Contented Days

We h ad a great time with Curt and Barb here in the Black Hills. They left early Monday morning to start their journey back home. They arrived back in Omaha last night and today is Barb's birthday! On Saturday the three of them hiked to the top of Harney Peak. We have read that it is the highest point eastward between the Rockies and the Swiss Alps. The hike is a little over 6 miles round trip and includes climbing over boulders and rough trails. 

This was at the top of the mountain. It was so windy up there that Dennis and Barb sat behind the wall to eat their lunch. 

This one was taken while climbing upwards.  Barb, Dennis and Curt.

The Lookout tower at the top of Harney Peak, or as it's now called Black Elk Peak.

And finally, the view from the very top! Isn't it stunning? It was a beautiful day although it looks pretty cloudy. Zoey and I stayed behind to do laundry. There is no way in the world that I would have made it up that mountain.

That same night we took a drive on the Wildlife Loop Road. It's one of our favorite things to do. Sorry for the blurry photo. We saw many large groups of buffalo. The annual buffalo round-up will be held at the end of September. There they will sell some of the herd to the highest bidders. They have to keep the numbers down to what the park can sustain. Custer State Park bison are known for the quality of their meat because of the wonderful grazing land. There is a lottery every year that people join in order to ride in the round-up. Dennis's cousin Chuck has been chosen in past years. It's quite an honor. You ride your own horse and help to round up the buffalo. Thousands of people gather that weekend to watch this annual event. We've been told it's an amazing sight to see thousands of buffalo running across the prairie.

And of course, the famous begging burros made an appearance. There were six of them up on the road, begging for handouts and another couple of dozen down in the trees finding the coolness of the shade.

We saw a lot of antelope. I think they're beautiful. This one turned around and almost posed for the photo.

In Custer City, which is really a very small town, we wandered through the tourist shops and found painted buffalo on nearly every corner. We particularly liked this one with the mountain goats climbing all over it. Here are Curt and Barb saying hello to him.

And then we took our turn with the same buffalo. Much better than trying to get close to a real one!

I finished the Virus baby blanket. I would have liked to make it a little bit larger, but I ran completely out of yarn. It's yarn I bought from Amazon marketplace and I don't think I can get any more of it.  I need to be happy with the size it is. It turned out to be about 31 inches square. but hasn't been blocked yet.

We will be here two more nights. Friday morning we will leave and drive to Buffalo, Wyoming to spend the night. Then on Saturday, we will go to Helena, Montana to see our son and our granddaughter, Kyleigh. She is in her fourth year in Bozeman at university. We're very proud of her. We can't wait to be with them. We usually only get to see them once a year now that we've moved, and we look forward to it every year. Our grandson Caleb is working in Oregon and we're hoping to see him at some point during this trip too. He's doing very well in his work as a lineman. I try not to think about how dangerous it is because he's very happy.

I hope and pray that you are all well and enjoying our little trip with us. Take care and may God bless each one of you.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

The Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

Kayaking Anyone?

 Hello and good morning to all of you on this beautiful Saturday morning from beautiful Custer, South Dakota. On Thursday we drove from Chamberlain, SD to our camping spot here at Ft. Welikit, just outside of Custer. This is our second stay here this summer and the place we come back to over and over. 

First of all the results from the biopsy came back benign. Hallelujah! They have already scheduled ANOTHER colonoscopy for next August for a follow-up. So that's over with for another year and I'm so very thankful for that. I'm also VERY thankful for your wonderful thoughts and prayers during the past few months of dealing with this.

I'll show you a few sights from our drive on Thursday along I-90 across S.D. We passed several of these stunning sunflower fields. They stretched on for miles each time and sure made both of us smile at the happy flowers turning their faces toward the sun. The blue, blue, blue skies stretched for miles and was a perfect travel day.

Then, we passed "Fire Henge"! I thought Dee might enjoy these next few photos. We were going 65 MPH so I had to take two shots to get the entire thing in as we drove past. How did they get these trucks to stand up like that and withstand the prairie winds?

Here are my toes enjoying the beautiful weather and peace at our campsite on Friday. We really love this place. Dennis has traveled the world and I've been a few places myself, but our favorite spot in the world are the Black Hills of South Dakota. It's so peaceful here.

Yesterday Dennis, Curt and Barb went Kayaking on Sylvan Lake. Curt & Barb brought their kayaks from home while Dennis rented one at the lake. It was only $20.00 and easier than taking his on our six week journey for this one paddle. Once we get into Idaho and Washington it would mean stopping for every boat inspection point to check for invasive species and it just wasn't worth it to him. He did say that he missed his own kayak. The rental didn't paddle as well, but they still had a lot of fun exploring the lake. Zoey and I sat in the truck and read a book and people watched. My back just won't let me sit in a kayak and although I would have loved to go with them, I'm glad that they enjoyed themselves on the lake.

Afterwards we drove the Needles Highway and saw the gorgeous views and tunnels. Just before we reached Bluebell campground where we had all camped together with our kids in 1988, we saw "George" the buffalo taking a nap along the rode. This is the actual distance he was from our truck where we stayed safely inside. I would estimate he was about 10 feet from us! He didn't seem bothered that we were there at all and never even opened his eyes.

The view as we drove back toward Custer. I never get tired of seeing these vistas and imagine being in a covered wagon heading west back in the 1800's. I can imagine that although they found it beautiful, they probably weren't as comfortable as we were in our air conditioned truck.

Here we were last night, sitting outside our camper. Barb checking the weather forecast for today. That huge motorhome parked just as we were eating the fajitas that Dennis made for dinner last night. They are very quiet people and we never saw them outside. They hooked up their satellite TV dish and disappeared inside for the night! Most people will probably leave tomorrow after the weekend. Curt and Barb will leave Monday morning to stay at Ft. Robinson St. Park in Nebraska for a few days before heading back home. We'll be here until next Friday when we will drive to Buffalo, WY for one night. Then we go to Helena, MT to see our son and his family for the weekend. It's a great life and we're very grateful to the Lord for allowing us to do this.

I've been SLOWLY crocheting another Virus baby blanket. I admit that I've done more talking and reading than crafting so far on this trip. :-)

My three companions left about an hour ago to hike to the top of Black Elk Mountain, which used to be known as Harney Peak. It's been 35 years since they last hiked this mountain together! It's the highest point east of the rockies until the Swiss Alps!!!! Crazy! Not bad for a bunch of 70+ "kids". Again, my back hasn't cooperated for such a strenuous hike, so I'm at the camper with Zoey and catching up on laundry. I don't mind. I don't want to slow them down or make them stop hiking because of me, so I am happily staying behind for the day. Tonight we're planning to drive the Wildlife Loop and see what we can see. Curt is making meatloaf in the crockpot for our dinner with baked potatoes and corn too. Sounds delicious and we love to share our meals when together. 

Take care my friends and I'll check in again sometime soon. May God bless each and everyone of you during these unusual times that we're living in.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Being in this greatness of the outdoors and seeing the beauty all around me, I find myself singing this great hymn often.

How Great Thou Art

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.


Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!


When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.


Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!


And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.


Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!


When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"


Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Good Morning! We are on our way to South Dakota! It's about 11:30 am as I'm typing this and we just passed one of the many Lewis and Clark State Parks around the midwest and northwest. We're only going about a four hour drive today. We planned it that way since I had my colonoscopy yesterday and we didn't know if I would be feeling very well. I admit to being a little sore in my abdomen as she cut more of the mass out. She thinks she got it all this time and it's been sent for a biopsy. I'll need another colonoscopy, probably in a year or so, but she's waiting for the biopsy to say for sure.

Meanwhile, while waiting for me at the hospital, Dennis got a raging migraine. He hasn't had one in years but they took him off his BP medicine about two weeks ago because his BP was on the lower side. He's in great shape! We knew the meds were keeping him from the migraines because this happened in Spokane too. I have a message in to his doctor to get a new RX for just amlodipine without the BP component. She talked to him about it at his appt. and I wish she had just prescribed it then. 

Anyway, obviously I couldn't drive, (I slept all afternoon). He barely made it home before being violently ill. He took his migraine meds and slept a few hours and was good to go again. Ugh. It's always something. 

I don't have a lot to report from the last few days other than medical stuff and who wants to just read that, so I unearthed a few photos from one of our trips to London a couple of years ago. I don't remember if I shared them then or not so I thought I would again.

I don't remember which museum this was but we were able to see the Rosetta Stone in person. It was so interesting and a fascinating piece of history.

Here's a close up photo of the writing on it. Let me know if you can read and interpret it! Ha!

I believe it was the same trip that we went for a VERY nice English high tea at the historic Landmark Hotel in London. The tables were set up on this elevated area. We had our very own server who was very attentive. It was a gorgeous setting.

A few of the delectable treats. We also had sandwiches and tea/coffee. 

I wish I could show you more of the wonderful food and hotel, but all of my photos have our dear DIL and son in them and I can't show you her face online. 

Jenny bought me this sweet little antique oil lamp at the General Dodge House in Council Bluffs, Iowa when she visited this summer. It's very old. They have a corner where the people who support the Dodge House sell trinkets and family heirlooms. I found the little birds at the Thrift store for fifty cents apiece! They match almost perfectly and I love them together.

Okay my friends, I guess I'll close this short post and try to pop in on your blogs while I have internet! I'll be checking in when I can.

Blessings and hugs,

Betsy

THRE IS A REEDEMER

There is a redeemer
Jesus, God's own son
Precious lamb of God, Messiah
Holy one

Jesus my redeemer
Name above all names
Precious lamb of God, Messiah
Oh, for sinners slain.

Thank you oh my father
For giving us your son
And leaving your spirit
'Til the work on earth is done.

When I stand in glory
I will see his face
And there I'll serve my king forever
In that holy place.

Thank you oh my father
For giving us your son
And leaving your spirit
'Til the work on earth is done.

There is a redeemer
Jesus, God's own son
Precious lamb of God, Messiah
Holy one

Thank you oh my father
For giving us your son
And leaving your spirit
'Til the work on earth is done.
And leaving your spirit
'Till the work on earth is done.

Still Standing!

Happy Thursday. Thank you all for praying for Spokane. Yesterday was the last time I heard anything and the evacuation orders were almost all lifted for the city. Our old house still stands and people are making their way back home and slowly coming to the realization of what is left. It's a terribly sad time for them all. I know many other communities around the west are dealing with the same thing and it breaks my heart. I'm praying of all of them and that the rains will arrive soon.

Meanwhile this was the state of the weather here yesterday. Notice the "feels like" temperature of 107F. I think we're all over this heat wave this summer and just want some cooler weather to arrive.

This was the containment for the fires as of Tuesday afternoon. I haven't been able to catch a screenshot since then but this is so much better than last week  and I'm sure the numbers have improved even more since then.

I was able to complete another baby blanket. This was using Bernat Baby Sport yarn in the Blossom color way. I used an I hook and made a simple picot border. I've been making this for years and is a very simple sc, hdc, dc pattern. 

I was asked about the blanket on my last post. It's the "Virus" baby blanket. I've had the pattern so long that I don't know where I found it. I know it was a free pattern because I rarely pay for them. 

It has been a busy week. On Tuesday I had to be at the cardiologist at 8:10. I had to drive to the other side of town in rush hour. I'm glad I left at 7:15 because I barely made it on time. I was there over two hours. Apparently my pacemaker battery has about 9 months left so there were several appointments made for January and February for pre-surgery tests like an echocardiogram, X-ray and blood work. When we're back from Texas in April the actual replacement will be done. 

Then, Dennis and I both had our annual dentist appointments in the afternoon. That was another few hours of sitting in an office. I'm so glad I take along a sock to knit on when we have medical appointments with waiting involved. All ended up well there though, with no cavities or other work needed. That was good news!

Dennis went kayaking last night with our friends. He used his new to him kayak we found on FaceBook marketplace. He said it worked great. They saw two eagles, herons, a duck family and lots of other birds and people. I'm so glad we decided to sell the double inflatable kayak and get him a regular kayak. He said it's much easier to propel with a lot less effort.

My colonoscopy is scheduled for next Tuesday and we're leaving for our camping trip for about 6 weeks on Wednesday. We're getting excited to see our son and Montana grand kids, along with all of our friends in Spokane. First we'll be in the Black Hills for a week with Curt and Barb. I'm praying that during the colonoscopy the doctor will find that she was able to get the entire tumor/mass that was removed six months ago. I really don't want to drink another gallon of that vile concoction anytime soon. :-)

What a blessing you all are to me. Thank you for hanging in there with me with a relatively sporadic summer of being online. I'm hoping that the campgrounds over the next 6 weeks have good wifi for my laptop.

I also hope and pray that that each of you has a great weekend and I'll be checking out your blogs.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

MAKE ME A BLESSING

Text: Ira B. Wilson

Music: George  S. Schuler

1.        Out in the highways and byways of life,
 Many are weary and sad;
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife,
 Making the sorrowing glad.

 

Make me a blessing, make me a blessing,
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray,
  Make me a blessing to someone today.

2

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love,
  Tell of His pow’r to forgive;
Others will trust Him if only you prove
  True, every moment you live.

3

Give as ’twas given to you in your need,
  Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed,
  Unto your mission be true.

FIRE!

My heart is breaking for all of our friends and our church family in Spokane. There are three wildfires that have merged and are now burning in the city. As most of you know, we lived in Spokane for almost 30 years, moving back to Omaha to take care of Dennis's Mom who had Alzheimer's. We will always consider Spokane home though, and our friends there are like family, since we had no family living close.

This is a photo of the house we had built in 2002 with our sweet Chloe standing in the front. We loved this house and planned to retire there. We sold in it 2020. Well, this house is now in the "Get Ready to Evacuate" zone. Many of our friends have had to evacuate because the fire has either already burned their homes or is heading toward them. That's the "Get Out Now" Level 3 zone. Our old house is in Level 2. 

It would be so sad to go out there next month and see this house gone. It's already going to be tough seeing all of the damage.

Flames burning near a friend of ours home. They still don't know if their home is okay or not.

This is the perspective from the Gonzaga University campus. Terrifying. This photo is fairly close the to first home we lived in when we moved to Spokane.

According to the officials, this is the number one priority fire in the nation today, although there are hundreds of fires burning around the country. There are more fires in Washington and Oregon than anywhere else in the country. They have not had a drop of rain in Spokane during the entire month of July.  We know over 700 homes have burned and most likely many more.

Please pray for everyone in the path of the fires. Although we got used to having wildfires around us every year when we lived there, I never, ever thought one would be inside of the town and literally burning much of the northwest part of the city to the ground and it's still spreading. The fire began in Riverside State Park on Saturday morning and spread very quickly.

Please Pray For Spokane!

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Home Again

Hello my friends! We got back from our camping trip in the late afternoon yesterday. There was no internet at the campground. Sometimes we had one bar on our phones, but not enough to get online. I apologize. We're home for about three weeks before leaving on a month long trip to Montana and Washington to see our son, grandkids and friends in Spokane.

It was SO HOT. Sunday and Monday the "feels like" temperature was between 117 and 120F. Tuesday was marginally better. I spent a LOT of time in the air conditioning in the camper and everyone else came and visited me. :-) I don't do the outside when it's that hot. The humidity was absolutely awful. It sure didn't stop the others though. Let me show you around.

