I'm Home!!!!!

Okay, Okay! I know that I said that I would try and blog while I was in Atlanta, BUT I just didn't have the time. Saturday, as soon as I arrived and after we ate lunch, we went to the loft so I could take a look around. Then it was off the Bed, Bath and Beyond. When we left there Crystal and Kim took me back to Crystal's apartment - where I proceeded to take an Imitrex and lie down on the couch. I spent a couple of hours lying on the couch before I took myself off to bed.

Sunday morning Crystal and Kim came over and picked me up around 10:00 a.m. and off we went to IKEA for a full day of shopping (and I do mean a FULL day) and then we were off to Target for a couple of last minute things (I also had to pick up a "roller" suitcase - walking two hundred miles through an airport caring a heavy suitcase if NOT fun!). Then we headed back to Crystal's apartment where I proceeded to watch a couple of hours of Sunday Night Football before I went to bed.

Monday we spent the day at the loft putting the things we had bought away - then Tuesday, while the girls were at work, I spent the day at the loft finishing putting things away. I even put a few pieces of furniture together. While the girls still have quite a bit of work to do - a lot was accomplished in the few days I was there and I sincerely hope that Kim likes the result. There are a couple of pictures of the loft - I think that they are self explanatory -

They have a couple of things left to do- most of those things are downstairs and the closet, but I am sure that they are working hard on all that is left to do - and everything will be done by the time Dan and I get back down to Atlanta in three weeks.

Now, to celebrate (I'm not sure if we were celebrating the work on the loft or that I was leaving - maybe a little of both) we went out to dinner and then to a one woman show called "Changing Shoes". It was really a pretty good show and I think the three of us enjoyed ourselves.


This is the marquee on the playhouse - I don't know if any of you out there watched Guiding Light (you know the soap opera) but the actress that did the show had been on the shows for years and years. Most people know that they (meaning the network) cancelled Guiding Light. Anyway - I enjoyed the show and I'm glad we went. We actually got home around 9:00 and I didn't stay up late - I knew that this morning was going to be an early one and I wanted to get some sleep.

Anyway, around 5:30 this morning (Crystal's clock said 6:00 BUT all her clock's are 22 minutes fast) I was up and in the shower. Crystal was there by 6:45 and were off to the MARTA station. I jumped on MARTA and 20 minutes later I was at the airport. The flights home were much better than the flights down to Atlanta (we had really rough weather on the way down). Dan was at the airport waiting for me (BOY was I glad to see him!) and we stopped for lunch. Back to the campground were we loaded everything up and then we were off to Shipsawana. It only took us an hour to get here and after we set everything up we went out to dinner - we had an excellent waitress and fabulous lemon meringue pie.

Tomorrow we plan on going into South Bend and tour Notre Dame and then come back and shop around town. It really looks like an interesting place and I look forward to looking around (maybe do a little shopping).

Sorry I was not able to blog while I was in Atlanta, but I am home again and I'll be back it every day. Hope all has been going well with you all. I'll look forward to your comments and I'll talk to you tomorrow!

On the Way to Atlanta Tomorrow!!!!!!

Well, tomorrow morning I leave for Atlanta - I am really looking forward to seeing Crystal and Kim and they have reassured me that all will be well - I can just relax and enjoy the one thing that I really miss since we sold our "sticks and bricks" - DECORATING!!!!

You might wonder what the picture is - NO we do NOT own another golf cart - Dale is loaning his to Dan to use while he is in Florida and I am in Atlanta. But the enclosure is our "garage" that we will use for the two bikes when we are in Florida - it will keep them out of the weather and under wraps. We think it will work just fine and I think it is a pretty ingenious idea myself.

Not much happened today - we went into to Wal Mart and returned a couple of things that we had purchased yesterday that didn't do what we wanted it to do. Then Dan wanted to go over to Sam's Club. That was probably a BIG mistake!!!! No really what the mistake was going to Sam's hungry - they were doing demos on all kinds of stuff and we bought a whole lot of stuff - then I had to come home and TRY and find somewhere to put it all. But we did buy the "garage" there and a couple of books for me to take with me to Atlanta.

After we came home I checked the blog for comments - I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised that I did not get more feedback than I did - I really thought I would get comments from everyone!!! Oh well, I guess that means I can ride with no worries. Now, Crystal and Kim, I responded on the comment section on this mornings blog that it is NOT okay to have a motorcycle in Atlanta - it is WAY TOO DANGEROUS!!!!!!!!!!!! Do NOT even consider it!!!!!! We will discuss it further tomorrow.

I also cooked dinner and had Dale down to eat - it was chicken enchiladas, Santa Fe rice, and refried beans - it was really pretty good - even if I do have to say so myself. We are going to meet Dale up at the snack bar for some ice cream at 9:00 - it will be our farewell sorta - we is going to the airport with Dan and I in the morning - and they can spend a little while together just the two of them.

After I cleaned up from dinner I packed - I just hope that I packed the right kind of clothes and that all goes well. I will just have to go with what I have and hope for the best - if it is raining in the morning then I will take my raincoat if not, I won't (that is a smart statement - NOT!)

Well, I don't really have anything else to report - I will be able to blog and I will taking my camera with me so I can take pictures also. I know that I am not going to stay up too late tonight - I have an early morning in the morning. I hope that I will be able to check in before I leave, but if not - I will talk to you all tomorrow!

