Sunday, June 5, 2011

We’re HOME!!

Friday, about Noon, we pulled up the hill on Windmill Lane to our “Little Piece of Heaven in the Hills”. It is so great to be back. As much as we love our home at North Ranch, this is our favorite place to be in the Summer. Everything looked good.  The Hills are extremely green this year and of course, as always, they're BEAUTIFUL!
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Here we are backed onto our RV Pad. Our “Cabin” in the pole barn is not quite ready for occupancy, so we will continue living in the RV until we get it finished.
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We just love the view we have from the top of this Hill. Way in the distance, you can barely see Harney Peak. You can also see the Cathedral Spires, the famous “Needles Eye” and the “Needles Highway” that runs through Custer State Park. I’m sure many of you have driven that highway before.


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The trip up here this year was one of the "windiest" I ever remember.  Out of the six days it took us to get here, the only day the wind didn’t blow was Tuesday and that was the day the Motorhome was parked and we were driving the little truck on the “Million Dollar Highway”.  The first day the wind caused us to shut down at noon in Flagstaff. The second day it was windy but bearable and we made it 375 miles to our destination  near Durango, CO.  When we pulled out again on Wednesday,  the wind was blowing again but bearable and we made it to Rifle, CO.  On the way, we stopped off in Grand Junction to see my close cousin Shirley and her husband Ev. This is Shirley and Ev at their beautiful home in Grand Junction, where we parked right out in front of there house.  We visited for a couple of hours and then we were on our way.

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This is Shirley and I standing in front of the Motorhome just before we headed on down the road.  Shirley is a “Special Person” to me.  Now listen to this. Shirley’s Mom and my Mom were sisters....OK? Now that’s no big deal but what really makes it special is Shirley’s Dad and my Dad were brothers.   Got it?  They say that makes us "double first cousins".  Our DNA is probably as close as you can get to being brother and sister. That doesn’t happen very often and that is why she is special.  Plus, she is a darn nice Gal. I’m a few years older than her and she is as close to being a sister as I will ever have. It was great seeing the two of them again, even if it was just for a short time.

The wind caused us to shut down again about Noon on Thursday near Rawlins, WY. It was blowing 35-40mph and gusting up to 65mph. We sat in a large pull off for almost 7 hours. The wind died down around 6 pm, just enough for us to make it to Independence Rock south of Casper, where we spent the night. Friday morning early, we continued on and had a couple hours before the wind came up again. Just as we turned East towards Custer it was blowing hard again. But it was right at our tail…so we literally blew HOME!!


We are so happy to be back in the Black Hills. We’re getting settled in and had a nice long HOT shower in our “Cabin” last night before Happy Hour.  Loving these 40 deg mornings and 70 deg days.  I dusted off the Harley yesterday and I can feel a nice “Ride in the Park” coming up, maybe this afternoon. Thanks for following along with us and now let the FUN begin!!

We Praise the Lord everyday for his wonderful BLESSINGS.  It is because of all he provides us that makes this wonderful lifestyle possible.

Today is a very special and memorable day for us.  It was 3 years ago today, June 5TH, that “Scooter” lost his battle with Cancer and went Home to his Father in Heaven.  God Bless you Son, you are missed very much.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

9 comments:

JB said...

Good to see you made it home to your "Cabin in the Hills" safe and sound.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you on this sad anniversary.

Jerry and Suzy said...

Your rig must do well in the wind for you to put up with as much of it as you did. Of course, if you waited for ideal driving weather, you'd not get very far at all!

Welcome home!

Sam&Donna Weibel said...

We are so glad to hear you guys have made it safely to the Black Hills. will be thinking of you this afternoon when we take Rigg's to the doggie park for a swim it will be 98 with a heat index of 105. We remembered you and Mike Jr & Scott in our prayers today. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna... PS gonna grill some big steaks on the new grill tonight, be thinking of you guys.

Happytrails said...

Glad you made it safely to your special place in the Black Hills!!
Now you can just sit back and relax and enjoy God's wondrous creation.

Sue and Doug said...

glad you made it 'home' safely!..enjoy your Sunday!

Ali Workentin said...

So glad you made it safely home. I am sure you have mixed emotions today. As a parent who also lost a child anniversaries tend to be both happy and sad. Praying you have a good evening together.

Al Bossence said...

Looks like a mighty fine piece of territory you are in there. My kinda place for sure. Rifle Colorado rang a bell when you mentioned it. I have been out that way but it was way back in 93 so the memories are a bit foggy now. I'll have to look in my Atlas & see just where those Black Hills are. I remember when your Son died but hadn't realized it's been 3 years already. Yes, a sad anniversary..........

Chuck and Anneke's RV travels said...

Always good to be home!

Janna and Mike said...

Glad you guys "blew" home! And thoughts are with you during this sad time. You be careful riding that Harley Mike!