Busy Schedule for December

Hopefully, we have learned not to schedule so many activities whether on the road or back at home. We have been way too busy. Yancy's house closed much later than was originally planned. Diane had her annual Christmas party, this being the second one at her new house. As usual she and her mom served lots of great food and was all decorated through out her house. We played dirty Santa. The group will meet here again for New Year's Eve as we have no place to have our annual party. I was invited to the annual bunco Christmas party. It was so good to see everyone. I was also able to attend Sandy's annual Christmas party for the horse ladies. She had a good turnout.

Kyle and April took us out to eat at Logan's Steak House in Trussville. It was so good to see them.

We were invited for a wonderful meal at Joe and Carolyn Segler, some of our RV Dreams family.

We met Ron and Pam Mays and Van and Faye Hayes at the Olive Garden. They are great friends of ours that we were involved with in Crown Financial Ministries and Dave Ramsey's FPU.

Joe and Shirley Lewis met us at our usual Cracker Barrel. We enjoyed catching up with them and what is going on in their lives.

Home: Pelham, Al.

Allan and I attended our first Campers on Mission Christmas party. It was so good to see friends we had worked with on different jobs.

We moved to Birmingham South RV Campground yesterday. We are happy to be back near our family and friends. Katie noticed the view was different. Where did the lake and geese go?? She is happy and attention is on all the squirrels and birds.

Allan has gone to help our daughter, Venus, with the Daddy-Do list on her house, while I will be working on our Christmas cards. Sunday after church, I will help Yancy at her work and boxing up kitchen things.

We have several doctor's appointments and parties scheduled for next week.

Lakeside Landing, Pell City, Al

We met Venus and Joshua in Moody. Joshua drove us to see April. She wanted us to see the horses, dog and cats. We enjoyed our visit even though it was short, but we will see them more in December.
Katie is exploring anything new we bring in. She is also starting to greet us at the door with verbal hellos.
We watched the Alabama/Auburn game at Yancy's today.

Finishing the job and traveling to Pell City

We finished our time at the Restoration Ranch. This facility is helping people get their lives back on track, most coming from a history of either drugs, alcohol or prison. We were really touched by the dedication of the people and their need. Their only source of revenue is donations. There is no fee for the people who come here.

The travel to our new destination was a little stressful for Katie, but she did survive. She did a lot of backseat driving.

We like the new RV park. It has a beautiful view of Logan Martin Lake. We are just south of Pell City. There are lots of geese and ducks in the park and Katie is enjoying watching them through her window perch. We woke up to the honking of the geese yesterday.

Yesterday we attended church at Church of the Highlands with Yancy and Scott. Afterwards we had lunch and went to see Yancy's house she is purchasing. We are very pleased with its condition and her choice.

Frank Lloyd Wright House

I took a day off from work and met Nickie Taylor, a high school classmate who lives in Decatur, Al. She drove over and showed me around the area. Neither one of us had been to the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Florence. We got a guided tour through the unique house. He wanted the houses to blend into the outside and let the outside come inside, using similar materials and natural lighting. It was quite interesting. The house was built in 1939. He was way ahead of the times.

From Frank Lloyd Wright House & Restoration Ranch

I have been working in the Thrift Store going through clothes that have been donated to Restoration Ranch. Today I started mudding in the building the guys are working on. They have done so much work in such as short time and quality work, too. Allan got a taste of different crafts, doing interior framing, helping with plumbing and electrical, and installing sheet rock. We hope to finish hanging the major sheet rock by tomorrow.

From Frank Lloyd Wright House & Restoration Ranch

From Frank Lloyd Wright House & Restoration Ranch

From Frank Lloyd Wright House & Restoration Ranch

SWEET HOME ALABAMA, Tuscumbia, Al.

We are definitely in Alabama and oh how good it feels. There is evidence all around it is Alabama. (Fire ant hills) Haven't seen those fellas in a long time. Allan has come down with the crud in his head and chest. He was only out one day of work though. Hard to keep a good man down. I tripped over the cat scratcher and fell into the table. I apparently twisted both knees, back and bruised my abdomen. Knees are giving me a little problem, but otherwise I am fine.



We have attended a devotional service on Friday night, play on Saturday night and church on Sunday here at the Ranch. They are doing such a work for the Lord here. It is amazing at the lives that have been changed. We will be here another week.

Katie the kitty, Tuscumbia, Al

When I woke up Monday morning the first thought that came to me was the word Katie so I named Tinker Belle Katie the kitty. Katie has been in the humane society for some time apparently and then she was adopted by a lady the day before we saw her. She returned her because her cats and Katie didn't get along. It takes a while with cats, but I'm glad she returned her. Katie was loosing so much hair and I am sure a lot of it was from all the stress. We put her in the big, noisy truck and drove for 3+ hours with a stop or two. She expressed a dislike for the carrier so we let her out in the cab with us on a leash. She found a corner in the back seat and slept all the way. What a good kitty. She got to meet Holly, Terry and Nancy's tiny dog, when we arrived at our destination. No growls or hisses. They just touched noses. We got settled in and let Katie back in the RV. She was glad to be back home. Last night she started on the end of the bed and ended up between the two of us. We all slept good.
We are several miles out of Tuscumbia. No TV other than snowy PBS. The men will be working on a new building on the inside doing framing of walls. It has been cool and cloudy and has started to rain. This place is called Restoration Ranch. It helps people get their life back in order.

Class reunion, LEBANON, TN

We arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday, Nov 5 and camped at Timberline RV Park. It is full of long term residents.

Thursday we visited several Petsmart stores looking at the kitties. Made a quick stop at Barnes and Noble for some kitty books. Allan and I visited Dave Ramsey's facility. It was much larger than I thought it would be. They have chairs in the lobby so you can watch Dave live doing his radio program. Dave actually came out and met us. I never dreamed he would have time to do that. We visited the bookstore to become familiar with the children and teenage materials. Of course, we bought a few things, too. I found the neatest shop for cats and dogs. (The Cat Shoppe Dog Shoppe near 100 Oaks shopping center). They have so many breed related gifts and fun things for cats and dogs and people. We met my cousin Ingram Howard for supper. I had not seen him in quite some time. He brought me up to date on his family. If you have been reading our blog you may remember we met with his mom, sisters and brother in Memphis in June.

We met my classmates for supper on Friday night and a gathering in the lobby of the hotel afterwards. Some I had not seen since 1965. We drove by Opryland Hotel. It was beautiful as they had begun decorating for Christmas. Next weekend is the official starting of Christmas lights.