Now what have we done?

This is Dan on his new motorcycle. I really didn't think that we were going to buy this bike, but Dan had his heart set on it and you know that I can't tell him 'no' - so we have purchased a motorcycle. See the saddlebags??? We will be able to take the bike into town and buy a few groceries - you know, things like milk, eggs, bread, oj. Little things - not the "big" grocery trip - but it will be nice to be able to save a few bucks on fuel. It will also be easier to find a place to park in town. Dan is one happy little boy - as you can probably tell by the smile on his face!





Dale is going to take the bike down to Florida for us - he is leaving Saturday afternoon and has volunteered to trailer the bike down. That takes a large burden off our back (I mean, how could we ever get this down to Florida since we don't have the hitch on the 5th wheel yet.) We are still trying to figure out how we are going to handle this little "gift" after we get to Florida - I (we) don't want to spend a fortune on putting a hitch on the 5th wheel, so we are still in discussion about this issue. We have decided (at least so far 'we' have decided) that if all else fails we will just leave the bike in Florida when we leave in February. We'll see how long this "decision" lasts as that time get closer (those who know Dan will understand this statement - right?)

Now, this was not the only purchase that Dan has made in the past couple of days. What else, you might ask, would he purchase?? And, how could this purchase influence me (meaning me, Carol)????? Well, people that know me won't believe the next picture - I couldn't believe it myself - but I promise you that it is not trick photography. So, what am I talking about????? Look ---------------------------------------------------------------------



Yes, you see right - that's ME on a motorcycle and it's MINE!!!!!!! I can even prove it - Look at this -----------------------------------

Yep! That IS me on the cycle - riding through the yard and I'm SMILING!!!!!! Now, before my friends and family get all upset, I just want to say that this is NOT a regular motorcycle - it is NOT street legal and I'll only be riding it around the parks and stuff. It is only to be used for fun and I will be VERY CAREFUL and I will be wearing a helmet anytime I am on the big cycle. We will not have any problem carrying this one with us because it fits in the bed of the truck - even around the 5th wheel hitch.



I'm sorry I did not get this posted yesterday - or more importantly- last night, but I was having trouble with the Internet service - my air card kept going off and it was a problem - I tried to type this TWICE last night and neither time could I finish. Anyway, I finally got tired and just gave up. Hopefully you guys did not worry about it and you knew that things were okay.

Tomorrow I leave for Atlanta - so today I will do the packing and getting everything ready. I am going to need to be up around 5:30 tomorrow morning (YIKES!) to be able to get ready and be at the airport in time for my flight. I have decided that I WILL NOT be taking my computer with me - it is just too much trouble - but I have been assured that I can use either Crystal's or Kim's computer soooooo I will be able to keep up with the blog. Plus, you guys can see the loft - I am excited about the prospect of doing some decorating again (but to tell you the truth, I am also a little nervous). I mean, it's one thing to decorate for yourself (if you screw up in your own room it's your money and you can start over) but when you are helping someone else you have a whole lot more responsibility!!!! I'm hoping and praying that I don't screw up!

Okay, I am going to sign off for this morning - I will post again tonight. I can't wait to see the comments on THIS post! I'm sure there are going to be some.

Take care and I'll talk to you later today!

Home again 2

Hello all - glad to be back at "home". It is always
nice to go somewhere to visit - but it is always good to get home again. I guess that is what sorta spoils you with this full time RVing - you get to take your 'home' with you no matter where you travel. That means you always have your own bed with you and your own stuff. That doesn't mean I don't like to go visit other people - but it is still a good thing to come home. Now this is a picture of the four of us (Dale, Cindy, Dan and I) at an apple orchard that we stopped at on our way back home from a restaurant Cindy wanted to take us to. More on that restaurant at the end. We picked up some fresh apples - we bought a half peck of an apple I have never had before called Honey Crisp - they are probably the best apple I have ever eaten. If you ever get a chance to have a Honey Crisp try it - I think you will really enjoy it.


I don't know if you can tell it or not, but at the top of this structure is a goat and down at the bottom is a little boy putting goat feed in a bucket - then he raises the bucket for the goat to eat. It is really pretty funny to see these goats go up the ramp as soon as anyone walks near that bucket. The kids really loved it (not any of our kids, just the kids that were there - thought I would clear that up.)

Now, yesterday we drove about fifty miles to be able to eat at this special restaurant - but before we ate we (Cindy and I) went to the outlet mall for about an hour while the guys (Dale and Dan) went to the Harley shop to look around. Cindy and I went to Nautica and Pottery Barn in an hour - I did pick up a couple of white t-shirts and a pull over sweater at 60 percent off - I didn't buy anything at Pottery Barn. After the guys picked us up we went over to Tony's - to have lunch. Cindy and Dale's mom and dad (which was Dan's sister) used to take the kids to this restaurant when they were little - so they wanted to share the experience with Dan. They are famous for their BLT sandwiches. Cindy and Dale kept telling Dan that the BLT's were enormous - and that they put over a pound of bacon on the sandwich - well, we didn't believe them. Well, guess what - they didn't lie -----------

as these pictures will attest to------------

To say we couldn't believe the size of this sandwich would be an understatement. We also brought enough bacon home with us that Dan and I both had another BLT and still had bacon left over. It was HUGE!!!!! (In case your wondering I had a small Dixie Burrito and I brought half of it home and had it for supper tonight).

