a river that we intend to explore tomorrow.  It is a Pass Port America Park also.  A little higher than some we’ve stayed in, but it is worth it.  Doesn’t have a pool, or cable, or even sewage hook-ups, but it is just the perfect little Park, for a few days stay.

 

 

 

 

Want to welcome my new followers, Al, and Herb and Willie.

 

We hope to do some exploring tomorrow at the Laura Ingles Wilder Museum.  There is no phone service here, so will also try to call Uncle Boone from in town tomorrow.  He called yesterday and said that they had found blood in his urine, so I want to know what is going on there.

 

I am going to try and explain what happened with our awning yesterday.  The arms didn’t fall down or get blown down, it was the housing, or enclosure that goes around the awning.  The wind must have just caught it in the right place and it allowed some of the awning material to come out.  We have ended up with about a 3' rip.  We will see about getting it repaired or replaced when we get to Indy.

 

I am going to make this a short post.  I am a bit tired from the over 300 mile drive today.

 

The internet here is a bit slow too, so hope I can get this posted.

 

Stay safe…. :)

Mitchell, South Dakota

 

This was an uneventful trip till we got to 30 miles from where we are camping tonight.  A lady in a red truck drove up beside us and kept waving and pointing at the RV, so we knew right away this did not look good.  Just as soon as we could we pulled over and discovered that our awning had been ripped open.  We had been experiencing very high winds for about an hour, so we are assuming that wind caught it just right and ripped it open.  We have the old kind on this 5th wheel.  The one that is manual.   We couldn’t do anything with it, so I turned on the caution lights and drove around 50mph the rest of the way to the park.  The wind is still blowing very hard, so we will have to wait till it dies down before we can fix it.  It is always something!!

 

I had a request to enlarge my print again, and I will gladly oblige.  I also have trouble with my eyes and thoroughly understand not being able to read small print.

 

We are staying at R & R campground tonight.  It is full hook-ups with free WiFi and cable for $18.50.   We have stayed here many times and would highly recommend this park for anyone traveling in the area.  It is a Pass Port America campground.  There is a lot to do and see while here.  We visited the Corn Palace in the past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought since we had visited all of these places in the past, and would only be here the one night, that I would add a couple of pictures from when we were here in 07.  Wall Drug to me was just a big Tourist Trap.(My least favorite places)  The Bad Lands and the Corn Palace are both must sees though.  We loved both of them.  The Doll Museum was a treat to me, but they are no longer open.  The lady that ran it decided to retire and they could find no one to run it.  That’s a shame because it is every little girl’s dream to see all those doll houses and beautiful dolls.

 

I want to welcome my new follower, Gizmojo.  I went in to your site, but it said there were no posts yet.  Be sure and leave me a comment when you start posting.

 

Going to get off here.  Thank you so much for all of your great comments yesterday.  I do so appreciate each and every one of them.

 

Stay safe…

Blues On The Blogging Front

I have been reading, in a lot of my favorite blogs, that they too do a lot of thinking about not blogging anymore.  Until I read Al’s post the other day, I was sure I was the only one experiencing these feelings.  It’s good to know I am not alone in this.  I have been writing a blog since 6-26-07, and there have been plenty of times when I thought I would just quit, but then I would get a heart warming note from one of my readers, and it would change my mind.  I know at least a couple of family members would really be upset with me, if I quit.  So, I trudge on.  The hard part for me is putting into words how I feel about our experience.  I honestly hope that someone out there is getting a little out of what I write.  I try to relay the fact that even on a low income, like ours, it is still possible to travel and live fairly well.  Ok, enough on that, but thanks Al for your great post on this subject.

Just got off the phone with Uncle Boone.  Good news on that front.  When he went in to have his blood count checked this week, it was still up to 9.7.  The Doctor told him he wouldn’t even have to get his count checked this next week.  This hasn’t happened since he first found out about his illness.  Also his platelets have fallen way back down.  The only problem he is having right now is the weight loss.  He is a very big person, 6' 3”, and he is now down to 162lbs.   He thinks he has quit losing though, so maybe it will go the other way now.

A few months ago, Uncle Boone’s truck was broken into, and all of his fishing rods and tackle were stolen.  This was about the only hobby he could still participate in.  He would take a lawn chair, his poles, and just sit beside a stream in the fresh air.  The nurses at the Nursing Home were asking him about his Hobbies, and he told them the story.  A couple of days later one of the nurses came back in and asked if he would be offended if she brought him some fishing tackle and rods?  One of her friends had a bunch of fishing equipment that he no longer used and wanted to donate it to Uncle Boone.  This story made my heart swell, till I thought it would burst.  Just when you think this world has turned into a horrible place, something like this happens, and restores your confidence in our society.

I took a couple more pictures of the area where we are staying and will share them with you.



  

Talked to my best Buddy earlier today and she is doing very well too.  Her platelets have come down, so looks like she is on the mend.

Hope you all have a great Sunday.    We are just kicking back and taking it easy.  We will be watching the Broncos later, but that’s it.

Stay safe.

A Saturday Drive

I don’t mean to sound snobbish, but what was I thinking?  Taking a drive around the Mount Rushmore area on a Saturday!!  I just wasn’t using my head.  I am not exactly antisocial, but I don’t like hoards of people and try very hard to avoid them.  Have always been more in favor of small, quiet, places rather than the more popular spots.

Today was an especially crowed day up on the mountain.  When we do  the touristy thing, we usually try to do them through the week rather than on the week end.  I mean there were cars in front of me, cars behind me, and every time I tried to pull over for a picture there was no place to park.  I thought maybe this late in the year, we might squeak by today, but it wasn’t to be.

This is actually about our 4th trip to South Dakota, so we aren’t missing anything.  In June of 08 we visited here and saw Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, and Bear Country USA.  In my opinion Bear Country is by far the most fun.  If you would like to read what I wrote at the time, click on Winter Wander Land.  It will be on page 5, the 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th of June-08.  I have a couple of pictures I took today and a couple from 2 years ago that I will share with you.









     

I want to take this time to welcome my little sister, Jean to my followers list.  She has been a loyal reader from day one when we left our stix and brix

We started the morning with a very good breakfast at the Roundup Cafe.  Just a little hole in the wall, but delicious food, and plenty of it.

After we were through eating we had to stop and fill up with diesel.  That was a shock!  It is $3.01 a gallon here, and even higher in Rapid City.  We got it in Buffalo, Wyoming the other day for $2.73 a gallon.

We then headed for Rapid City to do a little grocery shopping at Safeway.  I was not impressed with this store.  A lot of things that I can normally find at Safeway, I couldn’t find today.  It won’t be long and I will be back to my Kroger store.

We did get to see a small group of Big Horn Sheep today, but of course there was too much traffic to stop and get a picture.

I need to get off of here and get caught up on the blogs that I read.  Stay safe….

Black Hawk, South Dakota

 

I guess I was getting a little too smug about learning blog spot.  I got on line for a minute this morning, before getting ready to pull out.  I noticed that one of the blogs I had on my list had not come up with the right name, so I thought I would delete it and put it back in, to see if I could remedy this.  Well, what I ended up doing is deleting the whole list, so now I have to try and remember everyone I had on there.    Shouldn’t take too long, but things like this are what make the internet frustrating to us challenged seniors.

 

Our trip of 240 miles was pretty uneventful.  Beautiful scenery, but I was driving and couldn’t get any pictures.  Don hates taking pictures, so I don’t even ask him to anymore.

 

Three Flags RV Park is not a fancy park, but it is Pass Port America, so we are staying for 3 days with full hook-ups, for $58.56.  There is also free cable and free Wi Fi.

 

 

As you can see it’s pretty much a field with pull  thrus.   It is alright for a few days, but I wouldn’t want to stay here for any longer.

 

 

As you can see the back is empty, but I think there busiest time is around the motorcycle gathering in Sturgis.

 

 

 

As you can see from the picture the highway is not very far away.  Just hope the traffic slows some overnight.

 

Tomorrow we will first try to find a good place to get diesel and a few groceries.  I want to get over to the National Forest as soon as possible, but first things first.

 

Going to run and get us a bite to eat.   Stay safe…. 

Last Day In Wyoming

 

Today will be our last full day in Wyoming.  We love this State and for sure will be back.  We have spent the whole month at this neat little park of Peter D’s, and loved every minute of it.  The Wi Fi is excellent and my frugal side is happy, cause I was able to stick a few more hundred in the Kitty this month.  When we can, we always stay by the week or by the month, and when traveling from point to point we always try to stay in Pass Port America camps.  They are the club that gives you half off for a certain number of nights stayed.  Some, but not all, are even unlimited on the amount of time you can stay under the club rates.  So far, in our 3 years of traveling, they have been the best club we joined, by far.

 

I am going to add some pictures of our trip to Louisiana in early 09, throughout this post.  After Wyoming, our favorite place to visit.

 

 

I want to thank some of my followers that I can’t contact by email from this site,  for riding along with us.  Thanks to Dot, Charlotte, LaPlaya, Gail, Charlotte Dawn, Teresa, Lynn, Michael, Maglaveer, and Theresa M.    Some of you I could contact, but want you all to know how much I appreciate you following along!!

 

 

We did get all of our cleaning out of the way today, except the windows.  I love clean, sparkling windows, but Donnie brought to my attention that it would do little good to wash them when we are staying in a park with dirt and gravel lanes.  He is right of course, but maybe we can get them done at the next stop.  I also got the fridge defrosted.  Do they make self-defrosting fridges for RV’s?  I would love one….

 

 

Thanks again Gypsy, for the advise on produce.  I was just thinking about it again this morning.  I bought a bunch of green bananas, (I know it’s dangerous at my age) but I thought they would be ripe by Friday morning when we are leaving.  They are ripe alright, they are rotten.  In two days they went from green to rotten.  I guess what Gypsy was saying in her blog the other day is true.  I just can’t imagine what they are putting in fruit and vegetables to get them to this point so fast.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures from Louisiana.  We loved our time down there and will surely go again.

 

Next time I speak to you will be from South Dakota, providing the Wi Fi is good enough, if not, it will be from the next stop.

 

Stay safe….

Wipe Out

 

Have any of you watched this crazy show called Wipe Out?  It is so silly, but what a way to forget your troubles for an hour.  People will do almost anything if they think they might make a couple of bucks.

 

Today we have spent the day doing chores.  I made more ice, changed the bed and washed all the laundry.  Donnie fixed the front license plate on the truck.  I forgot to mention I tore it off yesterday up in the mountains.  It looked like a good place to turn around, but wasn’t.  I kind of hit a rock, and popped the plate right off.  He put it back on with bolts, so it won’t pop off again.

 

When we came back through Buffalo, Wyoming yesterday, we stopped and filled the truck up with diesel.  It was $2.73 a gallon there and is $2.95  a gallon here in Sheridan.  That is 22 cents difference, and just 30 miles apart.  How do they get away with charging so much?  Looks like right now they would be trying to help people, not put them further in poverty.

 

My brother went back to his surgeon yesterday to get his staples removed.  The Doctor said everything was good and released him, but the Nursing home Doctor thinks he will benefit from staying with them for 1 more week.  I guess it is good that they are concerned about him, and want him to be in tip-top shape before sending him home.

 

I printed out some menus for my Best Buddy today, and tried to mail them to her.  I was over an hour trying to find the Post Office.  Hate to admit that, but it’s true.  Men are supposed to be the ones that don’t ask for directions, but I had my Irish  up and was bound and determined I would find that Post Office.  I finally gave up and went to Wendy’s to pick us up a couple of Spicy Chicken salads for lunch, and asked the little girl where the Post Office was.  She directed me right to it.  Sometimes its hard being Irish…

 

I have a couple more sculptures from downtown Sheridan that I will share with you.  The first is my favorite.

 

 

 

 

 

Not much going on around here today.  It was in the low 40’s when we got up, but has warmed up to the 80’s this afternoon.

 

I have been doing a little research on the Black Hills National Forest.  When we leave here, we will stay there for a couple of days and want to do a little exploring.  We will be staying at a small park between Sturgis and Rapid City, South Dakota.

 

Stay safe….

Big Horn National Forest

 

Today didn’t go exactly as I had planned.  I wanted to get up early and take off for the Big Horns again, but the little computer Gremlins were at work, so I spent a lot of the morning trying to fix my computer.  The easy part was when Rick sent a comment and told me how to fix my LW problem. He is such a blessing to me.  Has saved me a lot of trouble. 

 

The other problem came up on the dreaded black screen.  It read something like “Check Disk needs to review files”.  Something about the volume being messed up with one of the downloads I had done.  I pretty much just went to the control panel and tried to restore it, and set it up so it would run next time my computer got turned on and it would fix it automatically.  So, I restarted the computer and it did what it said it would do, but it took over 2 hours, so I was kind of in limbo for that time.

 

Next time, it started just like it always has.  I just bought this computer in June, so it is all new to me, although I really do like 7, I haven’t learned it all yet.  It is an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC Laptop, so has a lot of stuff in it that I will never use.  The reason I bought it is because it has a much larger screen than my last one.

 

After I got through messing with the computer we still wanted to go back to the mountains one more time, so we hopped in the truck and took off.  It was really nice today, only 59* up on the mountain.  Here, it has been nice too.  78* for a high today.  I took a few pictures and will share them with you. 

 

 

 

 

   

 

I talked to my best Buddy this morning and she got the best news possible.  After her results on her bone marrow test came back, she DOES NOT have Leukemia.  This is why I don’t have very much confidence in Doctors.  They put her through hell for weeks, telling her she did have Leukemia.  Don’t get me wrong, we are all so happy, you just wouldn’t believe.  This is Herb’s Birthday (my little brother) and he said he couldn’t get a better present.  She is Herb’s wife and my sister in-law.

 

Wanted to thank everyone for advising me to start going to produce stands and Farmer’s markets.  I am going to keep my eyes open from now on.  There are lots of them in Indiana, where we are from, but I haven’t seen a one here.

 

That is it for today.  We have no plans for tomorrow.  Probably wash the truck and catch up on the laundry.

 

Stay safe….  :)

Trouble With Live Writer

 

I don't know what I have done, or if I have done anything, but I hope some one can tell me.  I was trying to write my blog and wanted to add a hyperlink for Gypsy, thanking her for introducing me to several very good blogs.  Every time I click on hyperlink, I get a box that says "Live Writer has quit working, and will get back to me when they have reached a solution".  I tried to solve this problem by uninstalling the whole program and then reinstalling it, but to no avail.  It won't work, no matter what I do.  Does anyone know what may be going on?

 

We awoke to very cool temperatures again today.  On our walk this morning the temp. was only 57*.  My Hubby says some guys told him a couple of days ago that the snow will be flying here before long.  Glad we are leaving Friday.  Don't want to drive in that white stuff.

 

I had 2 birthday cards to mail out this morning.  Our grandson, Mitchell and our grandson, Jacob both have birthdays this month.  My little brother, Herby also has a birthday tomorrow.  Happy Birthday to all.

 

Had to go to the grocery again today.  I almost hate that job anymore.  Things are priced so high, but it seems the quality just keeps going down.  Out of a quart of strawberries, you are lucky to have half ripe, and half of those will have bad spots on them.  They are also so bitter.  When I grew them at home, you could pick them right out of the patch and they would be so sweet and juicy, not any longer.

 

Didn't go anywhere today to take any pictures, but have a couple from the past to add.

 

 

 

 

 

Two of the pictures are of my birthday grandsons and the other two from the Conservatory in Indy.

 

This is puzzling.  Everything else on LW seems to be working fine.... 

 

Stay safe.... :)

Taking It Slow

 

Wanted to thank Rick for his tip on picture storage on Picasa.  I went in, like he suggested, and checked the amount I have used.  It said I was using 13mb (1.27%) of my 1024mb, so I will go back often to check and see if I need to update to more storage.  Really quite simple, if you know what you are doing. (Of course with Rick’s help)

 

I am also taking a leaf out of Al’s  book and not writing very much today.  I had a rough night last night, which doesn’t happen to me a lot.  No matter what I did, I couldn’t go to sleep, so I read and read and read.  Donnie thinks it’s a good idea to take it easy today and watch some bad movies we can sleep through.  :)  I think he is right…

 

I want to take this chance to welcome all my new followers.  Also thanks for all the comments I have been getting.  BlogSpot has really made me feel welcome.

 

We started our morning as usual, showers, eating breakfast and a good walk.   I really do feel my energy rising since we started walking again.

 

I have a couple of cute little quips I want to share with you.  I got them from my cousin in an email. 

 

 

 

 

Take care and stay safe… :)

Stay Put for the Week End

 

We decided a long time ago that we didn’t like being out among the hordes of people on the week ends.  When we were still working, we had no choice, but now we do and we choose not.  Too many people running helter-skelter trying to get everything done.

 

We did have to run out for a minute and pick up some beverages for my Hubby.  He has a game tonight and that calls for a cold one.  The Bronco’s play the Lion’s tonight in another preseason game.  I also have a race tonight, so I will be playing switch-back on the boob tube. 

 

I’ve been making more ice today.  It is unbelievably hot here today.  It is 97* as I am writing this blog.  I guess we are paying for our cool weather a week ago.

 

My cousin Charlotte called this afternoon to let me know about Uncle Boone.  She said we would all be surprised how good he looks since his surgery. He is breathing much better and his little paunch of a tummy is all gone.  She said he also walked clear around the whole Nursing Home without his cane and did just fine.  They are still having  trouble getting his platelets back down within range, but she says he looks great.  Thanks again Charlotte.  We owe you a lot!!!

 

My niece, Charlotte called me and explained that her Mother (My best Buddy ), does have Leukemia, but it can be controlled with meds. and she will be alright.  She has the opposite of Uncle Boone.  She produces too much blood, and he doesn’t produce any good cells.  She is on 2 chemo pills a day and is doing very well so far.  Please keep my family in your prayers.

 

Since we stayed in today I thought I would add one of my favorite pictures of “Trapper’s Lake”, and a few more pictures of the sculptures here in Sheridan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for today.  We may get out and scoot around again tomorrow.  I would love to go back up into the mountains just once more.  :)      

Ho Hum Friday

 

We started the day out with cleaning.  That is pretty much an every Friday thing.  Not hardcore, that comes next Thursday, because we will be moving on down the road on Friday.  That’s when everything gets done, including defrosting the fridge.  I got my laundry all caught up yesterday when we got back from our walk down on Main Street.

 

Our first stop next week will be at the Three Flags RV Park, in Black Hawk, South Dakota.  It is a Pass Port America Park, so we aren’t expecting a whole lot, but we will stay for three days and do a little more exploring in the area.  We stayed in Hermosa and Wall, South Dakota, so we have seen the Badlands National Park.  This trip we hope to do a little more scooting around in the Black Hills National Forrest.

 

After our cleaning this morning we hopped in the truck and just drove.  We ended up on 87 going toward Story, Banner, then on over to Buffalo for lunch.  Lunch was nothing to brag about, so won’t go into it.

 

We did stop at some Historical sites.  The first was right outside of story and it was called the Box Wagon Fight.  The whole thing is much to long to write, so I will add a picture of the History Marker.

 

The second was the Fetterman Monument.  I will also post a picture of the history on this site.

 

 

 

 They are both located in beautiful surroundings, and I tried to get the best shots I could.  In case you haven’t guessed already, I am not a photographer, but I try my best.

 

We also had one of the smaller type deer run across the road in front of the truck.  Good thing I was only doing 20mph.  It was right inside town. 

 

I especially enjoyed the Fetterman Historical site.  The monument is hand made and just stunning.

 

I’m not sure what is going on today,  my pictures are going where they want to go.  Hope you can figure out what is what.

 

I think the next few are just landscape shots.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 I guess I really messed up again.  Now I can’t get my picture to enlarge when clicked.  I am always doing something wrong.  Time to read Rick’s book again.

Another beautiful day spent in the country-side of Wyoming.  :)