Saturday we drove into Nashville to the humane society and found a kitty. She is a white DSH 3 year old. She jumped right up in Allan's lap and molded herself to his chest. We have to wait until Sunday to pick her up. I got a call from Nickie telling me Johnny and Cindy Thrasher were here for a few hours for the reunion . They were going to lunch and wanted us to come along. We met them with cat hair all over us. After lunch we drove back to Lebanon to get cleaned up to meet again for supper and lobby tales again. It was such fun. So good to meet old classmates and catch up on the latest. Allan was very patient since he didn't have a clue who we were talking about most of the time.

Today, we attended Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Lebanon. We drove to pick up toys and must have items for the kitty and then on to pick her up. The humane society named her Tinker Belle. We don't know if we will keep her name. Tinker Belle rode in the truck in my lap all the way home. She has checked out the RV from end to end and every crack and cranny and approves. She is drinking, eating and using the litter box. She seems content for this being
her first night with us. Hope we all three get some sleep. Allan checked on her several times when she went into the bedroom. He said she was resting on his side of the bed.

Crossville, Tn

Late last night we decided to stay here for one more day. We slept in a little later this morning before going on a hike around the lake. (over 3 miles) There are lots of geese on the lake. The temperature was great although it is starting to drop. I closed the windows and doors. We have lots of little jobs to do around here. Not much to report on. We will watch some of the election on TV tonight. Hope everyone voted and did not have to stand in line too long.

Humane Society, Crossville, Tn

Today was a different kind of work. We were volunteering our services but it was not construction. We went to Crossville Humane Society and spent the day among the animals. We walked dogs and played with cats. Another job we were able to do was cleaning and sanitizing crates which were used for transporting dogs to nursing homes and to the store for adoption days. Jeanne was also very helpful in showing visitors the dogs and cats while the manager and staff helped with completion of adoptions and answering phone. They were very happy we came today because this turned out to be an unusally busy day. Five adoptions were processed which is usually the total for the week. We returned to our campground after driving through downtown Crossville. It was time for supper but we decided to take a walk across the dam as it was getting dark and the temperature was dropping. We plan to leave in the morning.

Appalachia Museum

We toured the Appalachia Museum which was quite interesting. It took a lot of work and money to assemble all the artifacts and buildings in this one large area. It showed pictures and stories of people who lived in the area and their hardships.

We left Heiskell and camped at Crossville, Tn. on Sunday. Allan got a few pictures of the campground and area. The name of the campground is Deer Run. It appears to be a big operation. Lots of activities in the summer. They have a large area that has lots that are sold which people put an RV on year round and come occasionally throughout the year. There are two campgrounds for people pulling in for short stays. We are in a campground with only one other RV. It's kinda nice to have so much privacy and half the lake to yourself. We took a drive to Jamestown where we used to go horseback riding. This brought back memories. You will notice the colors are changing on the trees.

Museum visit

We took a trip to Oak Ridge to visit the American Museum of Science and Energy. This was full of all kinds of info about energy, physics and how Oak Ridge was built during WWII. This is where they developed the atomic bomb that was used on Japan which brought an end to WWII. It is not what you think of as a typical museum. Like its name, it showed how science developed energy in many different forms and fields from their conception to the present. Very interesting. We did not have enough time to tour the whole museum because we got there too late. If you visit the area it is well worth your time and allow at least 4 hours minimum.

Back in Heiskell, Tn

We traveled to Sevierville, Tn. on Monday, Oct. 20 and camped at River Plantation RV Park. Several of our Campers on Mission friends were already there. We went out to eat one night and had a potluck another night. Allan and I went to Cades Cove. It was a beautiful day. We saw quite a few deer and a flock of wild turkey. There was a big traffic jam as we were leaving which turned out to be a bear, a large one. A few crazy people were following it up the mountain to get a picture. The ranger ran them off. Allan tried to get a picture, but he only got trees.
We stayed two extra days because Jim and Connie Owen were coming in. They had been in the West when we were there but we had missed each other by a few days at different locations. She and I were classmates in high school. We had an early supper and a nice visit on Friday. Saturday was moving day. We traveled back to Heiskell, Tn. at the same campground, Raccoon Valley. This week will be time to catch up on chores and cleaning of truck and trailer.

Heiskell, Tn

We arrived in Heiskell, Tn on Saturday and are camping in our first Escapees Rainbow Park (Raccoon Valley RV Park). They started using over flow camping soon after we arrived. The sites are small but we were able to pull through with no difficulty. Everyone is so nice here. We have had two socials in the two days we have been here. Last night they had ice cream. About 32 people attended. We found a trail at the back of the park. We didn't realize when we started that the trail went to the top of the hill (mountain) and back. We got our exercise in at least with neither one of us coming back on a stretcher. Because of my knees, at one point I told Allan that he might have to leave me for the food chain but I rested and then used him for support going down the hill. Allan said he had been a Boy Scout and he was used to helping old ladies across the street. We are heading out this morning for Sevierville for several days to camp with some friends. Hope the big crowd is gone, but we doubt it. We may come back here for a few more days of camping.

Oneida Baptist Institute, Oneida, Ky

We arrived in Oneida, Ky. on Oct.4th, Saturday afternoon. There are no straight roads coming to this school. We are in the eastern Kentucky mountains with roads being very winding. Jake Carroll, the Campers on Mission director of this project, was there to meet us as we came into the campground area to help us get parked. We were pleased that we will have water, 30 amp electric and sewer for the next two weeks. Oneida is in a black hole as far as cell phone, Internet and TV's are concerned unless you have a sat elite dish, which we don't. We started meeting many of the COM members, some of which we had worked with in Montana or had met at the Gadsden rally last year. We went to church on Sunday and greeted more COM members as they arrived. Monday morning we met as a group and were assigned a project. Jeanne is working in the craft shop and Allan is working with Bob White's crew on demolishing a roof from a building and replacing it with a new one. Our rainy day project consisted of putting up shelving in a locker room. We are very fortunate that they feed us three meals a day along with the staff and students.

Oneida Baptist Institute is a Christian boarding school with grades from 6-12. Many students come from foreign countries. Some of the students come from schools and homes where they have had problems adjusting. Oneida not only teaches academics,but
bible studies, too. They involve the students in campus work, sports and also horticulture and agriculture.

This is a beautiful area. The trees are changing color. There was some kind of virus? going around. Allan picked up the virus but is better now.



We were treated to a tour of the farm where they raise their own pigs, cattle, goats and grow their own crops. It is quite an operation. It helps feed the staff and students.

We were able to go to London last weekend and purchase some equipment so we could hook up to a external antenna and a booster amplifier for the phone and Internet so we can connect to the rest of the world.

We will be leaving in the morning after working here for two weeks. We certainly enjoyed our time here.