After we ate we needed to walk off some of the food we ate - so we went back over to the outlet mall and went to GAP for about 45 minutes (the guys went to a CASE outlet store). I did buy an outfit to wear on the plane to Atlanta - I wanted to be comfortable and wanted something that wouldn't wrinkle. It should work.

Tomorrow I am going to go over to Dale's house and do the laundry - I will be getting ready to pack for my trip to Atlanta (I am really looking forward to seeing Crystal and Kim!) I will only be gone for a few days - I leave on Saturday and I will be back on Wednesday. I haven't decided if I will take my computer with me yet or not. In one way I really don't want to have to take it on the plane with me (I don't plan on checking any luggage) but I also don't want to not blog for four days. I guess I'll figure that our later.

I'll have some other pictures for you tomorrow (there are still some surprises we have up our sleeve) but you'll see at least one of them tomorrow. I'll just leave you in suspense.

Well, that's all I have to report on tonight - I hope you all are having a good week. Okay, you've had a couple of days off, so I hope we gets lots of comments. I'll be looking forward to them.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Another day at Dale's

We went on the electric boat again today after lunch - Dale went to church this morning and Cindy and Rod arrived around 11:30 this morning - we hung around Dale's for a little while. Rod and I went downstairs and watched some football (go Brett!) while Dan and Dale grilled out. We had a fabulous lunch - then Rod decided that he needed to go back home. After he left the rest of us went down to the marina and went out on the boat again. This is Cindy and Dan before the ride.

The is whole crew right after lunch - starting on the far left we have Dale, then Bonnie, Rod in the back, Cindy and, of course, my Danny boy! It has been a great day with everyone sitting around and talking about all the memories they have when they were little. It was fun listening to all the stories.

This is a picture of the electric boat as Dale is taking it back around to the marina to take it out.

I posted pictures of Dale's house from the back yesterday - well, this is the front. It is a very nice home and very comfortable.

Tomorrow I think we are going with Dale to take Cindy home - we will spend the night at Cindy's and come home on Wednesday - so I don't think I will take the computer with us. So don't expect me to post tomorrow night - but I will take lots of pictures at Cindy's and have lots to post on Wednesday.

We still haven't decided on the cycle - but it is looking more and more like Dan is going to buy it - we still have to double check the weight - but as long as it will fit on the hitch then I am pretty sure we will buy it. I'll keep you updated.

We've watched lots of football today (yeah!) and had a pizza for dinner. We are back at home now and watching Dallas/NY Giants game. (I doubt if we will make it to the end of the game).

I don't have much else to report -

I hope you all have a good week and I'll talk to you Wednesday

A Day with Dale and Bonnie

Today was a good day with family - this is a picture of Dale, Bonnie and Dan at lunch. We spent some time on the lake again - only this time in a nice little electric boat that a friend of Dale's was promoting. It was a nice time with family and friends.


This is Dale's house - actually the back of his house - it is a very beautiful home and very comfortable - I told Dale that Dan and I could move into his basement and he would never even know we were there - but I would sure enjoy the 62 inch high def TV (which was very nice to watch some football on today!)



This is the motorcycle that Dan is thinking about buying - it is a good buy and it would fit on the back of the 5th wheel (maybe - we have to double check the weight). Anyway, we'll see. It would sure be more economical to do our running around on instead of always going around in the truck - like I said - we'll see. (This is a small bike and we would not be doing any highway driving on it - it would just be something we could take to the grocery store or run to do some sightseeing.) We will see how it plays out.


Now, I'll just show you some pictures of the family ---------


This is Bonnie - Dan's niece (one of his older sister Betty's daughters)

This is Dale - the baby of Betty's family - he is piloting the boat we were riding in.

Tonight Dale grilled hamburgers on his back deck tonight and then we watched some more football - during halftime we sat out on the deck with a fire in the fire pit and had dessert (well, Dale, Bonnie, and Dan had dessert.) I had a pretty good day with football (but I haven't seen the Vandy score - what was it Crystal????) For all you football fans - I hope that your team won today.

Cindy and Rod come tomorrow, but Bonnie has to leave. I'll have more pictures for you tomorrow.

Have a great Sunday and I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Indian Lake Michigan

This was a surprise for me - I really didn't think about it until I saw a couple of billboards for Notre Dame football - when all of a sudden - there it was - the exit to Notre Dame. Pretty cool huh? Well, I have heard that the campus of Notre Dame is beautiful, so Dan says that we will come back down to South Bend and visit the campus one day next week.

We got into Indian Lake about 4:00 and got all settled - Dale met us at the church and showed us where our camp spot was and helped us get settled. Then he took us on a tour of the Nazarene campground. It is very nice. Then we went by his house and looked around - I know where I'll be to watch the football games (he has a wonderful big screen TV down in the basement - Yahoo!). Then we went down to the dining room and ate dinner -not bad and it only cost us $7.00 each for a buffet. After dinner we went back to Dale's to wait for Bonnie to get there.

