Birthday,,,,,,,,

No I'm not having another Birthday again so soon. However, when Rollie and Gina arrived here June 29Th, it was a week after my Birthday and they had a couple birthday presents for me. Hallelujah, I love surprises and I wanted to show them to you.

A fantastic Birthday Card and beautiful Picture Frame that encloses the poem "Letter from Heaven".   The Poem is so wonderful and meaningful. It brought immediate tears to my eyes, and still does each time I read it.......

The reason it is so meaningful to me is that it must be sent from Heaven.  I know it is exactly what my boys would want to say to me and so true.  Gina and Rollie are "Angels" and delivered this to me from Heaven.  It will always mean so much to me.......it came from my boys.

The other present they brought me was this beautiful Cross made from "Barb Wire".  They remembered my Windmill made from "Barb Wire" that I found at a vendors booth in Yuma, AZ last winter and was so fond of.  They knew I would love this Cross and they were absolutely correct....I love it!!! Thank you both so much!!!

I also received this "Genuine" Harley Davidson birthday card from Lisa and Randy, Ms Pat's daughter and son-in-Law. I have become quite attracted to Harley items.  It is beautiful and I love the message it carries.....

Isn't it neat? Thank you Lisa and Randy. Thanks also to Terri, Ms Pat's other daughter for the card that played "Happy Birthday" to me when I opened it.......I loved it and Megabyte2 enjoyed it to!!  She walks around it trying to find out where that strange noise is coming from. :-)  Ms Pat's son Scott and both Lisa and Terri called me on the morning of my birthday with their personal wishes.  Thanks so much to you all. Your love means so much to me.  I love you all VERY MUCH!

Ok, thats it.  I promise not to mention my Birthday again.  It is over and we are on our way to another.

We are heading to Rapid City this morning to order the lumber and materials to begin putting a small apartment in our Toy Barn. Rollie and Rocky Rhoades have been busy on the phone making plans and designs as Ms Pat is requesting. Rollie and Ms Pat were laying it out and measuring it all up the last few days.  It's gonna be neat!  Stay tuned for our progress.......Rollie is anxious to start driving nails and Rocky and Sheri will be here in a few days to join in.  We are so blessed with these kids and their willingness to help us. It is such a joy to be around them. They have changed our lives and given us a new lease on life.  Praise the Lord.

Check Rollie and Gina's Blog to see more on what our plans are and all we have been doing.*

I would like to welcome our latest Followers:

Linda M
Hemlee

We are very glad to have you and thanks for signing on.... That makes 117!!!!  Remember just a short time back I was thinking I'd never make it to 50? Bless you all !!

Thanks for stopping by... It is a Great week!!!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Happy 4Th of July Everybody!!!

Happy Birthday, UNITED STATES of AMERICA!

If you are an American, today is our birthday. America is 234 years old today, and even though we most certainly have our share of problems, and some of them seem to get worse every year, we’re still very privileged to be citizens of the greatest nation ever known. My hat is off and I salute those that have made  this possible and today we HONOR then all.

Meanwhile, we continue to enjoy our "little piece of Heaven" here in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is even more enjoyable with our "kids" Rollie and Gina here with us.

We told them that every morning at 07:30 we go for our morning hike at Stockade Lake in Custer State Park just 3 miles West of our place. They thought that was great, and I'm proud to say they have been going with us every day so far and are having a ball. They discovered a few muscles they didn't realize they had but didn't let it hinder them in the slightest. They are both such a joy to be around and do things with. Their enthusiasm is certainly outstanding and encouraging to us old guys........believe me, we need it!!

Gina is always "ALL SMILES" and a bundle of energy. This little gal enjoys life and puts joy into everyone's life around her!!

The 2nd morning they were here, Ms Pat and I backed the car out and there was no sign of Rollie and Gina. They had told us the night before they wanted to go with us, so I lightly knocked on their door. I heard their two little dogs bark and shortly Gina opened the door....still half asleep and said "Is it time to go already"?  I just had to snap a picture of her. She said "I was awake at 05:30, I must of dozed back to sleep".  I knew they were tired after such a long trip, so I told her to go back to sleep and get some rest. "OH NO", she hollered, "We're going"!  5 minutes later we were all on our way!!!

Above is Ms Pat and Gina relaxing and enjoying one of our favorite rock lookouts high above Stockade lake looking back towards our place near Custer.

The first half of this hike has some long steep inclines, but as you can see Gina is still smiling!

 

Here is Gina coming down from the toughest part of our hike hooping and hollering because she MADE IT!!

After Rollie and Gina arrived Tuesday at 9:30am , shortly after lunch we took them on a short ride to our personal cache site that we placed at an old mine. It was only a little over 3 miles round trip and they were anxious to get out a little further into the National Forest right across the road from our place. 

So, yesterday afternoon we took them way out on a trip to Hazelrodt Picnic area and on up to Cicero Peak. We traveled over 23 miles, saw some beautiful country and ended up at  Broken Arrow Campground.   We wanted to visit with Larry and Geri, the owners, but Larry was home sick with a flu bug.  We visited with Geri for a few minutes and then on home just in time (of course) for HAPPY HOUR!!!

This morning we are heading for Church and this evening we are looking forward to sitting in our front yard and watching the outstanding Custer Fireworks display. That is, if I can stay awake long enough!!

There is so much more going on around here and my Blog is getting way too long, so to see more click on Rollie and Gina's Blog.  Between both of our blogs, we'll try to keep you informed on what is going on.

Thanks for stopping by. I love your comments so please click on "Comments" at the bottom and join in. Its always great to know who is out there!!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!  God Bless You All!!!!

Remember, tell your Kids, Friends and Family that you love them.... they might not be around forever!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Do We Look HAPPY, or What?

All I can say this morning is "HALLELUJAH" !!!!  Rollie and Gina arrived about 9:30 am yesterday.   Gina called at 07:30 am from Chadron, Nebraska (90 miles) and said they were enroute and they would call us for directions when they got close. I couldn't believe the day had finally come... they should be here SOON!!  I remembered that just a few miles south of us there is no cell phone service, so I waited about an hour and a half, then I told Ms Pat to "come on". We jumped in the car and headed SOUTH.  Sure enough, we had only gone about 5 miles and met them.  We both honked and waved and flashed our lights. We made a U- turn, quickly caught up and zipped around them and waved for them to follow us. Soon we were leading them up our hill top. WOW, it was so GREAT to see them!

After a BUNCH of hugs, we soon had them in their parking spot for the summer and hooked up to our NEW 50amp service.(Thanks Mark!)

Rollie unloads the new Polaris Sportsman 500 they just purchased. It is a BEAUTY!!! This is what he has been doing for the last couple weeks, buying it and building this carrier on his 5Th wheel. He says it worked beautifully.  He built a 3 point hitch attachment and it is extremely solid. Good job!!

Gina gets the Ramps ready and the Polaris was soon off and ready to ride our hills. I started planning a RIDE!!

When Gina and I weren't huggin', her and Ms Pat were!!  Pat will shoot me for publishing this picture with her eyes closed, but I sure think it kinda portrays how happy, relaxed and comfortable she is that the "kids" are finally here!!!  And let's not forget about Rollie....we did a lot of huggin' with him, too....just didn't get any pictures.

Rollie brought a BUNCH of his tools along that he will need to do some work in our Toy Barn.

After a quick trip to town to mail a PressurePro System, we both cranked up our Polaris's and took a short trip up into the  hills to an old GOLD mine, where we have hidden our own personal "cache". Gina was again in AWE of all the beautiful ROCKS!!!!  She just keep saying "I can't believe this"!!!  I told her "you ain't seen NOTHING yet". :-)

After we got back from our ride and had a few minutes to clean up, the kids got settled in and it was soon time for the ritual "HAPPY HOUR".  We all agreed it was so good to be back together again. I don't think anyone will have any trouble seeing the happiness expressed in this picture. Especially mine!

Then it was time for Rollie to do what he does best and  BBQ some "baby back" ribs.  Before we sat down to eat, we all joined hands and Rollie gave a very meaningful thanks to our Father for more Blessings than we can ever count. AMEN!! The ribs, salad and some good ole' southern purple hull pea's straight from Louisiana were excellent, as usual!! (Note the Louisiana "special" watermelon in the lower left of  picture above. That's for the 4Th of July!)

At 7:30pm Ms Pat had Softball practice. They were a little short on players, so Rollie borrowed a glove and took 1st base. After the manager saw him play and found out he would be around for the rest of the summer,

he quickly took advantage of the situation and signed him up.  Hot Dog, Rollie is now an Official Player on the Crossroads Church softball team!!!  He is pretty darn good, too!! Tomorrow night is a game!!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!

Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned as we let the "GOOD TIMES" roll!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Rollie and Gina are headed this way!!

Today is the day!!! Rollie and Gina departed from Natchez, Mississippi early this morning and are headed this way. We look for them to arrive sometime Wednesday.  Ms Pat and I are both so excited. It has been over a month since we both headed opposite directions in Tucson, AZ, the day after Mikel's funeral.

Here we are at the FamCamp at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson preparing to leave.

Megabyte2, Gina and Ms Pat saying our "so longs".  Rollie and Gina were heading to their place in Denham Springs, LA. They wanted to follow us North to our place in Custer, SD but they had lots of things to take care of at home.  It had been many months since they left there. They had lots of "house chores" to take care of and they wanted to attend their son-in-law Shane's Graduation and a family Wedding in Natchez, MS.

One of the big things on their list was to  install a 4- wheeler rack on the back of their 5th Wheel so they can haul a 4-wheeler with them wherever they go.  Rollie and his Dad worked on that project and finished it up just before time for them to leave.  You can see some of their work on Rollie and Gina's Blog.    Rollie also wanted to get a bunch of his tools so he could help us do some building on our Custer property.

While we were all trying to smile, there were tears in our eyes. After a very sad week in Tucson, we were all getting pretty good at wearing a "smile" although inside we were crying.

Ms Pat and Gina sat holding and comforting each other for the longest time.  There were lots of tears here, so I only showed the "back side".

It was a beautiful, bright, sunshiny day, and we knew someone up "above" was telling us to CARRY ON. We left the campground and drove a couple miles on the streets of Tucson "side by side", until we came to the Interstate where they turned East and we turned West. They were headed for home and we were headed to a Doctor's appointment in Phoenix, then home to North Ranch.
The relationship that has built with Rollie and Gina was definitely developed in nowhere else but heaven.  Both Ms Pat and I always wanted to RV with our kids.  For what ever reason, that has not been possible.....until now. We are truly RV'ing with our kids.....as we have "adopted" them and they us.  Praise the Lord!!!
 
It's been a long month and to say that we have missed them dearly would be a BIG understatement.  It will be SO GOOD to see them again!!!  Drive carefully Kids.  We pray for your safe travels and ask God to safely deliver you up here to "our little piece of Heaven". We have so much we want to show you.
 
It's been a GREAT WEEK!!!
 
Thank you for stopping by.

Mike

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOOTER!!!

 
This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Another year has slipped by,,,,

Last Sunday I mentioned that it was a Great Life. Well, yesterday was my Birthday and it brings to mind how the years slip by.  Another year of my life came to a close yesterday, and today I start with the First day of the next one. I Praise the Lord!  I want to thank all those that sent me good wishes.  Gosh, that was great!! I received over 30 Facebook birthday greetings, many private emails and several phone calls. What a blessing! Since we spent the day alone, those messages and phone calls meant ever so much to me.

We did have a neat day for my birthday. By 7:00am we were out in the Park doing our 4 mile hike.  It was such a pretty day, I asked Ms Pat if she would like to take a bike ride through the Park.   So, after lunch, about 1pm we took off..

Here we are stopped at one of the tunnels on Needles highway.

I fixed Pat up with a little camera so she can take pictures while we are moving. She is learning how to use it and has my helmet to contend with. It doesn't take as good a picture as the Nikon, but it is a lot smaller and easier to handle.

Here she missed my helmet as she takes a shot straight up above us as we ride......I sure hope those rocks don't fall!!

This is an interesting shot of the Cathederal Spires. She got a lot of my helmet, but note the special effects reflecting off the helmet. You can see the Sun behind us along with the trees and rock formation.... Nice job my Dear!

As we came to the long tunnel near the Needles Eye, there was a tour bus going through. Many people don't think there is any way a big tour bus can make it. Here is living proof.  I will say that not all tour busses can make it and those that do have a few dents and scratches. It's a close fit!!

We slowly followed the bus on through...

It was close but he made it. This wasn't a scaled down size bus, it was a full size 40', with tag axle and all. The big SUPER size ones can't make it.

We made it back home shortly after 3pm and the sky was already building with storm clouds for our usual late afternoon Thunderstorm. Sure enough, just as soon as we headed for Ms Pat's Softball practice at 7pm, the bottom fell out.  No hail or wind, just thunder, lightning and rain.   Needless to say, NO PRACTICE!!

It was a great day.  Nice hike and nice bike ride in my favorie place in the whole world. Plus, with my "love of life" and now my "Personal Photographer".   Now how can life be better than that? Praise the Lord!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

WELCOME to our latest follower # 115

MKTOBOB

So glad to have you with us!

Thanks for stopping by.

Bless you all!!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

It's a GREAT life.

Yes, it is a GREAT life, if you don't weaken. Ya just gotta keep plugging along. I continue to give Thanks for all the blessings we have. There is good in almost everything, some things it's a little harder to find than it is in others but it's there.  I'm happy to report that our WELL is still working perfectly! Praise the Lord for that!

Wednesday after I posted my Blog, Pat and I went into Custer to renew our Driver License. They come to town the first 3 Wednesday's of each month and ours both expire this year. The older I get the more I worry about this little task. Maybe it's because I know it's going to get tougher and tougher to maintain driving privileges as we get older. I remember when my Dad lost his driver license because his eyesight was failing, it devastated him and I felt so sorry for him.  It was about the only thing he had left and it really put a crimp in his lifestyle.  We fail to realize what that little piece of paper means to us. Think about it, what would you do if suddenly you couldn't get it? Thankfully, we both came through in flying colors! So, we're good for another 5 years....more Praise to the Lord!! 

The hardest part was getting all the information together that was required.   Boy, they want everything!  Proof of an address, proof of your Social Security number, and your Birth Certificate or Passport.  Pat finally dug up her S/S card, but I couldn't find mine. Gosh, old retired guys never use a S/S card. It's been years since I was asked for one. My Medicare card was unacceptable.  I had a Passport, but that wouldn't work. They said they would accept a 1099 so we had to come back home and find a 1099 with my S/S number on it. Took that with us and got back in line. Wait, wait and more wait.....finally our turn comes and we are approved. Now, look through the eye machine and read the letters.  Phew....we made that.  OK, now the Examiner said "that will be $20 bucks each, stand in front of the camera, then have a seat". Wait a little longer and we're outta there! Took us all morning but it is accomplished.  Hurray!

When we got home, we decided to take the 4 wheeler out in the forest for a while  It was a beautiful day. We enjoyed the hills and the views were spectacular. We ended up down at Broken Arrow Campground where we had a nice visit with owners Larry and Geri Gustafson. Their Park was busy and filling up fast.

Our good friends, Ann and Gene Benson, from Stillwater, OK were in the Denver area and decided to come up and see us.  Thank goodness they did... it was so good to see them. Gene and Ann are super folks and a joy to be around. They previously had a Peterbilt Heavy Duty Truck and pulled a 40' Travel Supreme 5TH wheel. A little over a year ago, they sold the truck and 5TH wheel and purchased this nice 45' Travel Supreme Motorhome...... it's a BEAUTY!!!

We were particularly interested in how they liked their Motorhome, since that is what we are considering getting.  They love it and told us what we hear so often...that since they have a house and just use the Motorhome for travel it works out great for them. It's almost a given that a 5TH wheel has more room. At least, ours sure does. We have never found a Motorhome that has the space, both upstairs and down that our Teton has, and we've looked at dozens and dozens of them up to and including the 45 ft 'ers. I tried to talk Gene into a trade, but he wouldn't listen. Now we could handle a Motorhome like this!!

Gene and Ann had to head back home and departed yesterday (Saturday) morning. We hated to see them leave and asked them to stay on but they are busy people and had to go. We are so glad they came on up from Denver and spent couple days with us. 

We are always sad when our friends leave us so Pat and I went out to our favorite hiking place and got in a quick 3.5 mile hike. After lunch, we cranked up the Harley and rode the hills for a couple hours. It was another gorgeous day.We stopped at a beautiful, quiet, secluded spot and inhaled the beauty of this great country, recalling many of the memories of the past and again thanking God for what he has so graciously given us.   We got home just in time for a nice hot shower and Happy Hour!! Plus, since it was Saturday,our party night, we had our usual bowl of Popcorn. :-)  Life is good.

It's only a little over a week and our "Kids" Rollie and Gina will be here for the summer!! Gosh, I can hardly wait!  It's been over a month since we said  our "goodbyes"to them the day after Mikel's funeral in Tucson. It was hard to see them head East as we headed back West. Pat and I got so close with them at North Ranch, I didn't ever want to see them go. They are such a wonderful, loving Christian couple and it will be so good to have them back with us. They have definitely filled a void in our life and they may NEVER get away from us again!! :-) 

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!

God Bless You All!!!

Thanks for stopping by...

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Miracles do happen!!

The last several days have been cool, rainy,dreary and just kinda miserable up here in the Black Hills. That is up until yesterday. When I got up at 4am yesterday we were socked in...I mean heavy fog everywhere. I couldn't see the end of our driveway.  Uh Oh, I thought another gloomy day.  Suddenly the fog burned off and I could see that the sky was CLEAR. In a short time, it was a beautiful day.

Monday the "Well" guys didn't show up, as I expected.  However, it was raining hard most of the time and we couldn't have done much anyhow. Yesterday (Tuesday) it was a beautiful sunny day and they were here bright and early.

I do believe in Miracles and I do believe I experienced one this weekend.  Sunday before I left for Church at 8:30am, I did a test on the "Well" because I thought I had noticed something that I wanted to confirm. I turned the Pump on and let it build up to pressure. I put my pressure gauge on and it built up to 59 lbs and shut off. I then turned off the power to the pump. It seemed to be holding.  Praise the Lord! Is this for real, or am I just imagining things? I took a close reading of the pressure and let it set for for a couple hours. When we got home shortly after 10:00 am, the pressure was still 59.  Hallelujah !!!!!   I still didn't believe my eyes.  I watched it for a couple more hours. Sure enough it was holding.  Hmmm, what happened? I watched it Monday in the rain off and on and amazingly it was holding. Tuesday I knew the "Well" guys would probably show up and that was fine.  I wanted them to check this out and see if I was right.

The first "Well" guy showed up and I explained to him what I had discovered. He was amazed and wanted to wait for the head guy to get here and check it out.  When he arrived and ran several tests, it was discovered that sure enough, a MIRACLE had happened and it was working perfectly..  In disbelief they packed up and went on to another job, telling me to watch it and let them know if we needed them.  Keep your fingers crossed, I have been dissapointed before but so far so good.  So, do I believe in Miracles? Yes I sure do and I thank God everyday for these kind of fine things that happen. We have WATER!!!

Our good friends and Motorcycle riding buddies, Gregg and Bonnie Gheyssens, are reporting in to us on their way to Alsaka.  Last week they had arrived at Dawson Creek,BC and entered the Alaskan Highway. They are both on their Bikes and Gregg is pulling their Camper. They camped at Mile Marker "0" Campground. They have a neat setup. What an EXPERIENCE!!! 

The weather has been slowing them down a little, but they are enjoying the sights so far.  I have been tracking their progress on the map. They are heading on to Whitehorse, in the Yukon. Maybe they are getting close. WOW, what a trip!!! All I can say Gregg and Bonnie is, I wish we were with you.  Please be careful and ENJOY!!! We're thinking of you...

We would like to WELCOME our latest followers:

N and J

Leeellen

Margie M

Happytrails

Remember if the Followers have a Blog, you can click on their picture and go to it.......

Thank You all for joining our followers. We are up to 114.  Another MIRACLE !

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless you all.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

"WELL" !!!!

"WELL"....is right!!! Our "WELL" is giving us fits!!!! It has done its job perfectly since we put it in back in the summer of 2004. This summer after we arrived here and I took my first shower, I told ms Pat, " WOW, we really have water pressure! Like never before."  Since we originally set the pressure regulator on the pump at 50 lbs, I never use a pressure regulator. Noting the high pressure, I went out and put on our regulator. I have it set at 65 lb. It immediately went up to 65 and stopped. Hmmm, that's unusual. Now I have another gauge set up so that it can measure the exact pressure of the water coming in. I got it out and put it on and it went way over 100 lbs.  WHOA, what's up here?  That's not right.  I figured it was a pressure switch. I called our "WELL" guy and of course, he was out so we left a message.

"WELL"....we have an RV.  Right?  We have a fresh water tank.  Right?  No problem.  I filled the fresh water tank and shut off the "WELL".  Now we should have water, at least 100 gal.  All set...OK.  Ms Pat turned on the kitchen sink faucet and nothing.    Hmmm, now what? After some checking I find that the Shurflo Extreme 5.7 gpm Smart Sensor water pump that I special ordered on this Teton has blown a fuse.   Hmmm, I have had trouble with these Shurflo pumps before. I tried another fuse.  Blew it, too! Another problem!! Ms Pat says she can smell something like wire burning.  Uh oh....not good. All the wiring seemed good. Nothing to do but remove the pump and see whats up.  That's not an easy task as they are NEVER in a convenient place. When I get it out and test it, I can see it is shot. Burned up. That's the smell!.  What is it with these pumps? Some repairmen have told me horror stories about them.  I'll have to contact the Company again. Meanwhile, no water.  Now we are living out of gallon jugs. 

After about 3 days and another call to the "WELL" man, he finally shows up. These guys just don't seem to understand the urgency of these situations. Although they are all real busy out here and you're lucky if you can even get anyone.   After considerable checking, he finds the pressure switch is OK and the "WELL" needs to be pulled to check further. The truck for that job is tied up and it will be a few days.  Hmmm. Ok what can we do?  Finally, on Friday, they came to pull the well.

Ms Pat watches as they begin to pull out the "WELL".

This is the Stainless Steel elongated submersible pressure tank. 

All 180 ft of it came out, 20 ft at a time..

They find a Check Valve that is bad. They replace it.

It's all back in and we're ready to hook it up.

"WELL", it still doesn't work properly. They think there must be another problem. The Boss thinks he knows what it is. But the "WELL" has to be pulled AGAIN.  Plus, of course, it's getting late on a Friday night.  Can't do it until Monday!!  Now you just watch.  Monday they won't show up.  I know how it goes.  Oh "WELL". Maybe Tuesday.. We can only hope....we are at their mercy!

That's how our week was spent...fun huh? We do have water though.  We just have to go out to the power pole and turn it on and off when we need it but we're still living out of gallon jugs.  We can at least go turn it on when we want to shower and off when we are done. Who knows how this saga will end but I can tell you one thing I do know, it's gonna hit HARD in the ole' pocketbook. I can here the cash register ringing.

However, it was still a GOOD WEEK!!!

BTW, Ms Pat has been working real hard on a couple of websites to advertise our Teton/Volvo and our lot in Retama Village. Take a look and let us know what you think.

FOR SALE BY OWNER

BEAUTIFUL LOT FOR SALE

Thanks for stopping by.  Check back Wednesday and I'll let you know what happens.

Everyone Travel Safe!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Its OFFICIAL,,,,,,,,,(almost)

I love the good ole' USA!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Ms Megabyte2........She was born in Texas and Loves the USA!!

Below she says " When do we eat?"

She has added so much to our lives, I can't imagine what we would have done without her.   She enjoys it out here in the Black Hills of South Dakota, too. But I sometimes wonder if she isn't thinking about our "New House" back at North Ranch in Arizona. I know we think about it a lot.  She loves the big screened-in porch and we do, too.

This is how we left the living room. The 1.5 inch thick insulated shades are all down and the furniture is covered with sheets. We have the Air Conditioner set at 89* and the automatic watering system comes on every 5TH day at 4:00AM.  We can't help but miss it a little bit.  We enjoyed it so much for the couple months we lived in it before we headed up here to the Black Hills.  But it is most comforting to know that our good friends and neighbors, Paul and Nancy Wilson, are keeping an eye on it for us. We know they will alert us immediately if anything goes awry. They stay at North Ranch year around nowadays and they love it.

We moved our porch furniture into the utility room.  The place is insulated real well and it has a large attic fan that is thermostaticly controlled. It will be interesting to see if the A/C has to run very much. I notice that it has already gotten pretty warm down there....  100+

Well, it is now OFFICIAL.   Our beautiful place in Texas is FOR SALE............. as is our TETON 5TH wheel and VOLVO TRUCK.  We haven't exactly gone "public" with it yet, but as bad as we hate to, it will be done soon. It is hard  for us to do.  This is our "Dream Rig" and is the most comfortable full-timing rig we've had.  Here are the links if anyone wants to get an early preview:


3903 Lark Drive,  Retama Village

3903 Lark Drive, Sales Brochure

2005 Teton and 2001 Volvo

We scanned a list of the options and upgrades for the Teton and put them in the Web Album Folder.  If you know anyone who might be interested or if you need more info, give us a call.


Welcome to our latest Follower # 109:

Georgina

Welcome Georgina,,,glad to have you with us!!

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

A Nice Hike in Scott's Honor!!

Scott A."Scooter" McFall

JUNE 28, 1961 - JUNE 5, 2008

Yesterday was the 2ND anniversary of Scott being called home by our Lord.  It was also National Trails Day. We decided to hike the 10K (6.2 miles) to the top of Crazy Horse Mountain and stand on the arm in Scott's honor.  We couldn't think of a better way to pay tribute to Scott's memory.  He had visited us here a  couple of times and loved the Black Hills.  

Here we are at the top after the 5 mile hike up some quite steep terrain. It was wall to wall people and a beautiful day for such a hike.  We were tired but extremely happy. The weather was perfect, partly cloudy and about 65 degrees.

From Crazy Horse Hike June 2010

I took a bunch of pictures.  Click on this link Crazy Horse Hike 2010 and it will take you to an Album of the entire hike from Start to Finish. I have put comments under a few but I didn't have time to do them all.  I will do more later.

We are extremely Happy to say that we now surpassed 100 listed Followers.  Thank You all again so much!!   Welcome to the latest group:

Doug and Deaon Titus
Brenda Hart
Dan and Gail
John and Aileen
Karen
David
Bonnie and Gregg


We have a busy day planned.  We are off to Crossroads Church, then a Church Pot Luck Dinner, then Ms Pat has Softball practice. She loves Softball and the Church has a new team. She is so excited!!

We are sure missing Rollie and Gina and counting down the days until they get here.  They will be heading this way 3 weeks from today.

We continue to thank the Lord for his loving guidance and comforting support. 
It was a GREAT WEEK !!!


Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday.