September 17, 2007

We found a campground in Granite, IL. which is close to Pat and Larry's place and a lot of the things we want to see and it is a SAFE area of town!!!!! We are actually in St Louis, Home of the famous " St. Louis Cardinal's baseball team and the "Cardinal Hall of fame." The new "Busch Stadium" built in 2006 provides the fans with a beautiful view of the "Gateway Arch" and the downtown skyline. We went to the "Gateway Arch" known as the "Gateway to the West". It was built 1963, finished in 1968 with the cost of 11 million dollars. It is made of stainless steel and is 630 feet tall or 10 stories tall with18 windows that measure 7" By 27" that you can look out when you're at the top of the dome. There are trams to take you to the top and it takes 4 minutes to get there. It can hold 160 people in the dome. You get the most beautiful bird's eye view of the city from the top,(picture) and you can stay up there as long as you want to but there are no other facilities. The one picture has the shadow of the dome across it. We would have spent more time up in the dome if we hadn't been invited for dinner at Pat and Larry's house and with the heavy traffic, we couldn't spend the time we would have liked to in the museum there. The dinner was great, with corn bread, ham hocks & beans, fried okra, potatoes, gravy, corn, pork loin, salad and the best apple crisp we have ever ate with ice cream. Lance, Kathy and Mike were there for dinner and everyone took a part in preparing the meal. It was sure fun watching them all take turns cooking their part of the meal.(pictures)

September 16, 2007

After 7 days in Kansas City we are headed for St Louis, Missouri. As we were packing up to leave, our neighbors heard where we were going and gave us some strong advice about St. Louis. We took it lightly until we heard about it several more times at different stops. By then it was getting too late to find another place to stay so for the 1st time we boon docked in Harrah's Casino parking lot. Kent wasn't too keen on doing it, He likes turning off the TV before going to sleep, and there we had no TV. Sharon thought it was great fun, no cooking plus she got to play the slots. The money we saved on parking paid for a nice dinner and Kent decided it was OK to do that once in awhile. We called Sharon's cousin Pat and she and her husband Larry joined us for dinner and we had a great visit catching up on each other. We will see them again tomorrow for dinner at their house.

September 13, 2007

Thursday 13th While we were out driving and sight seeing in the town of Kansas City, MO, we found the streets were closed off and there were people lined up along the street looking and waiting for something to come by. We of course got in line also and asked what we were looking for. They said it was the world cup bike race going through and they named all the famous racers that were in it from the different countries. We felt the excitement of the crowd and it was fun to see them race by and see our U.S. riders in front at that time. (pictures) We were doing good, but I can't tell you how and where it ended, as we are too busy to keep up with everything.( ha) I just know it was a beautiful sight to tumble on to and get to see all those bikers and the cheering of a live crowd instead of on TV.
Tonight we are going to try the casino's here. They are always fun too spend a few hours at and also a FEW $$$$$$. The weather is cool in the evenings and we enjoy going out and having ice cream on the way home.

September 12, 2007

To day we went to Independence, Missouri to see the home of President Truman. It was President Truman's home all 53 years of his married life.(picture) It was called the "Summer White House" during his presidency, 1945-1953. The house was the family home of Bess Wallace Truman , Truman met her while visiting his aunt who lived across the street. There was an instant attraction and they were married and her home became their family home. The tour was very interesting learning about how common the Truman's were. The home looked like they just walked out and closed the door and would be returning. The dishes are set on the table and his hat and jacket were on the hall tree. The linoleum on the kitchen had a large worn spot where the linoleum was completely gone and they had tacked it down with large tacks to keep it from lifting up or tearing more. You can tell that they weren't too interested in television as it was placed in an area away from the comfortable seating of the chairs. They were quite private and didn't entertain much at home, the curtains were always drawn, as people would just walk up and press their noses against the window to see in. We were told that one day while Bess was entertaining a friend, two ladies walked in off the street, looked around and left. The White House had an iron fence and gate put around the house for their safety and protection from looters who wanted a piece of something to take home. In those days the president had no Secret Service men. Truman inherited the presidency on Franklin Roosevelt's death in April 1945 with very little experience for the position. Truman brought World War ll to a thunderous close with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We also toured the Truman Museum and Library which was about a mile away from their home. In later years Truman would meet with dignitaries in a office in the Library that was designed on a smaller scale of the Oval office that's in the White House.