Drive through Lexington countryside

We met Cousin Janet at her house today and she drove us through the Lexington/Versailles countryside to view the vast horse farms in the area. The leaves are starting to change. The countryside was beautiful with the manicured pastures and wood fencing. There were several old mansions that were Pre-cival war and well kept. Many of the massive size buildings were horse barns rather than houses. All of them had three cupolas which is traditional for the horse barns of this area. Many of these farms have been family owned and passed down through the years, but recently there are some large corporations which have bought up old farms and adjoining property. Some owners are sheiks from Dubai. Many are owned by famous personalities such as Johnny Depp and William Shatner. We sure don't want to forget one of the noteworthy landmarks of the area. It is a large castle on a hill that was started 25 years ago.(see the slide show) It has been sitting vacant for many years but a company has recently purchased it to be used as a bed and breakfast. Anyone interested at $3000 a night? Janet also took us to a quaint small town, Midway, which has not changed much since the 1800s. We also went to an apple orchard and had some apple donuts and experienced a hay ride around the property. Besides apples they sold pumpkins, gourds, berries and grapes which are all grown on the property. We enjoyed watching the children playing on the giant slide going down on burlap sacks. They had a unique playground. We managed to avoid the heavy traffic as this was the first day of races at Keenland Park. They had a big turnout.

We stopped at the Pisgah Presbyterian Church where Janet is a member. It was founded in 1784. It had beautiful stained glass windows. We walked in the cemetery and located several American Revolution soldier's graves. There was a lot of history there.

We returned to Aunt Marian's house for supper and a nice visit.

Kentucky Horse Park

We arrived in Lexington, Ky. at the Kentucky Horse Park to find a very nice campground. Sites are large and the lighting at night is good. The roads are great for walking. Since we had been here previously, we decided to take in the Combined Driving Classic which is free. There are exhibitors from Europe, Canada and all over the U.S. We have watched several events and took quite a few pictures. We have used this time to get our RV cleaned and clothes washed as we are not sure of facilities at the next volunteer position.

Quest to find cousins

Monday, Jim loaned us his truck which we drove to Jackson, Mo looking for Jeanne's cousin, Jeanette Estes. Previously Jeanne had called her but found that the phone had been disconnected. We drove to her last known address hoping to at least talk with a neighbor who might give us some information about her. After knocking on five doors and flagging the mailman down we got a cell phone # of her daughter, Peggy. We were able to contact her and met them both for lunch. Jeanette now resides in an assisted living facility in Cape Girardeau. Jeanette was so glad to see Jeanne and likewise. We had a wonderful chat and catch up time with them. We headed back to Charleston to hook up and say our good byes. We ended up returning to Jim and Carlenes after getting diesel to pick up some clothes we left in the dryer.

We stopped by to see Wayne and Linda Wood in Hopkinsville, Ky. We had ridden horses together in previous years. They graciously let us park our trailer in their driveway over night. We got a tour of the barn, horse trailer, and met the horses, dog and cats. The horse trailer is a 3 horse with 14 ft living quarters with a slide. Really nice. Billy Ray, another horse friend, stopped by to see us before we left. Allan made sure Jeanne had not stowed away a cat before leaving. We headed out across Kentucky not sure of where we would be staying.

ARKANSAS

We drove to Jacksonport, Ar and camped at Jacksonport State Park. This is a nice state park right on the White River. Lots of room between campsites. We attended a talk on the area woodpeckers which was interesting. We helped rescue a cat that had climbed a tree. The owners had a lease on the cat, but while climbing the tree got the lease wound around different limbs.
This weekend Newport, Ar was celebrating Depot Days. We met Jim and Shirley Gatlin,friends who taught our Life Groups class at Kingwood before moving to Arkansas, for supper and attended church with them on Sunday morning. We so much enjoyed visiting with them and meeting their dog, Maggie. They gave us a tour of the town including the prison where Shirley works.
Sunday, we traveled to Missouri and visited Eugenia Bush, a dear friend of my aunt and Paul William Hill, nephew of my uncle, in Charleston. Jim and Carlene Burden (Sikeston) have graciously offered their house to us again. We had a wonderful meal at a new Italian restaurant.

SEGAR COLONY, Clinton, Ok

Sept. 24th, Wednesday, we left Amarillo and had planned to spend the night in Elk City, OK. but before we could reach our destination it was time for Jeanne to get on the Internet for a conference call class through Workampers, so we pulled off at a picnic area. This lasted for over an hour. We decided to drive on the Clinton, OK. where we set up the trailer and drove to Colony, OK.

John Segar founded this town with a band of Indians he brought from the main reservation from Ft. Reno in the 1800's following the famous Custer's last stand when the Indians were brought to Oklahoma. John Segar was Allan's great-grandfather's brother. He was a friend to the Indians and a go between the government and the Indians. John Segar helped establish a school for the Indian children and also helped get the Indians provisions until they could support themselves.

On the way back from Colony, we passed over 100 wind generators that must have been at least 80 feet tall. We have seen these generators going up all over the Midwest. We are glad to see this alternative energy being made use of. We end the day with a setting sun.

QUARTER HORSE MUSEUM, PALO DURO CANYON, Amarillo, Tx

The portions of New Mexico and the panhandle of Texas were very dry. Farmers were using irrigation in areas. We set up camp at Amarillo Ranch RV Campground. We toured the Quarter Horse Museum in Amarillo. The central hall had a huge emblem of the Quarter Horse on the wall. Another large room was full of paintings and sculptures which were for sale (very high priced, but great quality). I enjoyed looking at the different techniques the artists used. Another room was full of information about horses in general and Quarter Horses. It had very good hands on learning areas. I spent two hours seeing every aspect of the Quarter Horse, while Allan finished rather quickly and then started inspecting their air conditioning system. He was great to let me spend this time without any interuptions.

Then we drove to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. This was quite scenic. It looked like the Grand Canyon with different colors, but not as deep. We started on top and were able to drive down to the floor of the canyon where they had picnic and camping areas. I closed my eyes as we drove down the winding curves at 10% grade and no guard rails, but I encouraged Allan to keep his eyes open. There were streams we had to cross as there were no bridges. There were gauges to show the depth of the water, so apparently as some time they had flooding. There was a lot of cactus. We saw at least 20 wild turkeys in three groups.

For supper the famous Big Texas Steak House was on the agenda. This famous steak house had stuffed heads of deer, elk, moose, bear, every kind of game animal around lined the balcony and the tables upstairs had cowhide tablecloths. They had three cowboys with their instruments going around the tables serenading. There was an offer of a free steak if you could eat the whole thing. It was 72 oz. Allan declined as he was filled up on 6 oz. We got a free gigantic stawberry shortcake to go. We could have had the services of a cowboy driven limousine with long horn steer
horns on the hood.