After Bonnie arrived we went down to the lake and took a ride on Dale's pontoon boat - it was really nice on the lake, but - like a dummy- I forgot my camera. So, tomorrow I will do better with the camera and I'll post pictures tomorrow so you can see what the place looks like. There are a lot of really nice houses and a lot of really cute cottages here. But, I'll show you some pictures tomorrow.

I'll sign off for tonight - Melissa - CONGRATULATIONS on closing on the house - you are now in the ranks of the home owner's (and I now have a place to stay sometimes!!!!)

Talk to you tomorrow!!!

Shopping!

Today we went back into town and did a little shopping. Dan went into Dick's Sporting Goods and looked around while I went over to Bed Bath and Beyond. I bought a couple of Yankee Candles (not the big jars - the smallest jar and a couple of votives) - the jar was a new candle for this year called Farmer's Market and the votives were McIntosh Spice and Spiced Pumpkin - have to get some fall scents going on. Those of you that know us know that we love our candles and I really like to burn candles in the fall and winter. It sure has made the 'house' smell good today.

After we left those stores we went over to Best Buy - I wanted to look for some stuff for my camera - I lost a lens cap and I wanted to get another one, I also wanted to look for a hood for my lens (it goes around your lens and blocks out light), and I wanted to look for a bag for my computer. I always put it in the truck with us and it is getting scratched up on the top, plus I figured it needed some protection. Anyway, they didn't have a bag that I liked for my computer - plus the ones they had was WAY too expensive - I did get a lens cap and found out that I have to order the hood from Canon (they don't carry them in the stores anymore). While we were there we looked at external hard drives (I have a fear of my computer crashing and I would lose all my pictures). Anyway, they had a nice one on sale - so we got one and I came home and backed up all my pictures on the external hard drive (this thing will hold 92,000 pictures - not too bad).

Then we left Best Buy and went over to Target - just wanted to take a look around - I love to look at fall stuff - even when I don't buy anything. I did find a cover for my computer and only paid $14.00 for it (clearance is a good thing). So, that was our shopping experience today. Picked up some things that we needed and that we wanted.

We came home and I balanced the checkbook - moved some money into savings and caught the 'black book' up on the purchases we have made since leaving Idaho - the only thing I don't have in the book now is the gas purchases (I'll try and get those put in tomorrow). We made our reservations at Indian Lake campground in Michigan today - but only did it for a week - we'll look at other options after we get there - the campground was a little expensive ($20.00 a day plus tax) so a week cost us $185.50. When we get there, if the park is really nice, with electricity, water, and sewer, then $20.00 a night is not bad - we will see when we get there. We will leave for Michigan in the morning - we aren't going to be in a hurry, but we plan on being there by 3:00 or 3:30. We talked to Dale today and we are looking forward to seeing him, as well as Cindy, Rod, and Bonnie tomorrow.

I did fix dinner here tonight - as well as lunch - actually we ate out of the refrigerator for lunch - I ate the rest of my dinner from last night (Chicken Chipote Wrap) and Dan had a chicken salad sandwich with pasta salad. Tonight I fixed spaghetti with garlic bread and a nice tossed salad. It was really good and we have a little spaghetti left for lunch tomorrow.

Well, I don't have anything else to report - I hope that everyone is having a good week. I'll have pictures for you tomorrow - it will be our first night in Michigan - so another new state for me. Let me know what you think of our shopping expedition or anything else - it does help let me know that you guys are out there and reading.

Take care and I'll talk to you tomorrow!

A Visit with Becky

This is a picture of Dan and his niece Becky. We spent the afternoon visiting and getting caught up then we went out to dinner together. We had a really good time and it was an enjoyable time. While it was the first time I had met Becky I felt immediately at ease. I certainly hope that we will stay in touch.

Dan and I went into town this morning and went to Wal Mart (had to pick up a few groceries) and we also went to HOBBY LOBBY!!!! It was nice looking at stuff (even though we didn't buy any kind of decorative item). I did buy a couple of scrap booking supplies (I only spent $15.00)which I hope to use in the very near future. (I still need to get pictures printed up - Dan says that when I start printing pictures it will cost us a fortune!) But that will be the price he has to pay!

I don't really have that much to report - other than eating, shopping, and talking we didn't do a whole lot. Tomorrow Dan wants to go back into town and go to Dick's Sporting Goods - I will go to the Bed Bath and Beyond and look around. We do want to find a new heated mattress pad (we looked at Wal Mart today, but they didn't have any) so I'll look there. We should just have a quiet day before heading over to Michigan on Friday. Becky told us we were about three and a half hours from Dale's house - so Friday should be an easy trip. We are looking forward to seeing all the family there and I will take lots of pictures.

Okay, Melissa - I'm sorry I don't know what I was thinking - it must have been the hair color - it went to my brain and killed some brain cells - I won't do that again!!!!!

I hope that all of you are having a good week - and I'll talk to you tomorrow!!!!!

Kankakee River State Park, Illinois

hello all - I don't know if you can see in the background of this picture but we have seen these things all over - from Idaho to South Dakota to Minnesota to Wisconsin and even in Illinois - What is it you may ask.... well ---------


how about wind turbines - I don't mean just a couple like is in this picture - I am talking about 100's. It is really neat to see these wind turbines - I think they are very energy efficient (meaning they don't use any fossil fuel) but I also hear that they are not wanted by the community. I don't know why other than the noise they make but all the ones we have seen have been in agricultural fields - not near any homes. I guess one of the things that we have been surprised at is the number of turbines we have seen - not only number wise but also the number of states that they are in. Who knows - we may have seen the future.




