A Day At The RV Park

Everyone had their own agenda today and we just hung out at the RV Park.  Mark and Caden were up and out early after breakfast.  Then I talked them into going to do the laundry while I cleaned up in the motor home.  While doing so, I watched a couple of different church services via the TV from around the country and just had a quite morning.

Jim was off to do their laundry while Ellie was busy in her motor home baking yummy chocolate muffins.  When Jim returned home, he announced that he was going to wash the motor home.  That task would take up pretty much of the rest of the day.

Today was my day to cook dinner.  We had stuffed pasta shells and salad.

Since there was no real adventure today I thought I would share some pictures of the RV Park here in Custer.  This is a great place and I would recommend it to anyone coming to this area.

When you turn on Flynn Creek off of Sidney Park you see this welcome sign.  Then you proceed on down to

office where you will be greeted by Larry, Geri, and Cocoa.  Here Caden is trying to get Cocoa to pay a little attention to him.

Larry will direct you to

your RV site.  And, if you are lucky to be on the front row like us, you have

this great view out your front window!

If you have horses, you would be directed to the upper part of the park where you will be camped closer

to where your horse is boarded.

If you don’t have a camper, trailer, or motor home you can stay in the bunkhouse, or there are a couple of these little trailers around the park.

Now, entertainment around here includes getting acquainted with Bobo and Jazz, Jim and Ellie dogs.  Or, you can talk Poppa into playing soccer with you.  And, then there is always a dip in the pool….that is if you bring your own with you!

You canswing at the playground or  go for a walk.  Just be sure you always remember to wear your hat.

I hope you enjoyed your tour around the park.   Remember if you are ever in Custer, SD, this is a great place to stay, and tell Larry, Caden recommended it to you!

The Fun Begins

Well, as promised, we were up early yesterday, Mark and Caden started on the outside of the motor home while I tackled the inside. Both jobs took us most of the day…but now they are complete and the fun can begin.

And that fun started last night with

a chuck wagon cookout. After getting the wagon set up

and the fire started, the meal would consist of

beans with lots of peppers, onions, and beef tips

potatoes cooked with lots of onions and bacon

steaks that the chef hand cut from a big slab of beef

and there is peach cobbler hiding in this Dutch oven.

Wow, what a great meal. And, even

Caden enjoyed it. In fact, he ate about 4 helpings of beans and potatoes. And he loved the meat that was cooked in the beans. And, I only got one bite of peach cobbler.

Well, after we had all had our fill at dinner, we

found this little horse to ride and

looked at the real horses that are camped here.

We also played at the

play ground for a little while until it was time for us to make our way

back to the motor home to get on warmer clothes so we could

leave and get over to the laser light show that was being held at

The Crazy Horse Monument. They were having a special show last night and a blast. We had a great time in spite of the fact that it was cold. Caden took it all in and was quite a trooper.

While we were waiting for the laser light show to start, we watched

the Indians perform some ceremonial dances.

After a late night, we all slept in a little longer this morning. After everyone was up and moving, we decided that we would take a drive to Custer State Park.

After entering the park, we stopped to enjoy

this pretty little lake. Joe, it was perfect for your boat! We took a walk and saw

wild roses growing along the water’s edge and

this mother duck and her ducklings sitting on the top of this waterfall.

Poppa and Caden then took a little hike down this trail to get a better glimpse of the water fall

Once they were back to the top of the hill

Caden stopped for a short rest on the bridge.

We were then off to drive the wildlife loop, but first we saw a look out that was at the top of a mountain. Caden says….you guys come on, we still have more steps to climb! And when we got to the top, we were able to see

all the way across to the Needles and to Mount Rushmore. We barely caught a glimpse of George Washington on the face of the mountain.

Now, we are ready to drive the wildlife loop where we saw

ground hogs,

antelope,

buffalo, and

big horn sheep.