LEAVING COLORADO, Clayton, NM

Sept. 22, 2008, Monday. We will remember this date. We had to bid farewell to Woodland Park, which we loved so much. As we were pulling out, Jeanne said while stomping her feet "I don't want to leave." We decided to change our route to Ky by going south in Colorado to New Mexico. We went through Pueblo and Trinidad, Co. over Raton pass. At the town of Raton we turned east. We left the mountains and started through the rolling prairie lands, seeing many pronghorns along the way. It started raining on us. Just as Allan said "I'm sure glad I put on new wiper blades", the drivers side wiper blade blew off the window. There was no place to pull over for five miles so Jeanne had to guide Allan down the road. He pulled over and took the wiper off the passenger side and put on the drivers side. We spent the night in Clayton, NM. As we drove in to Clayton on the west side there was a huge feed lot with hundreds of cows. We were glad the campground was on the other side of town with the wind blowing from the south. Even though the temperatures are warmer, we were able to sleep with our windows open. We were having gusts of wind up to 26 mph.
We are up early this morning with the sun shining and will be driving to Amaillo, Tx.

UPDATE FOR THE WEEK/Woodland Park, Co

Did you think we had dropped off the face of the earth? We have been cleaning and doing errands and some maintenance on the trailer this week. We returned to the Garden of the Gods to walk. It is such a nice place, not too crowded with wide side walks. It is warmer and lower in elevation than Woodland Park. We attended a soup supper at the campground. It was nice to get to know more people.
Friday it rained and started hailing while Allan ran some errands in town. The ground was white by the time it finished. It was very small in diameter so did no damage.`
Saturday, we drove through some small communities nestled into the valleys and up the sides of the mountains. They were neat. We also drove to Deckers, Co. so Allan could fly fish for the first time. He first tried it from the bank, but the foliage got his tackle. Next he got out in the middle of the river and things went much better. No fish for supper though.
Sunday, we attended an FPU class at Woodland Park Community Church and were very impressed with the enthusiasm of the class and the leaders were great. After church we drove to Eleven Mile Canyon so Allan could fish again. This didn't last too long as the wind started blowing up a storm. The scenery was pretty.

DRIVE OVER THE MOUNTAIN, Woodland Park, Co.

Saturday we decided to take a drive to Gunnison, Co. On our way we were enjoying the beautiful views. We were checking out campgrounds and areas for possible workamping locations. The higher mountains were full of snow. What a sight. We drove through Buena Vista which was having an apple festival. We stopped and had lunch at one of the many restaurants. Then we drove on to Salida along the Arkansas River and then on to Gunnison over Monarch pass. Gunnison is a larger town with a college and seemed very nice. We did not stay long as it was getting late and there was rain in the mountains. The canyon along the Arkansas River was beautiful. There were many campgrounds along this river. Fisherman must love this area. No phone service for us. This goes to the Royal Gorge. We saw the train that takes passengers through the Royal Gorge. If it wasn't so late we might have taken a ride. We had supper at Canyon City and then drove toward Colorado Springs and back to Woodland Park in the dark.



We attended the same church this Sunday. We met the leaders of FPU. They are having classes Sunday and Wednesday. After lunch we decided to take a walk and discovered four deer behind our trailer. We got some pictures. Tonight, Sunday, we took some country dance lessons in Colorado Springs.

WOLF CENTER, Woodland Park, Co.

We traveled to Divide, Co. on Wednesday, Sept. 10 to visit the Wolf and Wildlife Center. This was very interesting and we learned a lot about the fox, coyote, and wolf habits and what we are doing to their homes. Darlene Kobobel is the founder of this center. It is the only certified wild life sanctuary in Colorado. They only keep a small number of animals as their mission is to educate the public what they can do to help preserve these beautiful animals. We saw the fox group first. They are red fox, but two were white. We were told that they were genetically altered so they could sell white furs. I won't expound here on the inhumane treatment they go through. The swift fox is a much smaller animal. They get their name because they can run 25 miles per hour in spurts to catch their prey. They had several coyotes. There were timber wolves, Arctic wolves and Mexican wolves. One wolf was very friendly and came up to the fence and gave the guide several licks. We were not allowed to touch the animals for obvious reasons. If you volunteer enough, you can eventually go into the pens and feed and interact with the animals. The most exciting part of the visit was to start howling and then all the animals chimed in. What a sound. There is nothing like it. I would recommend this tour if you are in the area.

GARDEN OF THE GODS, Woodland Park, Co

Monday, we chilled literally. High temp in 50's. Our furnace was not working. Allan found a man in the park that did RV repairs. He got us fixed up. Allan is glad he didn't attempt this one. It was difficult to dismantle and put back together. We did some business by phone. The rest of the day we spent inside keeping toastie warm and computer browsing.

Today, Tuesday, Allan got up early for a pancake breakfast that the park was sponsoring. We had stayed up VERY late last night so Jeanne slept in a little. You know Allan is going where the food is. Allan met Mark who had been at the RV Dreams rally in Missouri.

Had lunch in Woodland Park and then drove to Manitou Springs to visit the Garden of the Gods. The signs pointed us to the back entrance. After we turned down the road, a sign said no RV's, motorhomes or large trucks. There was no good turn around so we continue on. We found out the reason for the sign. The road went through some rocks that were too narrow for the truck to make. Allan managed to turn around and find the alternate entrance. As we were exiting,a motor home was coming up the road. Allan stopped and talked to the man. He thought he could turn around if Allan could block the traffic coming in. All went well. We both got in the park at the correct entrance despite the signs. The scenery was beautiful. Wish we could have gotten there earlier as the clouds were coming in. Pictures are not as good without the blue sky contrast. They had trail rides in the park. Looked like that would have been a neat place to ride. There were small bridges for the horses and sidewalks for people. A very nice park we must say.

We made a stop at Wal-Mart and drove downtown Colorado Springs. Allan agreed to let me stop at the Humane Society if I promised not to bring anything home. It was a well designed facility.

Made a stop at Safeway, a really nice grocery store, before returning to the park.

When we drove in to the RV park we spotted the female fox, our first sighting. We had heard that there was a whole family of foxes. The pictures are not clear as we were moving. Later we saw two deer behind our trailer, but it was too dark to get any pictures.

Thanks for stopping by. We have reservations tomorrow at the wolf sanctuary.

RESTFUL WEEKEND Woodland Park, Co

We are so tired and decided to take some R&R. Slept in late on Saturday. Washed clothes. Since it is so cool here I decided to pull out some winter clothes for us from under the bed. While I was there, I decided I might take everything out and rearrange things. That just wasn't enough. I had not used the vacuum under the bed in a long time so I pulled a spring cleaning. Allan ran to get diesel and propane. We walked the park several times, but with much effort. The elevation here is 8400 ft. Hope we get use to this soon.