This is a tree at the first rest area in Illinois - I wanted to show what the look of fall is right now here - part of the trees are showing their color and part are not - but it is still cool to see the fall colors.

This is a day time picture of the park we were in last night so you can see that there is a little more color at this park then in Illinois - it was a little further north than we are now, but not that far. Anyway, I love fall and I am enjoying seeing the leaves change.

We are in Kankakee River State Park and we will be here for the next three nights - we have been somewhat surprised that the state parks here do not have water at the camp sites - we have figured out that it has to be because of the weather - it would be too hard to insulate the water lines all over a campground - so they just don't have water to the sites. When we came into the campground today we filled up with water again so we don't really have to worry about that the whole time we will be here. We have not heard from Becky yet - and it is 9 p.m. so I don't guess we'll hear from her until tomorrow - We would like to have her here for dinner tomorrow night and then MAYBE we will go out to dinner Thursday night. Then we will leave for Michigan Friday morning. I'm going to be glad to just sit and relax for a couple of days - I guess that I got used to staying in Idaho and have not gotten back into the routine of putting everything away every day for travel. It will be fine - but I think the girls are ready to sit for a couple of days. It will be nice to sit for two weeks in Michigan before heading over to Pennsylvania for a couple of weeks.

Well, that is about all I have to report for today - once again most of the day was spent in the truck (BTW it was more like 300 miles not 150 miles). We ate in again - we decided to try and empty out the refrigerator before I cook a new meal - grilled chicken anyone???? I'll sign off for tonight - Dennis, we will definitely try to get down to Indiana on a day trip while we are in Michigan.

Talk to you tomorrow!!!

Through Minnesota to Wisconsin

I know this is a little dark, but I took it as we pulled into our campsite for tonight. We are in Wisconsin tonight. We had originally planned on staying in Minnesota BUT the campground did not have electricity and tonight was Monday Night Football double header. Soooooo, we kept going into Wisconsin and are at Mill Bluff State Park. The trees are beautiful - not all have turned yet, but it's early in the season. Anyway, this was the first area that have really shown fall color.

This is an example of what the scenery has been for the last two days - corn fields and more corn fields. But something exciting did happen today - other than being in two states that I have never been in before - I saw my first Amish man - in a horse drawn cart - he was going over the interstate on a road - We waved at him and he waved back. We also saw some Amish men working in the fields with their horse drawn wagons. It was really pretty cool - Dan says that we might go down into Indiana to an Amish community while we are in Michigan - that would be neat.

This is a picture of the Mississippi River on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. I thought that was pretty neat - we have been across the Mississippi many times but always down in the south - not up north. Anyway, I thought you might like to see it.

Not much else happened today - just a lot of driving - we should be in Kankakee tomorrow - it will actually be a short day - I think Dan said it was about 150 miles further. Anyway - it should be a short day and then we will be set up for three days - We will go on into Michigan on Friday - this will also be a short drive and it will be nice to get set up and stay put for a couple of days. I'll let you know what we do and where we go.

Let me know what you think and keep the comments coming - it keeps me going. (Damn - the Patriots just won! Oh well! Maybe the next game will be better)

Talk to you tomorrow!

South Dakota and Custer State Park

Okay, sorry I haven't posted in a few days - the first night we 'boondocked' at a state park in Wyoming - we didn't plan on boondocking - but we went to this park and it was after hours - we had to pay our fee before we went into the campground. After we did we realized that not only did they not have water, but the didn't have electricity or anything other than the spot. We paid $17.00 to boondock. Dan said if we had known that before we would have stayed in a Wal Mart parking lot. Anyway, this is a picture of the campground the morning that we left. On our way back to the interstate we saw lots of wild life - turkey and deer. (I will post pictures of all the adventures at the end of the blog - and there will be three different sets of pictures).

When we left Keyhole State Park in Wyoming we headed for Custer State Park in South Dakota - we had reservations for Friday and Saturday nights - we knew we wanted to go to Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial - and if we had time we would go to Wind Cave National Park. The park was beautiful - nice big spaces and electricity - no water - but there was a place to put water in your storage tanks on your camper which we did - and did not have any trouble. The only problem was - we had no cell phone service or Internet service because we were down in a valley between the Black Hills. So once again, I was unable to post anything. I hope none of you worried about us - we are just fine - this was the first time on this trip that I could not get on the Internet.

Custer State Park was wonderful - lots and lots of wild life - from bison to mule deer and white tail deer, burros, pronghorn, antelope, prairie dogs, mountain goats, and big horn sheep - and we have pictures of them all!
I have not put pictures of everything in the blog - I will save some for the pictures at the end, but I did include some here - like this pretty buck

and this pronghorn that was grazing along the side of the road.

This was one of the animals that Dan really wanted to see - the big horn sheep were beautiful - and it almost seemed like they were posing for the photos.

This guy was really funny - he walked out into the road - Dan pulled over to the side so I could climb up on my perch to take his picture and he just walked in front of the truck and wouldn't move. It probably took him about five minutes and Dan pulling the truck up toward him very slowly before he finally turned around and ran over to the other side of the road again.

There were just the animals we saw on the first day - Saturday morning we woke up to rain and it was forecast for all day - so we just got ready and headed for Mount Rushmore in the rain - in the pictures at the end you will see a couple of pictures that shows a picture from inside a tunnel and the next one is the first view of Mount Rushmore - it is really pretty cool. There are quite a few pictures of the mountain - I kept trying to get a good shot without the raindrops, I don't know if you will think I did or not but you can at least say that I tried.

Oh, BTW Crystal, in answer to your question - yes, there is a room on top of the mountain called the Hall of Records - it's not exactly what was originally proposed but it is there.

This is a profile shot of George taken as we were leaving and heading toward the Crazy Horse Memorial.

As you can see they have not finished the Crazy Horse memorial yet, but when they do it will be the largest carving on a mountain in the world. All of Mount Rushmore will fit in just his feather that will be on the side of his head. One of the other cool things about this carving is it will be on three sides of the mountain. We were really surprised at the amount of things to do here - there is a fabulous museum of Indian artifacts and working studio's for Indian craftsmen. In case you are wondering about the white area on the side of the mountain that shows part of the horses head, ear and eye. They (which are the sons and daughters of the man who started the carving) work 365 days a year. It will definitely be something to see when it is finished - it was fascinating at this stage. (If you are wondering why this is so good - it actually stopped raining for about 30 minutes while we were at the monument and I was able to get a good shot.

Tonight we are staying at a State Park just east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Once again, we don't have water at out campsite but we do have electricity (thank goodness because it is HOT - and muggy - probably about 78%) we have the air conditioning on and glad to have it. We are planning on staying at a state park on the Mississippi River tomorrow night - hopefully, I'll be able to blog then.

Oh! I almost forgot - we finally got a job in Georgia for the months of March and April - actually it will run from the 28th of February to the 28th of April and it is in UNICOI State Park - which was the first park we wanted to be at - it is in the mountains and it is a little out of Atlanta, but it should be fine - we are excited that we actually got a job in Georgia and that it is in the mountains (okay, not exactly the Rockie's but the north Georgia mountains are nice!)

Well, I'll sign off for tonight - I hope to be able to post every night, but if you don't hear from us you will know that I didn't have a signal for my air card.

Here are the links to the pictures:

First night out and the first day at Custer State Park Pictures

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse pictures try the link below.

Mountain Goats and more of Custer State Park

Hope you enjoy and I'll talk to you tomorrow (hopefully!).http://picasaweb.google.com/caroldanmihlfeld/20090912MtRushmoreCrazyHorseCusterStPk91209#


Linking to: http://www.theviewfromrighthere.com/blog/?p=6907#more-6907

The Last Night

No pictures tonight - today was a very busy day getting ready to leave in the morning. We went to do laundry first, then went into West and picked up some groceries, found the Christmas cards we wanted and picked up a book for me (a C.J. Box book I haven't read).

When we got home I made some pasta salad, egg salad, and chicken salad - we won't have to worry about what we are going to eat for lunch next week. We'll just have to think about what we are going to eat for dinner (I did buy some salad mix, cucumber, and bell pepper at the store, so we can have a chef's salad for dinner along with a couple of boiled eggs.)

We went out to dinner with Kaye and Joyce about five o'clock. On the way to the restaurant we saw three cow elk feeding on the side of the road. We went to a place called Meadow View Ranch which is a real homestead that is run by a brother and sister. We had a salad, chicken fried steak, french fries (homemade), and green beans. It was very good - but in the middle of dinner we look out the window and there was a huge bull elk (and of course I didn't bring my camera with me). Anyway, we had a great dinner (Dan and I bought dinner for Joyce and Kaye - $61.00). On the way home we saw two more bull elk just grazing on the side of the gravel road and then just a little further down the road were nine more cow elks. It was great - sorta like they were telling us good-bye.

We just about have everything packed inside and I won't have too much more to do in the morning. You know put the coffee pot away - and a few items that will need to be stored in the kitchen sink after I do the dishes. (Heh, you have to use every space for storage!)

Okay, I've had some comments (thanks) and questions about my hair. First, let me set the record straight - there is absolutely nothing wrong with red hair, in fact, I like red hair on other people - I just didn't think that red hair would look good on me because of my coloring - fair with green eyes. Then I started thinking about it and most redheads have fair skin and green eyes. Anyway, I think the biggest thing right now is the huge change - I mean I've been a 'blond' for a very long time and this is a huge change - it will just take time to get used to it. Now, I have also been what the color was - and I don't have the slightest clue. I threw the box away and I don't remember what the name was - the next time I go into Wal Mart I will have to look and see - then I'll let you know. Oh, btw Crystal, I don't think the color had anything to do with my "colorist", but then you never know. Anyway, I am so glad that you guys like it - and I think I will to AFTER I get used to it.

Well, tomorrow will be a long day - we are going to try and get as close to Rapid City as we can tomorrow so we will get the Custer State Park early Friday afternoon so we can actually do something then and not try to do everything in one day. We'll see how that goes.

I'll try and post tomorrow but a lot will depend on how late we drive and whether or not we boon dock tomorrow night - which is a possibility - but I don't want to because tomorrow night is the FIRST REGULAR SEASON FOOTBALL GAME and it's between my Titans and the Steelers - we'll just have to wait and see. Keep up the great comments.