What a day we had. Tonight, Ellie made King Ranch Chicken and salad. I made strawberry shortcake. After dinner we took a walk around the RV park. Before dark, Mark, Jim, and Caden took a drive down the road to look for Elk, but no luck.

It was then time to turn in for the evening. We aren’t sure what tomorrow will bring, but it is for sure that

Caden will be ready for another fun adventure!

Kansas to South Dakota

Today, Mark, Caden, and I were up early and ready to hit the road for another day of travel.  We made it all the way to Garden City, Kansas last night where we spent the night at RJ’s RV Park.  It was a little tight, but okay for an overnight stay.  Today we wanted to make it all the way to Custer, South Dakota. Looks like we might have a new driver today.

However, Poppa moved him over to the passenger seat and we were on our way.  After a fuel stop, we made our way north through Kansas to I-70 were we then headed West to Colorado.  Then we headed back north through Colorado and after a while we were in Nebraska.  Next thing I know… We have made it all the way to South Dakota.  Yeah!

It has been a long day and Caden did great again today.  He is quite a traveler.  He stayed entertained watching out the window.  He saw

trains that pulled cars and

trains that pushed cars.

He saw tractors plowing fields and

tractors working on roads.

Then finally we found what we came to see…

the mountains, and

the buffalo.

We made it to Broken Arrow Campground around 4:30 this afternoon.  Jim and Ellie were sitting on the porch waiting for us.  We actually arrived a day early so we had to park in a temporary site for tonight and then we will move tomorrow to our assigned site.   We just did the basics like plug in the electric and hook up the water.  Since we will have to pull in the slides in order to move, I didn’t do much to the inside.  Once that was done we joined Jim and Ellie on the porch enjoying the last of the afternoon sun.  They had dinner plans already under way.  Ellie made a pasta salad and Jim grilled yummy hamburgers.  Thanks guys, it was great.

Ellie and I commented how nice it will be to get back to planning and sharing meals.  After dinner Ellie and I walked around the park with Caden.  I didn’t take my camera along, so tomorrow, I will try to have some pictures of the campground to share.

Tomorrow, after we move to our other site, the cleaning has to start.  I don’t believe I have ever seen this motor home as dirty as it is right now.  And, believe me when I say I don’t think there is a bug left from Texas to South Dakota because they are all on the front of our motor home.  In addition to cleaning both inside and out, we picked up a couple of rock dings in the front windshield.  Larry, the campground owner has already given Mark the number of a windshield repair service in Hill City.  We will call and see if they offer a mobile service.  After all of that is taken care of, we will be ready to start having some fun adventures.  So stay tuned!

Yesterday and Today

Boy, no matter how hard I work at it, there always seems to be a zillion things left to do on the day before you travel, especially when you are leaving from your home base.  I think part  of mine was that I had several projects that got postponed until school was out and after my knee surgery that the days just rolled by a little too quickly.

So, needles to say…yesterday was busy.  It started out with a hair appointment, then the bank for fun money, a stop at Central Market to stock up on Mark’s favorite coffee beans, which by the way took part of HIS fun money.  Then a quick stop back by the house to drop off my purchases and pick up Mark to head off to the Half Price Book Store to drop off books to sell.  Which by the way by far paid for his coffee beans!  WOW, was I surprised.  While I was taking care of the books, he went next door to Target to get an air mattress which we will be needing later on in our trip when the grandkids join us in Yellowstone.  We finished at the same time and then we were off to Holiday Park, the COE campground at Lake Benbrook.  We had made  arrangements to meet up with Randy and Pam Warner.  We have been sharing blogs with them for a long time now and were excited to finally get to meet them.  We had the added treat of also getting to

meet their beautiful daughter Kelly.   She has just graduated from graduate school and will be staying in the Fort Worth area with Randy’s family while looking for a job.  Good luck Kelly.

It is just so amazing to me how many folks we have met along the road while enjoying this lifestyle.  But, what is more amazing is the fact that most of the ones we have met have become really close friends and ones we stay in touch with and hoping that we will be able to meet up with them again somewhere around the next bend in the road.

Randy and Pam…what a great visit we had…just too short.  I wish you both safe travels and by all means we are going to stay in touch.  Hope you guys might be able to work in Rockport in January.

After, our visit with Randy and Pam, we had our hugs and see you later’s, I dropped Mark off at home and went to check on my mom and visit with her and my nephew for a while.  My mom has the shingles and has had a pretty rough time the last couple of weeks.  I do think she is getting a little better.  I have never had shingles, but understand they are pretty painful and hard to get over them.  Get well, mom!  Remember all those old folks at church you have to keep under control.  And, yes, I will keep up the blog  so you will know where I am and what I am doing.

Okay, one more stop at Wal-Mart and I can call this a day.  Well, I didn’t get everything on the list, but that can wait until in the morning.  Once I was back at the motor home, I finished putting things away and getting ready for morning, which now brings us to today when the alarm woke me at 6 am.

Mark’s feet hid the floor in a dead run as today is travel day.  He had the coffee started, a shower,and was dressed and drinking coffee before I ever got my eyes opened.    However, I wasn’t too far behind him…just needed to let the hot water heat up again and then I was in and out of the shower, dressed and doing a little ironing by 8 am.

I just needed to go to Weight Watchers and by Kroger to pick up Ellie’s ice cream she requested while Mark was getting the last of the stuff done in preparation for travel.  Well, we were about ready to go when we had

a new traveler show up!  Yes, our Caden is going with us on his first motor home trip.  He is going with us to Custer, SD.  He will be with us for 12 days.  Greg, Kate, and Zachary are flying up for the July 4th celebration at Mt. Rushmore and staying for a couple of days.  Caden will return to Texas with them.

So, we finally made it out of the driveway around 11:15 this morning, headed around Loop 820 to Highway 287 towards Childress.  Not far down the road it was time to think about

lunch.  Caden thought it was fun to eat on the bus.  And, hotdogs always taste better on a picnic.  After lunch and stretching our legs for a little while it was back to the car seat for

   an afternoon nap while

Pop cruises on down the road.

Our destination for today is Liberal, Kansas or maybe even Garden City.  We will keep you updated on our progress and be sure to stay tuned for the adventurers of Caden’s first trip.

Another Busy Day

Well, I was up early and back to the cleaning.  What I thought was going to be a little job turned into an all day affair.  But…it is almost done.  A little while tomorrow and I should be finished.  Now, I have to confess that if I hadn’t stopped so many times to look at old photos I would have been finished a little sooner.  But, it was too much fun.  While I was busy with my job, Mark was off to get tags for the car and make a Walmart run for more storage boxes.  He also stopped in for a short visit with his mom and made a stop at the pawn shop.  Then he was off to school with Karen to do a little work in her new classroom.   Wow, it was 5:00 before I knew it and time to get cleaned up.  We had plans for taking my nephew to dinner in exchange for a little computer work.  We enjoyed dinner and the visit…and by the way, thanks Ryan for the security updates on the computers.  I like to know I am safe as safe can be!

Tomorrow promises to be a busy day as well.  I have a hair appointment and want to go by and visit with my mom.  We have several other errands to run and pick up some last minute things from the grocery.  I will also do a last load or two of laundry.  Not much will be left for Wednesday except to pull in the slides and slide on out of town.

In addition, I had a email from Randy and Pam Warner today.  They are in town visiting Randy’s brother and  family.  They are staying at the COE Park at Benbrook Lake which is just down the road from us.  We are going to try and catch up with them tomorrow afternoon for a short visit and to see their new home on wheels.

