93 YEARS YOUNG

Yesterday, Sept. 9th, 2008 was our Mother's 93rd birthday. We celebrated Mom's birthday at my sister, Maureen's home in Little Rock, AR., with a great dinner, the opening of cards and the flowers that were sent from grandchildren and nephew. She is just awsome, we kidded her saying that "here you are again, 39 years young." She just laughed and said "you need to turn that number around." Now that's pretty darn quick and witty. She is so funny. Always a smile on her face and she is just the most gracious lady that I know. So thankful for all the great care she receives from Maureen, Tom and Leslie. Mom, we love you so much and were so happy to be able to share this special day with you.

GRAZING ENDING WITH A SUNSET

We enjoyed a great time with Joe and Betty's friends, there were 3 boats tied together, we all enjoyed great company, food and drink. We then waited for the sunset and stayed until the mosquitoes ran us off.

AMISH COUNTRY

My first visit in Amish country, it was great, Betty and I took a day and drove to Shipshewana, IN. It is the heart of the Amish. Their stores, like the cheese factory below, their furniture stores, what artesians they are, their bakeries, so very, very good. Horse and buggies travel up and down the streets along with the car traffic. It was really amazing to see. Their prices are very reasonable and then there are their farms, so beautifully landscaped and manicured. A very gentle and relaxing way of life.

VISITING JOE AND BETTY AT DEWART LAKE IN INDIANA

Joe and Betty as we start off for a ride on the lake. We had another great visit with some very special friends. Their cabin sits right on the lake with a deck to sit on to enjoy the great view. As Joe often says, "what lucky ducks we are".

THANK YOU GAYLE AND RUSS

We stopped off in Silvas, IL to visit with Gayle and Russ, we met them many years ago at Fiesta Grande RV park in Casa Grande, AZ. We had a wonderful time and we thank you guys for everything.

MY COMPUTER PICKED UP A VIRUS

I have been off line for several days. Somehow I had picked up a nasty and dangereous virus. I am so thankful that Gayle's daughter, Cindy, was able to fix it all, I am soooo grateful. We are up and running and I hope never to have this problem again.

HARRY AND BANDIT

This is Harry, he belongs to Gayle and Russ's son, Tim. We are visiting them in Silvas, IL. More about them later. Harry is deaf and quite old, but Bandit is totally in love with him. He's a great dog.

SUNFLOWER FIELDS AND SUNSETS

Somewhere along Interstate 80, there were acres and acres of these sunflowers and I was so glad that they were in bloom, really beautiful.
This was a sunset at the rv park we were staying at in Custer, SD.

THE BURROS IN CUSTER STATE PARK

It took us all day but we finally found some of the burros that are in the park. They are domesticated and have been used in the past to carry visitors thru certain areas of the park, like they do in the Grand Canyon, however, this spot that they used to use them, the visitors now have to hike to it. Don't know what it's called. Anyway, so they just set them all loose and they are quite pesty once they come upon you and if you have any food they will demand it as you can see in the following pictures.
Jim had an apple that he was cutting up for them and forgot to close the window while he was dividing it up, they were almost in his lap.
This cute little guy was quite gentle and friendly.

THE LIGHTING OF MT RUSHMORE NATIONAL MEMORIAL

We were delighted to join a park ranger in the park's outdoor Amphitheater for an inspirational program focusing on the presidents, patriotism and the nation's history. It started with a ranger talk, then a film Freedom: America's Lasting Legacy and then the lighting of the memorial. This all began at 9 pm. It ended with all the veteran's in the audience coming on stage to lower the flag and retire it for the evening, they received a huge round of applause and exited by each touching the flag.

BIKER WEEK IN CUSTER, SOUTH DAKOTA

We have been traveling for many miles and from Yellowstone Park to our present location, which is Custer, SD, we have probably seen over 5000 bikers. Not realizing that this is "Sturgess's Bike Week." They have come from all over the country to enjoy this beautiful area and it is really fun to sit back and watch.
This has got to be our favorite, it's a hearst, can you imagine the attention that this couple received. We have also seen miniature horse trailers being pulled, just big enough to carry all their stuff. Very clever.
Custer, SD also has the "buffalo" statues scattered throughout the town. They were great, in the past we have seen what the local artists come up with, in Ocala, FL there were the "horses", in Kalispell, MT there were the "bear", we have also seen "moose" in MT.

MORE FIRES COMING INTO WYOMING

Some fancy helicopter work during this fire coming into Wyoming.
These fire fighters are on the top of our list of being the bravest men and women, they are risking their lives everytime they respond to a wild fire. God bless them.
More pictures.

CODY, WYOMING BUFFALO BILL HISTORICAL CENTER

We stopped and toured the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and probably spent 3 hours there, it was well worth it. The bronzes and the art work, over 2500 rifles to look at, the Plains Indian display, it was all great.
One of my favorites, it's just outside the building. Love it.
If this is the only way I can see a Moose, well, so be it.
Just one of the animal mounts displayed from the Boone and Crocket trophies.

WATERFALL

This waterfall is located in an area they call, "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone". The rocks are quite yellow but the camera does not do it justice.

DRIVING THRU A FIRE IN YELLOWSTONE

This is what we witnessed as we drove thru the park, it is just above the Yellowstone Lake at towards the west entrance. The wildlife don't seem too disturbed by the smoke, they must be used to it.

This site was still smoldering when we drove thru, it must have happened several days prior.

SECOND DAY IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

We are putting on "miles" seeing this park. I have to say that this is not my most favorite park. Glacier still is on the top of my list. True there are more wildlife to see but as far as scenery goes, Glacier or Yosemite are favorites.
We drove the 50 miles one way to see the West entrance of the park, which is where Old Faithful is located. We got there early, thousands of people, of course, looked around the stores for awhile and then waited.
This is what we waited for the eruption of Old Faithful. Ok, we can say, "been there, done that".
This was entertaining, this ol' fella decided to create a traffic jam, and when I say jam, that's what it was. He was not going to join the hundreds of other bison that were in the grass just off the roadside. He liked the pavement.

FIRST DAY IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

As we entered the park from the north side we spotted a small herd of elk. This little fella was nice enough to turn for a photo op.
This buffalo was just laying above the road. Of course when people spot any kind of wildlife there is a traffic jam. He was not concerned at all about the people wanting to get his picture. As we cruised thru the park, we also saw a bear, coyote and deer. It was great, today is another day and off we go hunting for good pictures.

BIRTHDAY GIRLS-AUGUST 1ST

These are our birthday girls, celebrating their special day together. Lily Kai turned 5 today and Karen, well, if Karen wants you to know how old she is she can tell you. All I can say is that she looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, Happy Birthday to you both, love you with all my heart.

I also want to remember our nephew, Thomas, today is also his birthday, he was born one year to the day before Karen, so for 40 plus years they too celebrated this great day. We miss you Thomas and love you very much.

HWY 12 IDAHO GOING THRU LOLO PASS

This is the area where the Clearwater River begins.

This road is a must take for anyone wanting to see the riches of east central Idaho. The Clearwater River, the Selway River and the Lochsa River run along this highway and this area was designated Wild and Scenic by President Ford in the late 1960's.
How lucky we are to have such great wonders. Our United States of America is truly a beautiful nation and we are so lucky to have the time to explore this great country.
Still on the same highway, cowboys were moving a herd of cattle.

HIAWATHA BIKE TRAIL/IDAHO MONTANA BORDER

This is the rail to trails that was developed on the Id and Mt border. You can either bring your own bikes or rent them from the ski and bike shop off the hwy. We did both on this trip. There was our daughter Karen, husband, Dave, son, Ryan, friend, Orin and Jim and I. Wow, what a trip.

This is the first of 5 tunnels you rode thru. There were lights on the bikes so you could see where the heck you were riding. It is blacker than black thru this tunnel especially, it's the longest also, about a mile and a half to get thru it. Very wet, water dripping from the ceiling and the sides, Orin fell as did another lady going thru, very slippery and gravely with pot holes, oh yeah. Some of the scenery, oh how we love the mountains, this trip is over 15 miles long, you can stop anywhere along the trail, take photos or have a snack or just a good rest. It is mostly downhill, thank goodness, otherwise they would have had to call and fly us out of there.

Now this shot got tricky, I was actually riding the bike and taking this pic as we went, that's Dave, by the way. Such a cool son-in-law, we are very blessed.
Karen pausing on one of the several trellis' that we rode over. Doing a look down, my stomach did flips, when you looked at the trellis' from above we were convinced that we could not go over them, but once there, it was not too bad.



Orin on the left and grandson, Ryan on the right. Right from the get-go, Orin crashed and burned while riding thru the first tunnel. Thank goodness, no broken bones.
Waterfall in the background, while Jim and I posed for a quick pic. It was a great day and very happy to say that, "WE DID IT"!!!!!!!!
The shuttle bus comes about every 1/2 hour to load bikes and riders for, now get this, yet, another wild ride back up the mountain, this road leaves alot to be desired, very narrow and winding, we were hoping to see a moose or two but no luck coming out. We did see one though, far off in the distance on our ride to Hiawatha in the car, a mom and her baby. So that was cool.