Today, Sunday, we attended Woodland Park Community Church. We enjoyed the service and found that they are teaching Financial Peace and have taught Crown Financial. We are thinking about staying here for another week.

We drove to Cripple Creek, an old mining town this afternoon. The main street was lined with old buildings of the gold rush era which have now been transformed in casinos. We could see the remains of hoist elevators above some mines. There was one gold mine that was offering tours which dropped you about 1000 ft below the ground. We declined to go on this tour because Allan and Yancy had done this in
1983 and Jeanne was not about to go down there. She had problems enough with the road we had to drive on with the shear drop always on her side. She is not interest in going up Pikes Peak. We returned and did our evening stroll of the campground.

Family reunion

This reunion we are having is actually a cousin's reunion. The cousins have not been together as a group since they were children. Our five fathers grew up on a cattle ranch outside of Sidney, Ne. Our grandfather, Milo Webster, was a pioneer that came out to Nebraska in 1887. He worked on a horse ranch, homesteaded some property and started his own ranch which later became a large agricultural farm. Today, the major crops are wheat and millet. My father and all of his brothers are passed away now. We are all here to reminisce about the old days and heritage that has been handed down to us. There were nearly 30 in attendance from all parts of the United States. We explored the old Webster family house and barns. The property was on the route of the Pony Express, the Oregon Trail and Sidney to Deadwood Trail. We went to old Fort Sidney which was an army fort to protect the early settlers from the Indians. The land in this part of the country is all flat rolling prairie with very few trees and very little rain.



We learned that the millet is sold for bird seed. And the winter wheat is planted around the first of September. It grows some and then lays dormant until spring and is harvested in the summer.

There were numerous activities planned for us including the Prairie Schooner Museum and several meals out, one of which included a covered wagon ride and cook out. The reunion began on Saturday and ended on Monday night. Tuesday we shopped at Cabelas, took care of some family business, said our last goodbyes and departed for Estes Park, Co.

We drove through a canyon and winding roads which was quite a climb. The truck pulled good and the trailer followed. We arrived Tuesday afternoon in Estes Park at the Manor RV Park. Allan's brothers, Paul and Don and Paul's wife, Mary had rented cabins at the same park. The beauty that is surrounding us is outstanding. There is a small river running along side the RV park. What a nice sound (the babbling brook). We can see snow covered mountains nearby.

Wednesday after a good nights sleep, we made breakfast for everyone at our trailer. We then took a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park on Trail Ridge Road. At the top we encountered snow and cold, blowing wind. The elevation was over 12,000 feet near the Continental Divide. We stopped at the Alpine Visitors Center and viewed a heard of elk grazing in the valley below us. We stopped on the way back down the mountain to get pictures of a 12 point bull elk. What a magnificent creature. They will be moving down to lower areas to winter out.

On return from the park we stopped at Safeway grocery store to purchase some bison burgers to cook out. They were delicious.

Thursday brother Don opted to tour the town of Estes Park while the rest of the group decided to take another drive in the park. We drove toward Bear Lake. We parked the car and road the shuttle bus to Bear Lake. We hiked around the lake which was almost a mile. The mountains were reflected in the lake. It was a beautiful view. We hopped on the shuttle bus for the trailhead of Alberta Falls. We hiked to the falls mostly up hill. The round trip was about 2 miles. The elevation makes it hard to breathe and you seem to lack energy. The squirrels were black and very small compared to ours. We also saw chipmunks, ground squirrels, and marmots. We stopped to photograph a herd of elk. The beauty is hard to capture in pictures. The night brought rain to us and snow in the mountains.

Friday, we packed up and said our goodbyes. We headed for Woodland Park, Co. Leaving Estes Park and heading toward Lyons, Co. we traveled downhill through a canyon. We pulled over one time to let traffic go by and had to wait there until our brakes cooled off. We caught I-25 south and drove through Denver and Colorado Springs. The traffic was pretty heavy for a week day. Fortunately we missed rush hour. From Colorado Springs to Woodland Park it was uphill. We passed Manitou Springs and the Garden of the Gods which we hoped to visit another day while we are here in the area. We are close to Pike's Peak, but do not plan to visit as we both have been there before. We are set up in Diamond Rv Park. They warned us not to leave food or grills outside because bears frequent this area. On our walk before dark, we saw three deer in the park. Since our schedule has been so busy since we left, we are planning to stay here several days to rest up before heading back east to our next job in Ky.

traveling to Sidney, Ne.

We said our goodbyes this morning and got on the road with no problems. It took us about three and a half hours to arrive in Sidney, Nebraska. I got a couple of pictures of Chimney Rock while moving. It is located about 15 miles east of Scottbluff. It was a landmark for the Oregon Trail.

We ran the trailer through an RV wash before going to the campground. The trailer was set up and Allan washed the truck by hand in heavy wind. We went to the hotel where they had a special room set up for the family reunion. There were many pictures and writings from the families set out on tables. Jim and Arletta had things very organized for us. Everyone had a goodie bag waiting for them. Tomorrow is packed full of traveling to prominent sites of the Webster family. Will fill you in later.

Packing up

We have had an unusual week of work here at Lusk. Our first day was with horses. You know how much I hated that. No large jobs were tackled since Allan was the only volunteer here this week. Allan has been putting windows in doors and repairing floors. He has had two hard days with Pastor Dale putting in two signs. One sign was in the next town 87 miles away with no food or gas stations in between. The wind was blowing so hard that it was difficult to put up the plywood. They were almost blown over. They both said the ground was hard as a rock. A manual post hole digger was being used. Those guys were tired puppies. Most of my work this week has been clean up. Pastor Dale and Allan put in some duct work this afternoon.

The worst part of these volunteer jobs is leaving. We have made many new friends that we will miss.

We are packing up in hopes to be on the road by 8:30 in the morning. We will be headed for Sidney, Ne. for Allan's family reunion. I am looking forward to visiting the largest Cabala's store while we are there. We will be staying in Cabala's campground.

Weekend trip Part 2

Sunday we decided to take another excursion down a country road. The scenery on Silver Springs Road was different and beautiful, but we can say that about every road we have traveled. There was no phone service, electricity or water for miles and no sign of humans. We did see cows on the road as it was open range in areas. We saw a dead porcupine on the road. Road kill in Wyoming. We had a race with a badger. He was running along side the road while we were trying to get a picture. He ended up digging a hole fast and disappearing. There was a roadside small cemetery with a tombstone of Mother Featherlegs Shepherd who was a madam in the area in the 1800's. Only one car crossed our path during the ride down this road.

Wyoming is a state with many windmills since ranching is one of the largest industries. Cattle are put on open range far from electricity and windmills provide water for the livestock. They say in Wyoming they use a log chain for a wind sock and they don't consider the wind strong unless the links start breaking.

On returning to Lusk, we counted 25 pronghorns in an irrigated field within the city limits.

Monday we went with Pastor Dale to meet with a farrier to have several horses feet trimmed. We learned quite a bit from Mike, the farrier. We returned to the church to continue our work.

Weekend trip Part 1

We found that the group had made a great deal of progress in the last four weeks since we were here. There are 3 couples here, two which were new to us. Virgil and Donna Townley worked with us before doing electrical. H. L. and Norma Green, and Ruddy, Elaine and Andrew were the new couples. Allan and H L worked on installing drywall. Ruddy hung exterior and interior doors. Jeanne worked on the children's area floor and removed floor tiles along with clean up duties. After work Allan would throw the football with Andrew. John and Cookie, members of the church, had the group over for supper on Thursday night. John took us on a tour of his 6000 acre ranch. Cookie took us to the barn to watch the feeding of three young calves and to see her 20 barn cats. Many have no tail and have extra digits. They were cute. Friday morning the three couples headed for other locations. We will stay here another week. We were invited to a hamburger cookout at Pastor Dale and Jana's house.

Saturday we slept late and had a big breakfast before taking a sight seeing trip. There were lots of things to see. We stopped at Register Cliff to view the names of people written on the rocks who traveled on the Oregon Trail. Some are dated back into the 1800's. Unfortunately, people have continued to add their names defacing some of the older names. A fence was constructed recently around the cliffs to protect it.

We visited another area close by that had preserved ruts from the wagon trains worn into the rocks.

We followed the North Platte River to Fort Laramie which was a prominent stopping off point for the wagon trains to rest, make repairs and buy supplies before going over the mountains westward. The soldiers were there to protect the settlers and travelers in the area and keep peace with the Indians.

We decided to travel on to Scottsbluff, Nebraska to see Scottsbluff Monument which was a very prominent landmark along the Oregon Trail. We returned to Lusk after dark.

Leaving Billings, Mt heading for Lusk, Wy

Our part of the project was winding down by Friday. The mudding and sanding in the library was finished and a third of the soffit was completed. Our group departed on Saturday morning except for three workers staying another week to finish soffits and window and door trim prep. Dr Phillips and Laura Jean expressed their appreciation for our work and gave us Yellowstone Baptist College coffee mugs and tee shirts with the logo " I confronted the great sanding challenge at YBC -and won." It was hugs and hand shakes and everyone departed.

When we stopped at the rest area at Buffalo, Wy. Jeanne was making sandwiches in the trailer and Harvey and Imogene Hastings from Campers on Mission pulled up beside us. We visited for a few minutes with them and then we were on our way. We drove to Kaycee where we unhitched our trailer at Powder River RV park. We left right away for a drive.

We had decided to find Hole in the Wall which is an old cowboy outlaw hideout. We drove down a nice country paved road which turned into a gravel road which turned into a dirt road. This went on for 30 miles. We met two cars during this whole drive. Good thing because the road became a one car road in places. We had to turn around because the sign said only four wheel drive beyond this point. We were close to the outlaws cave, but we did not hike as we did not know how much further it would be. The scenery on this drive was spectacular.

We took another drive to the mountains but never found the turn off to actually get to the mountains, but this drive was great anyway. We saw sheep, cattle, about 400 pronghorns (antelopes), deer, and horses all unfenced except for the interstate. We had two young pronghorns jump out in front of our truck and race ahead of us down the road for about a mile before they turned off into the field. I don't know where their mother was. There was a horse at the road side. He just stood there and watched us as we drove by. When we returned to the RV park, we had a light supper and went to bed before 10. (our usual bedtime has been 12).

We slept late today. Had a quick breakfast and hit the road. We stopped in Casper for diesel fuel and had a big meal at the mall. We arrived at the church in Lusk at 3:30. Virgil helped get the trailer hooked up. We met the other RV volunteers working here. We attended church tonight. After church we took a walk into town. The weather is cool and pleasant. 50 degrees low tonight.

Sunday local travels

We attended church at Faith Foursquare Church in Billings this Sunday. We drove to the Rimrock above Billings and got some pictures. The airport is located there. We had flown in to Billings several years ago on one of our vacations. We went to a park near the Yellowstone River and then drove south of Billings and saw some different landscape.

I took a picture of Allan when he came home on Monday. The picture doesn't show how covered he is in sheet rock dust. (The abominable snowman)

Most of the fires in the area are under control, but the Wapiti area fire is closing in on homes and farms. This is near where we stayed between Cody and Yellowstone Park.

Farmers market and Bear tooth Highway

We said our good-byes to Ken and Judy. They are headed back to Alabama by way of North Dakota.

We drove to downtown Billings to see their Farmers Market on the streets. It was full of people with their kids and dogs. Lots of good food and plants were for sale. Allan found a rhubarb pie that has his name on it. On each corner they had different musicians of all ages. While there I made a stop at the health food store. We dropped our purchases off at the trailer and headed for Bear tooth Highway.

Fortunately the fires that had plagued the Red Lodge area the week before, had been brought under control and the town had been saved from going up in flames. We took several pictures of houses that were of interest.

As we started up the mountains, the roads quickly got steep and winding with many switch-backs of different configurations. Jeanne was more than just a little anxious as she sat in the passenger seat looking down to see the drop off hundreds of feet below. She was leaning toward the center of the truck in hopes that would keep the truck from falling down the mountain. Some stretches didn't even have guard rails. The scenery was breathtaking and indescribable. The pictures really don't do justice to the scenery. We stopped several times at overlooks to take pictures and even got out to check the snow near the top. Unfortunately we did not see any mountain goats. Others from our group had seen some last week on the same road. There were many beautiful lakes near the top caused from the melting snow. We were not tempted to go swimming. Our truck performed well. We were glad we were not pulling our trailer as we could not have kept it on our side of the road with the switchbacks. There were several areas on the road that apparently had problems with rocks slides. The sign warned of the dangerous areas but also said to stay on the road. One side was the mountain going straight up and the other side was straight down. Now just where did they think your were going?

Down at the foothills, we drove through the National Forest campgrounds. It is set up for small campers but not for our size trailer. No hookups, but nice area. Coming out of the mountains we ran into some rain. Allan decided we need to buy new windshield wipers. These have nearly dry rotted from lack of use.

We have one more week here in Billings.

End of 2nd week

We had a group supper on the grounds, steak, baked potato and salad on Wednesday. The weather was pleasant.

We have had still warmer than usual temperatures but about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than last week. Next week should be even cooler, hopefully, in the 80's.

Today, Friday, leaves us tired but with a feeling of accomplishment. The men are close to finishing the walls. The ladies have been painting and cleaning in the boy's dorm. We had supper at Famous Daves, a barbecue restuarant with Ken and Judy.

Our plans are to drive part of the Bear-Tooth Highway in the morning.

Week 2 at Billings

July 31 marked our 2 month anniversary on the road. We had planned to go to the farmers market for some fresh vegetables and take in a movie. Our week had been hot and very tiring so we slept in. We did go to the theatre but found the movie was sold out. Bummer. We did go ahead and buy tickets for Sunday. For supper, we joined two couples from our group at the Olive Garden.

Sunday we attended church at First Assembly Freedom Church and later went to see Mama Mia. We both enjoyed it. It really rained here for about 5 minutes. This is the first rain we have seen.

Monday started our second week here and today (Tuesday) the ladies got a day off and went shopping in Billings at the mall. We had a good time and made a few purchases. This week is supposed to be about 10 degrees cooler.

Weather in Billings

The high today was 96 degrees, but we are working inside with a breeze blowing through the windows. It really did not feel that hot. What a difference from Alabama. We run one air conditioner in the RV during the day but shut it off before we go to bed as the temperatures drop in low 60s. We end up shutting the windows before morning. We really are enjoying this weather. The rest of the week the temperatures should be a little cooler.
The weather here is quite different. We have had several showers but we don't get wet. The rain evaporates before it hits the ground. Anything you see that is green is being irrigated. It will be calm and all of a sudden there will be a 30 to 50 mile an hour wind gust.
Allan is mudding. Jeanne has moved from sanding and mudding to staining today. This is a picture of the library we are working on.
There are several forest fires burning in the area. (west of Cody, in Yellowstone, near Red Lodge, Mt) Several areas have been evacuated. We have not been affected so far.

Arrived in Billings

Instead of taking the more mountainous shorter route we skirted the Bighorn mountains. It was a gradual change in elevation. More different type of countryside was encountered on this drive. The land was very dry except for areas where they had irrigation canals for farming. They were growing alfalfa, corn, wheat and we think sugar beets. This was the first time we had seen irrigation canals. Apparently they can be full and running fast to empty when they are draining for irrigation. We noticed a haze getting near Montana. We later learned that there were fires in Montanta headed for Yellowstone Park. On this trip we had no truck or trailer problems. We arrived in Billings, Mt. after driving about three hours. We had to park for one night at Emanual Baptist Church which was about two miles from Yellowstone Baptist College, the site for our volunteer work. On Monday we were able to move to the college after hookups were installed. They had been waiting on the electrician to connect the power. We immediately started hanging drywall, sanding and mudding and sheetrock finishing. We are working on a new building which will house the large library with some meeting and classrooms along with computers. They hope to have the building ready in 4 weeks in time for fall classes. Lots of work to be done. The hours are a little longer than our previous job, but they are providing lunch for us. The plans are to be here for three weeks. Weather is warmer but nights are in low 60s.

Journey to Yellowstone

Thursday morning Allan had to walk back up to the shop which was three miles. He was eyed by pronghorns on his walk. They finished the job at 5pm. We got a bite to eat and headed for the canyon where our trailer was left. The journey took us through wide open dry prairie land for about two hours. On the way we were surprised by a moose crossing the road. You just don't see moose in this type of terrain or so we also saw a coyote on the side of the road and it wasn't road kill. Since it was so late we decided to stay at the campground. The weather was nice.
Friday morning we drove through Thermopolis, home of the hot springs, but did not have time to stop. We made it to Cody and on to our campground near Wapiti. We got a shower and headed for Yellowstone National Park to meet some friends from Montevallo. We were able to do a little sightseeing. We saw the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the upper and lower falls. The rock walls of one side of the canyon were yellow which gave the name Yellowstone to the park. The other side of the canyon was multi-colored. There is typically no phone service in the park, but we were at a high elevation and Jeanne was able to use the cell phone successfully. On the road to the picnic area we were stopped by many buffalo crossing the road for a drink from the river. We also got to see and smell the hot mud and sulfur pots. Jean and Liz Page were at the picnic area waiting to greet us. They have been working several summers our of West Yellowstone with the Baptist Church. They work with college students that are doing summer work at Yellowstone and are part of a Christian witness program. There about 90 young park employees from many countries attending the picnic. It was dark by the time we left the park, but we did manage to see some elk along the road. It was 11:30 by the time we returned to our campground.
We had planned to drive the Beartooth Scenic Highway but were just too tired on Saturday morning. We drove into Cody in the afternoon after taking a nap. We had supper, watched a gunfight on the street, bought a few groceries, and attended a rodeo.
Today we are packing up and heading for Billings, Mt for our next volunteer job.

Held up at Casper

The brake shop in Riverton found the problem on the truck but was not able to fix it so we were referred to the Freightliner dealer in Casper. We arrived in Casper yesterday afternoon. We were told to bring the truck in at 7am the next day. We had a difficult time finding a room. Cheyenne days are going on and prices have increased per night. We are staying at the Quality Inn. It is older but has been remolded and is not bad. We got the bad news that they were not able to finish the brake job today so we are staying another night. Without wheels we are limited to what we can do and where we can eat, but we are cool, have Internet and phone service. What else could you ask for.

Unexpected delay

We said our goodbyes July 19, Saturday morning. We left Lusk heading to Thermopolis, Wy. What a beautiful drive. As we were driving through Wind River Canyon, our new Pressure Pro (tire air pressure monitor) alerted us to a problem on a truck tire. We pulled over in Boyson State Park and discovered the brakes on one side of the truck had caused an overheating, so we found a site and set up camp. No cell, tv or internet service and no electricity, but the campground scenery was magnificent. Saturday and Sunday were days of rest which we apparently needed. Our muscles were sore after two weeks of physical labor. The campground was on a silt build up behind an old dam which had been demolished and rebuilt upstream. You could see two car tunnels and two train tunnels along the river near the campsite. We had hope to see some big horn sheep or deer which occasionally come down to get water, but no such luck. Today, we arrived in Riverton without the 5th wheel to get the brakes checked. The shop could not get us in until tomorrow so we are staying in a Comfort Inn for the night. We killed some time in Wal-Mart before check in at 2:00. We couldn't do sight seeing in the area due to the brake problem. We have air conditioning, cell and internet service today.

Moving on

This week we have had 3 workers out with intestinal virus. Allan and I were spared this malady. Allan has been hanging sheet rock and Jeanne has been taping and mudding. We are learning new skills.
We had hamburgers at Pastor Dale and Jana's house tonight and returned to the church to play Mexican Domino's.
Saturday we will leave for Cody and Yellowstone for a week off.

First volunteer job

We started work on July 7 in Lusk, Wy at Crossroads Ministries. We have 3 other couples helping (Virgil and Donna, Jim and Jackie, and Jean and Sue) Pastor Dale is a church planter and started this first Assembly of God in Lusk. The building is an old bar/restaurant and is in need of much repair. Everyone works well together and progress is being made.
Pastor Dale and his wife, Jana had us for an evening meal on Friday which was delicious. Afterwards we attended a pagent "Legend of Rawhide. It is a gigantic show of western history based on the Legend which took place in the 1800's. A young man, from a wagon train en route to the gold fields of California, shot and killed an Indian Princess. Indians encircle the wagon trains: guns begin to blare and the screams of the wounded mix with the wild yells of the Indians. The young man is skinned alive in revenge. A cast and crew of 400 area residents, 7-10 covered wagons, cavalry in uniform and equipment of the period and a band of Indians, make up this production. And what a production it is.
Today, July 12, Sat. we visited the Stagecoach Museum which was very interesting and while in town we watched the parade. This town has about 1400 in population and is about 50 miles from another town in any direction. The people are very friendly. We have been very impressed with the town.

Summary of our travels to present

Allan retired and Jeanne quit work on May 30, 2008. Daryl and Nancy came by to see us off on May 31. We pulled out of Birmingham South Campground where we had lived since Aug. 2007 with our first stop being Memphis, Tn. What a feeling of freedom. Jeanne was busy reading up on the Tom Tom (GPS) which she found to be user friendly and extremely helpful. (Thanks to Dr. Moore, Dr. Blackburn and staff). We camped at the Agri-Center in Germantown, Tn. We were able to visit with some of Jeanne's relatives, Ruth, Darrell, Amy and Lynn. It had been so many years since she had seen them. We attended Bellevue Baptist Church. We spoke with Pastor Steve Gaines following the service and he prayed for us and Kingwood. He was familiar with our pastor, Ron Cox.Allan noticed brake fluid leaking after going to buy some groceries. It turned out to be a break in the line and required towing to be fixed. After the brake line was fixed we left Tuesday afternoon for Sikeston, Mo.

We spent the next three nights with Jim and Carleen Burden. They were nice enough to let us park our truck and trailer in their driveway and sleep and eat at their house. They took us out to the famous Lambert's Restaurant "Home of the Throwed Rolls". We visited a friend of Jeanne's aunt, Virginia Bush in Charleston, Mo. We also got to visit Virginia Bailey in Sikeston who is a member of Kingwood Church back in Alabama.

On June 5 we drove to Van Buren, Mo and spent two nights at Big Springs RV Park. We were on the Current River with a nice view. We visited Big Springs, Alley Springs and Blue Springs. They were very picturesque. Each one produced millions of gallons of water a day. Blue Springs was actually blue. We did not have time to take our Sea Eagle inflatable kayak down the river as we were already behind schedule.

We left for Branson, Mo. on June 7. Our campground was America's Best Campground where we joined our group for the RV Dreams Rally. We attended Tri-Lakes Church AG nearby which we really enjoyed worshiping there. This rally offered great food, entertainment, informative workshops and lots of time for socializing. This is the best rally we have attended.
One of the features of the rally was voluntary open house of RV's which we participated. We made many friends among whom was Joe and Carolyn Segler from Alabaster, Al. They were wanting to start this lifestyle soon.

We left on Sunday, June 15 traveling through Colony, Ks and spent the night at Lyndon, Ks. because they had a storm shelter at the campground. The weather was very stormy but we stayed safe. The following day we traveled to Smith Center, Ks. home of Peterson Excel Factory. We were able to park outside and spend each night in our fifth wheel except for one night we stayed in a bed and breakfast. We had such a delightful time. We met Frank and Nancy who were from Tx. They were there for the week, too, so we spent quite a bit of time getting to know each other. We took a tour of the factory and walked the streets of the town. Petersons provide their customers with two large lounges with TVs, coffee, showers, washer and dryer. Everyone was very nice and helpful.

We left on Saturday, June 21 and traveled to Valentine, Ne. staying a Wacky West RV Park. We visited Smith Falls State Park on the Niobrara National Scenic River. We hiked up to the falls to take pictures and watched some girls running under the falls. We did not join them as it was apparent that is was very cold.

The next day we drove to Hermosa, South Dakota where we stayed just outside Custer State Park at Heartland RV Park. A trailer tire blew out on our way to Rapid City. No problem Good Sams came to the rescue. We picked up Yancy at the airport that night. While staying there 6 days, we saw the Badlands, Custer State Park, Needles Highway, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and. Iron Mountain Road. Some of the roads were switchback and even pigtails but what beautiful sights. We past through 3 tunnels on each road, one framing Mount Rushmore in the distance. Another day we drove to Stergis, Lead, Deadwood, and driving through beautiful Spearfish Canyon. Probably the best part of this area was Custer State Park with all the wildlife. We saw many pronghorn (antelope), buffalo, prairie dog communities, bighorn sheep, and mule deer. We also visited Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD. near the Badlands. We had a great time and a wonderful and exciting adventure with Yancy.

Leaving South Dakota on June 28 we traveled toward Gillette, Wy. The sky was very hazy actually throughout our whole stay in Gillette. Later we learned of a fire in Saskatchewan Canada that was causing all the haze. Our purpose for this trip was to attend the (Escapee's) RV rally. We took some RV related classes, genealogy, and line dancing to name a few. We met some RV dreams members (Jan and GC, Bob and Mollie, and Froggi Donna). We attended church at the rally with the Christian Fellowship. Allan walked in the parade. On the 4th, Gillette and their citizens provided us with a 360 degree spectacular fireworks show. On at least three occasions Jeanne got her horse fix. There were different horse activities going on during our stay there. We got to watch some goat roping by young kids. What a show! We stayed an extra day to visit Devil's Tower. We saw several people climbing it. It was a beautiful, clear day and we loved the scenery.

Sunday, July 6 we left Gillette headed for Lusk, our first volunteer job. Unfortunately, we had our second blowout on the trailer on Hwy 59, busy two lane road. One of the Escapees Christian Fellowship members, Lamon Wood, stopped to help direct traffic and loaned us his jack while Allan changed the tire. We would have called Good Sams but we were in a hurry to get to the church for the Sunday night service. We have never seen so many trains full of coal. Gillette is the coal capital of the United States. Virgil and the Pastor Dale directed us into the RV site and we rushed into church.

As our travels took us further west the landscape was mostly long rolling hills where you could see for miles. Kansas had fields of grain where Nebraska, South Dakota and eastern Wyoming had fields of grass and alfalfa growing. This year these areas had more rain and snow so it was probably greener than usual. Each area was different but each had their own beauty. The pronghorn (antelope) are very plentiful everywhere. We are very blessed that God has protected us on our travels and allowed us to experience the beauty of his creation.