Home!

We’re home!  We have actually been back since late Sunday afternoon, but life has been a whirlwind since we returned. We weren’t supposed to be home until Monday night and we had paid for our campsite through then, but we had some issues involving Mom and decided it would be easier just to come home a day early. Taking care of an elderly parent is certainly not easy is it?  She does not like us to be gone at all. We were dealing with problems the entire time we were traveling. And it seems that sometimes crisis’s are invented to bring us back. Other things are very real and out of her control.

But we are back now. At least Dennis is. I don’t remember if I told you, but my sister, niece and I are heading to Texas next week. Dennis will be home to take care of his mom and we’re heading south on Wednesday! I sure hope it’s a bit cooler by then. We’re planning to go to the Precious Moments Museum in Missouri, Pioneer Woman’s Mercantile in Oklahoma and The Silos in Waco,Texas. We also hope to stop at IKEA along the way. It’s been five years since I was at IKEA as we don’t have one close by either Spokane or Omaha. The nearest one is in Kansas City. This girls trip is only for five days but I’m really looking forward to the time with Melanie and Chaela. Mandy was supposed to come along, but she doesn’t have any more PTO from work. That was a big disappointment.

I did manage to finish up a third baby blanket while on our trip. Since coming home I’ve made one chemo hat and started another. I’ll show you pictures next time. This post will have the last of our vacation photos in it. I’m hoping to be able to comment on your blogs tonight. I am so sorry I haven’t done it yet. I HAVE been reading them! Life has just caught up with us since we got home. We’re ready to go again! This afternoon I need to take Mom to her cardiologist appointment. Yesterday was spent shopping for groceries and generally running errands. Monday was laundry. And more laundry and unpacking. All while dealing with the things happening with Mom.

So here we go with the end of our trip west. Below you will see Crazyhorse. We didn’t go to any of these sites up close and personal because we’ve been there so many times before. This photo and the one of Rushmore were taken from the highway. Crazyhorse doesn’t seem to have changed much in the last 25 years!

Here is Rushmore from the highway that passes by. We were in the Black Hills during the Sturgis motorcycle rally. There were so many motorcycles in the parking lot, we decided that we didn’t need to try to compete with them. We are hoping to take Piper back there next year since she had Covid and didn’t get to go this year. The emotions that you feel when gazing on these four faces is undescribable. It makes you feel patriotic from deep down inside.

This is one of the lodges in Custer State Park. The name slips my mind right now but I think it’s the Grace Coolidge Lodge. I’m probably wrong. Theodore Roosevelt used to visit Custer State Park. He thought it was one of the most beautiful places on earth and so do I.

Gorgeous vistas where you could see for miles.

The next two photos are the pigtail bridges on iron Mountain Road in Custer State Park. These bridges are so fun to drive on. They are made of wood and are in curly cues.

Of course, the photos don’t do them justice.

We stayed at Ft. Welikit, (pronounced fort we like it), both on our way to Spokane and then for three nights on our way home. It’s about a mile outside of Custer City and a beautifully kept campground. Very quiet and well-maintained. They have teepees, cabins, and little places that are like barrels on their sides with beds inside. I couldn’t get a picture of one because there were always people around them.

And here’s our site. We enjoyed our stay there very, very much

The campground looks pretty empty because a lot of the motorcycles started leaving on Saturday morning. The photo below is just a teeny, tiny fraction of the bikes that were there. We were told that there were over 700,000 motorcycles around the Black Hills this past week! All the way home on the interstate Sunday across I-90 in South Dakota, it was solid motorcycles or trucks carrying trailers with motorcycles in them. It was like a continuation of the Sturgis rally as we drove home! We have to say that we had some great conversations with the mostly men who were riding this week. Everyone of them was polite and friendly to a T. We couldn’t have asked for a better time to be there. And oh my goodness, there were some beautiful Harleys! We are sorely tempted to look at one for Dennis! We did have a motorcycle when we were first married, but got rid of it shortly after Mandy was born. A motorcycle is not very practical with the baby!

When we were in Spokane we went to a place called The Downriver Grill that is famous for its Gorgonzola fries. I forgot to show you a photo of them in that post. We went there for lunch with Larry, Nita and Lori. These fries are delicious!

And guess who started school yesterday? Fourth grade! How in the world did that happen? She has a teacher who is brand new to teaching this year. If yesterday is any indication, it’s going to be a wonderful year for Miss Piper.

Our sweet daughter-in-law and Baby J. flew from London to Japan yesterday to join Alex. Such a long trip for our sweet DIL with a little baby. To top it all off Baby J had her immunizations the day before. They had planned it so she would have them a couple of weeks before the flight, but her appointment kept getting postponed by the NHS for some reason. Mama had a fussy baby for at least the first part of the flight. She sent us lots of photos at the airport before and then one this morning after they landed. We have been so blessed with our sweet daughter-in-law. We love her so much and she loves us right back. She’s brilliant and she still likes me! 💜 I find that amazing. And I’m being perfectly honest here. I do find it amazing. 

Well I think I have carried on long enough with this post. I hope to be back to commenting on blogs tonight, now that I have my laptop back. Thank you all for being so patient with me over the last several weeks. I have truly been trying to keep up with all of you by reading your posts. It looks as though summer is beginning to wind down for many of us. Much of my garden ripening was harvested while we were gone. But I was able to pick a zucchini, three cucumbers and a handful of cherry tomatoes this morning. Yum! 

Take care and I’ll be back soon. May God be with each and everyone of you.

Blessings and hugs,

Betsy