Sunday, May 31, 2009

Winner, South Dakota produces a WINNER!!!$$$

I suppose you have all heard by now that the latest Power Ball winner purchased the ticket in Winner, South Dakota.. Winner is about 240 miles Southeast of us. It is near the middle of the state just above the Nebraska state line on Hwy 18.... The winner hasn't come forward yet last I heard.

$232.1 Million,,,,,,Now I know your all thinking we ran down there and bought a lottery ticket, but don't believe it, cause it AIN'T true!!! Wish it was,,,,,but no such luck.

Winner, SD is a small town of less than 3000 population and is near the Rosebud Indian reservation. Rumor has it that someone from Mission, SD purchased the winning ticket from one of the only two locations where they are sold in Winner.
Here are the Headlines from the Rapid City Newspaper if you would like to check it out...

Story:Whole town is buzzing about Winner. Someone hit the $232.1 million jackpot in Winner on Wednesday, igniting speculation throughout the town Thursday and thrusting the Tripp County town into the national spotlight. "There's a lot of talk about it," Lil' Feller Convenience Store owner Brian Schaeffer said. "They're all asking, 'Who is it?' No one has a clue at the moment."For more of this story, click on link below:"

Rapid City Journal

Congratulations to the Winner,,,,,,hope they are from Winner or somewhere local.. Sooner or later we will find out.. They have 180 days to come forth... They can take it in 30 annual payments or a lump sum of $118.5 Million. How would YOU take it?

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Thursday we went fishing and we had a FINE time!!! Again, we were on the lake at 0700 and it was a super day. As you can see, the lake is smooth as glass. The fish make you work a little to search them out, but we dug out 4 NICE ones!! This time the largest was close to 19 inches.......and the smallest 15". By shortly after noon, the wind started to come up and the fishing was slowing down, so we took the boat out, filleted the fish with our electric knife and was back in Custer by 2pm. Tired but happy.

Friday we spent a few hours helping our friends Neal and Deb Hughes put new steering cables on their fishing boat. That was a JOB!! But we got them in and it should be ready to fish. Maybe we can try it out next week..... I like to fish when somebody else does the driving for a change. It's MUCH more relaxing........driving the boat and finding the fish gets to be a challenge. We have been fishing Angostura lake for 14 years now. We know it well and have our favorite spots, but that's no sign the fish will be biting there TODAY.



Yesterday morning about 0600, I opened the door of our Teton to see what a beautiful a day it was and this is what I saw.....a big, beautiful Hot Air Balloon. This was taken while I was still standing looking out the door of our home.


You can see that the Sun had just come up over the horizon a few minutes before. I waited until the balloon was passing through the Sun,....see it?.....you can also see the shadow of it in the foreground.

The weather is getting better every day and we are enjoying every minute of it. Our 4 mile walk is at 0700 each morning, but as it continues to warm up, we will have to get out earlier and earlier. Looking forward to seeing our good friends, Roger and Susan Haddix, who will be arriving towards the end of next week.....They are headed our way from Florida.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!

Today it's off to 8am Church, then to a Graduation Reception for Colton Hack in Rapid City this afternoon. Colton is my brothers Grandson. I wish my brother was here to enjoy the occasion, but our Lord had other plans for him several years ago. I know he is watching from above,,,,,right Richard?

Travel safe and God Bless you all.


Mike


This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..


















Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Fish,,,,Flagpole's and Buffalo!!!=Black Hills.

We haven't been able to go back out fishing yet. The weather has been quite nasty, then we had the Holiday weekend. We don't go near the lake on Holidays, it's just too busy to be much fun, especially for fishermen. It's over-run with Ski-do's, Skiers, tubers and what I call "obnoxious" speed boaters. Some of those boats have a big V8 motor with Straight Pipes. They make more noise that a 747 taking off!! NO THANKS!!! Why they allow those is more than I can comprehend... But I guess everyone has their rights,,,right?

