Change of Plans

You know we have had terrible weather throughout the US and our backyard weather has not been "normal" either but at least we can change our plans when we do not like the weather.  Most of you know that we had planned to go to Yellowstone NP on May 28th and across to Mt Rushmore around June 7th.  We looked at the weather situation in Yellowstone and said, "opps, do not want to go there".  Yellowstone NP has 2 1/2 feet of snow on the ground and it was projected to continue to snow over Memorial Day.  Ok, changed our reservations and decided to go to Mt. Rushmore first and Yellowstone around June 7th.  It made perfect sense to us, after all Colorado was going to be in the 80s-90s during this period and it is only 400 miles north to Mt. Rushmore.

We are in the Mt. Rushmore area now and it has been raining since we arrived and the  temps are in the 40s-50s.  Not exactly what we expected but still better than Yellowstone NP.  Hopefully summer will arrive soon and we can really enjoy all the backyard sights in this area and when we arrive in Yellowstone the snow will have melted enough to drive on the roads that are closed for now.

Went to Wall drugs and the Badlands today.  Left in rain and drove out of it before we got to Wall drugs (40 miles).  If you haven't heard of Wall drugs, you have probably lived under a rock for the last decade, it is in the little town of Wall, SD and is a street full of every kind of shop you can image and history is written on its walls including the pictorial early history of the Lakota indians and military of this area.  It is worth a side trip if you are on I-90 near Rapid City, SD.  We spent a couple hours in Wall Drugs before heading to the Badlands NP.  It is a very interesting geological area and has a beautify all of its own (btw - it is not as bad as its title).   Her is a few pics of our adventures in the Badlands.

Big Horn Sheep in the Badlands - it really does not look too bad from this pic!

This is the Badlands!  Yes it is barren but it has a kind of rugged beauty.

Smile for the photographer!  It is not raining now!

You see we do not need perfect weather to enjoy our travels but it would be nice to have a little summer to get into shorts instead of sweatshirts and coats.  Here is hoping you are enjoying your backyards and that the weather is starting to cooperate with you.  We will keep you posted on our travels over the next couple of weeks before we head back to Colorado for another round of chemo treatments.  As you can see, we are still out there enjoying ourselves and we are starting our 3rd year of full time traveling around this wonderful land and do not plan to stop anytime soon.

To all of our friends and family -- Life is short, get out and enjoy yourself !  Take along a friend so you will have stories to swap when you get together the next time around!!!

In every life a little rain must fall!!!!!

We are staying in Colorado until the end of this month and like much of the United States we are getting buckets of rain, at least for the last three days.  We do not have the flooding like the Mississippi, Indiana, and Ohio but it does make like a little miserable especially with the cold weather (highs in the mid 50's).  But it does give us time to write this blog, crochet a baby blanket and of course shopping. 

Check out the awning -  it is full of water!

It is a little wet here!!

Before the rain but still a little chilly, we had our friends from Florida and New Mexico stop by and spend a few days with Bob and Donna and us.  Doug and April Allmond stopped by on their way to Blue Mesa from Florida to camp host once again in Curacanti National Recreation Area.  A couple of years ago we met Doug and April when we camp hosted at Blue Mesa.  Doug was responsible for the term "our backyard", when we hiked through the many beautiful areas around the southern part of Colorado, Doug would say, "Look at all of this, it is America's backyard and it is free!  He is also responsible for the picture you see when you log on to this blog! Doug and April are treasured friends.   Mike and Rita Kavanaugh drove up from Albuquerque for a long weekend with us.  We always stop by to see them whenever we are in Albuquerque, they always go out of their way to make us feel like family.  The eight of us had a wonderful time together!  It really doesn't matter where we are in this great land, it is always best when we are spending time with good friends!!!!

From left to right:  April, Pat Donna, Rita, Mike, Bob, George, Doug getting ready to enjoy a breakfast at one of our favorite spots near Colorado Springs,

George took this picture at one of our favorite spots in the Springs - Garden of the Gods!

Everyone turn their back on George - he is getting ready to take a picture!  OK I know that I take too much time trying to get a good picture.  That is April in the foreground, Pat to the left, with Rita rushing to get out of the picture behind Doug and Mike trying to stay warm!

