Pole Building

Hello All,
Everybody is asking about our new Pole Building garage. So here are several pictures of the progress this week:

(click on all pictures to enlarge)

They continued getting all the sheeting on the roof, sides and front.





Jim and Ellie Meacham stopped by to look at the progress. Here the roof and one side are covered with the metal.



Here is the back side.



Now the garage door is installed.



OH YES, had to have one of these!!! What ever it's called?? I like it!!
Below is a picture of the Weather Vane we put on top.



Builder's trademark.....Michel's Post Frame,,,,,,,,,,buildings.


Electric is roughed in. 100 amp.


Now the Concrete work begins.....


Hauled in many loads of fill base rock. Leveled and packed it in.


There,,,,all ready to pour next week!! Pat is checking it out!

That's it for this week,,,,a lot accomplished, plus we managed to ship out 4 PressurePro Systems and The DelRosario's stopped by and picked up a full system and Repeater for their New 2008 Phaeton. They are staying up at the beautiful Hart Ranch Resort near Rapid City. Don has been full timing for 14 years! Wow, a year longer than us!!! It was enjoyable meeting this neat couple, who have just been married for 6 months.......CONGRATULATIONs are in order!!!!!

The FISH were all safe this week, we didn't even have a chance to go fishing!!! Ha! We've been hitting it TOO HARD!!! Ms Pat wants a vacation,,,,,,,can you imagine that!! ??? I thought we WERE on vacation!!

We had another WONDERFUL "potluck/BBQ" yesterday afternoon at the Broken Arrow Campground. We had lots of folks attending .... a few that couldn't make it last week...and we lost a couple. Attending this week were: Jim & Ellie, Jim & Donnalyn, Ray & Barb, Larry & LeeAnn, Dick & Lou, Doyle & Feona, Reve & Susan, Larry & Geri (Broken Arrow Campground owners & wonderful hosts), and of course, yours truly....Mike & Pat. Read Ellie's Blog and LeeAnn's Journal for a few pictures and details.

We managed to get our meat cooked and had just finished eating when we were "rudely interrupted" by one of our FAMOUS South Dakota thunderstorms. Sorry we all had to take off in such a hurry but that's a small price to pay for an otherwise beautiful day and lots of fun and fellowship with our friends.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week. Mark and Dale, we'll see you Thursday!!!:-)

Travel safe!!!! But TRAVEL!!!!!



Mike



This Blog is published every Sunday morning.......

Greetings and WELCOME!!

We stayed busy again this week. A large order of PressurePro Systems came in from our supplier on Monday and it was just in the nick of time. We shipped out 6 systems during the week, plus a PowerTank was shipped to Virginia. Our bill at the Post Office is huge! But that is a good sign. :-)

Tuesday they started on our long desired Pole Building

After we measured out the exact location, the holes were drilled for the poles. As usual they ran into some rock and had tough drilling in a few places. (click on pictures to enlarge)
But soon they were all dug!





Poles up and ready for the Concrete truck.


It's going up FAST!! Only 2 guys working on it.

By Friday at noon when they quit it was really taking shape. By next Friday it should be all done and ready for the concrete floor. That is if the weather holds!! Keep your fingers crossed.



Our friends Jutta and Doug Franks stopped in Saturday morning for a visit. They are our customers and neighbors down at Retama Village in Mission, TX. They are staying at the Broken Arrow campground just south of us. It was great seeing them. Here is their blog:
D&J's Adventures

We all got together yesterday afternoon (Saturday) and had a cook out down at the Broken Arrow Campground. Present are Jim & Ellie Meacham, Reve & Susan Carberry, Doyle & Feona Payne, Doug & Jutta Franks, Pat & I and we asked the owners, Larry and Geri Gustafson to join us. They not only joined us, but furnished the gas grill, the neat picnic pavillion and some delicious grilled potatoes. We have gotten to know Larry and Geri quite well since they opened this campground just a couple years ago and what GREAT people they are!!! Real pleasure meeting up with them. Everyone tells us what GREAT hosts they are. If you are going to be in the area be sure to check them and their campground out. Here are a few pictures of the cook out.

This is Larry Gustafson the owner of Broken Arrow campground. He not only owns the place, but he furnishes the grill, the shelter and he COOKS too!!

This is Larry's wife Geri and Pat. Larry admits that Geri is the "brains" of the outfit!! Super couple!! Nice Place!!

This is Doyle and Feona Payne, our new friends and Dri-Wash customers (and soon to be PressurePro customers, we hope) from Oklahoma. They are relatively new full timers and are enjoying their new lifestyle very much.

More new friends, Reve and Susan Carberry came over from another local campground to join us. They are our customers and fellow hikers from New York. Here we are waiting for the food!

Ah, all chowed down!! Good Food, Good Friends and a GREAT PLACE!!!

Larry and LeeAnn McCormick also stopped by to say Hi. They couldn't stay for our wonderful meal due to a prior commitment but I'm sure they'll be joining us the next time. Check out Jim & Ellie's Blog for a few more details and pictures.

With all this activity we still managed to spend a day on the lake fishing!! Monday morning at 7:15 we found ourselves down at Hot Springs out on Lake Angostura fishing. By 2pm Pat had managed to catch 2 nice 19" walleyes. I caught one that was just barely a keeper at 14.1". We released several that were "just" under the wire, but still had enough for a meal or two!! Friday we had Walleye and good old "southern cheese grits",,,,,,,boy was it good!!! My favorite!!!

That was about our extent of excitement for the week. Staying real busy seems to be the answer for us right now. The time is passing fast!!! Now we are looking for a Concrete Contractor to put a floor in the Pole Building. No easy task up here this time of the year, several won't even call you back!!

Thanks for stopping by,,,,,,,,,,,see ya again next week...


It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!

Take care and be safe!!
Mike

This Blog published every Sunday AM.

Another WONDERFUL week in the BLACK HILLS of SD.

MONDAY after we got our 4 mile walk in I had a project to do that I had been putting off for a while and it needed to be done. Our Electric steps had developed a crack in the metal where it attached. The only way to fix it was to remove them, weld and reinforce and reinstall them. No easy task!! Those steps are HEAVY!! After we got them off, I took them to Doug at the Ruby Creek Ranch north of Custer for repair. Doug and his wife Becky have a beautiful ranch out in the country and do METAL ART......plus Doug builds "anything big or small" out of metal. He has a GREAT shop with all kinds of up-to-date tools. Doug welded it all up for me and added some gusset plates to give it the strength it should have had in the beginning. BEAUTIFUL JOB! When I got ready to pay the bill,,,it was $10.00. Yep, you read right $10.00 total.....
Only in CUSTER,SD.
We enjoyed meeting Doug and looking at their beautiful metal art work and seeing their ranch and his shop. Funny how things happen, this was pure luck (good luck). I saw Doug's small ad in the local paper that he did welding and repair. I asked my friend Mike Nielsen who runs the local hardware store if he had heard of of them and he told me that Doug did GOOD work. So we gave him a call and that's how this meeting came about. Amazing!!We will be back to buy some of these items. Take a look at their web site Ruby Creek Ranch . Oh, did Imention they do "Chuck Wagon" Breakfasts, Dinners and Suppers. It's all on their website.

Now those heavy metal steps were a job to take off, but WOW, it was really tough to get them back up under the Teton and bolted down. (or I mean up!) With Ms Pats help we were finally able to get the job done......NOW they are SOLID!!!! Well done... mark that off the list.......

(click to enlarge)

Meet Reve & Susan Carberry.... full timers from upper New York State. They are parked nearby at Custer's Gulch campground and saw that we lived close by. They had been wanting a PressurePro Tire Monitoring System for quite a while and had heard about us, so they decided the time had come...Lucky for us. They called and we invited them over for a glass of lemonade and a demo of the system. This picture shows them as the proud owners of a new system.. Really enjoyed meeting these nice folks......Ya gotta just love this life!! I advised Reve if he had a problem installing it to just give us a call and we would be there in 5 minutes. He later advised me that he installed it without the slightest hitch, including the Echo Repeater. They have a beautiful Travel Supreme Motorhome. They love to hike, so Friday we took them on our little Stockade Lake trail for about 3.5 miles and they enjoyed it so much.... now they are ready to make the famous Harney Peak journey. Looking forward to that in the near future....


(click to enlarge)

This is Jim & Ellie Meacham, full timers originally from Colorado. They ordered a PressurePro system from us about a year ago. They are parked just south of us in the Broken Arrow Campground. They just got a BRAND NEW PHAETON Motorhome by Tiffin. WOW is it a beauty!!! They call it "the castle" and believe me it is just that!! (click to enlarge)


It is longer than their old Motorhome and they were missing a few Sensor signals occasionally on the Toad, so they wanted our opinion of what would correct it. Ellie invited us down to make a "house call". Now I love troubleshooting on the rig rather than on the phone, so we jumped at the opportunity. PLUS, she also invited us for BBQ chicken!!!! Now that's bribery at its BEST!!! LOL.

The Echo Repeater was the answer to "missing Sensor" problem so Jim and I installed an Echo Repeater in the rear closet of his new coach. That should take care of any and all missed signals. We love meeting and spending time getting to know our customers and making new friends for life!!! Check out Ellie's Blog .


Mike Gorman who lives in Rapid City and is about to go full timing had been talking to us about a PressurePro system for some time wanted to drive down and get one while we were here. Mike is the Adjutant General for the South Dakota National Guard.........It was a pleasure meeting Mike and showing him how our PressurePro system worked on our rig. He knows that if he has any trouble installing it, we will be right close!!! I don't think he will have a problem, but I do hope we get to see more of him down the road. More customers and friends.....(I forgot to get a picture of Mike,,,,:-( shame on me!!) Now we gotta see him again!


We did get one day of fishing in at Angostura Lake, but it wasn't spectacular. But it was a beautiful day to be on the lake, after the early morning storm and heavy rain had passed. That slowed us down a couple hours but Pat caught a nice Walleye, so it wasn't a total loss. You know what they say, even a poor day "fishin" is better than a day of "wishing you were fishin". Is that the way that goes?,,,Oh well, you fishermen know what I'm saying!!!:-)

It was another GREAT WEEK!!!!

Hope everyone is having a SAFE and HAPPY summer so far. Please keep it that way!!!
It was 37 deg here this morning when we got up! Now that's cooler than normal, but we love it and thank goodness for heat pumps, even in July!!! It will soon be warming up and we will wish it would cool down!!! I would tell you that there was FROST on our Honda,,,,but you wouldn't believe it.......But it is true!!!!

Thanks for stopping by,,,,,tell us you were here in the shoutbox above and be sure to stop in again next week!!! Come and see us!!!
Mark & Dale, we are patiently waiting for you all, your spot is empty. We will leave the light on for you!!!


Regards
Mike
Remember life is SHORT,,,,,,don't wait!!!!

Very ENJOYABLE 4TH of JULY !!

Last Sunday after church we did get a nice bike ride in the Park. It was such a SUPER afternoon and we hadn't taken the Bike out for a spin together since we got it last winter. It was really an enjoyable 50 mile trip. The weather was perfect and the traffic was light. We first went to Game Lodge Campground where our friends and Mission, TX neighbors Dick and Shirley Peer are Campground Hosting. We missed them!!! They were out somewhere riding their bike......Shucks.

So we proceeded on down the Wildlife loop, hoping to maybe meet them on the road. Down on the far South end of the Park in his normal spot was our old friend Bob Sperry. Bob and his wife Ann have worked at the Park for 12-13 (maybe a few more) years every summer. Bob is a retired school teacher from Oklahoma. Ann is the control dispatcher and operates the control tower and radio maintaining a fire and emergency lookout on top of Mt. Coolidge.

This is Bob Sperry, Historian. He is all set up under a nice shade tree where he gives programs on Buffalo hunting as it was years ago. He dresses the part and has the buffalo hides and rifles. Bob explains the procedures the Buffalo hunters went through. He is a world of information and always draws a crowd. It was sure nice to see Bob. He is looking GREAT after his big round with Cancer. He has lost a lot of weight and after much Chemo and Radiation, he is in REMISSION. Praise the Lord!!! Good for you Bob!!!!


4TH of JULY,,,, We enjoyed a nice family cook out at my niece's place in Rapid City. It was neat seeing all of my brothers family. Jami & Lyle Hack, of Rapid City, Juli Long, of Alliance, NE., Jill & Dom Harris of Alliance and my Sister-in-law Connie & her husband John Hansen, also of Alliance. Plus Jami's 2 and Jill's 4 children. It was a full house, but a lot of fun and the food was superb!! GREAT being with family on this Independence day!!!! My brother, who passed away nearly 11 years ago, would be so proud of his family!! But then, he is watching and I'm sure is enjoying.:-)


MT RUSHMORE FIREWORKS ! Each year the Fireworks Display at Mt. Rushmore is OUTSTANDING and receives world recognition. Folks arrive before 9am to get a spot at the base of the mountain to see this event. There was an estimated 30-35,000 people on hand to see it and that many more outside of the area watching it from afar.

If you had been here, here is what you would have seen:

Mt Rushmore Fireworks

Be sure to click on some of the side bars and make your own show and see how fireworks are made and work like they do...

Our place is about 20 miles away and we can see some of the higher, larger displays. However, since they don't start until 9:15 or later and as most of you know, we get up at 4am so 9:15 is past our bed time.....we elected to watch them from the bedroom TV. I think I made it through about a dozen big displays and blasts.

SATURDAY .... grass mowing time.



This is Quinton Cordell and his sister Katlyn. Quinton has been my head mow guy for about 3 years now. He lives with his family right across the street and does a fine job of keeping up with our yard. Thank You very much Quinton, don't know what we would do without you!!! Wonderful neighbors!!!



That's about it for this week, now it's off to Church this morning and we start another week. I thank God for this wonderful life and opportunity to enjoy it. Thanks also to our many men and women in our military services that have kept this country FREE!!!!



Thanks for stopping by, hope you drop by again next week and remember to say a few words in my "shoutbox" ! (upper right)



IT was a GREAT WEEK!!!!!



Travel and BE SAFE!!! (click on all photo's to enlarge)



Mike



Blog published every SUNDAY morning........... (rain or shine!)