Sounds like the weather will be great tomorrow (Thurs), so we'll give it a try then and take out of here early for the lake. By the way, we had Walleye for supper one night last week,,,and was it EVER delicious,,,,Walleye and Cheese grits,,,,,Outstanding!!! :-)

(click on picture to go to web album)

I like to fly the flag and especially on Holidays. Let me show you this neat Flag mount I purchased a couple years ago. I really like it and it works GREAT!!! Hopefully you can click on the above photo and it will take you to my Web Album and pictures of the installation of the Flagpole Buddy.



Buffalo in Custer State Park.

We are starting to see the visitors arrive. More and more RV's are heading down the road in front of our place to the Broken Arrow Campground. It is a superb Campground and I suggest if you're coming to the area that you try it out. Judging from lots of our friends that have stayed there, you won't be unhappy. The Campground owners, Larry and Geri Gustafson, will make you feel right at home. Ice Cream social every night, plus a super view!!

PressuroPro tip of the Week. Lots of people ask us: How long do the batteries last in the wireless sensors? Our answer is,,,,,,"Ours are 5 years old and have shown no sign of battery weakness. We never turn ours off, they are on 24/7 month after month."

Remember PressurePro is only 5 years old. We got ours 5 years ago this month and it was one of the first systems out. I have never had a Sensor battery go down, nor have I had a Sensor go bad or began to leak or not report in, and we have 16 of them installed on our rig...

We can safely tell people the batteries will last 3.5 to 4 years. But we know that is very conservative and we just don't know for sure, but again ours are 5 years old. How old are yours?
I know several of yours are almost that old.

The only time the Sensors are not operating is when you take them off your tires. We know several people take theirs off to conserve the battery. We don't feel this is really necessary or worth the effort. If you do this, just remember they MUST go back on the same location they came off of.

I can honestly say that the majority of the trouble shooting problems that we receive from our customers is when they have removed the sensors to save the battery and are putting them back on..... Our recommendation is to just leave them on!!!

If you have any questions about the PressurePro Tire Pressure Monitoring System, no matter where you purchased it, give us a call or email us. We will be glad to help you,,,,,,,7 days a week!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!

Thanks for stopping by.....

Mike


This Blog Published every Wednesday and Sunday.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

A good Fishing test Day!!!


We were a little worried about our fishing trip Wednesday because the wind blew HARD all night long and it was still blowing pretty good (bad?) the next morning. Wind was forecast to be a factor most of the day.....so we pondered about it and almost scrubbed it. However, we both wanted to go and had put it off long enough. I learned a long time ago, you can't let the weather govern your life. If you do, you'll miss a lot!! Plus, I wanted to see if my Boat motor ran OK......So we took off about 0630 for lake Angostura. Above is a picture as we were putting the boat in the water. I had the little 35 hp Evinrude motor all prepared and I "thought" it would run. It has always been very reliable. I touched the starter button and she fired right off immediately! By 0730 we were out on the lake fishing......

By 0745 Pat had her first Walleye in the net....... The wind started coming up, then it would die down a little, but soon come up again. It kept that up all morning. I don't like to be out on the Lake when the wind is blowing. A little breeze is fine, but this lake can be quite treacherous with much wind.. You spend 2/3rds of the time steering the boat and 1/3 fishing.. I fought the wind as we trolled around some of our favorite fishing spots until about noon,,,,,by then we were worn out..... Plus we had 3 Nice Walleye in the boat and we were ready to head for home..... We loaded the boat and cleaned the fish at the cleaning station and called it a successful trip. We found out the boat motor runs great and fine tuned some of our fishing gear so we will be all set when we get some decent weather....


Sorry I didn't get a picture of the fish, but above is a picture of Pat in her usual spot. I will admit that she caught 2 out of the 3 fish. That's not unusual, she always out fishes me.. It's because I'm so busy FINDING the fish for HER to catch! Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!:-) There is a 14" min length limit and one of Pat's fish was over 18", all nice fish. So it was a successful day!! Of course, any day FISHING is a good day!!!

It was a GREAT WEEK !!!

Hope you all are having a good Memorial weekend......

Thanks for stopping by.......Remember to tell your kids that you love them, they may not be around forever....God Bless!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Gone FISHIN !!!!

This morning (Early) we are going FISHING!!!! We have been working like crazy and planned on being out on the lake before this, But there is just so MUCH to do!!!! Plus all my batteries, trolling and engine had gone south. I had to go to Rapid City, 45 miles and get new ones. The lower gear case on the motor needed changed and the spark plugs needed to be checked and cleaned or replaced. All lights need to be checked and the list goes on and on!!!


I believe I have it all ready to go,,,but the final test is when you get in the water. Sometimes it goes OK and sometimes it don't. We will see how it goes.


This is our little (17') Lund fishing boat. We have had it for 7-8 years and it has given us a lot of super fishing enjoyment. Its not a BIG boat, or a fancy boat, but it fits Pat and I perfectly. We have a 35 hp Evinrude on it and a superb trolling motor with foot control.


The Pickup is a 1991 Chev 1/2 ton v8 that I bought from my Dad. He bought it new and we got it from him about 12 years ago. It is in Superb condition and runs like a top. I wouldn't trade it for a new one, plus it has a lot of sentimental value. I can't trade it off or sell it, it just means to much to me. I just like to drive it and have it around....My Dad died almost 8 years ago. This truck is all I have left to remember him. I will NEVER get rid of it!


Anyhow,,,,were taking off for the lake this morning.....will leave at 0500,,,,it is a 35 mile drive and we hope to be on the water by at least 0700. Wish us luck!! The wind is supposed to come up about noon,,,,,,,as usual!!!


Sorry I don't have more time to post,,,but I'll let you know how we do....


Its a GREAT WEEK!!!!


Mike


This Blog Published every Wednesday and Sunday.....

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Sunday, May 17, 2009

Getting "Settled in".


We are getting everything all set up and in its place here on our place in the Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota, near Custer. We have an extra refrigerator in our small shed, just as we do at North Ranch in AZ. Although we have a 22 cu ft Amana household refrigerator in our 5Th wheel, it's still nice to have a little extra room for both our use and any of our visitors.

The little Honda CRV even has its place inside the Garage. It doesn't know how to act to be inside! But I'll bet it enjoys being there on these cool nights and 27* mornings we have been having..... I've had to drag out the Blue Flame propane heater several times. However, this morning it's WAY up to 34*.:-) Before long it will be warming up,,,,,,as 90* is predicted in Rapid City this week. It's always much cooler here in Custer than anywhere else in the state.

This is the view to the North, those are the Cathedral Spires on the famous Needles Highway that you see in the background. If you look real close you can even see Harney Peak way back there on the horizon. People come from all over the world to hike up to Harney. It is an old NPS fire tower lookout. The notorious thing about Harney that a lot of people don't realize is that it is the highest point East of the Rockies in the USA. In fact all the way to the Alps......It is 7260' and has a nice 3 mile trail up to it from Custer State Park. We have been up there dozens of times and it is some kind of a NEAT view. You can see WY,MT and NE from there.
Speaking of hiking, we went out to one of our favorite "closest to home" hikes yesterday and did our first hike of the year. The first 1/4 mile is up, up, up, but then most of it is downhill or flat. It's just inside of the Park and only a few miles from our place and goes around this beautiful Stockade Lake area. Most of the elevations around here are around the 5000' mark, Our place is 5440'. It takes a short time to get acclimated to the altitude, so we kinda ease into it a little at a time. This weekend was FREE weekend at all the State Parks in South Dakota, Free entrance and Free fishing, so there were quite a few people enjoying the 60+ deg, mostly all locals. They have had a long, hard, colder than usual winter. Memorial weekend is sort of the unofficial start of the season and soon the out-of-state license plates will start showing up.

We had our FIRST cookout at the Broken Arrow Campground Friday night. It was great seeing our friends and owners Larry and Geri Gustafson again. Thanks for inviting us! We're looking forward to a great summer visiting with Larry & Geri and a LOT more cookouts. They spent some time riding ATVs in the Desert of Arizona with us just a few months ago. Remember their pictures on my Blog? They have about 10-12 RVs in their Campground right now and have more booked in soon. I'm not being bias when I say they have one of the nicest campgrounds in SD. Check it out! If you're looking for a place to have fun and spend time up here, Larry and Geri will make it happen. They are just 3 miles south of our place. Jim and Ellie they're waiting on you....see you in June.