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Oh my gosh - what have I done?????

If you look real close you will see frost on the ground outside - and if you look below you will see why we had frost this morning ..............


Yes, ladies and gentlemen that does say 29.7 degrees at 8:00 am. It was a little cool (no actually, it was COLD!) Anyway, it warmed up pretty nicely the temperature at 6:15 pm is 69 degrees. Not too bad.

Today we went down to Ashton and turned in our key to the cabin and said good-bye to everyone -

This is our friend Darby (or at least I hope she considers us a friend)- she was the one who put up with all our foolishness when we would stop by - I hope she stays in touch with us - she was one of the reason we really enjoyed our summer. I did not get a picture of Bill, but we consider him a friend also. We will miss both of them.

Now, you might wonder about the title of my blog tonight - well, remember at the beginning of the summer when I said that I had changed my hair color



This was my hair in July - well, guess what - Dan and I did my hair this morning and my worst fear has come true - I have always had a fear that when I colored my hair it would turn red - well, guess what -----------------------------

it did!!!!!!! I have washed it a couple of times and it is lighter then it was when we first did it this morning BUT it is still RED!!!!!!! I'm hoping that with time the red will go away and the brown will come through. I'll just have to wait and see since I can't do anything about it for at least six weeks. Now, if my girls say that my hair isn't any different this time then they are color blind!

Tomorrow I will give the dogs their bath before the trip. Dan still has not put the hitch in, but I'm sure he will do that tomorrow afternoon. We will go do laundry first thing in the morning, then run into West for the cards and a few groceries. Then tomorrow night we will go out to dinner with Joyce and Kaye. it is very hard for me to believe that tomorrow is our last day in Idaho. In some ways it seems like this is home, but I don't think I would feel that way when the temperature drops to 40 below and the snow is up to my neck. Oh well, it is time for the next step in our adventure.

Let me know what you think of the red hair and anything else you would like to tell us. Take care all - and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Working getting ready to leave

Hello everyone - today was a day to work at home and start getting things ready for our departure. We unloaded the basement and repacked it and looked at combining things and getting rid of things (Like the lounger that Dan broke!) Anyway, it was a productive day. I also did some cleaning and straightening up inside - I had done some 'deep cleaning' last week, but there were a couple of spots on the carpet that we needed to clean. So Dan got the Spotlifter out and up they came - no problem.

You might wonder what this has to do with the pictures that I have posted today - well, really nothing except I wanted to show you where the girls are starting to spend a lot of time in the mornings - they like to sit up on Dan's shoulder and the back of his chair looking for chipmunks. They are really cute sitting there on his shoulder.

I also wanted you to see our new lamp that we purchased last week in West - We thought this was a nice lamp and it was a pretty reasonable cost ($44.00). I'm not sure if we will get another one for the dining room table or just wait and see if we can find something else that will match, but not be exactly the same. We are going to go back into West on Wednesday - we will do the laundry first, then we are going in to look at some Christmas cards that we really liked. We knew that we had seen the same cards in the park, but they were about $2.00 more in the park. Sooooo, we decided we would get them in West. We will also go by and pick up some bread and a couple of other things at the grocery store before we leave.

Then Wednesday night we will go out to dinner with Joyce and Kaye. Their daughter and son-in-law left this morning, but we were able to say good bye to them and thank them again for the float down the river. We gave them one of our 'business' cards so they can stay in touch with us (we hope). Now one of the things that I would like for you to do is see if you can see the temperature on the thermometer and remember this was about 10:00 this morning. (In case you can't see it - the temperature was 51 degrees and the high today was 61 degrees - I wore a sweatshirt almost all day.)

We plan on having everything ready to go so when we get up Thursday morning we can hook up and pull out. Of course, we are going to get to play a little on the way, but not too much.

Well, that's all I have to report today - I hope everyone had a fabulous Labor Day. I know that some of you have to get ready to go back to school tomorrow - so I wish you all a good week at school. For those of you that are working, I hope you have a great week at work (if there is such a thing) and the rest of us - good, safe travels. I'll look for your comments in the weeks ahead.

Until then - talk to you tomorrow.

The Last Day

Today was our last day at work - which is very hard for us to believe. Dan said that when we were half way done it seemed like we had a long time to go until we would be finished. Now it doesn't seem like it lasted very long at all.

You might wonder how busy we were since we only had a total of 40 people last week on Sunday. We have decided that the number of cars that are parked by the Mormon church will tell us how busy we will be. Last week there has hardly anyone at the church and we weren't busy - today they were lined down the street and out on the main highway - the most cars we have seen all summer and - we were the busiest that we have been all summer. There were people in the cabin all day and group of 40 and 50 at a time - they were lined up to go up the stairs. The good thing about being so busy is - the day really goes by quickly. Dan didn't eat lunch until after 1:00 and I didn't eat until after 2:00. It's the latest Dan has EVER eaten. Anyway, it was a good last day.

Tomorrow we start packing up and getting ready to leave - Dan has to put the hitch back in the truck - I think he is going to ask Jeff to help him - that thing is really heavy. Anyway - it will take a while to get everything put up where it belongs. So, the next few days will probably be really boring on the blog, but I hope you will stay with us as we begin the next leg of this adventure.