September 9th through 11th

Today we have a three hour drive, so Sharon packed a great lunch to eat on the way so we don't have to stop on the road. One of our air conditioners is not working in the 5th wheel and the weather is getting warmer the further we go. We stopped in Kansas City, Mo (Kansas City, Ks. is across the river) we will be here for a few days getting the air conditioner fixed.
Tuesday 11th We went to the Harley Davidson Motorcycle plant to watch them assemble those beautiful bikes we see all over. Sharon made Kent promise he wouldn't buy one of them after the tour. When we got there the sign said no open toe shoes, but when we got in line, they said no open back shoes either. Sharon had on her open back shoes!! They were real nice about it and said it happens a lot, and if I didn't mind I could wear a pair of their biker boots (lucky I wore socks and blue jeans that day) , they said the boots would make me look like a real biker momma!
The tour was great, we saw them build the new special built anniversary bikes. The colors are so beautiful, blue, red and bronze. Everything was done so slow, their was no chance of making a mistake. We never saw such a relaxed work place as this place. The employees visiting and standing while waiting for the next bike to come through to put on their piece. We took some pictures of us on the bikes after the tour. We have to admit, one of them would be fun as they sure felt good to sit on!! (pictures)

September 7th through 8th 2007

We left Minden, NE around 12:30. Mindy came and saw us off during her lunch.
The trip to Paxico, Kansas was farther than we thought. We arrived at the RV park around 7:30PM. The park was almost full and it turned out to be a stop over point for the RV's coming from the West. The park had a river running by it and the park manager said we could fish without a fishing license. He said that they had caught a 3lb Catfish a week ago. The park was full of old tractor wheels and old farm equipment. They also had small cabins that were on wheels that they rented, each one looked like it had Ma and Pa Kettle staying there. (picture)
Saturday, we went into Manhattan, KS to buy some night crawlers and see the town. After looking around town we lost interest in fishing and decided to explore the city. We found out that it is the home of the University of Kansas and they were having a football game that night. We drove around the city and all we saw was Red shirts on everyone students and adults, they take their sports seriously. When we went back to the park it was full and about 30% of the RV's were Kansas alumni going to the game.

September 4th through 6th 2007

Tuesday 4th We arrived in Minden, NE about 5:30 and it seemed forever until we got set up. Bob and Jan drove out to where we were parked and we sat outside and visited until 7:30. It has been a long time since we have seen each other and Kent has never met them before, so we had a lot of visiting to catch up on. We went out for dinner to a great chicken restaurant and we finally found some chicken that is close to the chicken back home at the beach. It was getting late, so we called it a day and we are going to their house in the morning.
Wednesday 5th Bob was repairing screens when we arrived, after a long coffee break, Kent and Bob hung the screens way up on the second floor. Bob forgot to hang them and had taken down the scaffolding that reached that high. Kent was hanging out of the 2nd story window and Bob was on the ladder that was being held in place by Sharon while Jan was running errands upstairs to Kent and back down outside to Bob. Sure glad there was 4 of us to do the job. LOL
After a delicious lunch of (Sterling Silver Premium meat) steak sandwiches by Chef Bob, the guys went driving to show Kent the cattle industry and how they operate a cattle feed lot. The girls went shopping and came home to play cards. We went to Mindy's house Bob and Jan's daughter for a taco dinner. We got to see how Macy Mindy's daughter uses her braille machine and some of her art work (picture) which we thought was incredible for a blind person.
Thursday 6th We spent the day looking at pictures and showing Kent the 3 stories their house. It had a secret tunnel that goes under the street in front of the house to the house across the street. It is no longer in use, it was made about 1896 when the house was built for use in the winter and for the children to use and not have to cross the busy street. All day there was weather warnings for our area of Nebraska. About the time we started our BBQ outside, (pictures) the warnings got more severe. We barely got the steaks cooked when the rain hit. They made room for our truck in Mindy's garage as they were afraid of hail and a possible tornado that was still on alert.
Friday 7th Bob and Jan left early this morning for South Dakota to attend a wedding there. We were getting ready to leave when Mindy drove out to see us and say goodbye on her lunch hour. We had a great time and Jan sent us home with several of her famous jars of pickles and a jar of peach jam. I hope our next visit won't be quite as far apart as this one was.

