Mike and Pat's Travels

A 1958 it was!!

2012-01-25T07:45:00.005-07:00

A whole lot of you got it right, it was a 1958 Ford Fairlane police Special edition. Thanks to all those that commented. Interesting thing was that it was one of the first Police Cars ever used on the Nebraska State Patrol that had an Automatic transmission. All the others were stick shifts. When I went through the state Patrol 6 week “Boot Camp” there were 30 other candidates applying for 13 Trooper positions available. It was highly competitive and I felt very privileged to have been one of the 13. The remaining trainee's went into a reserve pool and were on call “as needed”.   My first duty station was Grand Island. The first 6 months all new rookies were assigned to ride with an experienced officer for training. What an experience for a young country cowboy! I traded my “Cowboy Hat” for a “Smoker Bear Hat”…
All 13 of us were issued these 1958 Fords. They were Brand New! It has always been the practice before to issue the new patrol cars to officers and give the new Rookie’s their old patrol car. But this year for some unknown reason they decided to give all 13 of us the new cars. they made a big deal of it and called us all into Headquarters in Lincoln for the presentation…. I remember how happy I was to get my own car….I would have been happy with any car, but a brand New one, wow, that was even better. I remember how the older troopers were so shocked the the Fords were Automatic’s. In fact some of them were upset that the y would give them to New Rookies. They couldn’t believe it and moaned and groaned for a while. One older Trooper even told me that he thought they should cut our pay, since we don’t have to do all that shifting!! I laughed,,,well they couldn’t cut it much, top pay for a new Trooper was a whopping $350.00 per month!! Unbelievable isn’t it? Other things that will surprise a lot of you younger folks (everybody is younger than me!) is that none of the Police cars back in those days had Commercial Radio’s… None.,,,,police Radio only! Also no power steering, or brakes, or power windows and listen to this: No Air Conditioning!! Not even the officers cars had any of these accessories. Yep, things were tough back in the “old Days”.. But you know ,,,I didn’t even miss it…mainly cause I never had it before.

I don’t know what happened to all my old pictures of my times on the Patrol, I have very few. This picture of me was taken on Christmas eve, I was on duty, but I managed to find time to stop by home and spend a little time with my boys. Actually, Christmas Eve is very quiet out on the highways,,,,and the boys were so excited to know Santa was coming….

I hated to leave them but I remember the last thing they told me was “Dad don’t stop Santa Claus”!! I laughed and said OK, I won’t…..     Well it wasn’t but about an hour later I met this pickup truck pulling a trailer and he was Flying!! It was cold and snow all over along the road and I had a hard time turning around, but I soon had the vehicle stopped. As I walked up to the pickup I noticed that in the trailer were,,,Sure enough…Reindeer!! Holy Cow, what was this? Then suddenly Santa Claus stepped out of the truck and came back to me, saying “I’m Sorry I was driving so fast, but I’m late! He explained that he was doing Santa at a couple of different Orphanage's and was running behind. The kids were waiting for Santa.. I remembered what the Boys had just told me,,,,,,,,so I just smiled and told him to Take Off, but be careful!!    Well, what would you have done,,,,it was Christmas Eve, and he was Santa? Ya know!

Here it is Christmas morning and the boys are having a ball with all their gifts including the ones Santa brought……I don’t think Scott is even awake yet!LOL Wow, what memories. Like 50 years ago! They bring smiles to my face and tears at the same time…..

We had another great Tuesday at the Shooting Range yesterday……It was a cool 39* when we got up but the sky was clear as a bell. By noon when Ms. Pat’s gun class started it was up to 65* and very nice…… I took my coat off, then my shirt off and enjoyed the T-shirt weather. She is shooting up a lot of .40 Cal ammo. I’m about out, so I’m thinking of going into reloading. Presently I am looking for a Dillon reloader and we are going over to Jerry and Caryl’s house for a lesson and watch Jerry do some reloading…..   Dillon Reloading equipment is quite popular around here (and everywhere else) and the Factory is right in North Phoenix,,,,,i.e. Scottsdale. Anybody have a Dillon that is excess to their needs? I could sure use it……….

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!

Thanks for stopping by and please come on back Sunday.

Meanwhile be safe and God Bless.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Talk about Skydiving

2012-01-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last Blog that I used to Skydive. I happened upon this picture that brought back some more good memories. This was the day of my “First” Skydive. Gregg was my jumpmaster instructor (on the left) and I don’t know who the lady is, just a photographer I guess. This was right before we climbed into the Airplane to go up and what I do remember is that it was cold as all "billy hell" that day. Temps were below freezing. This had to have been back in the early 70’s and was at Lincoln, Nebraska.

It’s interesting to see the old skydiving equipment we were using. I had on what we called “Gutter Gear”. It's all old military gear and was called that because we carried our reserve parachute in front over our “gut”. If you notice Gregg's gear is different than mine and the more modern type. It had the reserve packed on the top of the main chute on your back, so he didn’t have that ugly “Gutter Gear” on his front side. I remember that I had gone through about 8-9 hours of training the day before and I wasn’t going to let a little cold weather stop my "First Jump", no way! All went well, even if I did land in a Lake……Glad it was frozen over, but it sure was HARD....and SLICK!! Like my son “OP” always says, "If you live in that Cold Country, you have to be tough!!" He’s right!

Here we are right after the jump with our chutes gathered in our arms walking back to the Airport. That was our pilot in the center. I was so excited I wasn’t even cold….until I got on the ground and took all the gear off.... then I headed for the fire! I remember somebody saying it was –2 deg below zero up at jump altitude. The jump master has to be trained and licensed by the USPA....United States Parachute Association. He is in full charge, helps you get into and out of the Airplane, then he jumps out after you.

Gregg was also my flight instructor and taught me how to fly an Airplane. He helped me get my Private Pilot license. That’s really how I got interested in Skydiving. I always had to wait for him to make a jump or two before he would give me a flying lesson. One day he said to me “ Soon as I teach you how to fly, I’m going to teach you how to Skydive” and he did! It ended up being an enjoyable sport for me and I had lots of fun doing it all over the country for many years.

As usual I got real interested in the equipment and went on to become a Licensed FFA Parachute Rigger. Parachutist's can pack and jump their own main canopies but they must have a "licensed" Rigger pack their emergency reserve chutes. I could do that for them...for a fee of course! :-) Skydiving equipment was a popular item and there were changes coming fast and furious. It is totally different nowadays that it was way back then.

I've had lots of great experiences. I've jumped into special events like Football games, Fall Festivals and even onto boats in the Gulf of Mexico. I remember we used to jump out at a high altitude way out over the Gulf and open our chutes high enough that we could make it in and land right on the beach. Some didn’t make it and landed in the water. We all had special water landing training, but I always made it onto land… I didn’t want to get salt water all over my Parachute! We had fun! What memories! Oh, the stories I could tell ya!

WOW!! Here is another picture that I ran across that brings back a lot of memories. If you can tell me the year of my Patrol car, then you'll know the year this picture was taken. :-) Can you tell me what year it was???

In my last Blog, I told you we flew into Hope. I thought we were in Hope and I even "Hoped" we were in Hope. But my good friend and North Ranch neighbors, Ron and JerrieLea who used to live in the Hope area, told me were weren’t in Hope even if we "Hoped" we were!   But we were CLOSE. Hope is 4 miles East of the KOFA Cafe. We were at Vicksburg junction. Thanks Folks. Now maybe you (or someone) can tell me what the KOFA stands for? I asked the waitress and she told me, but I believe I forgot even before I got out of town! I do remember it was funny, whatever it was! CRS!

We had to go into the BIG city Thursday, way over to Scottsdale, some 77 miles from our house in North Ranch. That is where my Oncologist is and it is a long haul over there. The traffic in the Big City is just terrible. Drives me nuts.   Man o Man! 70-80 MPH, bumper to bumper and 4 lanes of solid traffic going both directions. We are not used to that kind of traffic and thank God we don’t have to go very often. But one good item, I did get to stop at a gun shop and look at the Kimber pistol line. WOW, what beautiful little pistols. Take a look at the Kimber Solo. Boy, is it nice! Ken, the gun shop owner, told me they are so popular right now that he can’t keep them in stock. He did have one in his gun safe that was sold and he let me and Ms. Pat play with it for a while. Expensive, but nice!

Oh Yes, it was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Our Followers have really grown lately and we especially want to welcome the following:

Phil and Rudee
Jackie
Mountainborn.

Thanks for being a follower and we hope you stop back often. Remember give us your comments when you can, as that is what makes this all worthwhile. You can click on their pictures and go to their Blog if they have one.

We’re off headed to Church. You all be Safe and God Bless!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

There I was at the Wickenburg AIRPORT,,,,,,,,,,

2012-01-18T08:42:00.001-07:00

The other morning I found myself at the Wickenburg Municpal Airport. My friend Duane lives in Aguila, AZ. about 25 miles from North Ranch and has a neat little 2 place Airplane. He called one morning early and said he would like to fly me over to Hope, AZ. for lunch. He said “I know you don’t eat much for lunch but they have great salads”. Hey, that sounded Great!

I love to fly and I have spent a lot of time hanging out at Airports. The smaller the Airport the better. I got my private single engine pilots license way back in about 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska. I flew a lot there and then when I moved to Denver, I rented an airplane and flew quite often. I used to fly over to Alliance, Nebraska to see my folks. Then when I moved to Salt Lake City, I bought a Cherokee Warrior and spent all my spare time flying around that area and over to Wendover, Nevada. Ah yes, I’ve spent my share of times around Airports….. brings back lots of memories.

Soon I saw Duane coming in on final approach and do a perfect “touch down” and taxi up to where I was standing. I hopped in and strapped myself down and we were back in the air.

This little Sport Aircraft is very light and it only uses about 1/4TH of the runway to get airborne. So we had a nice view as we flew over the Airport Office. See that little black spot in the parking lot? That’s my pickup. It was about 11:00am and hardly a soul was around. I love small, quiet little airport's!!

There is a nice view of Vulture Peak just south of Wickenburg, We have climbed that peak several times, but this is a better view than from the top of it! Hey Al, there is a nice place to boondock at the base of this peak. You would love it!!

We're climbing out at about 500’ per minute, approaching 3000’ ft. flying at around 50mph and burning just 6.7 gal of fuel per hr. Nice GPS and set of electronics'.

Now we have leveled off at 4200 ft. and the speed has gone up to a cruising speed of around 120mph. The fuel meter says we are down to using just 4.5 gal per hr. No need to go any higher as the trip is only about 60 miles and I enjoy the view better at lower altitudes..

The view you see as I take a picture through the prop is Superb!! That is an irrigation water canal just below. You can see the little town of Hope dead ahead and the dirt runway is where we will land. First we will do a little fly around and look the situation over and if it's clear, we’ll come in on final and sit ‘er down.

Here we come in on final and that road on the left is the runway. We have the plane slowed down to around 50mph. Lookin' good!

There we are, safe and sound on the ground taxiing up to the parking area. Another fine touchdown Duane!

Here I am in the passenger seat about to climb out and walk over to have a nice salad. This is a neat little sport airplane,I love it!. The engine is 4 cyl, 100hp and does a nice job. With the full electronics and intercom with headsets and microphones, you can visit and enjoy a nice ride. It even has it's own Parachute!! Yep right in the center of the wings, behind and above the heads of the pilot and passenger, is a Parachute. It is rated to be a big enough chute to be able to let the plane down safely in the event of an extreme emergency. Although I have done a lot of Skydiving and have over 300 jumps under my belt, I don’t want to try this one out.

This is my good friend Duane standing by his extra ordinary little Light Sport Aircraft. Duane and I have had a lot of fun experiences together over the years. He used to live at North Ranch and just a few years ago moved over to Aquila to a little Airport community where everyone that lives there has their own hanger to store their Airplanes, and listen to this.....they take off and land right out in front of their homes! How neat is that!! Signs on all streets say "Airplanes hive the Right of Way"! Isn’t it great all the wonderful interesting people we meet and get to know and enjoy in this wonderful world and life? Again, Praise the Lord for another blessing that I thank him so dearly for..

This, my friends, is the restaurant and almost the entire extent of Hope, AZ. Let me tell you, our salad was outstanding and the other food I saw them serving looked delicious. Our waitress was a neat lady that called herself a “snow bird” and is from Michigan, living close by in an RV. She says people come from all over, far and near to experience the food at the KOFA café. Its on Hwy 60 and 72 and is right on the way to Quartzsite.Be sure to stopin if you're ever in the area and REAL Hungry!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Hope you all enjoyed riding along on my little ride over to Hope at 4000 ft.! Thanks Duane ole buddy, for your thoughtfulness.....I enjoyed it very much.

Thanks for stopping by………Come on back Sunday,

Mike

This Blog is published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Visiting Prescott, AZ.

2012-01-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Thursday we made it to Prescott early to get the oil changed in the Silverado. Oh! Look at the new pickups!! My, oh my!! I told Ms. Pat, maybe we should just trade it for a new one. I was just kidding, but I was kinda glad when she said “No Way” this one is still new. It didn’t take but about 30 minutes for them to have it back up front all done, washed up pretty and ready for another 8000 miles. The whole time waiting, Ms. Pat went inside and sat down at one of their many public computers and checked out all her email, etc. I looked up ole' Bill, the salesman that sold us the truck. Bill is one fine guy and I enjoy him.....nice down to earth, country fella that has been selling Chevy's for 29 years. He really knows his Chevrolet’s!!

I wanted to ask him if he would help me re-program the front seat on my Silverado, that I couldn’t figure out how to do. “Sure", he said, "lets go look at it”. When I shut it off and remove the key, the seat automatically slides all the way back so you can easily get out, which is fine. However, then when you come back and unlock the doors the seat automatically slides way up forward. So far forward, that I can’t even get in. Then I have to push a button on the dash and to move it back into my previously memorized position. I told Bill I wanted it just to stay all the way back until I get in, then I can push the button and have it slide into my memorized "personal" position. Bill says, “OK, we can do that”. He pushed a few buttons, turned the key switch off and on a couple times and said “There, try that”. Awwww....perfect, that’s the way I want it. Whew, glad to get that done. I must have tried to do that 50 times and couldn’t get it right. I knew Bill could do it. So we were off to see Prescott....you know the usual places, Costco, Sam’s and Wal-Mart. Then, of course, the Gun Shop!!

At the Gun Shop I wanted to put my hands on one of the new small Ruger LC9 9mm automatic Pistols that Ruger just introduced on the market. It's only been out a month or so and is getting a lot of attention and selling like hot cakes. It sure is a nice feeling little Pistol and I will look for a good deal on one to add to my collection…. just Google Ruger LC9 and take a look! Smooth action and superb trigger pull. Ruger has really gone places in the Firearm industry and has become very highly recognized and respected. They make fine guns, and right here is the USA!!

Here is another very interesting fact that you might not know....all of Ruger’s Automatic Firearms are manufactured right here in Prescott! They are in a big complex out by the airport north of town. I told the gun dealer that I thought I would go out to Ruger’s complex and take a tour. He said “Forget it. They won’t let you near the place. No tours or anything”!! Shucks. I will check that out for sure, but if we can’t I will get my buddy JRoger from Florida out here. He is a personal friend and was in the Marine Corps with one of the owner's son's or relatives of some sort and he is now high up at this plant. Maybe he could get us in. But then again, maybe not. Come on out JRoger, lets give it a try. Plus, I have a zillion other things out here I want to show you…..:-)

After we spent some time looking for another little Gun shop that a friend told me about and couldn’t find, we called it a day in Prescott and headed for the Ranch....North Ranch. We got home right at 4:00 o’clock.....Happy Hour, of course....but too late to go to the Thursday afternoon Jam session at the Club House. They start playing music about 2 pm and break up at 4, so we just missed it. Darn, I like going to the Jam sessions. We have some great musicians here in the park and up in Wickenburg. Plus there is usually always a few passing through and staying in the RV Park here.

Everybody is heading for Quartzsite nowadays and just staging here for a few days until all the festivities start over there. It's only about 90 miles from here, just a short jaunt. Everybody is asking if we are going and we’re not sure. Back in the late 90’s, we went almost every year and just kinda got tired of all the crowd hassle. We went over to Bouse, AZ last year....that’s close to Qz. We mainly went because the kids were here and I always wanted to camp with our kids and finally got to. Plus Jim and Ellie, Mike and Janna, John and Brenda and a few others were all parked in the same area way out in the desert. I can’t come up with a good reason to go this year. Anybody over there that can give me a good reason? Who is over there this year anyhow and where are ya? I don’t really care for big organized rallies that last a week or longer and are all structured to attend this and attend that. My attention span is way too short for that. It's kinda like, "Been there Done that", if ya know what I mean. So we don’t know if we will go or not, but we’re gonna have to make up our minds soon cause it's getting close….

We were extremely pleased to have Ron and Yvonne stop and see us this week.. They are RV’ers and 4 wheelers staying in the campground here at North Ranch and heading over to Qz in the near future. They have been reading my Blog for a while and unbelievably, they are from Custer, South Dakota. They have a big ranch just south of Pringle. It was good to meet them and I hope we get a chance to get better acquainted, here or up in SD. Sorry I forgot to get a picture, but I will next time!

We want to welcome Where’s Weaver to our followers. I know Weaver has been around before quite often and I have always enjoyed his remarks. Hope to hear more from him and everyone else, too. I get well over 400 views for each Blog and believe me, I know how hard it is to find time to comment on everybodys. But boy, I can sure tell you we enjoy getting them. It's hard for me to keep up the encouragement to sit down and write this stuff. I had to take the Shout Box down because of all the Spam it received. Sorry for those of you that liked to use it....Fuzz, Chuck and Weaver especially. Just click on the bottom of the Blog on the Comments section and leave a comment there. You can use Anonymous if you want to, then just put your name in the comment. That way you don’t have to have an account with Google..

Anyhow, hang in there with me and thanks for stopping by.

Praise the Lord for the many, many blessing he provides us. God Bless you all!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

More Shooting

2012-01-11T08:29:00.001-07:00

Ms. Pat has been excited about her first class on Pistol orientation every since she attended last week. She couldn’t wait to get back this week. It’s every Tuesday and starts at 12:00 noon. So yesterday was the "big day". It was a little cool in the morning, but by noon it was a beautiful day. Her Line Dancing Class is 4 days a week, but luckily Tuesday was an open day, so these Gun classes work right in.

This is Jerry and Caryl, her instructors here at the Wickenburg Sportsman's Club. All this instruction is free and they are volunteers. They are wonderful instructors and what a great opportunity for the ladies. I can think of no better way for someone to get valuable training on safety, proper gun handling and shooting techniques FREE. We are very thankful that these folks are willing to do this. Mike and Janna this picture is for you. :-)

There are about 12 Ladies participating, so Jerry takes 6 on one bay and Caryl takes the others on a different bay. This keeps the classes nice and small, which is good and the instructors can do a lot of one on one training. Ms Pat is in Jerry’s class. The class lasts about 3 hours each Tuesday (12:00 - 3:00 pm) and consists of safety instruction, range shooting and class discussion. It is directed towards personal protection but some of the more experienced ladies shoot in competition. Several of the ladies are from North Ranch, one is even in Ms Pat's line dance class. Ms Pat fired about 50 rounds…. great practice!!!

Meanwhile, I went over to one of the Rifle bays and set up one of my rifles so I could sight in my new scope. WOW, I couldn’t believe it. I had the entire 100 yd bay all to myself. Wonderful...just the way I like it and such comfort! I am not used to such convenience. Look....shooting tables, chairs and all!! No one else was anywhere around so no worry about “Hot Range” or “Cold Range” or anything for the entire 3 hours. I was in heaven.....no distractions, no pressure, walk down the range to my target at anytime. Believe it or not, my problems sighting in both rifles worked out perfectly. I soon had them zeroed in and was able to shoot perfect bull's eyes. Hurray!!!! I was having a hard time out at our little desert shooting spot trying to accomplish this. What a difference this place makes!

The target is way down range, you can just barely see it in the picture above this one....it's right at the end of the barrel. I used my camera telephoto lens here to get a better picture of it.

But these scopes bring the target right up to the end of the barrel.. The scope on the rifle is a new Hawke 3-9x40. The best price I could find was at Bowhunter Supply. It’s kind of a new brand that came on the market recently and is getting some very good reviews. So I decided to give it a try. It's rather large for this little Ruger 10/22, but works great. Maybe someday if I get a larger gun, I can switch it over. Anyhow, I had a great time while Ms Pat was enjoying her pistol class. Now she has this big list of things she wants, like belt magazine holders, special electronic noise controlling ear protectors, etc. etc. Plus I’ll have to buy her a ton of ammo. I have an idea she will be going through more .40 Cal bullets than we have ever used before. Gosh, maybe I outta learn this reloading stuff? I'll have to ask my consultant.

It's another busy week here at our place at North Ranch near Congress, AZ. Today is Ms. Pats dance class and tomorrow we are off for the City of Prescott to the Chevy dealer. It was one year ago in December when we bought this new Silverado. We have only put 8000 miles on it in over a year but now the dash light is flashing “Change oil,,,,,,,Change oil”!!!! Plus OnStar is sending me emails telling me to get it into the dealer for an oil change. I have always changed my own oil in all my vehicles but it gets harder and harder, so we decided we would just have them do it. We’re getting old and retired ya' know! Plus, there's a gun shop I want to stop at up there in good ole Prescott !

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks again for stopping by and checking up on us………………

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

It’s Christmas Again!

2012-01-08T08:32:00.001-07:00

My friend Paul mentioned Henry rifles the other day while we were talking and showed me his Henry. This tweaked my interest and I started researching them. I read and studied the history of the “Henry Repeating Arms Company” and low and behold, I found a book up at the Club House all about them. The Company is quite historic and interesting. Even in a technical world such as we have today, there is something about a “Henry” rifle that is an authentic link to our past. I couldn’t wait to put my hands on one.

It wasn’t long until I found myself in a gun shop in Prescott, with the famous Henry “Golden Boy” in my hands. WOW!!! Just putting that baby up to my shoulder and sighting down the barrel took me back and made me feel just like a Texas Ranger must have felt when he took on a band of rustlers. The smooth action along with the octagon barrel and the gleaming brass finish really took my eye. I handed the rifle to Ms. Pat and told her to look down the barrel of it and see how it felt………. All she could say was my famous word…”WOW”!....Neat rifle!.

Now I could bore you with a lot of history on the Henry Rifles, but I won’t because I’m not a history teacher and if you're interested, you’ll do a little research on your own just like I did. If not, then you can speed on through this and get on with your interests. Only thing I will say is that the history of this gun began way back in 1850 when a promising young gunsmith named Benjamin Tyler Henry was hired by Oliver Winchester of the struggling New Haven Arms Company to improve on one of it's early designs for a repeating rifle. During the next 10 years, the “Henry” was born!! His "Solemn Oath" was and still is that “Henry Rifles will only be made in America or they won’t be made at all”!   Interesting stuff and it's all I can do to keep from going on and on, but you check it out..... Henry Rifle Genuine History!

I started shopping and looking for a “Henry”. I decided on a brand new one and I finally came to an agreement with a dealer way back east in Ohio. I could hardly wait for it to arrive, but finally it did and here I am as I opened it. Ms. Pat grabbed the camera. As I told you, it can be Christmas at our house anytime of the year……Today it was Christmas for me!!

Now I have one of these “pieces of the legend” all of my own. I can sit back and admire it everyday, take hold of it and put it up to my shoulder and dream. A rifle that surely has a place of distinction in history. Yes, I do have a vivid imagination!    The Indians used to chase me a lot back on the ranch when I was a kid out riding windmills! (That’s checking windmills to make sure they were pumping water for the cattle)

Well, Ms. Pat has been doing a little shopping herself! She wanted a new computer, and she picked a beauty. This new Dell consists of only a Monitor and a wireless Keyboard… The CPU of this unit is totally contained in that BIG 23” Monitor with a “Touch Screen”! She has been busy setting it up all day. Here she sits back and admires “HER” new Christmas present.

Look at the size of that screen compared to her lap top right next to it. We thought the lap top 17” screen was huge when we got it.. This new computer is amazing, when you walk up and sit down it has "Face Recognition" and “If” it recognizes you it will turn on. It does all kinds of neat stuff. If Ms. Pat takes a picture with her Droid, then walks close to this computer and presses a couple of buttons, it will show the picture or video on the screen!! Unreal!! You can bet your bottom dollar that it will be OFF LIMITS for me!! I’m afraid to go near it.... probably set off an alarm or something!!

As you can see, we are plenty busy around her, but it's not all fun and no work. This year looks as if it's going to be a bumper crop year… for weeds that is!! Already the weeds are beginning to pop up through the rocks at both of our places here at North Ranch. It's been a little warmer than usual, so the weeds are a little early. So the other day, we loaded up the sprayers and went up to our other lot and sprayed it down good. WOW! What a job. Both of our backs were killing us as we drug ourselves home. Gosh, we are really becoming a couple wimps! Whoever said “a little work won’t hurt you”? Whew, about killed us!! Now we haven’t even started on this big lot here at home. But we’re having fun...right? For both of us, it's just a great pleasure to even be alive and one of the few pleasures that we continually thank our Heavenly Father for.   Praise the Lord!

It was a Great Week!!!!

Thanks for stopping by………Come back anytime, we’re pleased to have ya!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday…

Deadly Home Invasion

2012-01-04T08:54:00.002-07:00

Yep, turned on the TV this morning and heard all about another "deadly home invasion" down in Phoenix…a Mother shot and killed. Almost every day they have this type of thing happening along with car jackings, robberies, muggings and all types of crime. Fairly normal for the larger cities anymore but it is creeping into the less populated surrounding areas.

We have noticed a great interest in the large amount of Women that are getting and planning on carrying a Gun. Every Gun shop we go into we see ladies of all ages looking and buying a gun. Now I’m not going to get into the politics of all this gun owning and carrying thing but it is happening. One thing that is very obvious from all of this is that a lot of folks end up owning guns of all types that don’t have any training on how to use them and this is not a good thing.

Ms. Pat was talking to a lady at, of all places, Line Dance Class that had recently gotten a hand gun and was interested in getting some training and she mentioned that the local Wickenburg Sportsman's Club was having Ladies Pistol orientation, training and shooting classes every Tuesday. Ms. Pat picked up on it immediately and came home and told me about it. I told her I thought it was a wonderful idea. I am always interested in gun training at any level. She has shot with me in many of my qualification courses in Florida and has had a lot of training while we were at the Custer State Park in South Dakota. But you can’t get too much.. Shooting is a perishable item and if you don’t practice, you will lose a lot of the skill.

To make a long story short, Tuesday Morning we found ourselves at the entrance to the Wickenburg Sportsman’s Club.

I was impressed with their Mail Box..

I was also impressed with their facility. It is a nice, large facility and growing by leaps and bounds.. They have just about everything to interest anyone, from Pistol to Rifle Bays, to a Shot Gun trap and skeet shooting area.

Ms. Pat went through all the orientation with the other ladies and was now ready to go to the Range. A lot of this training was “old hat” to her but as I said you can’t get too much training. The instructor and his wife were a very nice couple that were Rv’ers and used to live at North Ranch where we live. They still own property in our Park but a couple years ago bought a place in Congress just up the road. The instructors were Jerry and Caryl and we found out that they are good friends with our good friends Mike and Janna. They used to attend a lot of SASS Cowboy Action Shoots together. In fact, we discovered that Caryl had even been over to our house last year while Mike and Janna were here….small world!! Janna also quilted a "show quilt" for Caryl a few weeks ago and put a picture of it on her Blog.

Soon the Gals were shooting. They had two groups and this is the other group that Caryl was instructing.

Jerry was Ms. Pats instructor and he kindly let me sit in and listen to everything. Again, very basic and mostly safety items and Sportsmen Club rules and regs but it didn’t hurt me a bit to hear all this stuff that I have heard hundreds of times before. As soon as Jerry got his group to the Bay, he asked if anyone would like to shoot first. Ms. Pat volunteered immediately and jumped up. Jerry checked her gun and told her to load and go ahead and shoot. She aimed and squeezed on the trigger....WHAM………I think he and the others gals were a little set back when she hit the little 2”circle bull's-eye DEAD center. First shot!! HaHa.....I was as proud as a new papa……that’s my Gal…. I have trained her well. She placed two or three more shots right in the circle and even put one shot right through the bullet hole of the first shot…… This was with her Glock model 23. Then Jerry asked the group, “anyone want to shoot my Revolver?” Ms. Pat jumped up again right away and said I do! Have I told you she is not bashful? She put all the shots in an area the size of a saucer.. Jerry, told her that was very good since she was not familiar with his gun. He now knew that this gal was not a newbie.

I have to brag a little more and tell this story about her that happened way back in Florida at the Florida Law Enforcement Training Center near Quincy, FL. She showed an interest in Pistol shooting one time when I was going out for one of my classification and qualification classes, so I asked the instructor if she could attend the course. He said "OK...if she pays the fee". So she sat trough the 4 hours of classroom instructions and then we went to the Pistol Range. We told the Instructor that she had never shot a Pistol before. Lots of Rifles, but never a Pistol. The instructor was a little shocked but he ran her through the exercises just like he did everyone else. Well, I’m here to tell you that at the end she had a higher score than the other four active duty Policemen had....plus she came close to beating me. Wow, I and everyone else there was impressed. I knew right then that she had that special knack that it required. So from then on I always took her shooting with me and helped her as much as I could….. maybe too much, cause she now beats me!! But down deep it makes me proud!

I got a kick out of Jerry’s front license plate… I would also like to compliment these fine folks for this work that they do here at the Sportsmen's club. All Volunteer !

Needless to say we are now Members of the Wickenburg Sportsman's Club and will no doubt be seeing more of the place, especially on Tuesday mornings!! I can be over in one of the other bay's by myself while Ms Pat is shooting with these gals. I really don't much care for organized shooting,,never have. I would much rather just go over by myself and shoot all alone. I think that's the reason I enjoy the desert out behind the house... Nice and quiet and all to myself.... that's my game.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thank You all for stopping by……God Bless you all as we continue to thank our Father above for all He provides us..

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

First Blog for 2012

2012-01-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year everybody!!!
Here we go again,,,2011 is gone. Time to start another brand new year…….

By 6:30 pm New Years Eve, we were up at the Activities Center ready to bring in 2012.

Charlie and Will were at the controls of the sound equipment and did a fine job of spinning the “good ole' oldies”…….plus some newbies.

Soon the line dancers were warming up………Ms. Pat right in the middle of them. She just loves this Line Dancing. The thing I like about it is, the Gals can do it alone!! I do enjoy watching. Now out in my shop with no one around and one of my favorite tunes comes on, I can cut a pretty fancy rug. But out there on the dance floor, I would fall all over my self and never be in step with everyone else….

It wasn’t long until everybody was out on the dance floor a "swoonin' and a swayin'"!

For all you disbelievers.....yep, I went!! Really I did! Here is proof I was there and right at the stroke of midnight (in NYC) I was blowing my horn and a whoopin' and hollerin'!!……Yes, I even made it out on the dance floor for 5-6 dances!!   I know you are in total shock but 2011 was a GOOD YEAR!! We had a few ups and downs but all in all, we can't complain.

We enjoyed our Summer and finishing our "Cabin" in South Dakota. We took a short trip over to Gillette, WY to attend the Escapade. When we left Custer and headed south, we stopped off Lincoln, NE. to visit with DIL Ann, then on to Florida, staying at JRogers place eating a LOT of seafood and seeing all the Kids, Grandkids and Great Grandkids in Tallahassee. Even had a wonderful reunion of coworkers at our stick house neighbors and friends, Chuck and Rhoda. Then, we visited with Pat's son Gus in Slidell, LA and then down the road a few miles, we spent some enjoyable time with our “Kids” Rollie and Gina , at their home in Denham Springs, LA. As we continued our journey home to North Ranch, we stopped and visited with the Grandsons in Tucson. Then, we anxiously continued on to our place near Congress, AZ.
Yes...it wasn't just a GOOD YEAR, it was a GREAT YEAR!!

Needless to say, I didn’t have a bit of trouble getting to sleep when we got home last night…….Plus this morning, although I didn’t get up until 5:00am, I feel great!! Proud to be Alive and Proud to be an American.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!   We are off and running for another 52 weeks!!

Hope you all have a Happy “SAFE” New Year………..   God Bless.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Last Blog for 2011

2011-12-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

Yep, this is my last Blog for this year. Man-o-Man, where did the year go? I can’t believe it's OVER!! Next Blog will be Sunday and that will be New Years Day!! We sure had a wonderful Christmas and a fine dinner at our friend and neighbor's Paul and Nancy’s place… Wow.....I mean Turkey and Ham and all the trimming's. I was so full and content that I dozed off the minute my feet went up when I hit my recliner….

Ms. Megabyte2 enjoyed all the fine compliments she received for writing the Blog on Christmas day. I enjoyed having her step in for me. Maybe I can talk her into it again sometime....ahhhh... like New Year's day maybe? Ms. Pat tells me we are going up to the Activities Center on New Years Eve to a DANCE!! What? Who me??? Naw.... not me. That will be some guy that looks like me and has the same name but not me!! No Sir...not me!!

Ms. Pat with one of her Christmas Presents. A pretty new set of pots and pans. She can’t wait to use them and I can’t wait to have her use them! She has on her Christmas shirt that says “Dear Santa, I can explain”. Now I had to think about that one for a while but then I’m kinda slow…..

We are like my friend Nick Russell author of the Gypsy Journal . We very rarely get each other any Christmas presents. Throughout the year, if we need something, we usually just buy it. So at Christmas time, we feel that anything we purchased all year that we really wanted was our Christmas present. Just being alive and together is plenty good enough Christmas present for us!

We had a wonderful time celebrating baby Jesus's Birthday at the beautiful Candlelight Services at our Church on Christmas eve. Then Sunday on Christmas day at Church Services the Pastor and three of his adult children performed an outstanding singing service in remembrance of the Birth of our Lord and Savior. They are all outstanding, gifted singers and musicians. It was spectacular and we left there with tears in our eyes!!

Ms. Pats new Dyson Vacuum……. It’s the “animal” and she loves it..

Christmas for me started way back in July when a very good friend presented me with this Pistol as a token of our friendship. Wow...what a gift!! It sure is a neat little gun and for those of you that want to know, it’s a Walther P22…….22 Cal, in a frame like a big gun. It is a very highly rated target pistol and very popular. Ms. Pat and I both love to shoot it and it is very accurate and reliable. Since ammo has gotten so expensive, many of us have resorted to using 22’s for target practice a lot of the time. This is a beautiful little gun for that and our 40 Cal Glock’s are home in their cases. I love this Gun!! Thank you again Santa, my friend!

More recent, I got this genuine San Angelo Rifle Bench Vise. This will be neat for setting on my workbench to work on rifles but I have a special project for it. I believe I can easily make a quick attachment for it to be able to mount on my old Surveyors Tripod that I used when I had the large Internet Satellite Dish. That will make a very heavy duty and sturdy field rifle support. However, I left it up at our place in South Dakota. That’s the story of my life. Everything I need is up there and when I get up there everything I need is down here....such is life….

I have bored you enough about our wonderful Christmas, that lasted all year. Soon we will start off a New Year and we can start getting Christmas presents all over again. I’m ready...lets get started!!! By the way, what did YOU get for Christmas?

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Please make it a SAFE one! There's a lot of bad guys out there! Take a look at Mike & Janna's Blog.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T08:28:00.001-07:00

Hello, my name is Megabyte2. Pops says I came from Heaven……all I know is when Pops and I met way down in South Texas on the Mexican border, it was LOVE at first site. I had a pretty tough life back in those days. Pops was good to me and gave me some warm milk on those cold dark mornings when I was so hungry. So maybe our meeting was made in Heaven, it sure has been a blessing to us both.

I always sit on Pops lap every morning when he works on his computer. This morning Pops told me that he couldn’t think of what to write……

I said to Pops, “Since it's Christmas, you just take the day off and I’ll write the Blog”. Boy, he was happy and took me up on my offer. He and Mom are off to Church. So, here I am writing my First Blog!!

Wow....I tried and tried to write a Blog but it was hard. First thing you know I dozed off………..

Pops says I’m one "Beautiful Cat"! However, I know I’m one "Lucky Cat". Here I am enjoying the window in our Cabin in Custer. I love our summer place in the Black Hills.

I love our RV and all the places it takes us.....well, sometimes.....

……and I love our house at North Ranch,in Arizona. Here I am last Christmas with our little tree. We have that same tree up this year. Pops says the little tree is special cause his Mom made it years and years ago.

So here it is my 4TH Christmas with Mom and Pops. They both say how lucky they are to have me but I know I’m one lucky kitty to be with them. We all Thank God that we came together!

Merry Christmas Everyone………..and God Bless you all!!

Come on back Wednesday and maybe Pops will show you what Santa brought….

Mega2

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday..

More Old Pictures and Memories..... Plus some News!

2011-12-21T08:47:00.002-07:00

This picture was taken back in 1983 at Mom and Dad’s 50TH Wedding Anniversary. That is our entire family. I was the oldest and my brother Richard was the youngest, by about 8 years. Oh Boy....that sure brings back the memories. I had traveled for hundreds of miles to be there in Alliance, Nebraska for this big event that my brother and his family had put together. It was a gala affair, held at the local Elk’s club. My parents had hundreds of friends that came to celebrate the occasion.

What really sets this picture aside from others is that tomorrow, December 22ND, would be my brothers birthday. We lost Richard 14 years ago from a massive heart attack. He was only 53 years old. Happy Birthday Richard......I love ya Man! It was a devastating loss to our family and to his wife and 3 daughters. I know his soul rests in peace. He was a wonderful guy and you know the old saying “you never miss anything until it is gone”. It is sure true.

Richard was always right there for Mom and Dad, as he lived close to them most of his life. Yes, this picture brings back many sad memories but it also brings back many happy memories. You can’t dwell on the past sad memories but you can sure cherish the good ones!! An interesting aspect of this picture is that I am the only one around today. First Richard, 14 years ago, then Dad died 10 years ago and Mom 5 years ago. Both mom and Dad were 89 when they were called home by our Father in Heaven.

I sure miss them all and can’t help but wonder why I am still around. I’m sure I would have been voted by many as the first to go. But, we just don’t know what God's plan is and we must do our best to understand. My folks were avid campers and I always said that one day I will meet them at that great RV Park in Heaven. I pray that will happen, as it sure will be a joyous day!! Praise the Lord!

We have two new followers that I want to Welcome aboard.

Russ Krecklow
Doug and Barb Photos

Glad to have you join Mike and Pat’s Travels. Even though we aren’t doing much traveling right now, we still try to stir up some excitement now and then. Russ is someone that I have seen on most of the Blogs I read, so it's good to see him show up on mine..   Doug and Barb inform me that they are originally from Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Wow, that’s only 60 miles from my hometown of Alliance. I even lived in Scottsbluff for a while, many, many years ago. I still have several cousins there and their families. Always happy to meet a fellow Nebraskan. To check out these folks Blogs, just click on their pictures.

Well, folks the last PressurePro Tire Monitoring system was shipped out Monday. We are totally SOLD OUT and have elected to retire. So we have officially closed the PressurePro web site. You can go there and see the formal notice. It has been a fun and interesting business that started out back when Tire Pressure monitoring systems were unheard of. I was always worrying about the tires on my big heavy Teton 5TH wheels. I wanted a tire pressure monitoring system for myself and never ever thought of selling them. I ran into PressurePro back about 7 years ago even before they were on the market. They were in the beta testing mode when I finally got ahold of them and they told me it would be at least 6 months before they would be on the market.

Long story short, I ended up being one of the "testers" of the very first systems. They made many changes as we gave them our opinion and finally the finished product came onto the market.. We loved it so much that, of course, we told everybody we knew and came in contact with about it. A lot of them wanted one just like it and I would call the Company and get them a system. Then one day the President of the Company said, “We should set you up as our first "dealer” I wasn’t really looking for a job but it was such a neat product that I agreed to go for it. I started out ordering each system as I sold it, then I started stocking a couple systems.

One thing led to another until we were selling a couple hundred systems a year and usually always had 10 to 20 systems on hand. It was a great, fun job. Much more fun when Ms. Pat saw I was having trouble keeping up and answering everyone's questions and asked me if I needed help!! Oh baby, did I need help!! She jumped in with her usual enthusiasm and willingness to help and we were off and flying....attending RV Rallies all over, giving Seminars in RV Parks and we set up a website with the help of my late son Scott and later our friend Mark Bruss.

It ended up being a full time job. It was a fun job and we really gave it our best,…but as with all things, there has to be an end and we decided that along with all the other changes we have made in our lives recently, it was just time to kick back and retire, again!! Remember, though, if you have any questions or need assistance, we are still available to help you. Just give us a call.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and please do it again. God Bless and those of you traveling, please be safe and...

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A WONDERFUL AND PROSPEROUS HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Guess Who’s Coming to Town?

2011-12-18T09:01:00.001-07:00

Yep. "You better watch out, you better not cry, Better not pout, I’m telling you why..... Santa Claus is Coming to Town!!" Check out this video....it's an "Oldie".......Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Here's another "Oldie" .... another of my “Old Pictures” that brings back lots of memories. I’ll bet that is what I’m telling my boys right about now way back when this picture was taken. I’m not sure what year it was taken, but it was back when I was a State Trooper in Nebraska. Top left is Mikel, below him is Pat and sitting on my lap is Scott. We had lots of great Christmas's when they were young. They were always waiting for Santa Claus to come to town. While I was up half the night putting together what ever it was that Santa was bringing them….LOL. We all remember those times don’t we? They were Great Times!

Remember me showing you this picture of Ms. Pat shooting her Ruger 10/22 rifle? Well, look below at how I changed her Rifle’s looks completely..

This is how I revamped her gun....doesn't look like the same rifle does it? I changed out the stock to a black synthetic one and added a black 25 capacity Magazine. I'm calling it the "Midnight Special"!

Hey, I wonder if she will let me shoot it? While I had it out of it's stock, I took the trigger assembly apart and modified it somewhat. I took out the little piece that holds the Bolt back and modified it so that it’s a lot easier to release the bolt now. Ah, now lets go shooting!!

OK, we went shooting yesterday and this was Ms. Pat’s 6 shot pattern……… the big black circle is the "Bull's Eye" Not bad huh? Good shooting Gal! It was a very enjoyable afternoon of shooting and we put a lot of lead into the hillside. I’m having a little problem sighting in one of the Scopes. Seems I can’t raise it enough to get it on target. Does a guy ever have to shim these mounts? Hummmm, like I said before, I'm a "Pistol" guy. I don’t know too much about these rifles. Sure wish my good buddy JRoger was here. I’ll have to get up with him for some advice.

If I happen to post a picture or write something that I have already done before, remember us Seniors do sometimes have memory problems. Please bear with me, this might happen to YOU someday!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by.. and remember, "You better watch out, You better not cry, Better not pout, I’m telling you why"............. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We Have An Answer!!

2011-12-14T08:47:00.001-07:00

I do believe The Happy Campers* got it right when they told us in the remarks of Sunday’s Blog that our cat "visitor" in the first two pictures was a “Marbled Bengal” cat. They just happen to have one. Go to Rex and Mary’s Blog. Scroll down a couple days and you will see a picture of their Kitty. Then scroll down to my last Blog and see how much they look alike. Thanks Rex and Mary for that information.

I googled Marbled Bengal Cats and saw dozens of cats with all kinds of marking just like the one our night camera caught in our front yard. What beautiful cats! I had never seen one before. Jim and Sandie said they thought the cat looked like a “Watermelon”! Ha, I thought that was funny but it sure is true! Elaine and Rick commented on what a beautiful cat it was and they asked me to please not SHOOT it!…..Ha-ha don’t worry folks, I would never shoot it. NEVER!!!.....unless it posed some kind of danger situation. I am predominantly a Target Shooter, paper or metal targets. I have never done much hunting per se, other than hunting girls when I was much younger. :-)

Now let me say that I have nothing whatsoever against game shooting, as long as it is done legally. I have done a lot of shooting but most all of my shooting has been at artificial targets such as silhouettes, etc. All my shooting in the past has been with pistols and a lot of it was qualification shooting for my job. This is my first adventure into rifle shooting. I've had a nice little 22 lever action saddle rifle for years but I never shot it… never even thought about it, since I always had 10-15 pistols at my disposal all the time.

Then a few weeks ago my good friend JRoger put one if these Ruger 10/22's, with a scope and a suppressor in front of me and said “here shoot it”. Wow! I loved it. Then I found out that Ruger makes this Rifle, which is by far the most popular 22LR in America and sells it for under $200.00. I was interested and a complete new world of shooting opened for me. I love guns, any kind of guns and always have. I will no doubt open a lot of controversy by saying that but to each his own. As my son says “But that is just me”. You may be different and that’s your business, not mine. I won’t criticize you, if you won’t criticize me, OK?

It's been really rainy and nasty around here for the last couple days and it's keeping me pinned up a little too much. I'm spending way too much time shopping on the computer and Ms. Pat says it better clear up soon or I’m gonna break the Bank. eBay knows me by first name anymore. :-) Unusual to have so many bad days in a row down here in the Desert….

I went out yesterday evening to retrieve the SD card out of the Wildgame Camera and found that the wind had blown it way off target, so no pictures of our strange visitors today. I did get this one the other day..

Definitely not much wildlife left in that guy!! Who is that anyway??

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We especially want to welcome the New Followers on our Blog:

BJ
Trainman
Arkie38

Welcome aboard folks, we are happy to have you stop by.... that brings us up to 213 followers now. Wow, seems just a short time ago I thought it would never get to 50. Click on these folks' pictures and if they have a Blog, you can visit them.

Well, back to eBay and Craig's List, as it doesn’t look too good outside this morning either…… Ya'll take care and be safe!

Ruth has a PressurePro question that she posted. Ruth if you or anyone else has a question or problem with your System, give us a call at the phone # I posted in my last Blog. Ms Pat is the worlds Best troubleshooter and she will help you and if she don't know the answer, she will get you to someone that does. She is in constant contact with the PressurePro home office troubleshooters. Plus she has been to the Home Office several times for hands on training....

Folks we are about out of the PressurePro business. I think we might have ONE system left.... However, that said we will always be around to help you same as before. Plus we still have a lot of accessories for sale........Christmas is almost here! HURRY ! No better time than the present for a safety item like a Tire Pressure Monitoring System!

God Bless everyone as we continue to thank our Father above for all his Blessings on us.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday,,

More Cats Caught on the "Wildgame" Camera!

2011-12-11T08:55:00.004-07:00

There is a lot of activity out there in the Black of the night that we would never know about if we didn’t have the WildGame Camera….

What do we have here? From this angle it looks like some kind of a strange "wild" animal.

But here it looks just like a Kitty with a strange colored body. We don’t know....wish we did. What do you think, give us your best guess?

Now this is our latest visitor. It's pretty obvious that this is a Feral cat. I had no idea there were this many cats running around at night out here. You never see a loose cat around in the daytime. I can’t imagine anyone letting their pet cat run loose at night… It has to be a dangerous life out there for them.

I haven’t checked the Camera the last few nights, so it's hard to tell what else has been around. I’ll let you know if anything else shows up. One thing you can tell from the pictures is that it's been rather cool at night around here. The first two pictures show 37* and the last one shows 32*. It has since warmed up to the high 30’s and low 40’s, with daytime temps of 60+ and nice clear skies with warm sunshine.

I finally got my new AR 15 that I bought at Cabelas “Black Friday” sale fixed up so I could take it out and shoot it. It’s a beautiful little rifle and I was anxious to put some lead through it..

Wow, I really like the way it shoots. Set up with the Red Dot scope, it's nice and light and easy to handle.

Ms. Pat enjoyed shooting it as well. It was easy for her to handle and she was extremely accurate with it..

She also enjoyed getting familiar with her new Ruger 10/22 after I got the Leupold scope mounted on it. It was a great, enjoyable afternoon out in the desert behind our house all by ourselves shooting our new toys! We enjoy this place immensely!

Yesterday morning just before sun up I did manage to slip out in our yard and get a picture of the Lunar Eclipse.. This won’t, as I understand it, happen again until June 15, 2014. Neat! Take a look at the Bayfield Bunch Blog for more of Al's shots of the Eclipse.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

But don’t forget the BIG SALE we have going on with our PressurePro Tire Monitoring Systems. Take a look at the website and then give us a call for our special sale pricing. Here is the Notice:

PressurePro "END OF THE YEAR SPECIAL"!! If you've ever wanted a PressurePro Tire Pressure Monitoring System, now is the time to get it. These PressurePro Systems are "NEW STOCK" with the latest technology and updates and the supply is limited and going quickly. Some Dealers are selling "outdated" and "used" systems for less but you won't find a NEW PressurePro system anywhere for this price and w...hen we sell all of these, the "sale" is over. We offer excellent customer service and are well known in the RV Community. We are presently located at North Ranch Escapee Park in Congress, AZ. For more information stop by to see us or contact us at 850-294-0281

The discount is unbelievable and they are going fast. At this moment we only have 2 Motorhome Systems and 2 5TH Wheel Systems in our inventory. Then, that will be it…….. Ms Pat and I are seriously considering retiring. So if you want a system, get it NOW!! Don't worry, we will still be around to answer questions and assist our "loyal" customers with technical support.

Thank You all for stopping by.

Merry Christmas……..and don’t worry about Santa, remember this is Jesus's Birthday. Remember him!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Memories.............Pearl Harbor..........And More!

2011-12-07T08:37:00.001-07:00

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the day in 1941 that brought the United States into World War II.

That was a long time ago. I was only 6 years old. I can’t say I really remember the day it happened but I can recall the years following. Communications sure weren’t that good back in those days. We lived way out in the Sandhill country of Western Nebraska and of course, didn’t have TV and maybe not even a radio. It was 45 miles of dirt roads to town and the mail only came twice a week. So, we weren’t well informed but then, just as now, news traveled remarkably fast and I’m sure my folks knew about it. The thing I do remember is how all my uncles started going away to war. Memories……..More memories..

I started looking back through some of my old pictures to see if I could find any pictures taken around that time. I don’t have many pictures anymore but I ran into this picture of my Dad holding me. It was taken in 1935…..not too many months after I was born. Little did we know that the Japanese would bomb Pearl Harbor in just 6 years!!

I was a few months older when this picture was taken of Mom and I sitting on the "teeter totter" at the old Country School… Mom was a beautiful Lady. Notice the "windmill" in the background. I love windmills!!!

Fast forward a few years to this picture of our family taken in about 1950 or 51. It is the only family portrait I can remember taken by a "professional" photographer. The little guy there is my only sibling, my little brother Richard. This picture brings back lots of Memories. What makes me sad is I’m the only one still around. We lost my brother over 14 years ago when he was just 53 years old. Mom and Dad both lived until they were 89.

This is a 5 Generation picture on my Mother's side. I don’t remember the exact date it was taken but that’s my oldest son Mikel sitting on his Great-Great Grandmothers lap and he was born in in April of 1955. So I would say the picture was taken in the Fall of 1955. I do remember it was taken in Alliance, Nebraska. That’s my Grandmother sitting next to me, then Great Grandma Rochford with Mikel sitting on her lap and my Mom on the end. Again, I’m the only one still around in this picture. Lots of times I ask myself WHY me but I have discovered that you just don’t know the answers to some things. God seems to have a plan and none of us know the real answers.

Still we all have lots of Memories…………some bad but most are good. One thing for sure, we must all go on! Our loved ones would want us to!

I picked this up from my good friend Art F. and I think it pretty well sums it up……….Life Goes On.

That’s all the old photos I will show you today………. more again another time. Old pictures are fun. They do make me sad sometimes but I wouldn’t take anything in the world for them!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!! As we remember Pearl Harbor and the men and women who died fighting for our country.

Thanks for stopping by……..Come on back Sunday.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

We Have A New CAT!!!

2011-12-04T08:14:00.002-07:00

This is our latest middle of the night visitor. We think it is a Bob Cat but it could be a small Cougar. Both have been spotted roaming in the Park. What do you think? The picture isn’t very clear as the Cat must have been moving pretty fast as it ran across the camera’s path. This was taken at 11:10 pm, just a few feet from our bedroom where we were fast asleep.

This is a picture of Gina’s Rock garden she set up at the front of the house, right outside the screened porch. The other night at about 7:00 pm when it was black dark, we heard the most awful cat screeching and yelping we have ever heard coming from the porch. Ms. Megabyte2 was out there and saw something that really shook her up! Ms. Pat and I both jumped up and ran out there. We, of course, didn’t see a thing but Ms. Megabytes2’s hair was standing on end and she was looking toward the bushes. You could tell she had encountered something very unusual.

Needless to say, she was UPSET….I’ll bet the guy from the picture above paid her a little visit. The next morning we saw large paw prints in the rock garden and noticed where "something cat like" had been using the sand in the rock garden for a "litter box". HMMMM....… See the pile of "droppings" we dug out of the sand...looks like it's been here a time or two before. I moved the camera up to this spot for a while and we will see if he comes back. You just never know what's going on around you in the black of the night. Meanwhile, Ms Megabyte2 is still sniffing and looking around everytime she goes out on the porch.

I was working in my shop yesterday and heard thunder rumbling and something hitting the roof. This is what I saw.....small "pea" size sleet! In fact, some of them got almost as big as "moth balls". If we were in South Dakota, we would call this stuff "hail". Then, shortly after that, it started snowing. Geez......are we really in Arizona??

It wasn’t long until it covered the ground……

This is looking to the North towards Yarnell Mountain where we see snow a few times every winter. However, every so often one of these desert storms will get low enough to give us a sampling of the cold stuff but it's enough for me!! The storm has moved on out of the area.

This is looking back towards the South. You can see the clouds are breaking and the sunshine is beginning to come back out..

Uh oh, Ms. Pats Golf Cart is getting pelleted…. we need some more cover around here.. Oh No! Not another “project”! Lets see, I’m going to have to think about this a little. I’m tired of building stuff. Is there ever an end to it?

The next couple of months will be our “Winter” here in Arizona. It will be like this off and on and cool off for a spell. It was 32* when we got up this morning and it may get down in the 20’s a time or two but we enjoy the simple Winters here.

Meanwhile, I was as “snug as a bug in a rug” with my little heater going in my shop while I was playing with one of my new “Black Friday” toys! I just love my shop. It's definitely my “Man Cave”!! I even have my XM/Sirius radio hooked up, so I can listen to "Willie's Roadhouse" !! Hot Dog!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by. We hope you are all safe and sound and "hunkered" in for the Winter. God Bless you all and don’t forget to stop and give thanks to our Father in Heaven for all his many Blessings.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We Had A Visitor,,,,,,,In The Middle Of The Night!

2011-11-30T08:12:00.001-07:00

I have been using my "Wild Game" camera in the back yard, getting familiar with using it and mostly getting pictures of Bunny Rabbits. However, the other night shortly after midnight, look who was in our back yard.

Mr. Coyote dropped by! He doesn’t look like he is up to any good either! Trying to sneak up on one of the bunnies probably, or maybe a "little kitty". These cameras are neat and not that expensive. If you want to know what is going on around your place when you're not around, just drop by WalMart and pick up one of these. It's called the N6 model and has excellent quality. It tells you at the bottom of the picture what the temperature is, the time and date the picture was taken and the sequential number of the picture.

This is maybe what Mr. Coyote was in search of......

Or this????

I enjoyed everyone's comments on my Black Friday capers. Now that it is over and I look back, I’m glad I did it and I am really having fun playing with my new guns, mounting scopes, etc. Would I do it again? Probably I would. It was kinda fun and with Ms. Pat, she makes everything more fun. She is so enjoyable to do stuff with. We met some neat people in the lines and had fun discussing with them how NUTS we all were. It would have been more fun if some friends had of been with us but none of them were NUTS enough!! I bet my good friend JRoger would have gone with us….I wished a zillion times that he was there. JRoger is extremely knowledgeable about guns.....guns of any kind, and ammo, scope’s, etc. etc. I respect his knowledge so much. I know he gets tired of all my questions...I call and email him all the time.

Oh yeah....BTW.....we also heard through the "grapevine" that the kids, Rollie and Gina, and Rollie's sister, Dana and husband Ricky were out even earlier than we were. See......we're not the only NUTS around here. :-)

Meanwhile, I’ve got about everything here that was stored running.

First up was the Golf Cart.....new batteries and cables, remove and reseat all the tires and replace the leaking valve stems....so it's running really well. Now Ms. Pat can go to the clubhouse for Line Dancing in any weather with no problem. Golf carts are so cool and quite. There are dozens of them here in the park…

Next was getting out the two Polaris 4X4’s and getting them fired up. Sometimes this takes a little coaxing, but I usually get them going. I use heavy SEA FOAM applications in the fuel and up into the carbs when I leave them in storage. That stuff is wonderful....I been using it for over 30 years after my Dad told me about it. Beats anything else like Sta-Bil, etc. that I have used. Give it a try. I used to a have to go to NAPA to get it but WalMart is selling it nowadays. I have seen this stuff clear the lacquered fuel out of a generator that wouldn’t start. I buy it by the case! My stuff starts up every year, year after year.

My old 2000 Polaris that I’ve had for about 6 years fired right up. It is so dependable, it's unbelievable.. I usually run the carb dry of heavily “Sea Foam” treated fuel when I set them up for storage in the spring. Then when I get here in the winter I have to crank them for a while to get new fuel in, and they fire up every time. We have already been on a couple rides out in the desert. (our backyard).

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We are happy to Welcome 3 new followers:

Bud Rassman
Bill and Cap
Allen and Lolita DuGuay

Glad to have you folks drop by. Hope you will stop often, and comment when you can or stop and see us if you're in the area.

God Bless you all and safe travels!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

OK, I’ve Totally Lost It and Yep....I'm NUTS!

2011-11-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

I have NEVER done the “Black Friday” thing and totally agreed that those that did do it, were NUT’S!! Well, that was until Paul & Nancy showed me Cabela’s “Black Friday” flyer that had a Rifle in it that I wanted. I thought and thought about it and decided that for a gun, I would do it. I told Ms. Pat what I was thinking and she said “I think you have LOST IT”! That sale starts at 5AM and its in Phoenix, 60 miles away. She said, "They probably only have a couple of those guns and we’ll never make it." I thought she's probably right...it’s a dumb idea but I still kept thinking about it.

Finally, I called the gun dept. at Cabelas and asked the guy how many of those guns they had. He told me they had a good stock. Hmmm...so I asked him what he considered a “good stock” and he answered "Well, I know we have over 200." Now that intrigued me so I told Ms. Pat I was going but I wasn’t going to leave until about 7am and get there by 8:30 and just take my chances.. It was Dance class morning for her, so I told her she didn’t have to go, that I would go alone. "Oh, No Way!!" she said, "You think I would turn you loose alone in that mess?"

So on Black Friday morning, we took off in the dark headed for Cabelas in Phoenix.....at, listen to this, 0515 hundred hours! Surely not many people will be there at this time of the day. It was a beautiful morning and the highway was clear. We pulled into Cabela’s at 6:15am. OH My!!! The parking lot was nearly full!! We had to park way out in the parking lot. WOW, now I knew I was NUTS! I asked Ms. Pat, “Who’s stupid idea was this”? She is such a pleasant Lady...she just smiled and said, "Come on, we better get in line."

So, we stood in line for just over an hour and finally got a clerk who took the information and secured a gun for us. While I was there, I asked the clerk if I could buy 2 of the guns. "No, only one per person", he replied. Ms Pat said how about me? OK...you can have one too. So he sold us 2 guns. Then the guy right next to me was looking at another gun that they had on sale. Ms. Pat said isn't that one of those AR15 rifles like you were looking for? WOW!! I hadn’t noticed they had those on sale, too. At $100.00 off, I’ll take one of those! The clerk sold us 3 guns and told us we have to go over in another line to fill out the paperwork. So, off we went to the other line to get the long process of filling out the paperwork completed. That line was even LONGER and it took another hour. Then the paperwork had to be submitted and approved. "That will take a couple hours, at least", the lady told us…. "go do some more shopping and come back in and pick up the guns later."

OK, we fought the crowd looking around and picked up some other things we wanted and then decided to run up to Sams Club to get a few grocery items we needed. Well,, that was another ZOO. Plus, they didn’t have the Pomegranate juice we wanted, so we ran across the street to Costco. Yep, ZOO # 3 for the day! It still wasn’t even 10 am and people were streaming in the door like crazy. I do believe we beat the worst of the crowds. ....at least I keep telling myself that. :-)

In a couple hours, we went back to Cabelas and we stood in line for over another hour to pick up the 3 guns. WHEW!! Finally we were outta there……and headed HOME!! Made it just barely in time for....yep you guessed it....Happy Hour! We were both totally exhausted and needed all the "Happy" we could get!

The next day when we saw Nancy and told her what we did, she said “You must be NUT’s”. Ha ha. We told her, "Yep, we are and never again will we do Black Friday." But…well, if they should happen to have a special gun.........Nah.... “probably” not even then!! But I sure had fun playing with my new guns yesterday. I spent all day mounting scopes and fun stuff like that…….. now to get out and site them in!!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Ms. Pat cooked us a delicious Turkey, Ham and all the trimmings. We can now enjoy the leftovers for days…… I love that! We even got in a nice ride out in the desert on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and of course, stopped by our secret firing range and had a little target practice.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Hope yours was, too. Thanks for stopping by.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

PressurePro "END OF THE YEAR SPECIAL"!! If you've ever wanted a PressurePro Tire Pressure Monitoring System, now is the time to get it. These PressurePro Systems are "NEW STOCK" with the latest technology and updates and the supply is limited and going quickly. Some Dealers are selling "outdated" and "used" systems for less but you won't find a NEW PressurePro system anywhere for this price and when we sell all of these, the "sale" is over. We offer excellent customer service and are well known in the RV Community. We are presently located at North Ranch Escapee Park in Congress, AZ. For more information stop by to see us or contact us at 850-294-0281.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS..........Mike and Pat

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T07:56:00.002-07:00

I have spent many Thanksgivings in this kind of weather. This picture was taken last weekend on the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park.

In fact, here is an old picture taken way back when I used to live in the cold country. This was taken about 68 years ago, (I can’t believe it's been that long) when I was just 8 years old and rode my pony “Patches” to school everyday. I retrieved this picture from those old pictures that my son Patrick brought me last Winter. Gosh does this ever bring back some cherished memories…. It just so happens that yesterday would have been my parents 78TH Wedding Anniversary.

Speaking of pictures, here is a picture of a couple youngsters I know. This picture was taken just short of 25 years ago.

These couple pictures are only a mere sampling of all the things that I have to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving. Where all this time has gone, I don’t know. However, with the Grace of God, we are where we are today.

Rollie and Gina have been on a Cruise and sent us this picture that was taken with their iPhone on "Formal Night". WOW......aren’t they beautiful? Thanks kids for sending it to us…..their love for us is another thing we have to be thankful for.

One more picture of our little Ms. Megabyte2 on another one of her many perches. This is a recent picture taken as she tried to climb on up to the upper shelves, but couldn’t quite master it. I'm sure she'll keep trying until she does. She's trying to look like another one of the "ornaments". :-) She is a wonderful part of our life....I don't know what we would do without her. We have so much to be thankful for!!

A very good friend sent me the following and I would like to pass it on to you:

May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes ' n gravy have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious. May your pies take the prize.
May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs.
MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!

To all of our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids scattered around in Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska and Arizona, we miss you and love you all very much.............AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by…..

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Visiting Karen and the Boys in Tucson..

2011-11-20T08:12:00.001-07:00

We had one last stop to make before we continued on home to North Ranch. This is a picture of my son Mikel's home in Tucson where he lived after his retirement from the US Army. You will remember that we lost Mikel back in May of 2010. His wife Karen and our two Grandsons, Mikel Jr. and Stephen, still live here and we stopped to pay them a visit.

This is DIL Karen. She welcomed us to Happy Hour.

Karen prepared a lavish feast for us.. She remembers how much I enjoy Happy Hour! It was delicious and healthy also!

Here are the boys, Stephen 14 on the left and Mikel 17 on the right. WOW, what big boys! They aren’t used to having their pictures taken and weren’t too keen on that but it worked out fine. I remember when they were toddlers. We babysat them and I remember pushing them around in a stroller. They aren’t quite as big as me yet but close! It was great visiting with Karen and these fine young men and finding out about their busy lives. I know they all miss their Dad very much, as do we. However, in his honor, we must continue on as this is what he would want.

We quickly got settled into our place here at North Ranch, AZ. Here is Ms. Megabyte and me as we spent most of the day yesterday watching our two favorite football teams. We didn't do as good as we did last week....Nebraska and Florida State both got beat.:-(

Ms. Pat attended her first line dance Friday and I continued getting things uncovered, unloaded and somewhat organized. Gotta take things slow, ya know......wouldn’t want to work myself out of a job! :-)

We have two new followers, #207 and #208 that I would like to Welcome aboard.

Miss Lazee
LynnMiles

Glad to have you stop by and hope you will join us often and please comment below, we love to hear from our readers. We get around 350 readers each day we publish. If it wasn’t for all of you readers and all the comments I get, I would be tempted to sign off the Blog business. I get stymied sometimes as to what to write about and wonder if I should give it up. Thank you for sticking with me and all the encouraging words. It is you all that keep me going,.....believe me!

We are leaving in a few minutes to attend our favorite Church in this area.....First Southern Baptist Church in Wickenburg. We're looking forward to seeing Pastor Dean, his lovely wife Rhonda and all of our Church family. We have truly missed them.

God Bless you all!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Mike

PS: I wanted to tell you how many miles we drove the Motorhome from the time we left Custer till we arrived at North Ranch....4,200 Total Miles!!. Normally, it's just over 1,000 miles from Custer to North Ranch but we kinda took the "long way" home so we could visit our kids and in search of some good ole' Florida seafood! :-) Thanks again to all the kids for a GREAT visit, their gracious hospitality and all the good seafood.

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We’re HOME!!

2011-11-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

This was a Grand site to see as we entered Arizona….

We took the Phoenix Bypass at Casa Grande, taking I-8 to Hwy 85 in Gila Bend, then back up to I-10. At exit 103, we turned north to Wickenburg and on up to North Ranch. This route avoids the traffic through Phoenix. We arrived yesterday shortly after lunch.

I just love this cut across.....it’s a little curvy and wavy but it is beautiful. It brings you into Wickenburg from the south on Vulture Peak road.

It takes you right by Vulture Peak....Ms. Pat snapped a picture as we passed. There is a nice boon docking area just off the road at the base of the Mountain. We have hiked to the top many times with several of our friends and look forward to doing it again. This Peak can be seen from our lot at North Ranch. Hey, "geocachers", there is a local "cache" on the top put there by the Chamber of Commerce!

This sign pretty much describes the road but it is an easy trip and the road is excellent…

You can just “inhale” all the beauty, which is just what I am doing as the Foretravel Motorhome easily traverses the curves and small hills…….

Even before we get to Wickenburg, you can see North Ranch where we live way off in the distance (where I placed the +). It is a good 12-15 miles away. You can see we are way out in the boonies, which is what we love!

Soon we arrived at North Ranch. Ms. Pat and I are both anxious to see our home that we left nearly 6 months ago……..

We pulled up in front of the place and unhooked our pickup. I backed the Foretravel into it's spot and immediately took this picture, even before we went inside. WOW, doesn’t the place look good? Look how the trees have filled out since we cut them back last year and Gina, your rock gardens look wonderful. All the solar lights even work.

We are so glad to be here and to find the place in such good shape. Thanks to our great friends and neighbors Paul and Nancy for looking after it for us……

Now we have a ton of work to do!! Ms Pat is already started and I better get to helping her….

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!! It’s going to be a GREAT WINTER!!

Thanks for riding along with us and if your in the area, be sure to stop by or give us a shout….
We are ever so Thankful to our Father in Heaven for continuing to place his blessings on us….
See ya Sunday.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Crossing Texas..

2011-11-13T06:40:00.001-07:00

We traveled the 4 states of FL, AL, MS and LA all in one day but it’s taking us 4 days to get across TEXAS!

If you remember we arrived here at Motorhomes of Texas Sunday for some scheduled work and servicing of our Foretravel on Monday.

They pulled us in early Monday morning and began working. This is Mark on the left and Isaac on the right as they serviced our Coach.

They had everything all taken apart as they began looking at different things we had on our list besides the routine annual services.

They totally serviced our big 475 HP Cummins powerhouse, the Allison 4000 6 speed auto transmission, the Aqua Hot heating system, the leveling air system and the 10K Power Teck diesel generator, plus a few other things. We only traveled 12,000 miles last year but we have found the better you treat and service these big rigs, the better off you are. It usually pays off in the long run. Plus, it makes us feel a lot better!

The last thing was replacement of our driver's side windshield……..glad it’s a 2 piece’er but it is still a big windshield.

Friday morning after a few more quick adjustments on our HWH computerized air leveling system, we were good to go. We are pleased with the work these guys do and the attention they give even to the smallest items. They are still the greatest bunch of guys to work with I have run into and make you feel like part of the MOT family. Since I bought the Coach here they provided us with a 20% labor discount and 10% off all parts!!

We took on some fuel and headed Southwest out of Nacogdoches. We cut across Texas and avoided the horrendous traffic of Houston, San Antonio and Austin and hit I-10 at Kerrville. Although we have stayed many times before at the beautiful Buckhorn Lake RV Park, this time we went to the Elks Club for the night. It was a nice club and just happened to be their Meal Night. They provided us with complimentary Happy Hour and the BBQ dinner was only $10.00 per person. We had a great 350 mile easy day.

Saturday morning we were out of there at 7:30 and continued our trip West on I-10. The TracStar in-motion satellite dish worked perfectly and we were able to watch the Nebraska-Penn State football game. Well, I should say Ms Pat watched it. I was busy driving and she scolded me if I even glanced at the TV. But she gave me a play by play action description. By half time, we had gone the 300 mile quota Ms Pat has me on and I watched the last half from my recliner. WOW, it was a super game and back to back to that game was FSU playing Miami. Our teams Nebraska and Florida State both won their games… What a day!!

This morning we are head on West and hope to make Deming, NM. tonight, which should be no problem since its only 290 miles. Personally I would just like to drive right on to North Ranch non-stop but Ms Pat puts the kabash to that and says 300 miles is our limit. I think she had the guys at MOT install a special 300 mile a day monitoring device. If I go over 300 miles, lights flash and alarms buzz. :-) I love driving this big motorhome. It is so easy and comfortable to drive, I could go on forever....but us guys are like that. Right Mike, John and Rollie?

We plan on spending Monday night in Tucson visiting our 2 Grandsons. Mike and Stephen. It will be so good seeing them again…..yesterday was Mike’s 17TH Birthday HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!! I know your Dad wishes he could be here to celebrate it with you but I know he is with you in "spirit". It was good talking to you on the phone last night....we'll see you soon.

Then.....if all goes well we will pull into North Ranch at Congress, Az on Tuesday. Here we come Paul and Nancy!! Have the red carpet ready. We are both so anxious to get to our Southern Home. It's been about 6 months since we left and I’m ready!!! What a trip we have had back to Florida…..I’ll go into that next time..

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by……..

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Weekend with Rollie, Gina and Family

2011-11-09T07:45:00.001-07:00

Friday morning we got all settled into Rollie and Gina’s place in Denham Springs, Lousiana. They had a beautiful place for us to park on a concrete pad.

I really enjoyed some quality time with Rollie.

This is Gina’s beautiful Rock Garden and Pond. It is so peaceful and calming.

Soon it was time for one of those wonderful Louisiana meals that Ms. Pat and I love so much….

Rollie and Gina really know how to cook.... just look at this beautiful Crawfish Etouffee over rice… Yummmmm, it was so good!

Saturday morning we even had time for one of my favorite pastimes, a little Target Practice.

I also noticed a different Flag displayed out front and the atmosphere soon changed to Football!! This is LSU territory…NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!!

Purple was the color of choice and the party began…… Rollie’s Dad on the left, then Ricky(his
brother-in-law), Gina, Rollie and me getting ready for the 7pm game.

Here is Ricky, Dana (Rollie’s sister), Gina and Rollie for a quick picture in front of the fireplace.

About 6:00 pm we all gathered over at Ricky and Dana's place, just a few houses away, for the big game of the Century..... #1 LSU vs #2 Alabama. That’s Ricky and Dana's son and his wife with front row seats. Let the cheers BEGIN!!

Even their pets were wearing LUS colors. What a beautiful dog.....I loved him.

Way too soon it was Sunday morning. Time for our goodbyes to a weekend that was so special to us. I knew it would be hard to leave and I don’t like goodbye so we said “So Long Kids”. We love you all very much and thanks for all your wonderful hospitality.

We headed on West through Baton Rouge and then across the Mississippi River.

Then about noon we crossed over into the big state of Texas.

At 3:00pm we pulled into our destination for the day. Motorhomes of Texas in Nacogdoches. We had traveled 300 miles and the timing was perfect. We pulled in and found a parking spot and hooked up, put out the slideouts,turned on the A/C, sat back and enjoyed Happy Hour.

Monday morning at 8:00 am sharp, they pulled us into bay #2 and two technicians began servicing our Coach. Both of them have been working almost non-stop the last 2 days and hopefully they will get us out tomorrow. I’m impressed with the work they do and how they are dedicated to customer satisfaction. They let us live in the coach while they work.

Several have asked about little Abigail, Rollie and Gina’s first and only Grand Child. Here is a picture of her and her very proud Grandparents. Isn’t she a beautiful baby? So alert and look at the hair!! She is only 3 months old. This picture was taken in California on their last visit. I wish she had been here in Louisiana so we could hold her and hug her but maybe we'll get to see her soon. Her proud Daddy, Thomas, is in the Marines and has been overseas. He just came back to the States and saw his beautiful baby daughter for the first time…… Praise the Lord!!

I wish I could show more pictures. There are dozens and we had such a wonderful time. Unfortunately, I just don’t have the space. Hope I’ve shown you a little part of these great “Kids” that we have adopted. I’m sure PROUD to call them Family.

Is is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and hurry back.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

On to LSU Country……Rollie and Gina’s

2011-11-06T07:02:00.002-07:00

Wednesday we had a great day visiting Ms. Pat’s Son Gus and his wife Billie in Slidell, LA. Gus is a builder but his main love is Fishin’.

This is his Fishing boat and he lives right close to many openings to the Gulf of Mexico. It was really windy or he would have taken us out.

Gus and his Mom spent some quality time together. They hadn’t seen each other for way too long!! We sure need to do this more often.

This is Gus and Billie. Gus wanted to shuck us some Louisiana Oyster's and show us how they are even bigger and better than Apalachicola Florida Oysters..

WOW!!! Now take a look at that!! BIG!!! And delicious!!

Gus also had some Gulf shrimp he fixed for us. Now those are SHRIMP!! He put them on Shish Kabobs and grilled them with some steaks. Now let me tell you with those super oysters, it was a meal to remember. Boy are we gonna miss this Seafood!!

Gus and Billie took us all around and showed us the area where they live and Gus works building houses and fishing. Here is Gus, Mom and me saying our good byes and wishing we had more time to spend together.. Thanks Gus and Billie for a wonderful day!! Somehow we missed getting a picture of Bear, their beautiful boxer dog, but we did get a picture of his house in this picture.

Wednesday we had some PressurePro systems to ship out and other work to do before we headed on West. Gus stopped by before we left to tell his Mom how much he loved her and how glad he was we stopped by to visit.

Our next stop, less than 70 miles away was to two of the greatest people in this world that came into our lives only by the Grace of God, Rollie and Gina, our Kids. Rollie met us at the Interstate 10 exit and led us to their place just a short distance away..

This is there beautiful home near Baton Rouge, LA and this is the house Rollie was raised in. Soon our Motorhome was comfortably parked in the back yard.

We had such a wonderful time with these kids. They are such a joy to be around. Ms Pat and I can not stop thanking our Father in Heaven for placing them in our lives… Praise God! It was such an enjoyable weekend and we have so much to tell and show you about that I can’t do it the justice it deserves today. Plus, we must get on our way this morning and travel on West 300 miles to Nacgdouches, TX. to MotorHomes of Texas.

Tomorrow morning early we have an appointment to give our Motorhome it's first annual checkup. So, I am sorry but you must just wait until Wednesday to see and hear about our fun filled weekend with Rollie, Gina and more of their Louisiana family. LSU was playing football at Alabama Saturday night and Ms Pat and I found out how seriously these LSU graduates take their football.. It was truly the game of the Century. Plus LSU won!! They get almost as worked up as us Cornhusker fans and FSU fans.....but not quite. :-) It was Fun, Fun, Fun. I didn’t get back to the Motorhome until 10:00 pm last night and that is way past my bedtime. But it was worth every second of it…..

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping b. Be sure to stop back on Wednesday…

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Good Bye Florida.....Time to head WEST!

2011-11-02T07:04:00.008-07:00

Our 3 weeks in Florida were sure enjoyable. We all knew it had to end sometime and Monday was the day we had to leave and head West. We certainly thank everyone for their gracious hospitality. The 3 weeks went so fast it was unbelievable. Now you all have to come see us!!

Our first stop as we headed West down I-10 was only 130 miles to Ms Pats home town of DeFuniak Springs, Fl. Her sister Sabra still lives there.

This is some of Sabra's family.
Left to Right: Granddaughter Tiffany with Great grandson Cadon, Grandaughter Brianna with Great granddaughter Hadley, Daughter Cindy and Sabra

Pat's sister Sabra and brother-in-law Tom.

Tuesday morning we again headed West. It wasn't long until we entered the state of Alabama....

Shortly after you enter Alabama you come to the city of Mobile. On I-10, the George Wallace Tunnel is a long tunnel that goes under the Chickasaw/Mobile River. It's quite a long tunnel and we have

pulled all 4 of our RV's through it at one time or the other.

Here we go down into the Tunnel and under the River......

This was taken right about in the middle of the tunnel. It is neat and I enjoy it every time!

Soon we were out of the tunnel and on our way. It don't take long to cross Alabama and soon we were entering Mississippi. While crossing this state, we stopped for fuel at the Flying J in Gulfport. At $3.799, it was the cheapest we could find anywhere on our entire trip to AZ. We ran the tank lower than we usually do and I was getting a little nervous until we pulled up to the pump. We had traveled over 1000 miles since our last fuel stop and it took 155 gal to fill it up. Do the math and yep, the bill was almost $600.00! OUCH! Could anybody loan me a few bucks? :-)

Mississippi is not very wide down here on I-10 either, so we were soon crossing into Louisiana.. Hey, this is the 4TH state we have traveled in the same day!!

Soon we were almost to our destination for the day, Slidell, LA, where Ms Pats oldest son Gus lives. We haven't seen him for years and years.

We are using our new Elks Membership a lot. It sure beats the heck out of Walmart parking lots and I sleep a lot better! It was an easy find just off of I-10.......

Check out that Spanish Moss hanging from the trees.

There were a couple other RV's here but still plenty of room for us. Only $11.00 per night with 50amp and water... You can't beat a deal like that.

Ms Pat called her son Gus and he came right over and we sat and visited for a couple hours. Ms Pat was so happy to see him. We will be going over to his place this morning and look forward to spending the day with him and his wife Billie.

Tomorrow morning we will continue our trip on West with a short trip to Denham Springs, LA., the home of two more of our wonderful KID's!.....Rollie and Gina. We are both so excited to see them, we can hardly wait. It's been a long time.....TOO long!!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!
Although we celebrated Ms Pat's Birthday last Saturday at her Daughters place, TODAY is her Official Birthday!

From the bottom of my heart I want to wish this wonderful lady that God so Gracefully and Thankfully placed in my life over 25 years ago,
A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!
I love you very much my dear!!

Thank you for stopping by and riding along with us on our journey.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday

A Happy Birthday with Family..

2011-10-30T06:13:00.002-07:00

Guess whose Birthday is coming up that we celebrated yesterday? I’ll give you a hint.

Now I bet you know. This is not a cake, it's Lisa's specialty dessert....Chocolate Pie :-)

Now the secret's out... Ms. Pat’s Birthday will be next week on Nov 2ND. So since we are leaving Monday morning, the kids surprised her Saturday. Being with most of her family was the most enjoyable Birthday she could have.

The Birthday party was hosted by daughter Lisa and SIL Randy. Lisa cooked a blueberry pie and lots of other good stuff....plus there were Balloons and Ribbons hung everywhere. Great Job Kids!!

Son Scott, the local county Deputy Sheriff, took time off to bring and cook some of his Gator meat. The kids know our love for Seafood and our lack of it in the Midwest, so they like to please us with as much of it as they can while we are here. We sure enjoy it! There was Seafood everywhere, including Fresh Oysters, Stone Crabs, fresh Amberjack…..and Gator…… What a FEAST!!!

Ms Pat shows the size of the wonderful tasty Stone Crabs they had……. Boy were they good! Thanks to Grandson James for bringing them. 30 Lbs!!

Ms Pat had a ball playing games with the kids.

Here is me and Ms Pat with daughters Terri and Lisa with 6 of Ms Pats Great Grand Children. We're waiting for Josh to perform his "Nunchuck" (also called "nunchakus") routine.

Here's Josh with his Nunchucks. It's hard to see them but they are "flying" in all directions. Josh has been studying martial arts for several years and has a "Black Belt". He is also an instructor at his school.

Here's Josh all dressed up for Halloween! Pretty scary if you ask me!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!

Another great picture of the Great Grandkids and grandson Josh, Lisa, Randy and Ms Pat. I have never seen Ms Pat much happier than this.

This is Ms Pat's grandson Jeremy. He and I spent a lot of enjoyable time together when he was a young boy. He used to come over to our place when his Mom, Terri ,and Ms Pat worked. We did lots of interesting things together. Jeremy was a good kid and helped me a lot. He enjoyed doing mechanical work and so did I. He didn't make it over to last week's cookout so it was sure great seeing him before we have to leave.

Here is Jeremy, Ms Pat, his Mom Terri and his two beautiful boys Bentley and Chance…


This is granddaughter Megan and friend Robert. Megan and I became quite close as she used to spend almost every weekend at our house for years and years….. many fun memories I will cherish all my life. She is a special girl in my life.

It was a Grand Day to say the least and the weather was PERFECT!!   I took dozens more pictures and would love to show you all of them but this has gotten too long as it is. For you kids that want to see the rest of the pictures, I made a Web Album so you can see them all.
Here's the link: Birthday with Family in Florida

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!   WOW, we really Praise the Lord on this one….. We are so Blessed!

Tomorrow morning we will head on West….   It makes us sad to leave and makes us realize that we just have to get back more often. Tomorrow night we will stop in DuFuniak Springs, Fl and visit Ms Pats oldest sister. Then we will move on West to Slidell, LA and visit Gus, the oldest Son. How excited she is....it's been a while since she's seen him.

I will let you know on Wednesday’s Blog where we will spend the weekend!! We are very excited and looking forward to it....

Thanks for stopping by and "Kids, it was so much fun and enjoyable seeing you. Thank you for the wonderful memories. We Love you all!"

Mike

Thought for the day:
"You know why a banana is like a politician?"
"He comes in and first he is green, then he turns yellow
and then he's rotten."

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Old Home Week!!

2011-10-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

We had a great get together with some of my former employees. It was so good to see all of them, many I had not seen since I retired 20 years ago. Thanks so much to Elise for getting them all together. I most certainly enjoyed talking about all the old times and if you weren't there, you were talked about. :-) We shared some super memories and it was fun to find out about everyone and what they are all doing now. Thanks to you all for coming and sharing this precious time together. Many thanks to our great x-neighbors Chuck and Rhoda for hosting this event at their beautiful home.Their home is right across the street from our previous home. This gave us a chance to look the old place over.

This was our home in Tallahassee, Fl. and the one we sold when we started full timing. We built this place which was our own design back in about 1987. I'm a little disappointed in how the yard is so unkept. I assure you it was much more manicured back when we owned it... Oh well!

The weather is still unbelievably great down here. However, Hurricane Rina is making her presence known and possibly headed this way. Maybe we have pressed our luck long enough. We should be our of here by the time she makes up her mind which way she's going. We plan on leaving Monday morning and head West. We have several stops to make along the way and plan on being home to North Ranch by Thanksgiving.
We still have a lot of things to get done before we leave and the next few days will be busy ones. The time will fly by and be over before you know it. Today we are headed to see our Financial Investment consultant and then on to see one of Ms Pat's favorite friends and co-worker, Jalma. Then dinner at our most favorite Seafood Restaurant with daughters Lisa and Terri. Praise the Lord.
It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We want to welcome our latest Followers # 205-206.....
Miss Lazee
Lynn Miles
Welcome aboard folks. We are glad to have you drop in on us when you can...

Y'all travel safe, and hurry back. God loves Ya!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

A Great Family Day

2011-10-23T05:40:00.014-07:00

Saturday was a beautiful day and we started the day off early watching Dathon, Ms Pat's Great Grandson, play baseball. He looks like he will be a Major Leaguer for sure. He is at the ball field with his Sister Kylie and Mom Megan. They won the game just for us!! Good job Buddy!

Both Ms Pat and I love boiled peanuts and down South is the only place we see them. So on the way to the family outing, the first "Boiled Peanut" stand we saw, we stopped and picked up a BIG bag. Man were they ever delicious. We'll be back for a couple more bags before we leave.

Soon we were about 12 miles South of Tallahassee at Ms Pat's daughter Lisa and Randy's place out in the woods where the rest of the family had began to gather...

Randy had some fresh Gulf Oysters on ice and soon began shucking them. Oysters on the half shell are another one of Ms Pat and my favorites. They were delisious!! when I moved down here in 1977 I had never tasted one, but I sure took to them fast and I've loved them every since... I must have ate at least 4-5 dozen... These are local Oysters and these folks been shucking and eating them all their life.. I always said when in Rome do as the Roman's do!! I loved all the Southern food I ran into when I came here...

Here is a 4 generation picture.(right to left) Ms Pat, Grandson Billy, Great Granddaughter Eavan, Daughter Lisa, and Grand daughter-in-law Sarah. They were headed off to an ourdoor Wedding.

Randy is a big hunter and he had some Vinison "back strap" in his freezer. He wrapped small pieces in bacon and put them on the grill. Here they are before they were grilled. We'll show you later what they looked like when they came off the grill.

The Grandsons are setting up the horseshoe stakes getting ready for their game.

Grandson Marc starts it off.

Grandsons Josh and James watching their competitors.

Grandson Gabe taking his turn.

Grandson Josh and James taking their turn. These folks are also superb Horseshoe pitchers. I always thought I was pretty good. Well let me tell you, it didn't take me long to bow out many years ago. I soon found out I was way out classed.......

Daughter Terri watching the game.

Randy and Lisa, our host and hostess, are busy eating oysters.

This is the Vinison all grilled and ready to eat.

Grandson Josh getting a belated Christmas present.

Great granddaughter Kylie

Great Granddaughter Belle and Great Grandson Sage

Now my belly is to full and it's time for a little football and "quite time" :-) Zzzzzzzzzz

Son Scott, Daughter-in-law Shelly and Granddaughter Brittany arrived late and we forgot to take pictures. It was getting close to our bedtime and we weren't thinking too clearly. Needless to say, we had a wonderful time with the kids, grandkids and great grandkids. The weather was FANTASTIC!!!

Today Elise, one of my former employees, has gotten together a bunch of the old group that is still around and organized a get together. I am so excited and looking forward to seeing them all.... There will be over 15 attending... many I haven't seen since I retired way back in 1992. Thats wonderful and I am so looking forward to it..... I will tell you about it next time...

That's about it for now, I'm sure you can tell we are sure having fun enjoying our Family..... We are ever so Thankful to our Father above for all he does and provides for us......

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

God Bless you all..

Mike

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Thought for the day:

"I think Congressmen should wear uniforms,

you know, like NASCAR drivers, so we could

identify their corporate sponsors."

A Seafood Boil to Remember!

2011-10-19T04:33:00.003-07:00

Susan caught Ms Megabyte2 and I relaxing on their patio a few hours before our big Seafood Boil took place. We were both all spiffed up and I was wearing my new Harley shirt that Jutta brought me all the way from Germany. We both knew things would be hoppin' soon and the guests would be arriving..

Ah Ha, here we go!! Lisa, Pat's daughter and Ms Pat along with her son Scott, watch as JRoger pours our outstanding Shrimp Boil on a serving tray. It looked and smelled "ummm good"! It contained potatos, corn, sausage, and lots of shrimp. JRoger also had the Mullet all "smoked" to perfection, it was delicious!! You can tell from the smile on his face that he loves to cook.....and I love to let him!!

Looks mighty good to me....how about you? Oh Boy, this is what we've been waiting for!! Let's eat!

Scott is a Certified Licensed Nuisance Alligator Trapper and always has plenty of Alligator meat. Here he is cooking some up for us. I think I have had some before but it has been a long time. I was anxious to give it a try again. I know that if it is cooked right, it's good and Scott knew exactly how to do it up right! It was delicious.

Here it is all battered up and ready for the cooker. Scott has his own special spices and seasonings that he uses and this time he added some of JRogers "Rub" recipe. DELICIOUS!!

We were so happy that our previous neighbors and good friends Rhoda and Chuck could join us. Chuck was such a good neighbor that I hired him to work for me. He was one of my top employees. Chuck is now retired and Rhoda only has a few months to go before she hangs it up.. They are considering getting a motorhome and spent some time checking out our Foretravel.

Going around the table that is Lisa, Ms Pats oldest daughter, then Ms Pat and behind her is daughter- in-law Shelly, then Scott, Ms Pats youngest, standing behind Scott is Lisa's husband Randy, then we have JRoger and Susan our gracious hosts. It is so nice of them to open their place to all of our friends and family when we are here. Everyone is enjoying all the food. Including me!!

The next morning it was Monday and this is JRoger, Susan and their Kitty "Scratchy" ready to take off on the annual Pheasant Hunt in the great state of (where else?) SOUTH DAKOTA. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for being such wonderful hosts. We always have so much fun with them and will never forget all our great experiences with these super friends!!

JRoger and Susan have a real nice place out here in the woods. They assured us and we knew we were welcome to stay on at their place after they had gone but we decided it would be best to go closer to all the kids, so we moved about 25 miles West to the Big Oak RV Park in Tallahassee.

This is like an old home coming, as we stayed here for years and years when we came home to see the kids... Karen is still the Manager and was glad to see us again. She welcomed us with open arms.

So we are all settled in at Big Oak,

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We continue to thank our Father above for all he provides...

Thanks for stopping by.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

It's a BEAR!!

2011-10-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Wow!! We are having a blast down here in Florida at JRoger and Susan's place out in the woods. What wonderful hosts they are. We've been so busy having fun that I don't have much time to write a blog, so I will just put in a bunch of pictures to keep you up on all our activity.

First is the BEAR that the Wildlife Camera caught and forwarded to JRogers computer. It gives the date and time. Here we can't even see the feeder. Note the time is 9:19pm.

Here is the Feeder some 37 minutes later and the Bear has it in his mouth still working on it.

Here is a bear track we found nearby.......the dollar bill on top and the quarter on the right gives you an idea of the size of the footprint. Pretty good sized bear.

This is one of the Hog pictures taken by the camera last night.

JRoger, Susan and I inspect the Feeder. The bear scratched it up pretty good but no damage.. Ah ha, JRogers invention worked.......the Bear couldn't crack it. What beautiful weather we have been having...just makes it even more enjoyable.

Plus, we managed to slip down to the coast the other day and pick up some Seafood... JRoger is smoking some of the mullet we picked up. For those of you that have tasted smoked mullet, you know how good it is. While at the coast, Ms Pat and I decided to satisfy our craving for some fresh Oysters on the half shell. We each had a dozen. Ah man, were they good!! So good that we had to have another dozen a piece. Boy-O- Boy, just like ole times and just what we've been missing. We loaded up with a bunch more seafood from the markets on the coast and brought it home for a big "Low Country Shrimp Boil".

Ms Pats oldest daughter Lisa and her husband Randy came out to visit yesterday and brought a couple of their grand kids....Belle age 5 and Eavan age 2. Ms Pat had never seen Eavan before and Belle was just 2 years old when we were here the last time. Above is Ms Pat and Lisa smiling for my camera. Lisa has worked for the State of Florida for 32 years & 2 months and has 2 years & 10 months to go for full retirement. She's counting the days as you can tell. She can't wait!

Randy relaxes on JRogers patio taking a break from trying to keep up with those grand kids...they about wore him out.

Lisa is a proud grandma and is usually chasing kids, too. I got her and Eavan slowed down long enough to get this picture. I never could catch Belle long enough to get a picture but Ms Pat is a proud great grandma too! We'll be getting all the kids, grand kids and great grand kids together next weekend for another outing so we'll get more pictures then.

Today is going to be a big day for us as the kids and some close friends are coming out to spend the afternoon. We are cooking up some special stuff, one of which is the Low Country Shrimp boil...plus lots of other goodies including the smoked mullet. Ms Pat's son, Scott, is bringing out some fresh "gator" meat to cook. UMMM good!!! Scott is a licensed "Nuisance Alligator Trapper".

JRoger and Susan are leaving Monday going on a big hunting trip. They told us we are welcome to stay at their place while they're gone but we have decided to move into Tallahassee so we will be closer to the other kids, grand kids and great grand kids. We want to spend as much time as we can with them and other friends before we head "home" to Arizona.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by....

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We Are in FLORIDA..

2011-10-12T05:02:00.001-07:00

This Elks Club parking is turning into something I really like. If you remember, I joined the Elks Club along with 52 other Escapee's at the Gillette, WY Escapade. There are over 2000 Elks Clubs thoughout the US and many of them have RV parking. Some are more elaborate than others but they sure are a friendly group and seem happy to have you stop and stay with them. Most are free or a small fee or donation. Sure beats a Walmart, in my opinion. I am just not comfortable in most Walmart parking lots.. Too public for me.

One time a few years ago, someone "keyed" the side of my new truck. I don't want the same thing to happen to this new truck or motorhome. I'll stay in one if I can't find anything else, but spots like the one below at the Elks Club in Nevada, MO, north of Joplin, are perfect for a quick overnight stay and they have security driving through all night.

We made our way south of Little Rock out of the State of Arkansas and across the NE tip of Louisiana into the State of Mississippi, where it was time to stop and take a break at the Welcome Center.

We continued on across Mississippi and about half way across Alabama to the city of Selma, where this beautiful Elks Club was waiting for us. A welcome, quiet spot for us after a 475 mile day. A little longer drive than usual, but still an easy trip and what the heck. we are anxious to get to Florida and see all our kids and friends.

The next day we ran into RAIN. Darn....almost made the entire trip without getting everything all messed up.. About 2pm we pulled into JRoger and Susan's place north of Monticello, FL. We parked in the RAIN, got all wet, but Roger and Susan welcomed us with open arms and thanked us for bringing the RAIN. It was so good to see them and Susan, bless her heart, had a wonderful bean and ham soup cooking for us and JRoger made a delicious salad... Ummm, so good!

Roger and Susan have a beautiful place down here in the woods and we have enjoyed time here with them before. I will show more pictures in my next Blog but just a few miles away, JRoger has his hunting camp. It's a 5000 acre plot of forest and backwoods property owned by a Timber Company that JRoger has rented for the hunting rights..

I was anxious to see JRogers hunting property and he had some work to do there, so early Tuesday morning we took off for the Hunting Camp to do some work . It was still raining but that didn't stop JRoger and his 4 wheel drive Dodge truck. Above JRoger is unloading his new invention of a feeder for wild hogs which we carried back into the woods....

See that little marker ribbon tied on the tree, that's the entrance to a special feeding spot. We took off deep into the woods carrying the new feeder and a sack of corn. Wow, thick stuff!! Can you imagine.....5000 acres of this stuff! Now I remember all the fun times I've had in the back woods of Florida. I used to own 20 acres right close to here....more memories.

We installed JRoger's newly designed feeder at his designated spot. This tube with holes in it is filled with corn and the wild hog's roll it to distribute the corn. But along comes Mr. Bear and he is too impatient to just roll it, he wants to tear it apart so the corn will come out all at once. You will note that it is chained to a nearby tree. He had another feeder just like this only lighter pipe set up here and the Bears tore it up in a heartbeat. They even carried half of it off into the woods. This one is much heaver PVC....I bet they can't tear it up, We are anxious to see and see we will...........

With this state of the art infrared camera, JRoger sees everything that goes on!! Plus, hear this..... this camera has a wire that goes high up into the pine tree and is connected to an Antenna. The camera has a Verizon Cell phone in it and it automatically transmits all pictures right to JRogers smart phone....NEAT, huh? JRoger saw the big black bear tear up his previous feeder. He showed me the picture and I'll try to show it to you later if I can...

Then with our work all done, JRoger drove me around the area. What a vast wilderness, right in the center of the panhandle of Florida. I really enjoyed it and I was so turned around that the only direction I knew for sure was UP!!! I wouldn't want to be stranded out there, The undergrowth is really thick but the wildlife is quite abundant.......but mostly after dark!!

It kept on raining and JRoger got us out of there and back onto the highway. I never thought it would happen, but I was sorta glad to see civilization again as we headed for home. What a neat experience. Thanks JRoger. I loved it...

So here we are in Florida. Let the fun begin as we get together with old friends and our Kid's, Grand kids, Great grand kids, etc.... Today, we're off to buy some good ole' Florida seafood......YUM!!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned as I tell you of our activities for the next couple of weeks. Who knows what all is going to happen...

God Bless you all!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

We Are 1450 Miles From Custer

2011-10-09T04:20:00.000-07:00

Here we are parked at an exit entrance taking a short break South of Joplin, MO on our way to Little Rock. I can't say enough about how good this rig runs. It is a pure treat to drive it. The Cummins 450 ISM diesel runs superb and has plenty of power.. I bet it would run 80mph if I wanted it to but I'd rather cruise along at about 62 and enjoy the beautiful colors down here in the Ozarks.

Here we are parked at the Willow Beach Corps of Engineers RV Park near Little Rock, AR. This is where we always stay when we're in this area and have been here several times before. That's the beautiful Arkansas River right out of our door. The RV sites are paved and have 50amp and water. Plus, since we get a 50% off Senior discount, it's only $9.50 per night. What a bargain! Sometimes its OK to be old. :-)

We went to North Little Rock and visited with out great friends and old traveling companions, Louis and Janette. They full timed for over 15 years and really do miss it. However, Louis is real sick with Parkinson's. It is so sad to see him in a long term care center,confined to a wheel chair and now at the stage where he can only say a few words. He was always a very active guy and has a heart of Gold. We have had so many, many good times together. They always came to spend time with us every year when we lived in Custer State Park. He truly is a great mind trapped inside a broken body. It really breaks my heart and I know he isn't enjoying life very much. Please God have mercy on him. We pray for Louis and hope he is comfortable. Janette, bless her heart, is an Angel. She does her best to make sure he has everything he needs and has her hands full working with him and her mother who has Alzheimers.

Our good friends Gregg and Bonnie were headed for Dallas to see family and just happened to be in the area. We directed them to the campground and here they are right across the street with their beautiful 5TH wheel and Volvo Semi tow truck. They have been in several of our Blogs before and have visited us in both AZ and SD. Being avid Harley riders, we have taken many rides to together. Unfortunately we couldn't ride with them this time because our Bike is all packed up and put away in the Toy Barn in SD. It is so good to be able to spend some time with them as we travel and cross paths. This is such a wonderful life.... I hope it never ends. However, I know it will. I look at Louis and a tear comes to my eye as I thank Our Heavenly Father for every minute on His great earth and for His many mercies.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for taking the time from your busy day to stop by. We will continue South towards Florida this morning. We have a little over 700 miles to go. JRoger and Susan, Bob and Ely, Chuck and Rhoda and all the kids are waiting for us. It will be so good to see them all. By Blog time next Wednesday, we should be there, or very close!

God Bless..

Mike

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Visiting Ann in Lincoln, Nebraska

2011-10-05T05:25:00.001-07:00

As you know, we parked overnight Saturday evening in the Parking lot of The Great Platte River Road Archway on Interstate 80, near Kearney, Nebraska. We got up Sunday morning and toured the Archway Monument. All I can say is my usual....WOW!! It is every bit as wonderful as everyone else told us.
I showed you a picture of the large statue of this Buffalo in my last Blog, but I wanted to show you this picture with Ms Pat standing in front of it. You can see the enormous size of this Great Buffalo.

From Archway Monument, Kearney, NE Oct 2011

As soon as we got inside the Archway and started to experience all the genuine Western culture, these two desperado's captured Ms. Pat and were going to keep her! No Way!!! I couldn't ever give her up!! I had to pay a large Ransom to keep her!

Click on the link below the above picture and it will take you to my Web Album and 87 other pictures of our journey through this Archway. It was some experience and we highly recommend this place. What a journey and for only $8.50 per person. There is even a couple pictures out the window of the traffic moving under us on I-80. Take a look.

We then continued our journey East to Lincoln and went to our usual parking place at the Lancaster Event Center on 84TH St. in Lincoln. NE. It has many, many RV sites with 50 amp electric hookups and water and dump station close by. We have parked here so many times before, we know the manager and it is just a couple miles from Scott and Ann's house. As you can see, we almost have the place to ourselves.

We enjoyed spending the last two days helping Ann do all sorts of odd jobs around her place and getting her a little more prepared for Winter. We cleaned gutters, mowed grass, raked leaves, trimmed tree branches and many other little items., including getting her snow blower started and ready to go. Ms Pat and I were truly "tuckered out" each day but felt good about accomplishing so much. I even started Scott's truck and drove it around and prepared it for Ann to sell. We had to say our goodbyes last night as we must continue on down the road. That's always a hard task, to say good bye and I sure don't like that part in the least. We look forward to seeing Ann again. She is a lovely gal, an important part of our family and we love her very much.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!! As we continue to enjoy what our Father above has provided..

We want to Welcome our latest Followers:

Hobo Joe
Cat

Thanks for becoming a follower of our blog. Hope you will stop by regularly and ride along with us on
Mike and Pats Travels.

This morning we are leaving around 8:00am and hope to make it to the Elks Club RV parking space in Iola, Kansas. That's about 300 miles and half way to Little Rock, AR. our next stop. We're looking forward to spending a few days there with our friends Louis & Janette and Greg & Bonnie.

Stop on back Sunday and we'll be talking to you from Little Rock!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

On The Road Again! YAY!!

2011-10-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

We planned on leaving Friday afternoon after we got the water pipes all blown out and everything put away and the "Cabin" cleaned, winterized and closed up. But WHEW!!! That was a JOB! We didn't get finished until almost 3pm and both of us were dog tired. We had a meeting and made a corporate decision that we would get a good nights rest and put in a full day of driving Saturday.
Boy, I slept like a LOG and woke up ready to roll. It was a beautiful morning and made us extra sad to leave such a gorgeous place. By 7:30AM, we were rolling out of Custer heading South. The weather stayed nice all day. We had a great travel day and made our destination to the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney, Nebraska. We arrived as usual right on time for Happy Hour at 4pm. However, we crossed over into the Central Time Zone and lost an hour. Pat had called the Archway and found out their closing time was 4pm.

We really planned on staying the night at Cabela's and visiting the Archway first thing this morning but the folks at the Archway told us we were welcome to spend the night in their parking lot. Cabela's has dozens of trains going all night long and they all love to blow those whistles. We jumped at the idea of being welcomed to use the Archways big parking lot and being right there to view the Archway first thing this morning .

The Archway is beautiful and extends across Interstate 80 right close to the center of Nebraska. Ms Pat and I remember when they began to build it. We wondered what in the world it was. We have driven under it many times but never took the time to stop and see it...We decided this is the time!

I really wish I had taken the tour before I wrote this Blog so I could show you more about this fabulous structure. It is quite interesting how they built it and what all it is made of. The special steel and chemicals used on the sides of it designate the Nebraska Sunset.. It is beautiful!. You definitely need to check out their Monument Website and here's a link to Wikipedia that has a little more info. Don't pass it up if you're ever crossing the state. Many of our friends have marveled at the longest escalator in the state inside that takes you by all the marvelous displays..

Standing out in front of the entrance is this big beautiful BUFFALO!!

The Entrance

It's much bigger that it looks from the Interstate as you fly under it. If you have stopped and toured the Archway, please leave me a comment and tell me what you thought of it.

Here we are all tucked away back in the far side of the parking lot all by ourselves. I really enjoy this Motorhome set up. It's so convenient and easy....just pull in, hit a button and it levels itself and nothing touches the ground. Touch another button and the TV Dome finds a satellite. One more button and the slide, or slides are out.......another button starts the generator if the power meter says you're batteries are low. Didn't have to start the generator until this morning and that was mainly for the heat pump to take the chill off and, of course, the coffee pot. What a great way to travel!!!

We enjoyed the evening except for watching Wisconsin beat the socks off our University of Nebraska. Shucks, that sure shot their winning season! As soon as we tour the Monument this morning, we will head for Lincoln and spend a few days with our dear daughter-in-law, Ann. After our visit in Lincoln, we will continue on to our next destination, Little Rock, AR.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and may the Good Lord take a likin' to ya!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

I Knew It....Change in Plans!

2011-09-28T05:33:00.001-07:00

We have decided to head out a few days early. The weather has been so beautiful the last week and we’re afraid it might turn bad real quick. So we have decided to wrap things up and get on the road.

We go on our walk out in the Park every morning for about an hour and Ms. Pat took this picture on her phone of the colors. Although it's beautiful, it's telling us it's time to pack up and get on our way. We have played this game before. It's easy to stay a little too long, as it can turn nasty in a heartbeat. Of course, I admit we both love to travel so much, we always get a bit anxious to continue the life we have enjoyed so much for the last 16 years.

We plan on leaving Saturday morning. That is, of course, unless we just happen to be ready to go Friday. :-) If we do, maybe we'll leave Friday afternoon and get a few miles under our belt before we stop for the evening. We are loading up the Motorhome and trying to decide what to take and what to leave and today we will blow out the cabin water lines. We put “quick connectors” on the water lines, so it’s a simple job to hook an air compressor up and blow them out. Right Rollie?? :-) Rollie and Gina were here last year when we blew everything out and he showed us how to do it. But, that was a year ago and since our memory is not so good, he took time out of his busy schedule to write us "step by step" instructions on how to do it this year. Thanks, Son! That makes it a lot easier for us.

Sunday morning we should be on the road somewhere headed first to Lincoln, Nebraska to spend a few days with Ann, Scott's wife, and help her get a few things ready for Winter. So I may not get a Blog out and if I do it will be short. Thanks for stopping by and come on back. I'll keep you posted on where we are.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

God Bless you all.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

It’s Buffalo Roundup Time in the Black Hills

2011-09-25T07:04:00.001-07:00

This weekend it’s Buffalo Roundup time in Custer State Park. Actually, the Roundup is Monday but the festivities started yesterday. (Saturday) This Roundup is getting so much publicity that more and more people come from far and near to see it every year. They are expecting crowds close to the 15,000 mark this year. Since Ms. Pat and I used to participate in the Roundup for the 9 Summers we worked out in the park, we hardly ever go out to it anymore. However if you remember last year we made an exception and took a break from working on the “Summer Cabin” and took Rollie and Gina, Mark and Dale and John and Michal Bagley all to the Roundup. We all had a great time and those are sure some fond memories.

This is my famous picture of my friend and former boss Ron during the roundup a couple years ago. He was actually trying to turn back a group of Buffalo that broke away from the rest of the herd. I don't know if he was successful or not. I love this picture. It made the cover of several magazines. It is special to me because Ron is using my Saddle, the one I won back in the days when I was following Rodeos for a living. Gosh, it's unbelievable that saddle is as old as it is. Wow, as I recall that was way back in 1953 when I won it for All around Champion Cowboy. That was 58 years ago!! Holy Cow!! I guess saddles haven’t changed much over the years and it's in better shape than I am, that’s for sure. Ron loves this saddle and rides it all the time. I am so happy for him to use it. I know it's in good hands, he's as proud of it as I am and he takes real good care of it.

Yesterday was the first day of the Arts and Crafts Festival, held right in the center of the Park. The weather was beautiful and it’s scheduled to be that way for the next few days. Ms. Pat and I decided it would be a great day for our last Motorcycle ride for this year, so about 10:00 we headed out for the Park to see what was going on in the Park and to walk around at the Arts and Crafts Festival. It's a lot of fun because we always see a lot of our old friends there that we used to work with. This celebration just gets bigger and bigger every year. I can remember when it was only a few booths. They have free entertainment all day long and every kind of arts and crafts you can imagine are displayed.

When we left the Arts and Crafts area, we decided to take the “Wild Life Loop” on our way home. It’s a 20 mile loop of the South section of Custer State Park and the area where the Roundup is held. The above photo (taken from the road) is of the Buffalo Corrals where the Buffalo are handled. Looks like they are all set up for the BIG crowd.

Down the road a couple miles, we ran into this herd of Buffalo grazing. There was a long line of cars and we just stopped, shut off the Harley, leaned back and watched them all walk right by us. What a neat experience..

They just nonchalantly moseyed right on by us very close acting as if we didn’t exist. They are used to the vehicles and visitors taking pictures and if you don’t get them riled up, they won’t bother you.

This old gal and her calf walked right by us on the road in the left lane. They were all headed somewhere, maybe they heard there was a “Roundup” . There was about 40-50 cows plus calves in the group. Little does she know that in just a few short hours she will be separated from that beautiful healthy baby of hers and he will be suddenly exposed to being on his own! But I bet she has trained him well!

Notice the colors of the trees as the leaves are just beginning to turn. What a beautiful time of the year! (click on these pictures to enlarge them)

More colors…

What a super day and what a GREAT last ride for 2011.

“Custer State Park, We Love Every inch of You”!!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!! We Praise the Lord and give our thanks for being blessed with this wonderful life!

God Bless you all and thanks for taking the time to stop by.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

2 Weeks Until Departure

2011-09-21T05:37:00.000-07:00

Only 2 more weeks and we will be leaving our favorite Summer spot. That time will fly by and be here before we know it. We still have a lot of things to get done and on the 5th of Oct we will do our final “winterization” of the cabin and head to Lincoln, Nebraska. We set up the plumbing with special air chuck fittings so it will be a simple job to blow out all the water lines. Rollie was here last year to help me blow it out. I hope I can remember how to do it. The memory is really suffering lately.......I don’t know what happened to it??

Several people asked if you had to crawl up on the roof of the RV each time to hook and unhook the "Awning Clamp" that I installed. Good question and I should have explained that. If you click on the picture and enlarge it, you will see a place to hook your awning rod and fasten and unfasten the clamp. A small price to pay for the peace of mind of not having to worry about the awning “unfurling” and ripping off. Hope it works!!

I had a new passenger on my 4 wheeler. I took Ms. Megabyte2 for a ride. At first she said, "No way Pops!! I’m not getting on that thing!" But with a little time and assurance that she would be OK and I would protect her, she agreed to take a ride. After a slow trip around the place, she got a little more comfortable, but she still wasn’t too sure about the idea.

I was surprised she stood for it at all. She rode all the way down to the mail box and back with me but when we got back she was saying…….”I don’t know Pops, it's a little scary. I think I better get off now”. I
really think she kinda liked it…

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

God Bless you all.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday,,

Old Man Winter Is Closing In !

2011-09-18T06:55:00.001-07:00

Thursday it didn’t get much above 40 all day long. It was rainy, foggy and the wind was blowing. That would have to be the day we had to be in Rapid City at 9am for a doctor appointment. We were home by mid afternoon and the storm was about to move on out and by the next day it was up to a beautiful 75* with clear blue skies and sunshine.

Ah yes. Winter is coming and I just love these little reminders we get this time of the year that make us so thankful we can pack up and head South.   Like three mornings this week, it was in the 30’s when we got up. The new Cove Radiant Heaters sure are working great. How nice it is to turn the thermostat up and in a few minutes it's warm as toast in our new “cabin”.

Our Summer Cabin is so cozy, snug and comfortable and after spending the last 15 years in an RV full time,   we really enjoy it. I don’t care what kind of an RV you have, they just leave a little to be desired in really cold weather. I’m not complaining mind you.....I admit it's true but I wouldn’t trade all those full timing years for anything in the world, believe me! Both of us loved every minute of it!

I will say that it is easier to get ready to travel when you are living in an RV. The hard thing about having a house and moving to the RV for a long trip like we do is loading it up. What to take....and what to leave? When you are full timing you have everything you own (almost) in your RV and you just hook up and go. No decisions and you don’t forget a thing. Believe me, I left a lot of stuff at North Ranch last Spring that I needed up here and I suppose I will do the same thing when we leave here. Meanwhile, it's decisions, decisions, decisions! However, the time to depart just keeps getting closer and closer but, as usual, I’m ready to go!! When this RV’n gets in your blood, it's hard to fight off that “hitch-itch”.

Back in June when we arrived, this is how our “proposed” kitchen looked (above). It was only blue tape marks on the floor......it was just a dream. I wondered if it would ever become a reality.

Wednesday the Cabinet man came out and finished up the job. I can now say it is a REALITY!! For some reason, the lighting in the picture above makes the color of the front panel look much lighter than it really is.

Remember, we didn’t care for the wide stripes in the original hickory wood panel like those on the right above. They put the panel up on the left and asked us if we liked that better. Ah yes, we liked that much better! Something about those wide stripes seemed to “jump out” at you. I didn’t like them at all! The cabinet guys agreed and thought this would look a lot better.

Here is the final look. We are very pleased with it and it's FINISHED!! These pictures are for you, Rollie and Gina, you made a dream come true.

So now Ms. Pat has me hanging pictures here and there and putting up towel racks and small stuff as she decorates and makes the place even more "homey".

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!   We even found time to take a nice long Motorcycle ride up into the Deerfield area northwest of Hill City, a beautiful area that we had never explored before.

Thanks for stopping by.... hope you’ll drop back Wednesday.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

"Awning-ology"

2011-09-14T07:56:00.001-07:00

Way back from the very first RV I owned, I’ve had this love-hate relationship with awnings. On one hand, there’s nothing like sitting under the awning, sipping on your favorite beverage at Happy Hour. On the other hand, we roll up the awning on the side of our RV’s and travel down the open road praying that a side wind doesn’t inflate it and tear it off.

If you haven’t experienced an awning “unfurling” on you while traveling, you have been lucky. Most of us have experienced it or talked to someone that it has happened to. Awning damage not only occurs to stationary RV’s with their awnings out but also to those traveling down the road. When a powerful side wind contacts the side of the RV, the air is diverted in all directions, including upward into the retracted awning and causes the "unfurling". Awning damage is the 3RD highest Insurance claim made in the industry. We have always made sure that we do not leave our awning out when we are away from our RV, or at night and have never had that type of damage.

However, we have sure had them “unfurl” while driving down the road and it was always when we experienced a high side wind. The first time it happened was on one of our Teton 5TH wheel’s and it took the awning completely off and tossed it in the ditch. Since then I have used several different methods of securing the awning to eliminate the problem but I never did feel comfortable with any of those methods. I know and agree the best advice is to just shut down and not travel during such winds. But that's not possible all the time.

Now this Foretravel Motorhome has Awning “locks” on the arms of each awning. This is the fix most people use and I have used it before. However, I never had complete faith in them as they are no match for the power created from strong side winds and do little to prevent unfurling or ballooning.

We found out these lock's don’t do the job when we were bringing the motorhome back to Custer from Nacogdoches, TX when we bought it last year. In Kansas, we were traveling West on the Interstate when the wind kept getting stronger and stronger and it was hitting us directly on the side with this awning. Having experienced this unfurling before, I positioned my rear view mirror so I could keep a close eye on the awning. Sure enough, soon it started ballooning as the wind gusts inflated it.

Fortunately I was able to pull into a rest area immediately. I was at the winds mercy, there was nothing I could do. So as we sat waiting for the wind to go down. I noticed that the map showed a secondary road just a half mile ahead that I could go North on, So we eased on up to that road which turned out to be a great road and then we had a tail wind way on up into Nebraska. Solved the problem that time; however, since then I started searching for something to stop this problem.

I could find nothing that I thought would do the job. Then some of you will remember my Blog written as we were coming up to Custer, SD this year from our place at North Ranch, AZ, we again had serious ‘unfurling” of the street side awning. We were going down I-80 headed West doing fine with a great tail wind again but then at Rawlings, WY, we had to turn North and I knew we were in trouble. The very strong wind was hitting us smack dab on the left side. Soon again I saw the awning beginning to balloon or “unfurl”. I slowed down but that didn’t help. So I pulled into a nice wide spot along the side of the road and we sat...and we sat...and we sat. The wind didn’t let up in the least, in fact I believe it increased even more. I didn’t want to lose that awning, so we sat it out. Thankfully, Verizon had a strong signal way out there and with our air card, we were able to get some computer time in. I immediately set out to find the solution to this awning unfurling problem. I had to find something, this was ridiculous!

This is what I finally found and I’m hoping it is my solution to the problem. It is called RV Awning Clamp and is manufactured by RV Innovations..

It's not cheap by any means but it appears to be very sturdy and in my mind it is the only item that I feel will do the trick and still not look too terribly distractive or unattractive. I’ll let you know how it works. Now Ms. Pat and I must remember to unlatch it before we put the slide out!!! We already have a big RED warning sticker on the slide control.

*Please Note: You will notice that these clamps are not recommended for slideout awnings. Well, mine is a dual purpose awning. It is a slideout awning and a window awning and I believe it should do the trick just fine…. (famous last words!:-)

We have broken the 200 barrier with Followers and want to welcome:
Dick
Dick is our follower number 201……Glad to have you Dick!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We are enjoying our “Cabin” more every day….thanking God for such a wonderful life and good friends. It is truly a Blessing.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Yes I Remember !

2011-09-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

I remember as if it were yesterday. That day on Sept 11, 2001, we were out in the middle of a 5000 acre lake near Hot Springs, SD fishing. It was such a beautiful day, clear skies, no wind, when our phone rang. It was Terri, our daughter from Florida. She informed us what had just happened. In total shock, we put our fishing poles away and headed back home to our 5TH wheel so we could watch what was happening on TV. We will never forget…………NEVER!

I fly my Flag a lot but especially today, September11TH, in remembrance of those that lost their lives on that day. My heart goes out to the people that lost loved ones. I pray that somehow we can take our country back!

My last Blog “We Got Heat” sure raised the questions about the heaters we installed being put up near the ceiling. I put the link to “Comfort Cove Radiant Heat Systems” so anyone that was interested could check them out. But no one noticed it, so let me tell you a little bit about them. I, too, was skeptical when I saw that they were installed up near the ceiling. This comes direct from their web site:

How It Works

How It Warms Your Floor

The Comfort Cove home heater uses radiant heat, "it's heat at light speed"^®. Radiant heat does not rise like hot air, instead, it heats anything in its path - up, down, or sideways - traveling in a straight line until it strikes an object. Radiant heat is unaffected by gravity, and will not fluctuate temperature. This efficient heating alternative warms floors and objects, as well as the air in a room, similar to the way the sun heats the earth. As objects in the room become warm (chairs, floors, and people), the surrounding air picks up heat by conduction and the entire room maintains a constant comfortable warmth.

People live on floors, not on ceilings

Air Heaters - Cold and Wasteful
Radiant Heat - Warm and Efficient

We learned about these heaters from the fellow that was installing our Kitchen Cabinets. He told us that he used them in several of his rental properties and his tenants loved them. He told us they are reasonably priced and extremely efficient. I went to their web site, checked them out and found that they were sold by our local power company. The Power Company endorses them highly and the local electrician that we use told us that they are a great deal and people they have installed them for love them. In fact, Tom, the head electrician, told us they had installed ten of them that week.

They are 240 volt and take very low amperage. It was very simple to run the extra wire for ours and all 4 of the Radiant Heaters are on one 20amp circuit. We checked and with all the heaters on running full blast, they are only taking 16 amps. We have had a chance to use them with the cool mornings we are having up here in the Black Hills and we’re impressed.. It’s unbelievable how neat they work and how warm the floor gets. Sure makes walking on our new wood floors neat. Plus, since we are an “All Electric” home, the power company gives us a reduced rate!! So check them out if you have a room or two that needs some HEAT. Their web site gives all the answers. I hope I’ve cleared up the “Heaters up near the Ceiling” questions, if not let me know…and thanks for asking. It sure answered what to make my Blog about today!

You all know how close Ms. Megabyte2 is to my heart and I am happy to report that she is doing GOOD. Thanks Charley and Sherry for asking. She has come back almost 100% and that sure makes us happy and thankful. She has more “homes” than any cat I know. She conforms to each one we shuffle her into. Here she is looking out her new "look out". I don’t think she likes it as well as she does the dash of the Motorhome but who knows.

She can also jump up on the front window sill and loves to look out from her new "perch"…..

Sometimes we play “Jail” and right now she is in Jail! She runs around the place a slippin' and a slidin' on the wood floor. I think she likes this place…

Quite often she gets to go outside...........but always under the close eye of “Mom”.

But oh my, she sure enjoys her Motorhome, too.

Ah yes! What a wonderful place to relax and get a few rays! LOL

You can tell I love to talk about and show you pictures of my little gift from Heaven............Thank You Scooter. I love you man!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!

Thank you all for stopping by and God Bless. Praise the Lord for our many Blessings!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We got Heat!!

2011-09-07T03:31:00.000-07:00

Our Comfort Cove Radiant Heaters have been ordered for a couple of weeks and yesterday they arrived. We knew we had to get them installed, as Sunday when we got up it was 32*. We had the wiring for the heaters and the thermostats already done, so it didn’t take long to get them hung on the walls.

The first one in the living room is up. We put two in the living room, one in the bedroom and one small one in the bathroom.

The second one in the living room is installed.

Bathroom installed…each room has its own thermostat.

One more to go in the bedroom….

There....the Bedroom is done! That does it. Heat Installed…. Hurray!! One more little job completed. I think we are getting to the end. Time to sit back and enjoy this great little place, that is until Ms. Pat thinks of some other little project…..:-)

We were extremely happy yesterday when Ron and JerrieLea, our good friends from Arizona, stopped to see us. Our front yard was wide open, so we talked them in to staying the night. They could only stay for one night and this morning they have to head out early, as they need to get back to Arizona to take care of some personal matters. We look forward to seeing them down there this winter. Have a safe trip folks!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and we hope you will find time to stop back Sunday and see what we can dig up that’s exciting around here.. Until then, may the good Lord take a likin' to ya!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Moved into our “CABIN” at Custer..

2011-09-04T05:54:00.000-07:00

The Escapade in Gillette,WY is now history and was a super event. This is the large Cam-Plex where most all the events were held. It is a wonderful place to have a large rally such as this, with plenty of parking and full hookups with 50amps.

There were nearly 700 RVs in attendance and room for more. Dozens of door prizes were given away at the assemblies each night.

Ms. Pat found the Line Dancers every morning and here they are up on the stage performing at the popular "Ham-O- Rama".

This is the group that was initiated into the Elks Club at the Escapade. There were over 50 of us. Can you find me?? I’m there. Now we can park at Elks Clubs all over the country as we travel.

We left the Escapade early Friday morning and since it was only 112 miles, by 10:00am we were home and ready for our BIG MOVE. This was the BIG day!!

We have spent the last two nights in our new place and it has been very enjoyable. Even Ms. Megabyte2 is happy. Wow, this is what we have been waiting for. Ms. Pat is busy as a bee getting things arranged. It's looking like HOME now. Rollie and Gina, you would be proud! Wish you were here.

Yesterday when Ms. Pat and I were on our walk out in the Park, you could see a few of the Aspen trees leaves turning a bright gold. You can smell Fall in the air and this morning the thermometer said 32* when we got up. Fall is a beautiful time here in the Hills. The only bad thing about it is that it means another Summer is coming to a close. In just one month, we will be all closed up here and headed South for the Winter. My how time does fly!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and travel safe...........

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

2011 Escapade, Gillette. WY. August 31, 2011

2011-08-31T05:54:00.003-07:00

We are coming to you from the 51st Escapade in Gillette, WY at the beautiful CAM-PLEX this morning. We are parked in the Box Elder Campground, row “D”, site 34 with hundreds of other RV’s.

When we got home from our 1000 mile trip back to Eastern Nebraska, we were rather exhausted. We almost made the decision not to come over to the Escapade but it rained all day Monday and that gave us a chance to relax and recoup. There are just too many of our good friends over here that we wanted to see so here we are. Plus the weatherman promised clear skies and a beautiful day Tuesday. He was right Tuesday was beautiful. We hurried up and sent out a couple PressurePro orders and headed West towards Gillette. It was a super day and the 112 mile drive was enjoyable.

Before we left, I wanted to dump my tanks. I love the way the air system on this Foretravel lets you tip from one side to the other, raise or lower the front and rear. That comes in real handy and helps get the rain off your roof and awning.

We called and told our good buddies Art and Caroline Fennell that we were about 10 miles away. They are in charge of Security and advised us just where to turn and said “we will be there waiting for you”! When we pulled into the big wonderful Cam-plex, there they were on their golf cart waiting for us. After some hug’s they lead us directly to our parking spot....full hookups and 50amp’s. Now how is that for service? Boy it pays to know the right people in the right places… Thanks so much guys!!

We got comfortably settled in and then ventured over to the main complex area. It wasn’t long until we were meeting all kinds of friends and long lost buddies. We ventured through the Vendors area and that made me remember all the times we stood in booths at Rally’s like this. Ah, it seemed so great to not be working and being a regular attendee for a change. We even had a few hugs with some of our old Vender buddies.

After looking everything over and talking with friends for much of the afternoon, we headed on back to the Rig and about Happy Hour there was a knock at the door. Several other Foretravel owners were near by and invited us over. There are about 6 Foretravel owners here that we got to meet and talk Foretravel with. A couple of them even bought their Foretravels from MOT just as we did and even from Mel, the same salesman.

Since there were no activities that evening and it was an “on your own” night, we had some of the Roast Beef that Ann had given us that was left over from the funeral luncheon. Boy it hit the spot. Later our friends, Keith and Donna, stopped by to say hello and shortly after that, Mark and Dortha stopped. It is so great to see all these folks.

During Mark and Dortha’s visit Megabyte2 decided to create a little excitement. We hadn’t noticed that we had left the front door slightly ajar. Silently and without anyone noticing, she slipped out into the big vast campground. When Mark and Dortha got up to leave, we noticed she was gone, Oh Dear!! It was high panic time for us all…….would we ever find her.....while I got my shoes on for what I expected to be a long search and started out the door, here she came zooming back in the door. Mark and Dortha had seen her under the Motorhome and she was scared and when she saw the chance she decided to get back home, where she was safe and sound… WOW, were we relieved. Praise the Lord ! What a great day,,,,all’s well that ends well!

Today we will continue wandering around like a couple “regular attendees doing a few things of our choice. Then tomorrow night, us and about 30 others will be initiated into the local Elks. A lot of the Elks clubs across the country have Campgrounds and hookup’s for RVs where a lot of our friends stay, so were looking to join them.

Friday we will say our farewells to all and head back to our little “Heaven on the Hill” in the Black Hills and guess what. We are going to move into our CABIN…….. We are excited!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!! As we continue to thank our Father in Heaven for all he has provided us…..

Thanks for stopping by.
Mike
This Blog is published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Our beautiful campsite in the city park in David City, Nebraska.

Change in Plans..

2011-08-28T05:08:00.000-07:00

We are in David City, way back in the Eastern part of Nebraska. Not much time for a Blog this morning as we about to hit the road headed back home to Custer.

Shortly after I published last Wednesday’s Blog, we received a call from Ann, our daughter-in-law in Lincoln, informing us that her Mother had passed away during the night. We immediately began preparations to leave. I knew Scott would want us to be here and help support Ann in his absence. Shortly after lunch Wednesday, we were on the road. We went part way, stopped for the night and then drove on in to David City on Thursday.

We made it to David City around 4 pm and parked in the little City Park. Ann came over to visit with us that afternoon. Friday afternoon, we met Ann and some of her Mom's family at the Funeral Home for the viewing. The Wake and Rosary were held at St. Mary's Catholic Church Friday night. Yesterday morning (Sat) was the Funeral and this morning we are ready to head back towards home.

Although Ann’s Mom was 86 years old and had been under the weather for a while, it is never easy. Ann is an only child and was very close to her Mother. I am so glad that we came. We sure miss Scott though and I know Ann misses him terribly. Ann came over yesterday afternoon after the funeral and we said our goodbyes. We'll come back through here to see her on our way south in a month or so.

The weather has been beautiful and the City Park is a nice little RV park for short time visitors. It has 50amp service and water hookups. So we have been quite comfortable.

It will take us until sometime tomorrow to get home. Then we will regroup and decide if we have enough time (and energy) to make it on over to Gillette, WY to the Escapade for a couple of days. We could still get in on half of it but we will see how we feel and make a decision when we get home.

Thanks for stopping by and come on back Wednesday.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Escapade in Gillette, WY. Here we come!

2011-08-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

Only two more days and we will be heading over to Gillette, WY to the Big Escapade. Many of our friends are already there or heading that way. We have been hitting it pretty hard around here and it's time for a little trip. We have been stationary for nearly 3 months here on our “Heaven on a Hill” in the Black hills of South Dakota and we're ready for a vacation. We planned on attending this Rally and not “work” it for a change.... just relax and attend a few seminars of our choice. That will be a switch but it may not happen, as several good friends have already contacted us requesting Volunteer help. We’ll see but I sure would like to enjoy just being a spectator once.

The “Cabin” is ready for us to move into. We got the Satellite TV all installed and Ms. Pat, Megabyte2 and I enjoyed Happy Hour there last night. It sure was nice and comfortable. We’re really anxious to move in but we will wait until we return from the Escapade. Then we will only have about a month before we have to close it up for the Winter and begin our trip South. Around the first of October, we will head towards Florida to visit kids, grandkids and friends before we head to our house in Arizona.

I’m extremely proud to Welcome our latest Follower’s:

Frenchy and Clotile

.......who just happen to be our 200TH Followers!! Welcome aboard folks and we’re mighty glad to have you with us. Who would have ever thought back in 2007 when I started this Blog that I would ever have anywhere near 200 Followers? Not me!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by. Travel safe and God Bless you all.

We should arrive at the Escapade Saturday about noon. It’s only a little over 100 miles and we’re hoping for a nice comfortable trip. See ya'll there !!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Shop! Shop! Shop....Until you DROP!

2011-08-21T07:14:00.001-07:00

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and comments on our little kitty from Heaven, Megabyte2. Boy are we relieved! She continues to get better every day and only has two more antibiotic pills to take. It sure was good to watch her playing and chasing her toys around the place again. Praise the Lord for that. For a while there, I thought he was going to take her back.

Well, since we are heading to the Escapade in Gillette, WY in a few days, we didn’t move into the cabin. So I’m still reporting to you from the Motorhome. When we get back we will move in.

Last Thursday was a shopping day. We got away early at 7:30 am headed for Rapid City for what I knew would be a long day. I will admit I’m not a shopper of any kind in anyway shape or form. I hate shopping!! But since Gina or Dale weren't around, I knew I had to do it. I kept telling myself all night and all the way to town....I can do this...I can! I can! Plus, I have to act like I’m enjoying it and make it as easy on Ms. Pat as possible. So here we go!! Wow!! We went to SIX different furniture stores! Yes SIX! That doesn’t count Sams, Lowes, Safeway, the Polaris store, or the Harley Davidson place. It was a long day but a successful one and we came home with a truck and trailer load of furniture. When we got home it was late and we were both wiped out so we left everything in the trailer and called it a day!

Thursday was put together day! The Recliner/Loveseat came all crated up.

We took it apart and finally got it through the door. The TV we bought and the wall mount are in the corner waiting to be put up.

Finally we got it put together and Ms. Pat is happy! It sure is comfortable. You can't really tell what color it is in the photos but it is a dark brown leather.

Next we got the TV wall Mount up and mounted the TV. Notice Ms. Megabyte2 in the chair relaxing.:-) That is one of my Mom's old rocking chairs that we inherited. We'll find a place for it in the cabin somewhere. Mom would love this place.

Next was to get the Bar Stools put together…… there was a zillion parts and pieces. What a job!

But it was worth it as they look great…. Good job Mom!

We're not done but we're getting there! Rollie and Gina, you gotta get back up here and see what YOU built!! You can't see Rocky's plumbing, but its there and working beautifully!

We put the new box springs and mattress on the bed frame and made up the bed with our new quilt and pillows Barb made for us.The picture doesn’t do justice to all the colors and hand stitching in the quilt and pillows but I can tell you it is BEAUTIFUL!! Thank you so much Barb. Now, Ms Pat says she wants to find the perfect dust ruffle to accent the colors in the quilt but right now, it is what it is. We are still shopping for nightstands to go by the bed.

About 2:00pm Roy and Ann stopped by to say hello. They are Blog followers and PressurePro customers from New York. They are enjoying the “crooked” roads in the Black Hills and are on their way to the Escapade in Gillette. It was great getting to meet them. As usual, I forgot to take a picture of them. :-(

Just as they were leaving, Duane and Carol our friends and big time PressurePro Distributors pulled in for the night on their way home to Arizona. These are the folks that we buy all our PressurePro Systems from. We are ever so thankful for all their help and support over the year's.

We tried to talk Roy and Ann into staying as Ms. Pat was cooking Buffalo Burgers for everybody but they had other commitments and had to go. Bob and Cindy, from Hemingford, Nebraska, were also in town and joined us. Cindy brought a super good salad that everyone enjoyed. Above is Bob with his back to us having some of Ms. Pats special Smoked Salmon dip. (A special thanks to JRoger and Susan for the recipe). In the circle is Cindy, Carol, Me, then Duane. Look at all those COATS. Here it is August and it is "oh so nice and COOL!!!" We love it.

Bob and Cindy both have Trike Motorcycles, so yesterday (Saturday) we all went for a nice 3 hour ride in the beautiful Black Hills. As you can see, we never have a dull moment around here but I believe we are about ready for a little down time. Some R & R……Ha, that’s a joke.

Stay tuned as we prepare to leave Saturday morning for the Escapade in Gillette WY. Looking forward to seeing all our friends that are already there or headed that way. If you're in the area, come and join the fun. There are lots of educational seminars, entertainment and social activities to enjoy.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by……..come on back whenever you can.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday.

Finally!! The Test Results Are Back!!

2011-08-17T06:02:00.000-07:00

It was a long weekend waiting for the test results to come back and determine if Ms. Megabyte2 had the life threatening disease of Feline Infectious Peritonitis ( FIP). Monday we called the Vet at 10:00AM and they weren’t in yet, then when we hadn’t heard by 3:00PM Ms. Pat called again. They still weren’t in but the Vet said she would call the Lab and see if she could find out something. Wow! Wait, wait, wait!! I hate waiting. We were beside ourselves with all this suspense. Ms. Megabyte2 had a bad day Friday, then Saturday she perked up a little as the Antibiotics started kicking in and her temperature was staying down.

FINALLY, Monday evening about 6:00PM the phone rang and it was the Vet. I was so anxious to hear the results, yet I was scared to death. Scared it was going to be something we did not want to hear. I listened closely as Ms. Pat heard the Vet talk. I heard her say “Yes. Oh OK”, then I saw her face turn to a “happy face” and she said “Oh, that’s WONDERFUL” ! I knew then that it was GOOD news and I was already saying my Thank You to God.

Her tests were negative for the Coronavirus which causes the fatal FIP. She was also tested for FIV (Feline AIDS), Feline Leukemia and Toxoplasmosis….most of the dreaded deadly diseases that cats can get. They were all NEGATIVE!!! Praise the Lord!!! She does have a serious urinary tract infection and possibly a kidney infection. We are to continue with the antibiotics, monitor her temp and stay in contact with the Vet. She is not out of the woods yet and does not act like her usual playful self but each day she seems to get better and the outlook is promising. We continue our prayers…..

We thank you all so much for your care, concern and prayers. It was quite an ordeal but we are so thankful that we got a second opinion. I have been spending a lot of time with Ms. Megabyte2 the last several days. I hope she will be with us for many years to come. She has become so much a part of this family that I can’t imagine living without her.

Monday Ron and Barb headed on down the road on their summer vacation. They had been with us for a month. They enjoyed the Black Hills and said they hated to leave but the kids were calling!

In between times when Barb was not enjoying the beautiful Black Hills, she was making these beautiful pillows to go with the Quilt she presented us at North Ranch last winter. The colors accent each other beautifully and they all will look so great on our bed in the new cabin… Thank You so much Barb….

Meanwhile, Ron was hard at it too! He Dri-washed my entire Rig!! Wow, what a job!! It took him two days of hard work to get all the way around it but he did a wonderful job and we appreciate it so much! Ron is a dealer for Dri-wash Products which we have been using for years and years. In my book, it is the best polish you can put on your RV, Car, Motorcycle or anything else. So many of our friends already use it but if you haven't tried it, get in touch with Ron and tell him I sent you. He will ship you some of this superb product and you won’t be sorry. Thank You again Ron for your hard work. That was so good of you and I am so proud to go to the Escapade in two weeks with our rig all detailed……

As hard as we tried to get them to stay, we knew they had to get to Missouri to see their kids. Here they go, out the driveway. So long guys and hurry back!! Travel safe. Gosh we miss them already. It seems so quiet up here on our little hill with just us!!

Tomorrow we are going in to Rapid City and spend a long day shopping for a box springs and mattress and some furniture. By this weekend we hope to be moved in....so stop by Sunday and maybe I’ll be coming to you from our new home!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by as we continue to praise Our Father in Heaven for all he provides us and for watching over our "little girl".

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Yet another trip to the Emergency Room!

2011-08-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

This time it was Ms. Megabyte2. She hadn’t been acting her normal self at all and we were both very concerned about her. She just had no energy and although she sleeps a lot anyhow, she was sleeping more than usual and not playing and running around like she normally does. I’m sure you pet owners know how you can just sense when something isn’t right. She wasn’t going to the bathroom at all. Ms. Pat and I decided to take her to the Vet but first we took her temperature. It was 105*. Yep, definitely something wrong and the Vet said to bring her right in… she was a sick girl.

The Vet did a quick examination and took a urine sample. He then looked at the sample on a small portable microscope. He immediately diagnosed her with FIP. which is Feline Infectious Peritonitis. He gave her a steroid shot and gave us some Prednisone tablets to give her for the next few weeks. He told us that FIP is incurable and although this is usually always a fatal disease, it can often be controlled with medication. Ms. Pat and I were devastated and in shock. Our hearts were broken as we took her home. Ms. Pat started researching FIP on the Internet and she was shocked even further. The diagnosis was pretty grim. We both cried all night and were wondering what to do next.

The next day we decided to call our Vet in Arizona who helped Megabyte through her pregnancy and other illnesses to see what she had to say. We told her what the Vet here told us and about the Urine test that led him to his diagnosis. She told us to find another Vet and get a second opinion because FIP cannot be diagnosed with just a Urine sample. We called another local Vet here in Custer and they told us to bring her in. When we arrived at the Vet’s office, her fever was 105.6*. She was very lethargic and a very sick little girl.

The new Vet confirmed the opinion of our Vet in Arizona and said that FIP cannot be determined solely with a Urine test. She said we needed to do further testing to determine exactly what is going on and really questioned why the first Vet didn’t do more testing before diagnosing her with FIP. She said the fever could be caused by any number of illnesses. So, she drew a large sample of blood and overnighted it to the lab. Since it was Friday, we won’t know the results until Monday.

Meanwhile, the doctor gave Megabyte a shot of antibiotics and some antibiotic pills to take at home. She also gave her some fluids under her skin because she was really dehydrated. We took her temperature yesterday morning and it was back to normal so we’re hoping the antibiotics are starting to work. She is still a very sick little girl. She's not eating and drinking like she normally does and not going to the bathroom like she should but we are praying she is getting better. Monday, if the Coronavirus test comes back negative, we will know for sure it is not FIP.

It’s in Gods hands and we put our trust in him. We sure don’t want to lose her.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Now It’s Coming Together!!

2011-08-10T05:15:00.001-07:00

This is Paul, one of our finish carpenters installing the new front storm door yesterday. Check the coat he has on, it was quite cool here and rained off and on all day.

Here is the new storm door all installed. I really like this door. It is an extra heavy duty Larson and will protect the front inner door a lot. Last year the snow piled against the front door and then melted. When we returned last Spring, it looked like the moisture had seeped inside the door. Hopefully, this will help. Plus it gives us a much better view and you can lower the glass and a screen automatically rolls down from the top.....neat!!

Open the front door and step in.....this is what you see… Counter Top is on, Micro/Convection and Stovetop installed and the Sink is ready to hook up. Mom is HAPPY!! They are sending us a new panel for the front of the cabinets, so we still have to install that. But all the door framing and the floor moldings are completed..

A closer look.

Look at the kitchen window sills Ms. Pat chose.....I love it.

The living room window sill.

This is the bedroom with the sliding mirror closet doors and the floor moldings installed…

This is from the kitchen looking out towards the front door. What do you think Rollie?

If you want to look back and see what we were doing at this time last year, check this Blog :
August 2010

Now all it needs is furniture. Yep, I’m afraid there are some furniture shopping trips in our future… Gina....Dale.......Please could someone come and help me out…I hate shopping!!

Today I am looking forward to getting the bathroom stool reset and the refrigerator and washer/dryer back in.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!! Praise the LORD!

Thanks for stopping by and if you're in the area, stop and see us. Everyone please travel safe and God Bless.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Afternoon Thunderstorms

2011-08-07T06:02:00.001-07:00

One afternoon about Happy Hour, while JRoger and Susan were here, we had one of our usual afternoon thunderstorms and, of course, it had some small hail and loud thunder…..

The loud thunder and the hail was making a lot of noise in our metal "Toy Barn". It scared Ms. Megabyte2 so bad she zoomed out of there before we could close the door. Ms. Pat took off after her. Here she's asking me to come out in the rain and help her get her out from under the Motorhome because she was scared to death.
It's raining real hard and Ms. Megabyte2 won't come out. Ms. Pat is beside herself..

So, like an idiot, I run out to get wet too!! I’ll get her when she comes out the other side. JRoger and Susan were back in the barn having a ball watching and laughing at us…….and as you can see, getting it all on camera.

Finally, we rescued her and were assuring her that she was safe and sound. Ms. Pat got drenched and I got a little wet myself. I never realized how hilarious this fiasco must have looked until JRoger showed me these pictures. WOW, what people won’t do for their pets, right?

Well, I was hoping I could show you a picture of the completed kitchen cabinets today but that won’t happen. There sure is a lot more involved with this than one would realize. The counter top wasn’t ready for install until Friday. When they brought it out with them from the cabinet shop to install, they found it wasn’t cut properly and would have to go back…. Man O' Man….!!

They did get quite a lot of other work done, like these crown moldings and the knobs and handles installed.

They look pretty neat, don’t you think? These take a lot of precise cuts. Hopefully, one day it will be worth all this but I’m getting a little frustrated.. Ms. Pat says “you just have to be patient”! Boy, without her I don’t know what I’d do! So maybe next week….?

Meanwhile the weather has been just superb.....like yesterday with clear skies all day and a low of 54* when we got up and went for our walk. Then it got clear up to a high of 78*. All this time, there was very little humidity and a nice, cool gentle breeze. There was a low rumble in the background most of the day as I was mowing and digging rocks on the property but it wasn’t thunder! It was the sound of Motorcycles. The big Sturgis Bike Rally starts tomorrow and believe me there are Motorcycles everywhere with more to come. We will lay low and let them have the Hills and in about a week it will settle down again and we can have our Hills back again…

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

A Quilter in the Midst..

2011-08-03T06:01:00.002-07:00

Ron and Barb are visiting us and enjoying our beautiful Black hills. They formerly lived in Dallas, TX. and just began full-timing about a year ago. Ron was a VP for a large Corporation and Barb worked for Harley Davidson. They came to spend about a month in the area and although they have been here two weeks now, it seems like they just got here. They have been seeing the sights in the area and yesterday they drove over to Devils Tower in Wyoming.

Barb is an excellent quilter and when I walked out into the shop the other day, she had a new quilt she was working on laid out on the floor. It is actually a lap quilt she is quilting for Ron and it took my eye immediately. It it a beauty!! If you remember, Barb presented us with a beautiful quilt she made us for our Cabin when they visited us at North Ranch last March. We will be displaying on our Brass Bed in the Cabin when we get our furniture moved in. Check it out: Grand Opening

As I moved in closer and took a look at this beautiful quilt in the making, I had but one thought in mind......

Rollie and Gina will LOVE IT!! It is a beauty!! They love Eagles, as you can see from their Blog. They just published a new Blog recently, so check it out as it has pictures of their new Grand Baby Abigail and check out the EAGLES!!

Meanwhile, Ron and I are getting a lot of projects done. Ron’s specialty is Dri-Wash and Guard polish. Here we are applying a protective coat to the top of our Motorhome. Ms. Pat and I love and swear by Dri-Wash products and have been using them for years. Ron is one of their top dealers and ships the product all over the world. If you haven’t tried some, you should and you will be amazed. Dri-Wash is like PressurePro, it has been around for a long time and is often imitated but never duplicated. It is the Best!!

While Ron and Barb were gone to Devils Tower yesterday, Ms. Pat and I took a long 20+ mile trip out in the woods on the 4X4’s. It was such a beautiful day, with temps in the 70’s and low humidity. One of those days that makes you proud to be alive……..and be where you are in this big world!

All this activity just seems to really wear Ms. Megabyte2 out…..Whew! If you're wondering what that red thing is on the top of my PressurePro Monitor Antenna, it seems that Ms. Megabyte2 likes to “chew” on the antenna. So I slipped a little piece of pex pipe on top of it so she can chew away and not hurt the antenna. As the old saying goes, "There's more than one way to 'skin a cat'". :-) Works for me!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

A special WELCOME to our latest followers..

Kitty
Nan and John

We are happy to have you onboard!!! That brings the Follower count up to an unbelievable 198.

WOW…..!! Thank You All so much!!

Safe Travels and God Bless.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Progress,,,,Finally !

2011-07-31T06:43:00.003-07:00

Wednesday morning, shortly after I had published my Blog, the cabinet installers came and began unboxing everything.

Soon the FIRST cabinet was installed.

By quitting time, they had them all installed.

Then on Friday, the floor installers came bright and early and it didn’t take them long to get started.

Two installers were going at it hot and heavy. One in the front living area and the other (above) in our Bedroom.

By early afternoon, they had it all completed. It really looks good. We are a little concerned with the way the piece of paneling looks on the front of the peninsula. There will be an extended counter top there for an eating area and later there will be bar stools in front of it. We don't know how that will change the appearance so we will wait until the counter tops are installed before we make a decision. If we don't like the way it looks, we may change that panel. In my opinion, it just doesn’t look right and it sort of jumps out at you but we will see.

The tile in the kitchen and bathroom look great. The colors worked well together. The pictures don’t bring out the exact coloring but again Ms. Pat did an excellent job.

This is the bedroom and is now ready for the mirrored doors to be installed on the closet.

Meanwhile, we had to get the baseboards all painted and ready for the finishers to install....so we had a painting party! With the super help of Ron and Barb, we had that accomplished in short order. Now we are on hold again until the counter tops are completed and the finishers come back, which we hope is in the not too distant future. But it seems the only ones in a hurry are us!!

Another project we have had going on all this time was a little dirt moving along the West side of our building.

It dawned on Pat and I one day that this would be a great place to level so we could park our Motorhome and maybe later even put a roof over it. The hail storms we have up here in the summer are a worry. We have been lucky with some close calls the last few summers. This isn’t something we will do right away but we wanted the groundwork laid in preparation for some future plans.

There, now we can let it settle and give it more attention later.

So that’s about it from our little place on the Hill in the Black Hill’s of South Dakota. The head is healing fine and I want to thank everyone for the emails and comments. Much appreciated! I have gotten used to the staples in my head; however, I will go back in on Friday and have them removed. I don't think I want them as a permanent fixture. Fortunately it hasn’t bothered me in the least. I told Ms. Pat that it’s a good thing it was my head cause I don’t use that much anyway!!

Update: Rollie and Gina (now known as Pops and Gigi) have a new addition to their family. Little Abigail Faith Thurston arrived on July 27. Mother Ashley and Little Abigail are doing fine. There are lots pictures on Rollie and Gina's blog and I'm sure there will be lots more to come.

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and your travels are all safe! Thanks for stopping by. If you're in the area, stop by and see our "work in progress".

We are truly blessed and we continue to thank our Heavenly Father for his bountiful blessings. Without Him, none of this would be possible.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

A Trip to the Emergency Room.....

2011-07-27T06:09:00.000-07:00

Monday morning started off with a BANG!!

At 6:30 we took off for the Park for our morning walk which took about an hour and then rushed home as we had several things going on. The floor installers soon arrived and began prepping the floor for installation of the new floor. Ron and I moved the Refrigerator and the Washing Machine out of the way. Shortly after that, the Dirt Movers arrived and began leveling the West side of the "toy barn". Remember in my last Blog, I showed you a picture of the West side of the Toy Barn and said "Stay Tuned". Well, there's still more to come but it will have to wait for another time.

Everybody was asking questions and discussing how things could be done....we were running in a vicious circle. About the time we thought we had everything lined out, the floor guys told us they had a problem! A BIG problem. The floor covering we had selected wouldn’t work. WHAT??? Won’t work?? It seems the floor had some unlevel areas and Joe, the installer, said it was impossible for him to install that type of covering on our floor. He told us he knew we wouldn’t be happy with it. I don’t know why the folks that came out and measured and inspected the floor several weeks ago didn’t tell us that?? WOW! So we have to start all over again. Have I told you that I just love building stuff!! Ms. Pat and I had to go to Rapid City and pick out another type of Flooring.

Quickly, before I did anything, Ron’s tanks needed dumping. I had purchased a new Macerator and100’ of 3/4” hose so I could easily dump our visitor's tanks. I hadn’t used it before and Ron and I began hooking things up. It worked perfectly and did a superb job. Suddenly I jumped up to run over to the sewer hook up and inspect the discharge, when BANG!!! I smacked into the Bedroom slide out. WOW, that staggered me for a second but I continued on over to the sewer connection rubbing the new knot on my head and muttering some not so nice words like “darn” and a few others. I thought to myself, "Boy that’s quite a knot!!" Then suddenly I noticed blood running through my fingers and down the side of my face. It was really bleeding. I asked Ron to take a look and if it was much of a gash? OH DEAR....yes, it was quite a large cut. I hollered at Ms. Pat and asked her if it needed sutures. She said, "Yes, indeed it does!!" She ran for a cold cloth and some ice. Shoot, I knew I was destined for the Custer Hospital Emergency Room and off we went with Ms. Pat driving.

A little over an hour later I was home with 4 new clamps in my skull…. Good as new! It really didn’t hurt much and the cold ice felt good. They didn’t have to use any pain killer on me when they put the staples in. That smarted a little but not bad. I was totally perturbed at myself for such a dumb trick. Gee Whiz, I have been working around these slides for over 15 years now and I’ve bumped my head many times. Doesn’t a guy ever learn?? Like my dear mother used to tell me, “You need to slow down!" I heard that!!

Barb said she would go to town with Ms. Pat so she could pick out new floor covering and they left me home to supervise the land leveling job. When they got home, they had samples of the new flooring and I believe Ms. Pat was happier with it than she was with the original choice. So, things usually do happen for the better….

Yesterday, the Kitchen Cabinets arrived and today the installers will be out to install them. So we may not have a floor but we HOPE to have cabinets, TODAY!! Then Thursday the Floor may even get installed. Remember what I said a couple weeks ago....."NEVER WEAKEN". We will get ‘er done!! Lord Willin'.

We had a "going away" Happy Hour and dinner with Bill and Kathie last evening. Today, they're headed for Deadwood!! That should be lots of fun! Travel Safe guys and hurry back to see us.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Travel Safe Everyone and God Bless You All!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Hey, You Know What?

2011-07-24T05:17:00.002-07:00

SURPRISE!! The Floor Installers say they will be here tomorrow!! Hurray....maybe by tomorrow night we will have a FLOOR in our Cabin.. I hate to get too excited because I’ve been disappointed before but I’m sure looking forward to getting it installed. Then Tuesday the Truck is supposed to be here to deliver our Kitchen Cabinets. That will be a miracle too. It just seems we have been waiting forever for all this to happen.

After our walk in the Park this morning, Ms. Pat and I will remove the few things we have in the Cabin and be ready for the Floor installers, just in case they really do show up.. We don’t have much in there, so that won’t take long. I’ll keep you posted on how this progresses. I sure would like to show you a picture of the completed floor next Sunday, and “maybe” even the cabinets.

Ron and Barb Berquest have been here visiting us the last week. They been busy taking tours of the area and getting a few things done that traveling RV’ers have to do.

Yesterday, old friends Bill and Kathie Bevington arrived to visit our beautiful Black Hills for a few days and we all got together for our “infamous” Happy Hour last night. It was great seeing them again. Now we have two residents from Retama Village in Texas visiting us. Ms. Pat cooked BUFFALO Burgers for us all and some of her delicious "southern" Baked Beans. It was, you guessed it, “Delicious”!!

The Buffalo Meat market has really gone crazy this year. We always buy a lot of it when we arrive in the summer because we love it so much and it is so much better for you than any other meat or poultry. However when we went to the local stores to buy some, we found it was $7.50 a lb..……WOW!!! Last year it was $4.49 a lb.…… Quite an increase!!

We got in touch with our old friend Chad Kramer. Chad is the Head Herdsman out in Custer State Park and oversees the Parks herd of approximately 1500 head of Buffalo. Above is a picture of Chad and his Son Isaac, as they stopped by our place with some frozen Buffalo meat from his private stock. Chad has developed his own private heard of over 40 head of Buffalo and usually has a little extra in his freezer.. Man isn't it great to have friends!!! Thanks Chad, we know your buffalo meat will be much better than that “store bought” stuff they always add a little who knows what to! It tasted GREAT last night at out little cook out, I believe all the guests will attest to that!!

Now this morning we are headed up to hike in the Sylvan Lake area of the Park with the Bevingtons and the Bergquists. This will be our Sunday morning" inspirational" hike. We were re-baptized at Sylvan Lake a few years ago. Here is a link to that wonderful day: Baptism

This is a picture of the West side of our Toy Barn. You will be hearing more about this area in the future, what are we up to now? Stay tuned!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by. Travel safe everybody and God Bless!!

OH, I almost forgot to mention, Ms. Pat and I have decided we are going to the ESCAPADE !! It's happening on Aug 28TH right over here in Gillette, WY. That’s only 110 miles from us and we need a little travel. Hope to see ya'll there!! JerrieLea and Art talked me into it. We will not be Vendor’s....just want to enjoy a Rally without “working” for a change!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

I Finally Did It!

2011-07-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ms Pat’s phone was 4 years old and she needed a replacement. Mine was 2 years old but that’s OK because I never use it anyhow. I’ve never cared for phones much. I had all I ever wanted to do with them at work. Plus, I have a hard time hearing and understanding on these cell phones. We knew JRoger had been using a DROID for a long time and he liked it real well. So we made the dreaded trip to the Verizon store. WOW!!! What a ZOO!!! We spent 45 minutes just looking at all the phones. The place was extra busy and no one had time to wait on us. I told Ms Pat “Let’s get out of here, our phones are fine!”

After JRoger and Susan got here we talked more about their Droids and they showed us a lot of applications. So back to the Verizon store we went. We decided to get there early, like just when they open. Hmmm....we find out they didn’t open until 10:00am. We arrived at 9:45 and soon there was a line of people at the door waiting for them to open. Not a second before 10 but a few seconds after, the door opened and we were the first ones in line and of course, got waited on right away. A nice young fellow spent considerable time with us and guess what, we both walked out with a new DROID X2…….

Now I always wondered what all these people were doing when I saw them hammering on their phones! Wow....what these things won’t do! Here I am studying it and asking JRoger lots of questions. Don’t we look like a couple old kids playing? I wasn’t playing a game….I haven’t stooped to that level YET! However, the things I can do with it are amazing if, and that’s a BIG IF, I can figure it out…

It’s real handy to have someone like JRoger around to show me how to do something but 5 minutes after he is gone I’m flabbergasted…

Here is Ms Pat studying and setting up hers. These things take a little study. She is learning it a lot faster than I am! (of course) Actually though, we are enjoying them very much. Now I want all you DROID users to let us know about those FREE applications that are so neat and you just can’t live without……..OK?

It’s getting a little warm here in the Hills and dry. Two days in a row its been up to 90*. That doesn’t happen much here in Custer but thankfully, we are on this little hill and get a nice breeze that makes it easier to handle. Besides it’s a Dry Heat….right?

Welcome to our latest FOLLOWER’S:

1001 T.R.I.P Brazil
Jammin’ Along
Michael Ultra

We are so glad to have you stop by our neck of the wood’s. Hope you will stop by often.

I would like to advise everyone that has been asking about Rollie and Gina that Rollie published a Blog yesterday. It's nice to have them back in Blogger Land, even once in a while. Like us all, they have a lot going on in their lives right now. Love you kids!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Travel Safe!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..