So that's about it for this week from our place "on the hill". Many of our friends have been stopping by welcoming us back and we are anxious to go in to our "Cowboy Church" this morning and meet many more.

*JRoger and Susan, travel safe all that way from Florida and we will see you in a few days!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!
God Bless you all...

Mike

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday morning.
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

We are Back in the Black Hills.

We decided to stay in Lingle, WY last Sunday as the rain kept coming down all morning. The forecast for Monday was good and we didn't want to pull onto our property and set up in the rain. Besides we were parked just a few miles from Fort Laramie, one of Wyoming's oldest military garrison's. We spent a few hours of the afternoon exploring the interesting old Fort.
(click on all pictures to enlarge)
Pat checks out the Guard House.
A Gatling gun,,,,,,Neat!
Monday was as promised, a beautiful day and we continued on the last 165 miles to our place just south of Custer, SD. Here we are just as we pulled in about noon.
Pat checked out our site and it was in good shape. So it wasn't long until we were parked, unhooking everything and getting settled in. It is good to be back in the Hills! Something about this place...we both feel a calming, peaceful, homey effect when we get back here each summer. Kinda out of the hustle and bustle, back to the "calm" quiet life. Time to give thanks for so many things, especially this great life we have been blessed with. Thank You, God!!

Well, the KING of the COWBOY'S, Ty Murray was voted off Dancing with Stars last night. He made all "us" cowboys PROUD. I could tell from day one that it wasn't his calling and how he ever got "roped" into it is beyond me. Maybe money,,,? :-) He even surprised himself going as far as he did, but Cowboys stick together and he was getting the votes,; plus, he's a very likable guy. All I can say is Good Job, Ty!!! Way to go!

Now, to get the boat ready to head to the lake!!! Walleye, here we come.

See you Sunday!

Travel Safe!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!
Mike
This Blog is published every Wednesday and Sunday.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

ON the Road again!!! Almost there!!

We are headed back to the Black Hills!!! We waited as long as we could, even though we know it's still a little chilly (cold!) up there. Last Thursday, we left North Ranch near Congress, AZ in fine time and headed North. The weather was beautiful and as we headed North from Prescott, the wind came up a little. We went up through Tuba City and then East towards Monument Valley. There is a place called Gooseneck State Park that we had heard about as a neat place to boondock. (click on all pictures to enlarge)

As we pulled into the park, it was shortly after 4pm; however, we lost an hour as we crossed over into Utah into the Mountain time zone. So really, it was only 3pm for us, but after 356 miles in the wind, we were tired and ready for the stop. This is a neat spot, the view is truly spectacular, as is the drive through Monument Vally. We parked right next to the lookout on the "rim" of the Canyon....(below)
Just over that stone wall (above) are the Goosenecks. It drops off 1000 ft down to the San Juan River. Check out some of the views below:


This is the view(above) down from the stone wall behind our rig.
That(above) is part of Monument Valley in the background......
This was the Sunrise the next morning after a very pleasant evening......Thanks to the Utah State Park system, free camping with astonishing views....
Here (above) is Ms Pat enjoying her morning coffee sitting on the ledge talking on the phone with Dale Bruss, our good friend who was checking on us.
Pat even caught me out on the ledge with my coffee,,,,,what a VIEW!!! (The CANYON,,,not me!) It was about 5am and 65 deg,,,,,,Fantastic!!! Well, we gotta get a move on,,,,,,a few more hundred miles to go today!!


Oh yes, and Ms Mega2(above) enjoyed the view from her favorite perch too!!!!

For those of you interested here are the coordinates of Goosenecks State Park:
N 42* 10.462'
W 109* 55.63
elev 4950

Friday we proceeded on another 370 miles to Craig, Colorado..........Weather was fine and the wind was not a factor, but we were tired and there was not a campground that could handle our size. We were pondering exactly what to do when we spotted a nice, new Super Wally World. I don't mind staying at Wally's in small towns,,,but No way in the big city's. As we pulled in, Shuck's,,:-( ,,,, there was a big sign "No Overnight Camping" . Oh well, we needed some groceries and would run in and pick them up before we proceeded on. While inside Ms Pat looked up the Manager and ask her if we could park in the parking lot way back out of the way.
"SURE",,,she said, "they do it all the time". Pat told her there was a sign out front that said "No Overnight Parking" ,,,,,,,the manager replied,,,"that's OK, they do it all the time". So Pat got her name and we stayed the night....... I'm not a frequent Wal'marter,,,,,,as I just don't sleep well in them, but after 2 days of 350 + miles, I slept fine in this little country town.....

Saturday we were up and out early headed on to Streamboat Springs, Colorado and over Rabbit Ears pass,,,,,,,,,,,elevation 9590'....lots of 7% grade up and down. We sailed over that and stopped at the top for a quick picture of the SNOW...
We went down to Cheyenne, WY from here, stopped at Flying J and picked up about 150 gal of Diesel Fuel at $2.099. We went on to the little town of Lingle, WY and found this little PassPort America Campground that we had ALL to ourselves! 50 amp power and good Free WiFi... A real treat after out 2 nights of boondocking with little or no Internet....
Now, as we get up Sunday Morning,,,,,,it is raining. We had a nice easy trip on up to Custer planned, but neither of us enjoy traveling in the rain. So we're just taking our time,,,,,and I'm making a WAY too LONG of a Blog today....But anyhow, we're CLOSE!!!
It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!!
Stop back Wednesday and I hope we'll be on our property all situated.......
Happy MOTHER'S DAY to all ladies.......Mothers or not!!!! You're all Mothers at heart!!!
God Bless.
Mike
This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Storms

As we sit down here in this pleasant weather in Arizona and hear about all the severe storms around the country, it makes me cringe! I don't look forward to Tornado and Hail storms. They don't seem to have them here, but it is beginning to get HOT!!!

If you read our friend Nick Russell's Blog, you saw these pictures of a Campground in Tennessee that was struck by a Tornado. Several rigs were damaged and a large 5th wheel was turned completely upside down!

Close examination of the upside down 5TH wheel told us it was a Teton. Later, we find out it was Eddie and Betty Ezell,,,,,,,,,,one of our fellow Tetoners. We don't know a lot of the details, but they were taken to the Hospital with cuts and bruises. We certainly hope their injuries aren't serious. The damage to their Teton and Truck looks VERY serious. Boy,,,what a mess to be in. I guess just being alive, they are mighty lucky. But our thoughts and prayers are sure with them as they attempt to recover from this tragedy. It was just 2 months ago, while we were at the Gypsy Journal Rally, that Eddie called and ordered a full PressurePro tire monitoring system from us. If anyone knows more about this incident and their conditions, please let us know.

Meanwhile, this is our last day at North Ranch RV Park here in Congress, AZ. We have been trying to get things ready to go, clean out the refrigerator in the shed, prepare the ATV for storage, etc. But as you know, there are a lot of things you just can't do until the last minute. So, today will be a busy one.

We are going across some pretty desolate country and our Internet and cell Phone services may be scarce. We'll keep you as up to date as we can and also try to stop long enough to get a few pictures........there is a possibility that by Sunday we may be to our place in Custer, SD. But you never know,,,we have no plan and no reservations. What happens will happen. It appears from what I can see on the weather maps that we should have good weather for most of the trip. But again, ya never know.

Thanks for stopping by and we'll be back Sunday, God willin'!

PressurePro tip of the week. We get a lot of questions asking, "How long do the batteries in the Sensors last?" We say, "Most likely they will last 4 plus years". However, ours will soon be 5 years old and none have shown any sign of the battery going down. Our Sensors are always on, I never take them off (except to change air pressure) or turn the Monitor off. They have been monitoring our tires 24/7 for 5 years this month. Several of our customer's systems are almost the same age and theirs are still going.

If you have any questions about the PressurePro system, please give Pat or I a call or email. We will be glad to help you. Cell: 850-294-0281 Email: sales@pressureprosystem.com Our web site has a FAQ section, check it over.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Stay Safe and God Bless.

Mike
PS. Did you watch my Man "TY" on dancing with the Stars? He survived the cut last night and is STILL dancing!!!! Way to go,,,,,,,,,,,,,,see there, Cowboys can do ANYTHING!!!!!:-) Go Ty!!!!!


This Blog is published every Wednesday and Sunday morning.



Saturday, May 2, 2009

The Campground is EMPTY!


This picture of our Camp Ground was taken exactly 1 year ago yesterday, but it could have been yesterday. It is almost empty! North Ranch RV Park here near Congress, AZ clears out this time of the year. It is REALLY quiet around here and very little traffic. Some of the folks that stay here year around say they enjoy it in the summer, because they have the place all to themselves. What amazes us is how North Ranch has turned into a Park Model Haven. All around us is Park Model after Park Model. It sometimes seems we are the only fulltimers left. Many of the Park Model owners are folks that aren't RV'ers and never were. They live here because they are Prospectors and go out in the desert prospecting all winter. It is close to lots of old Gold Mines and the Town of Stanton, an old mining camp is close by. I don't care much about it, so I don't pay any attention, but I do see Prospector after Prospector out in the desert when we are out 4-wheeling, digging holes in the ground and sifting through the dirt, looking for Gold. Since Gold has gotten so valuable, prospecting has gotten really popular.


This is the kind of Prospecting we like to do!!! These pictures were taken a little over a year ago on our first day of fishing in the Black Hills for the summer. We had just come from a real, rough month in Lincoln, Nebraska where we lost my youngest son Scott from Leukemia. Our super friends Neal and Deb Hughes knew that we needed some special support and asked us to go fishing with them. Neal is the Pastor of our Church in Custer and they had been following Scott's battle very closely and kept him in the Church's prayers constantly.


What a wonderful, joyous couple these folks are. We had a Super Special day fishing with them and Neal took us right where the fish were! We hadn't been fishing 10 minutes when I hooked a nice 24" Walleye. I thought I had hooked a LOG!! When that Dude surfaced about 30 feet from the boat and I saw his size, my heart started beating real fast, real quick! Wow!! What a way to start off the season!! Thanks again Neal and Deb, you knew how to lift our spirits and once again give us an interest in life. I was about to give up the ship. God Bless you both.


Scott loved to fish and I'm the kind of guy that feels Scott had something to do with me catching that fish. Just like he sent us this Kitty!!


This is Ms Megabyte2, taken in Dec 2008 just a couple weeks after her and I met at our place in South Texas. You all have been asking "how's the Kitty"? Well, let me tell you, she is doing Wonderful!! She has learned to live the life in a 5Th wheel real well. She is over all of her medical issues and feeling extremely active. She runs and zips through this 45' Coach from one end to the other like it is a Racetrack...wrestles with her toys and scampers about like she has gone completely bonkers. Keeps us chuckling constantly. What amazes me is the relationship her and Ms Pat have developed. Let me tell you, they are Buddies! Everywhere Pat goes Ms Mega2 follows. Pat spends a lot of time at her computer working on PressurePro records and correspondence and Ms Mega2 is not happy unless she is lying right by the keyboard. She "adores" Pat. I keep telling her that it is ME she should adore. (-: It was "I" that had the "Hard Sell" to get Ms Pat to even give me some warm milk for this poor, cold kitty, let alone get her inside the place!! Yes, it was I, that rescued her from the wild, cold unknown! But it doesn't work, she has won Ms Pat over completely. Oh well, I'm GLAD it worked out that way and she sure gives us both a lot of enjoyment. She is such a wonderful, pleasant, good Kitty! Just ask Pat!!! I can see Scott smiling, in fact he's laughing!!! We're all happy, and that's a GOOD thing!!


In just 3 days, we will be heading North towards the Black Hills. I know it is still a little cool up there and it has been Beautiful here....60deg when we get up and it gets up to mid 80's, that's about perfect. However, the weather folks are saying in the 100's next week in Phoenix and we are getting Yancey to move these wheels! We have been in Arizona almost 3 months and that seems to be about our limit. We have wheels so we can travel and don't believe in staying in one spot all Winter. Besides those Walleye are CALLING!!!!

Thanks for following along with us, we appreciate each and every one of you! Bob and Shirley, we're looking forward to seeing you guys REAL SOON!!!!

God Bless and remember, tell your kids (and parents,etc.) that you love them, they may not be around forever!
It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!
Safe Travels
Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday.