July 30 and 31

July 30th Another beautiful hot day in South Dakota!!! This morning we met for breakfast with some friends that Sharon and her sister stayed with when they started high school. There are some people who touch your lives at an early age and they always remain special to you. Morry and Blanch are two of these people, we visited for over an hour after breakfast.
July 31st Another hot one here today. It is already 80 degrees at 8 AM We drove out to the country again where Sharon grew up. It is getting hard to find the old landmarks as things change so with time. We bought some garden produce and smoked meat from the Hutterite Colony who farms there.
We went out for dinner with Carol this evening and she came over to see our home on wheels and we looked at photographs from CD's on the TV . (Much easier than the albums that we also have along)
We are leaving for Minnesota in the morning! This will be new country for both of us to travel through..

July 26 thru 28

Wednesday We arrived late afternoon in Kimball and after setting things in order, we went out for a drink before dinner. It turned out to be a lot of fun, as we ran into some old friends of Sharon's who had just flown in from Texas. We had fun catching up on everyone and everything. The next few days was spent visiting Sharon's cousins in Platte and Kimball.
The temperature on July 28th was 110 at 4:00 PM, 104 at 7:30 PM and it was still a hot 98 degrees at 10 PM that night. We drove all over that day sight seeing and we were very thankful for air conditioning.

July 24 and 25

The last two days we spent riding our bikes early in the morning while it is cool. We are riding the bike trails to different parts of town and we ride about 10 miles a day until Sharon gets broke in on her new bike. The weather is still about 104 to 106 everyday. We discovered a lovely coffee shop where we go and treat ourselves after our bike ride. In the afternoon we tour the town, Sharon loves to see the changes the town has made since she left here in 1977. The Capital Building (picture) has a lot of interesting things, in the brochure they hand out to the tourists it tells the story of how the floor is made up of small chips( the size of a quarter) of tile that are different colors. The tile layers were given a small blue chip to set while they were laying the tile, these were the signatures of the tile layers. There are 60 of these chips placed in the floor in different locations in the building. It is humorous to see the tourist looking down at the floor trying to find the blue chips. We found about 15 as we toured the different floors of the Capitol. They have a display of all the dresses the Governor wives have worn during their inauguration. Across the lake from the Capitol building is the "NEW" Governors Mansion. Nice Mansion for a State with a population of 700,000. (picture) Tomorrow we are leaving for Kimball to visit the people we didn't see when we were there last time and then on to MN. And WI.

July 21 thru 23

Friday 21 We are parked in a beautiful place along the river in the city park. It has a fantastic bike trail that we are going to really enjoy. It rained during the night and it felt good to smell the fresh air. We went out for dinner with our friends Bonnie and Reub. Tomorrow morning we are going to work with Reub.
Saturday 22 Reub picked us up bright and early and we headed to the country to a buffalo ranch where Reub feeds 1500 head of buffalo every day. We were in awe, as we had never seen that many buffalo at one time. They were all different ages and sizes. This is a feed lot where some of the buffalo are consigned by different owners. From here we drove for miles to check on herds of buffalo in pastures and to make sure no fences were down and all was OK. When they are in a herd rolling in the dirt (buffalos wallow) taking a dust bath, they make a grunting noise that sounds like pigs in a pen grunting at each other. The sound was very fascinating to listen to and watch. What a great job Reub has feeding and caring for the Buffalo!!
Sunday 23 Today our friends Don and Orla from Mobridge visited us and we went to the Capital Building to see the Korean War bronze statue that was recently added to the World War I and II memorials (a bronze statue for every branch of the service is on display). The state is having a big celebration in Sept. to unveil a monument for the Viet Nam War Veterans. We happened to be in the Capital Bldg. and saw a replica of it in the Govenors office. It too is a life size bronzed statue of a soldier. Then we went to the interpretive Center and toured the large museum. It showed the early history of the people of South Dakota and Pierre. Kents grandmothers name was Holtzmiller and there was a display of a dress that was worn by a Holtzmiller, he thinks it may be a relative. The Memorial and museum are a must see if you visit Pierre.

July 20

Thursday We are on our way to Pierre, SD with plans to stop and hopefully see a few friends in Vivian on our way through. Sharon called her friend Lillian on the way to tell her were on our way through and would love to see her and her husband. What a surprise we had when we got there to the truck stop and found Lillian and 3 more good friends Sharon knew when she lived there. We had the photo album of our wedding and lots of pictures of our families along and they shared some pictures also with us.
We had a delicious lunch and we talked and shared stories for for 2 1/2 hours. Kent was such a good sport to sit there with 5 woman talking for that long. While we gals were chatting, Kent ate a piece of rhubarb pie with icecream and he tried to take the cook along with us on our trip but her husband frowned on the idea.
It was so good to catch up all the people and where the road of life took them, especially our children and grandchildren. We took some pictures of the old Catholic Church here for Lisa. It is closed up now, but it is so quaint and old and it holds many memories for Sharon's family. (picture)
After lunch we were on our way for Pierre where we are staying for one week. We are staying in the city park which is right on the Missouri river, with the most fantastic bike trails ever. They go for 10 miles to the East and 12 miles to the Northwest. The trails are paved and have good signage when crossing streets.

July 19 Wednesday

We are on the road again headed for Murdo, SD which is 150 miles from Rapid City. This is the town that Sharon was born in; she has a cousin Linda and her family who live here. We went again to the country to the home where Sharon's grandparents lived when she was a little girl. We asked the owner if we could get some old barn wood to make picture frames for the wonderful pictures we took with the setting sun on the old house. He said yes but be careful of rattle snakes that are real common to find there. Kent wearing his shorts and his hiking boots (He looked like a real "Drug Store Cowboy") headed off to the old barn on a mission to get those boards so we could get back to the safety of the truck. We carefully walked through the tall prairie grass to the old barn. When we got there we looked at each other and said "we forgot the hammer"!!!!!! After all that we were not going to go home empty handed. We started pulling the boards off with our bare hands and I think we did quite well because Kent is still grumbling about those old boards in the back of his truck.
We are leaving for Pierre in the morning.

July 18 Tuesday

We are leaving here in the morning to go further East and closer to Sharon's home town again. Our first trip to S.D. was so rushed so we are going back to visit and see what we missed the first time on our way to Wisconsin. We spent the day cleaning house and playing in the pool again. Sharon got in the water this time and she dog paddled and floated and got her face wet!!!!! That was a surprise to both of us as Sharon doesn't swim, she usually just gets her feet wet. Maybe she got in the pool because the temperature today is 106 and she needed to cool off.
Retta and George drove out to our place and we went out for dinner to Kent's favorite rib place one more time before we left Hermosa, SD in the morning. We went back to our house after dinner for coffee and dessert. We had a great time visiting and looking at pictures of the old farm place which took Retta and Sharon back a few years to some funny stories and happy memories.

July 16 and 17

Today our friends Don and Orla from Mobridge, SD stopped to see us and spend the night on their way home from West Yellowstone. We met them in Deadwood and we had a great time going through all the casinos. There are a lot of very interesting things that one can just go in and see without spending a dime. The one that Kevin Costner owns is my favorite with the beautiful restaurant upstairs and all the pictures of his movies hung all over the walls. There is a casino bar just devoted to "John Wayne" with all the memorabilia of his life and movies. Of course the bar where Wild Bill Hickok was shot, is a large part of the Deadwood theme. They have the shooting out on the street several times a day for the tourists and it draws a lot of attention to their business.
The next morning we went to see Mt. Rushmore, (pictures) also the displays and film footage on how Mt. Rushmore was built. Most people go and view the mountain and never take the time to go and see the real history of how Mt. Rushmore was created. It is well worth your time to see it all. We came home, had lunch and Don and Orla left for Mobridge.

July 15 Saturday

Today we met Dale and Jan Luke in Hotsprings, SD at "Evans Plunge"! It is a natural hot springs that changes the water in the Olympic size pool 16 times a day. The water temperature is 89 degrees. We met and went out for breakfast and then we played a game of putt putt golf. It was 107 by the time we finished the 18 holes of golf. We were ready to play in the wonderful pool at Evans Plunge which has 3 huge water slides and all kinds of rafts to float on (Nice for Sharon) the no swim gal. (picture)
We played until about 3PM and then the 4 of us went out for lunch. Dale and Jan went home to Custer, and we went back to the pool for another hour and forty five minutes of fun. We returned to our place and headed to Rapid City to go to Mass in the Cathedral there. Sitting in front of us was my cousin Retta and George. We met them for dinner at Burger King before going home. After a day of playing hard we were two very tired senior citizens.

July 14 Friday

Today is laundry and cleaning day. Kent is real good at doing the laundry and Sharon is a real fussy cleaner. We make a great team in getting our work done fast, so we can go play again.
There is a swimming pool in our campground, so after we worked so hard we decided today was the day to try it out. Hardly anyone was there, Kent swam and Sharon read her book (she can't swim). It was another scorching hot day here, we kept cool from the old hot sun (104) by getting in and out of the pool and cooling off.
This evening we drove to Rapid City and went to the stock car races. Neither one of us had gone to the car races in years so it was a lot of fun picking our favorite car and cheering for it to win and eating broasted chicken! The races were over by ten o'clock and it was still 92 degrees outside.

July 13

Today we went to New Underwood to visit Sharon's Aunt Gene (picture) who lives there. We had lunch with her. While visiting with her, she said she would sure love to go for a drive. We asked her where she would like to go and she said anywhere there are trees and things to look at. We told her if the aides said it was OK, we would go someplace. We didn't think she could climb up into the truck we drive, but the two physical therapy gals got her in the truck with one pushing and the other pulling. We stopped for Ice Cream and Gene said she didn't want any. We found out later from Retta (her daughter) that she doesn't like Ice Cream!!!! Oh Well! The ride was fun and we had a good time talking to her and the countryside was nice. The same gals came and helped her out of the truck and into a wheelchair. I left with a good feeling in my heart knowing that my Aunt was in a home that the workers really care and love the people who live there. The help does what they can to see that little things like a ride in the country is possible with a lot of effort on their part. That evening we went out for dinner with Retta and George; they drove us all over the old backroads of the different towns. Kent and Sharon really enjoyed the stories that George told about the areas.

July 9th through July 12th WHOOPS

It is Sunday July 9th. We got an early start at 7:00 AM to our home on wheels! We drove to Missoula, Montana and stayed the night there. The motel isn't the "Hilton" but we can take Pepsi (our cat) his bed, and litterbox in with us. We always stop early in the day and get our room, have dinner and then drive around the town and see what the town has to see and do.
Monday 10th After we drove 1353 miles in 19 hours driving time we arrived home at 7:00PM. For those of you who are already trying to calculate the miles per hour we did, relax, it was 69 miles per hour. Kent did the driving while Sharon read her book, until Sharon looked up and saw Kent passing a Highway partolman doing 78. She panicked, lost interest in her book and paid more attention to the road!
Tuesday 11th Sharon is still not feeling well with her asthma so we called her Dr. in Salem and she faxed a couple of prescriptions to the Walmart in Rapid City. The next day She was on the road to recovery and ready to start enjoying herself. The Dr. said that the medicine I got back in Mobridge in June just wasn't quite enough to keep me well.
Wednesday 12th This week was a busy one seeing a lot more things in the Black Hills area. We went back to Keystone, SD and visited the Old School Museum where Carrie Ingalls (Sister to Laura from the Little House On The Prairie) had a room full of memorabilia on her life and the visits of her sister Laura to see her.
Sharon's Great Grandmother built a log cabin (pictures) in the early 1900's out Hwy.16 on the road to Mt. Rushmore down in a hidden ravine. It is still as solid as the day it was built with the exception of no doors or windows and a mess from cattle wandering thorough it for the last many years!!!!!!!!!! We took a lot of pictures and had a great time poking around the grounds trying to figure out where all the buildings stood so many years ago from pictures we have from back then. The prairie is just gorgeous with all the wild cone flowers, miniature roses, blackeyed susans and many more we couldn't identify. Sharon took a lot of pictures of the flowers and with the wood she has taken from the cabin on previous visits, she hopes to have some beautiful pictures made. (pictures)

June 26th through July 8th

We decided to leave the 5th wheel in Hermosa, SD while we went home to Salem. We left for Salem at 7:00 AM Monday the 26th. We traveled as far as Missoula, Montana before stopping for the night. Pepsi our cat travels real good, he sleeps a lot in his cat box and sits beside Kent when he tires of the box. He used to sit by Kent when he was a tiny kitten and he still thinks he is small enough to sit there now. It is pretty crowded but they manage quite well. We arrived in Salem at 6:00 PM on Tuesday the 27th. Bill and William were at our house mowing the lawn, it looked so nice and felt so good to be home. We had a BBQ at my house for my kids who stayed in town for the 4th on Sunday. Kent went to Portland and the beach house with his kids for the 4th of July for 3 days. Sharon spent the 4th at Thresa's house, Bill and his family came over also. There were so many fireworks, we couldn't even light all of them. Bodie spent the night with grandma, we went for long walks to our secret place and had a picnic there.
Pam and Jeff had us over to their house for a wonderful steak dinner when they returned home from camping and one night we went to dinner with our friends Beth and Ralph. The 4th of July weekend is a busy time to come home but we made the most of the time we had.
Saturday afternoon we had a BBQ in the backyard for all the kids and their families that were back from camping and those who didn't go. Mike and Kimmie and family(picture) came up from Eugene. It was so good to see them. Sharon was worried she wouldn't get to see them before returning to our 5th wheel and our travels. Kallie and Blaize (picture) had a lot of fun playing on the grass in the backyard. The grass was green from the auto sprinklers that were installed and the yard and flowers were so beautiful.
Sharon was still having a lot of trouble with her asthma and had to see the Dr. again on Saturday before we left for South Dakota on the 9th of July