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 

Big Timber!

Hello to you all! Here’s another update for everyone, my sweet friends. I’m frustrated at not being able to comment on your posts but glad to read that most of you are doing well and enjoying the fruits of your gardens. I’m so sorry to hear that Sam has been in the hospital, but she is now home and sounds like she is doing much better. Also Connie, (Far Side) has also been unwell. Several have had Covid, but others are enjoying the “dog days” of August. I’m thinking of you all and keeping you in my prayers.

On Saturday we spent the day with our best friends, Neal and Jenny. We picked up Panda Express and went to Manito Gardens in Spokane for a picnic lunch. The first few photos are of the Duncan Garden there. Lots of people were around so it was a bit hard to get photos, but you get the idea of how gorgeous this park is. 

A kind stranger took a photo of the four of us. It was SO hot. I think it was 99F that day but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Giving Zoey a much needed drink out of her collapsible bowl while we rested in the shade.

They have a gorgeous conservatory there too. This was just one plant out of dozens of orchids.

Here’s a bit better photo of the Duncan Garden.

There is a wildflower section too.

One of the thousands of plants in the conservatory.

There is also a huge rose garden, but this post is too photo laden as it is. After the park, we went back to Neal and Jenny’s house where we barbecued hamburgers and had a summer feast with potato salad, watermelon and coconut cream pie. It was wonderful to have the entire day to spend with them.

Zoey and Izzy hit it off together right away and were inseparable. Izzy is just two weeks older than Zoey and is the reason we have our girl. We stayed with Paul and Lori when we visited Spokane last August and they had just gotten Izzy two days earlier. To say I had “puppy fever” would be a definite understatement. 😍 We had Zoey by the next weekend! Izzy was on our camper steps first thing every morning or else Zoey was peering in their patio doors. 😂 She was a regular peeping Zoey! If we went anywhere, they stayed together in the house or they cried without each other. (That only happened once and then we accepted the inevitable.)  Lori says Izzy is missing Zoey terribly and that Zoey taught her how to play. She was an only puppy in the litter so has never had a playmate. Both weigh about 10 lbs and are the same height.

I did a little clearance yarn shopping at my “old” Michaels. Enough yarn for three baby blankets, three pair of socks and a shawl for $38.87. Regular price was about $96.00. I also found that glass ball that is covered with Q’s for $2.24, regularly $9.99. The cashier even remembered me! 

Since we left home I have crocheted 2 baby blankets and started another one. All are using the “Which Way Filet” pattern.  I folded the two completed blankets into triangles for the photo. The WIP is laying on top. They are laying on the bed in the trailer.

I also made three more nine-patch squares. This gives me thirty in total. I stopped there until I get home and lay them out to see if more are needed. They are about 12 inches square including the cream border.

We have been in Big Timber, Montana for the past two nights. Early tomorrow morning we will leave for Custer, South Dakota for a few days. We hadn’t checked before we made reservations, but apparently we’ll be there during the big Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. There are literally thousands of bikers there during this week every year. We should have remembered that. We may not stay our entire reservation time. We talked to a few bikers here at the campground last night that were heading home early. They were five older men who said it was just too wild for them. Too much “drinking and riding”. They said it was a once in a lifetime experience, being with so many other bikers in one place, but that the partying just wasn’t their thing. It isn’t ours either, so it may be a short visit!

This is our campsite in Big Timber. It’s been in the 90’s everyday, but cools off beautifully into the 50’s at night. There is a pool, laundromat and nice store here and the view can’t be beat.

Need I say more? There is also a small creek that runs though the campground behind our trailer.

Next time I post we should be home. We have sweet angels watching over Mom and our house while we’re gone. We can’t express our thanks enough to them for giving us this much needed break to visit with our Spokane family.

Take care everyone.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

Spokane!

Wow! We’ve been in Spokane a week today and time is flying by. We’re meeting friends for lunch, then another group for dinner. We’re taking boat rides and having breakfast at ZIPS, a local fast food place that serves amazing breakfasts on real tableware. We only have four days left and we’re cramming all we can into them. Every moment is full to the brim with laughter, love, and memories with good, good friends who are like family to us.  

I AM reading your blogs, but am still unable to comment. Please do know that I will be back visiting with you all as soon as I’m back home to my computer. Blogger has beat me again in the commenting game.😢

Last Wednesday we headed up to McDonald pass outside of Helena and then back down the other side. The next two pictures show you the beautiful vistas that we saw. The sky was gorgeous without a cloud in it. Sorry about the spots. Those bugs sure do seem to like our windshield!

Heading down the other side! We can’t even tell that the camper is behind the truck. We go up and down the passes with the cruise control set and the truck never shifts gears. It’s really amazing to me. I hope and pray that the trip home goes just as well.

Thursday night found us meeting with our Bible study group that has now met together for 29 years! We met at our house the entire time we lived in Spokane and now Dennis still leads this group over ZOOM! They just wouldn’t let him go! Thursday night, which is our normal meeting time, we had a potluck dinner and a time of love and laughter! It was so good to be together again after so long.



Friday night was pizza night with our lake friends. Every Friday night in the summer for the last 10 years Dennis has brought pizza to these three couples at the lake including us. He continued that this week and will do it again tomorrow night! Larry, Nita, Paul and Lori and us. The six musketeers!

Saturday morning found us at ZIPS for breakfast with the same people and off we went to “our lake” to go boating in Paul and Lori‘s boat. It was hot that day! I think it got up to 107°F. But we had a wonderful time reliving old memories and making new ones.

Here are Lori, Nita and Larry. Nita and Lori braved the water and were just getting back in the boat after a swim.

I almost didn’t get a picture of Paul, the boat captain. Here he’s in the water swimming and waving as I take the picture.

What a beautiful morning we had. We cruised the perimeter of the lake twice and even went past the place where we had our camper for almost 10 years. We sure miss this place. We couldn’t have asked for a better day or better company.

And this is the resort we’re staying at! Ha! Actually we have our camper parked in Paul and Lori’s driveway. This is known as mooch-docking in the RVing world. They are providing us water and electricity. So far Dennis has only had to pull the camper out once to dump the tanks and we’re hoping we won’t have to pull it out again until we leave. They have a beautiful deck and backyard with a saltwater pool.

Dennis looks like he’s having a serious discussion with Paul after a dip in the pool. The weather has been very, very hot, well over 100° every day since we’ve been here. Tomorrow is supposed to be only in the lower 80s which will be a very nice change. The chair he is sitting in is part of the set we had at the lake. We gave it to Paul and Lori when we moved because we had planned to be traveling and we wouldn’t need any patio furniture. It’s perfect for their deck and we’re glad they have it. The set is two chairs, a loveseat and a coffee table.

This is the view from the door of our camper. Isn’t it great? Lori says it’s just like being at the lake and so right to look out her door and see us parked in their driveway. She says the only difference is her camper is bigger!🏡 They keep saying they don’t want us to leave and I admit it’s going to be very hard.

Tonight we headed up the mountain, Mount Spokane, to Alicia and Jeremy‘s house to have dinner with them and the boys. It was wonderful to see them and the drive was absolutely perfect.

We had so much fun visiting that I completely forgot to take any pictures. I will regret that for a long time to come.

And here is a picture of Miss Piper that Mandy sent to me today. She has made the guestroom closet into her “living room.” This afternoon she was playing a game of Battleship with Lizzie. 😂🤣😂 Lizzie sure looks pretty comfortable to me and just look at that sweet smile on my Piper.

I hope all is well with each of you. There have been a few crisis’s at home since we left and it makes it difficult to be away, but we have some great people there taking care of Mom and our house. We appreciate them all. Thank goodness they’re there and willing to help! 

I’ll be back again soon and meanwhile I’ll keep reading your blogs.

Blessings and love,

Betsy