August 31 through September 3rd.

Friday We took our time driving to Kimball, SD from Pierre, we stopped in Vivian and drove all over the town and took a few more pictures of old things there. We arrived in Kimball late in the afternoon, it was a hot day there. The high school was having a football game playing across the street from the camp ground. We went over and watched the game and Sharon saw a lot of people she knew there. It got real chilly before the game was over, so we were glad to go to our warm suite as soon as the game was over. We were tired from our busy week and the weekend is going to be busy here.
Saturday Sharon's cousin Carol called this morning and invited us to join them for breakfast. After breakfast Sharon spent the morning with Carol. Kent did some jobs he needed to do at the 5th wheel. Saturday evening we went to Deb and Rocks house for a party to celebrate their daughter Randi Jo's graduation from Aviation school. She had it outside on there new wrap around porch (Pictures) and there was quite a crowd there with so much good food. We had a great time seeing all the kids and the latest new babies. (picture)
Sunday Sharon wanted to drive out to the country and see the old farm where her Aunt Marie and Uncle Clarence lived (picture) when she was little. She remembers many family gatherings and good times there. After lunch We,Gus, Carol,Tim, Pam and some of the grandchildren drove out there. We had a great time looking the old house over and we all came home with a treasure of some sort.

August 28 through 30th

Tuesday 28 We are stopping in Pierre to see our friends Bonnie and Reube who are home after being a year in California staying with their daughter while Reube took Cancer treatments. It was so good to see them and find him feeling so good. We went out for dinner and spent the evening catching up with each other.
Wednesday 29 The four of us went to our favorite ice cream shoppe and had fresh peach Carmel sundaes and they took us out to their house in the country. We later went out for dinner again and came back to our place for more visiting. Friday we are leaving for Kimball to visit with more friends and relatives.
Thursday30 Two of Sharon's best friends from Vivian (Lillian and Burke Severyn) have moved to Pierre, they were out walking on Wed. and they knocked on our door. They live across the park from our camp site, what a surprise to see them. We had met their son in the post office in Murdo and told him where we were headed and he called them that night and told them that we were staying real close to their apartment. Today Sharon went over to see them and have lunch with them. What a great time we had talking over old times. The things our kids did together and how much fun we had playing our guitars and singing together while the kids were in school. Tress was about 2 years old and Lillian had found an old cassette she had taped of us singing and playing and Tress crying in the background. I guess she didn't like the music we were singing. Our lunch was wonderful and we parted with promises to keep in touch with email.
Bonnie called us about 2 PM and we met them for one more trip to the ice cream shoppe for one more fresh peach sundae. We are leaving in the morning for Kimball.

August 26 and 27th

We arrived in Murdo, SD rather late on Sunday, as we spent too much time in "Wall Drug" on the way. We called Mel and Linda (Sharon's Cousin) and made plans to go touring around the county looking at all the old homesteads of our grandparent's. (Pictures) We drove all day and stopped for lunch in Midland, SD where they served us the best Lemon Creme Pie I have ever eaten. Then back on the trail we went and drove to look at Ted Turner's 200,000 acres where he runs a large herd of buffalo. This was down gravel and dirt roads. Mel knew the roads and could even tell Kent where the curves were over the knolls. The Turner Ranch is all fenced with electric fences that are run by solar boxes. Mel told us some very interesting stories about the history of the land and the former land owners. There was a lot of land planted with sun flowers and it was beautiful to see acres of them growing. (picture) We wound up near Vivian, SD where we ate dinner before heading back to Murdo. Vivian is very special to Sharon, as that is where she lived and raised her family many years ago. It was late when we returned to Murdo, but we sure had fun filled day.

August 20 thru August 25th

We are staying in the Happy Holiday Campground where there is still more rain. Every place is dry until we arrive and then the rain and storms come. We are calling ourselves the "Rainmakers". We visited Sharon's Great Grandmother's old log cabin on Rushmore Road (picture) and then right across the road we went through "Bear Country". (picture)It was wonderful, I would say it is the best private wild life park we have seen with the most animals and all so healthy. That evening George and Retta picked us up and we went out for dinner. We went to Hill City to a restaurant we all like and there was a an hour and a half wait, so we drove back to Rapid. In the end, it would have been faster to have done the wait. We all had a great time visiting and George put up a good front about enjoying himself. He wasn't feeling good and we found out the next day that they went to the emergency room on their way home and they found out George has a kidney stone he was trying to pass.
We also drove to New Underwood and visited Sharon's, Aunt Gene. Her grandson Mike was there and we got to visit with him also. (Picture)
We took a tour of the Landstrom's Black Hills Gold factory, it was very educational and they cleaned and repaired some jewelry for Sharon. Every day we were busy going somewhere and soon it was time to leave for our next stop,l Murdo, S.D.

August 16th thru the 19th

Thursday 16th Yea!!! We are in good old South Dakota! We decided to stay in Deadwood this time instead of Hermosa where we stayed so long last year. This way we won't have to drive over here a couple of times to see our favorite places. After we checked in, we decided to go downtown to Deadwood and check out the casinos. It was pouring down rain and the thunder and lightening was scary for Sharon. About an hour later the word traveled through the casino that the freeway from Sturgis, SD to Rapid City, SD had been shut down because of the rain and baseball size hail. (picture of truck in RV park that was caught in the hail storm)A tornado was also spotted in Piedmont and they also got hail and heavy rain. The town of Hermosa, SD where we were going to stay really got hit bad. The campground was so bad that we only stayed there one night this trip. All the roads were washed out and it was a mess. The town of Hermosa had some homes washed off their foundations by the rain that caused a flash flood of 1 1/2 feet wall of water. The rain came down so fast. (5 inches in 2 hours). The storage units there were completely flooded and they had a pile of boxes, mattresses, refrigerators, furniture and more. They had the prisoners from the jails helping clean things up. We were so thankful we had decided to stay in Deadwood or our new rigs would have been pounded by the baseball size hail too. We stayed in Deadwood for 4 days and then we went into Rapid City and tried a new camp ground which we liked a lot. Kent was always looking for a shelter he could pull his truck into if a storm happened to come along.

August 14 and 15

On our way to Buffalo, WY we crossed the Bighorn Mountain range we climbed 6500 feet in about 8 miles. It was a 2 narrow 2 lane highway that seemed straight up.(pictures) Needless to say the truck pulled it up the mountain with no strain (we're not talking about our mileage over the pass).
Our two days and nights here were very nice. In the evening we went for a drive in the country and we saw so many baby fawns who had the large white spots still on them. They all looked like Bambi!!! There were a lot of twins with their mommies. We must have spent an hour watching the doe's feed while the fawns ran and jumped around like bunny rabbits. It was dusk and all the wild life was out feeding and crossing to different pastures across a busy highway. I can see why a lot of them don't make it across, they go so slow and casual. There was a great steak house here that we went to and enjoyed very much.

August 9th through August 13th

Thursday 9th We drove about 140 miles to Cody, Wyoming today. Going through Yellowstone National Park and seeing Old Faithful and the beauty of the National Park.(picture) We have great internet service and the phones work good at our RV park. We looked around and found a nice campground here. There are so many bikers heading home from the "Sturgis Rally" that the campgrounds are some what crowded and the roads are full of bikers. We enjoy watching them and counting how many we see. Main street here hardly has room for the cars to park here as there are so many bikes parked all over. (picture)
Buffalo Bill Cody was a real socialite with friends in high places, he has lots of gifts in his museum from Royalty in various countries. Queen Victoria of Buckingham Palace had a cherry wood bar built and shipped here for Buffalo Bill's daughter "Irma". It is about 40 feet long and goes to the ceiling of the restaurant. The back bar is all mirrors and shelves and and is gorgeous, it is said to have cost $100,000. The bar is still in operation and they serve very good food there.
Saturday 11th We went to the Cody Rodeo tonight and that was a lot of fun. There were a lot of bulls they rode and a lot of top cowboys were there for the different events. They had the kids event where they turn a calf loose in the arena with a ribbon tied on its tail and they an award to the kid who gets it off. That took Sharon back in time to the rodeo in Kimball, SD where they did a similar event only you teamed up in pairs of two. All the local boys were over confident and were laughing at my son Billy and his cousin Marty Walsh who were about 10 years old, both of them were from out of state and weren't dressed up like cowboys. When they release the calf, it has a rope tied around its neck and a ribbon on its tail. One of the boys grabs the rope and slows down the calf while the other grabs the ribbon. It is a timed event and our boys had that calf stopped and the ribbon off in less than a minute. They were so proud and so were we and the local boys didn't have much to say. They gave them beautiful silver belt buckles and Bill still has his buckle today. In Cody, there were about 25 kids after one calf and the prize sure wasn't a silver belt buckle.
Monday 13th Today we went to the "Buffalo Bill Historical Center", it has 5 museums in one building. Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Plains Indian Museum, Draper Museum of Natural History and the Cody Firearms Museum. The Firearms Museum has over 5000 firearms dating back to the 16th century. It is so large that when you go in and pay for the day, they stamp your hand so you can come back the next day free.

July 27 Through August 8th

We are finally here at our friends Don and OJ's home in West Yellowstone. We are going to stay here for a week or more to relax and enjoy them. They are Manager's of a large ranch with the most beautiful view from every direction, wild life and fishing ponds. (picture) They have 2 Hummingbird feeders and we enjoyed watching about 15 to 20 Hummingbirds fighting and feeding for the nectar in the feeders.(picture) Kent spent a lot of time with Don riding the 4 wheeler for miles everyday looking for wildlife and exploring the many trails. Sharon and OJ sat on the beautiful deck playing many games of cards, (Spite and Malice) and drinking iced tea and snacking. At night we cooked wonderful meals on the grill and talked until quite late at night. (pictures)
On Wednesday we rode with them to Bozeman, MT to take Shawna (Don's Niece) to the bus station. We left about 2:00 PM and we got there early and checked her bags in and went out for dinner. Her bus was to leave about 9 PM, when she was boarding, the driver asked her age, and reused to take her as she was a few months shy of 16. We drove to Billings about 130 miles away. We planned to catch the bus there with a different driver. WRONG!!!! The same driver saw us as we were checking her in and reported us. It was a long story but she was admitted to ride if there was room, and after waiting over an hour, she couldn't get on. So back to West Yellowstone to sleep and try it again the next day. We arrived back at the ranch at 6:30 in the morning after driving all night. Kent and Sharon didn't go the next day, we stayed home and took care of the animals. On August 5h, one of the guests arrived and she brought her own cook and a guide with 5 horses to ride whenever they chose to. I feel so blessed with what we do everyday, but that blew me away. The guide needed to put the horse shoes on one horse that he brought so we became camera men and I'm sure making him and his horse nervous but that's what he gets paid to do, to satisfy the novices.(picture) They were all so nice and we enjoyed them a lot. The only bad part of it all was our cell phones and computer didn't work that great there and we were missing contact with our families. We look forward to our next visit there again. (pictures)

July 25th and 26th

Wednesday 25th and 26th We are on the way to West Yellowstone to see our friends, we stopped in Pocatello, Idaho for two nights and enjoyed the Fort Hall casino. While in Pocatello we saw a friend of Kent's that he's known for about 25 years. He and his wife are in the office machine business so we saw them at the office and they showed us their operation. We stopped at Mercer Falls for lunch and a 1/2 mile walk to the falls. It was well worth the walk and the falls was beautiful. (picture)