I think I'll sign off for tonight - Dana, your dad was having a blast on the river Friday. Melissa, I hope you had a fabulous day and that you are feeling better. Don, Dan will call you on Tuesday. Crystal, I hope you called your sister and wished her a happy birthday (I'm sure you did!) and congratulations on the Vandy win. Hope we hear from you guys - I do like to know what you guys think.

Take care and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

This blog needs to be divided into four parts

Alright everyone, I said I needed to divide this blog into four parts - one for Thursday night at the play, we did two different things on Friday (one I have to keep a secret the other was dinner in Yellowstone) and the other was work today. So, I'll start with the play on Thursday night -





Part ONE



As you know Dan and I went to Mack's Playhouse and saw a spoof of the play Les Miserables. Before the play we had dinner which was excellent - prime rib that was cooked almost perfect at medium rare, baked potato, nib let corn, baked beans, fabulous rolls (I ate two!) a wonderful salad with great salad dressing and Dan had ice cream with a chocolate chip cookie. (My dessert was the second roll) We had front row seats at this production (when we went to see Beverly Hillbillies 90210 we were about half way back in the theater and Dan had a hard time hearing the actors) so being in the front was a good thing - I don't think I had to tell them what the actors said but one time.

We thought that this production was better than Hillbillies - this was funny and the kids did a good job. The actors kid around with the audience and keep them involved. I was able to take pictures during the play by turning the flash off my camera.

I think you can tell from these pictures that it was a funny play and I would recommend anyone to go see it. (However, tonight was the last time they are doing any play) The playhouse closed after tonight's play for the season. Oh well!

Part Du ex (Two)

This part of the blog was something that I did not expect us to do this weekend - yesterday (Friday) the son-in-law of our neighbor - Jeff - came over and asked us if we would like to take the float boat and float the Henry's Fork of the Snake River. Of course Dan yelled "YES!"

This is a picture of the water taken from the boat while we were floating - it was/is crystal clear - it amazes me every time I look at the water around here - doesn't seem to matter what body of water it is - it is crystal clear. Amazing!

This was just some of the scenery we viewed as we floated the river - this was a small water fall just on the side of the river - Actually we were floating down an old lava tube - the sides were made up of lava rock and just had the most amazing scenery. But the most important part was how happy Dan was -

Here is Dan with one fish - okay, it was a little small, but see the smile on his face - He was in "hog heaven"!



Now, later in the day Dan did redeem himself -

when he caught this white fish - not a trout, but he had a good time catching it (as you can probably tell from the smile on his face). He did release the fish but that was okay - he had caught it and I had it on 'film'.

This is my happy little boy - he was like a kid in a candy store - I'm just glad that he was able to float the river to sorta close our time here in Idaho.

Part Three

After we got home last night, we got ready very quickly and headed off to Yellowstone for our dinner reservations - the reservations were at 5:45 and we had to leave here no later than 4:00 to make sure we would get there in time - you never know what you are going to see going into Yellowstone and later you will see what I mean.

But first,

Here is Dan sitting on the balcony of the Yellowstone Inn - I don't think you can see the smile on his face.


Then, there was dinner - we both had the buffet and this is the star of the buffet -

Prime rib of BISON! It was fantastic! I really didn't think it would be that good - I figured it would be tough - boy was I ever wrong! We also had salad, soup, boiled shrimp, wild rice, and green beans. the meal was pretty good, but it was expensive! Well, it was our "final hurrah" in Yellowstone so, I guess it was worth the $70.00 price tag for both of us.

Now, I'll show you what we saw on our way into the park -

A HUGE bull elk with a HUGE rack - he was rubbing the velvet off his rack and making himself beautiful!

On our way home we saw this beautiful guy walking out toward a herd of cow elk - I was really expecting to hear him 'bugle' but we didn't hear him. That was a little disappointing but we were really happy to see the bull. It was somewhat of a happy ending to our trips into the park. I will really miss the park - and I'm sorry I was not able to do the hike that I wanted to do, but that gives us something to look forward to in the future.

Part Four

Today was our next to the last day at work - and boy, were we busy!!!! We had about 200 people through the cabin, but the deposit was really low (the cabin is maintained only through the donations of people, so when we don't have a good day when we have a lot of people through the cabin we feel like we didn't do our job well.) Our deposit was larger than the Friday deposit, but I didn't feel it was as much as it should have been with that many people through. Anyway, I'm not sure how we are going to feel tomorrow afternoon - it will be the end of the first chapter of this "great adventure". Dan and I will also miss Idaho - we have had a lot of fun here and sorta feel like home - however; no one has to worry about us staying - I don't think I could stand the 40 below weather or the snow 10 plus feet.

Right now, we plan on leaving for Michigan Thursday morning - we will stop in Rapid City South Dakota and go to Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore and maybe Wind Cave National Park. I'm not sure if we will take any other 'side' trips on the way, it will depend on how much time we have and what we see on the way.

Well, I think I have caught you up on everything that has happened on the last three days - BTW, Happy Birthday tomorrow Melissa!!!! I can't believe my "baby" is 26! I'll call you tomorrow! Neil, congratulations on the Gator win - Crystal, the last score I saw Vandy was ahead in their game - Hope they won also- Just saw the final and Vandy won - Yeah Vandy! (I'm watching the Alabama game now - we will have to wait and see how that one goes.)

Talk to you tomorrow!