Mr. Bear was right next to our truck welcoming everyone to the campground.

For the first time we had a group site, which meant we were in a square formation with our camper doors opening onto a central area with the fire ring in the middle. Needless to say, we didn't use the fire ring at all! This was great and we're definitely going to come back, maybe in the spring.  Our camper is on the left, Curt & Barb's is the A-frame and Jeff & Angie's is on the right.

We always have so much fun together. Amanda joined us this time and stayed in our camper with us. Longtime readers will remember that we went to her Masters in Nursing graduation in Kentucky last year. She's a blast to be around and is the same age as our daughter Mandy.

Evening kayaking the day we arrived. Sorry it's a bit blurry. I took this from our campsite

There was a deer with three little fawns just about 1/4 mile down the road. So cute!

Everyone, (except me), went on a 5 mile bike ride around the lake on Tuesday. Oh my gosh it was hot! They are all troopers. Left to right, Dennis, Angie, Curt, Jeff, Amanda, Barb. Jeff is our preacher and you can see that he's not always serious. Ha! Can you imagine riding a bike in such heat? Dennis and Curt are both in their 70's and everyone else except Amanda are in their mid-late 60's.

Taking a short break to catch their breath. These six ride or kayak together about one night a week throughout the summer.

Curt, Barb, Angie, Amanda and Jeff went on a 3 mile hike yesterday morning. (Jeff took the picture.) Dennis opted to stay home with me and relax. It was terribly humid, even worse than normal with 98% and hot temps and he was over it! Ha! Amanda just had major surgery 6 weeks ago and these were her first activities for the summer as the doctor just released her last week to be active again. She was done for when they got back from this hike. It was a good thing we came home afterward although they did go for one more kayak ride after the hike.

They found a beautiful water lily patch on the lake during that last kayak trip and got a couple of gorgeous photos. I think Jeff took both of these.

The view of the lake from our campsites. There was hardly anyone else in the campground, maybe three or four campers scattered around. It was so quiet and beautiful. Just too hot. We've all agreed no more camping in July or August around here. Maybe if we could all go to the mountains, but Jeff is still working and of course, so is Amanda and the mountains are at least an 8 hour drive away.

We've all had our picture taken in this chair and since it was Amanda's first trip with us it was her turn.

Proof of the temperature on Monday. This was without the humidity factored in. It was even hotter when we arrived on Sunday but we didn't take a picture.

Here's Jeff and the proof that we eat very well on these trips! Ha! We share our meals, with one couple responsible for dinner each night. Breakfast and lunch we pool resources. It's always a feast. 

Sunday night Dennis and I made chicken fajita's, refried beans and Watergate salad. Monday night we had  pulled pork sandwiches, watermelon and grape salad and chips. Tuesday night was a baked potato bar with leftovers from the other nights. Baked potatoes in the crockpot are a great way to do it on a hot day. 

Well, I hope you've enjoyed our camping adventure. Admittedly, I sat inside crocheting on a baby blanket or reading while the others were out on these grand adventures. Between my back and the heat, I can't participate in them, but we have plenty of fun at the campground too. We laugh, we eat, we talk, we joke around and play games. Good friends, good times and a love for God among us that is always the basic foundation of all that we do. 

We have our next trip planned for October after we return from Spokane. Needless to say, it should be cooler and we'll even be able to make s'mores on the campfire. Yum.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Make Me A Blessing [Lyrics]
 by George Stark Schuler and Ira Bishop Wilson

Verse 1

Out in the highways and byways of life
Many are weary and sad
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife
Making the sorrowing glad

Chorus 1

Make me a blessing make me a blessing
Out of my life may Jesus shine
Make me a blessing O Savior I pray
Make me a blessing to someone today

Verse 2

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love
Tell of His pow'r to forgive
Others will trust Him if only you prove
True ev’ry moment you live

Verse 3

Give as 'twas given to you in your need
Love as the Master loved you
Be to the helpless a helper indeed
Unto your mission be true