No Rest Here

I know today is Father’s Day….but no rest for the Father here.  I did allow him to sit out in his new lawn chair and drink coffee, but not for long.  The last projects to be finished was a closet and my craft room.  The closet was the easy part, the craft room was another story.  I have been cleaning, sorting, and throwing away in there for several months now.  But, today, I was determined to make big strides.  And, boy did I.  I had to get Mark to haul away trash and recycling twice.  Plus, he made a trip to the clothing  collection box after the closet clean out.  Tomorrow I will send him to the pawn shop and the Half Price Book Store.  With a little effort and a couple more storage boxes I will be finished for now.  What is left will wait until the fall, but at least for now Karen and Kenneth can continue with their remodeling projects.

Also tomorrow will be laundry day and making lists for last minute errands in preparation for leaving on Wednesday.

I hope all you dad’s out there had a more restful day than Mark. LOL

Backwards and Forwards

Yes, I know, it has been a while since I last blogged.  Well, it has been really busy around here since I last wrote.

So, for a little look backwards…I did take it a little easy for about a week from the knee surgery, but quickly got over that as there was much to do.  As soon as school was out, we helped our daughter, Karen, who is a first grade teacher, pack up her classroom for the summer.  However, this summer was a little different.  She is moving to second grade. So, not only did we have to pack up her room, we had to move rooms.  WOW, after nine years, she had lots of stuff that had to be moved.  We worked most of the week after school was out.

Once that was completed, it was time for her to start a different kind of  packing.  She, Kenneth, and Kourtney were flying to Wisconsin for a friend’s wedding.  Mark and I were house sitting and dog sitting while they were gone.  On the day they were to leave, we had major storms in the area and their flight was cancelled after they got to the airport.  Soooo, they were stranded at DFW for the day.  They were suppose to leave at 11:00 am. and finally got a flight out at 6:30 pm.  However, when all was said and done, they had a great trip and the wedding was beautiful.  They returned home on an uneventful flight on Sunday.

On this past Wednesday, Karen had planned for luncheon for several of her teacher friends, so Pop and I volunteered to watch Kourtney and Caden.  So, we planned for a day out…

First we went to the city park

to ride the miniature train.  They had a blast.  Afterwards, we

went to the park and had a picnic lunch before we

took a walk over to the playground, where

Caden liked going up the slide, while

Kourtney liked going down the slide.

After lots of ups and downs, it was time to head home for nap time.   Pop and I needed one too!

Now, with school rooms packed up, wedding trips over, and luncheons behind us…it was time to get ready for the garage sale we had been planning since Spring.  So, Karen and I started in finishing what we have started on several occasions.  Now, I know we probably picked out the hottest weekends we have had, but it was the only weekend we had, so, let’s do it.

Yesterday, we were up by 5:30 am and had all the stuff

lined up and down the driveway and were waiting for our first customer.  It didn’t take long and we were pleased with our day.  So, we decided last night that we would try again today and in fact did a little more

 cleaning out in order to have more stuff for today.

All in all we were pleased and got rid of a lot of stuff.  What was left at the end of the day was loaded up and taken to the local Salvation Army collection center.  Yeah…it feels really good to get rid of all that stuff that has been piled up waiting for this long awaited sale.

This evening, all the kids were over and we had our Father’s Day/June birthdays get together.   I made pork tenderloin in the Crockpot and we used it for making some yummy tacos.  The kids gave Mark a Lafuma lawn chair he has been wanting.  He can’t wait to use it, which brings me to the Forward of this blog…

We have been home since March taking care of business, seeing family, taking care of doctor appointments, etc….and it is now time to get back on the road.  We will be leaving Fort Worth on Wednesday and will be meeting up in Custer, SD with Jim and Ellie on Friday.  We will be there until July 8 when we begin our journey towards Yellowstone and on to the Pacific Northwest.  So, I am sure, Mark will have lots of opportunity to use that new chair he got today!

We look forward to you taking this journey with us!  So for now, there is lots to do before leaving on Wednesday.  Guess, I better get busy, see you soon.