Before our guest arrived, we did some work for Bob and Donna's daughter, Maria.  She asked us last year if we could help them build a deck on the back of their house in the Black Forest area near Colorado Springs.  We did find out that we are getting older and are slower to recover but we helped them get it about 90 % complete before we gave out and the weather stopped us!  All that is left is to finish the railings and cover the stairs and stair landing.  Maria was happy with our work and we are happy to be done!

We torn off the old small deck to get ready for the new, larger, and improved deck.  George with his sawsall is putting the finishing touches of taking off the old deck.

Pat, Donna and Bob working under the joists installing hurricane straps (really needed with the wind they get out here).  We are half way done about this time!

Time for a rest for Pat with Mylee (David and Nikki's little puppy) and Bob!

We are staying at the Jefferson county fairgrounds for about 11 days until George's chemo treatments and Donna's medical appointments are finished for the month.  Our next journey will be to Yellowstone and the Tetons but we think maybe we are going up there a little premature.  Snow is still falling in the Yellowstone National Park, we hope that we will not need snowshoes when we get there.   It will be an adventure and even in the winter Yellowstone is beautiful so we are looking forward to our next backyard adventure.

We are staying dry, and hope that all of you are managing to survive the terrible weather that has stuck thoughout the US  this spring.  We also pray for those in harms way, both here in the US and those who are serving our country overseas! 

Congratulation to Maryann Graue on her retirement from government service on June 3rd!!!!  Maryann was a nurse in the Air Force, serving in Viet Nam, before she has served the Air Force as a civilian nurse for several bases including:  FE Warren AFB, Wyoming and Davis Monthan AFB, Arizona.  Along the way she also raised two wonderful young ladies, kept Tom, her hsuband, in line and grounded and became one of our closest friends.   You are one of a kind (we mean that in the most postive of ways) and wish you all the best on your retirement trip through western United States and across Canada!

We just found out another friend is also retiring.  We would also like to wish Joyce Price all the best in her retirement.  We hope you and Frank enjoy your retirement -- it is really not a bad life!!  Take care of yourselves, we hope to see you the next time we are in the midwest! 

To all of our friends and family, regardless of the weather, we hope you are enjoying life!  Until the next time we sit down and jot down a few lines for this blog, we hope life is good for you!  If you get a chance remember our military members serving this country in the four corners of this world and say a prayer for those in harms way!  Remember, if not for them and those who served before them,  the freedoms we enjoy today would not be possible!!!

Visiting Friends and Family

I have neglected to journal our visits and provide pics of our trip through the southwest and Albuquerque and Tucson.  Our hosts in Albuquerque were Mike and Rita Kavanaugh (only Mike the first time through) and Tom and Maryann Graue.  Although we have posted some of our pictures from our Tucson visit where we spent a couple weeks we have neglected are Albuquerque time and Easter.  Here are some pics of our visits with some very good friends and great hosts!

We were treated to a play at by Tom and Maryann's grand daughters, Molly and Sam!  They were simply great

Kelly, Carrie and their PA friend (sorry I forgot her name)

At our stop in Wilcox for RV repairs we discovered that Rex Allen (1950's TV cowboy fame) was born here and they are proud!

Pat, Donna and their puppy, Reilly

Mike and Rita

George and Mike working after Easter dinner, Oh what was Bob doing?

Rita, Mike, Donna, Bob and Pat with Reilly at Mike and

Rita's on Easter

After we returned to Colorado for George's third treatment sessions we also had to do some yard sale stuff to downside some of our stuff.  David and Nikki also decided to do a yard sale the same day so we shared and divided items to ensure both yard sales would be successful.  While Nikki did most of the work for their yard sale, we helped out with Kris and Amy's yard sale.

Pat has her hands full - of course she loves it!

What a good looking guy!

Karsten in his Johnny jump up!  Kris of course is relaxing!!!

Kasey checking out one of the garage sale items - he was such a big help and charmed all the shoppers into buying more!

We are still at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs with Bob and Donna.  We all will help their daughter and her family build a deck onto the back of their house this coming week. 

That should be a lot of fun!  We are sure pics will follow!  After the deck building party, we will host our good friends from West Virginia/Florida - Doug and April Allmond at the Air Force Academy.  If you remember the beginning of this blog last year, it was Doug who took the picture at the top of the blog and also came up with the expression "our backyard" when referring to travelling the USA.  They will stop on their way to camp hosting at Gunnison, CO.  Yes, that is where we met them two years ago.  They are going back to enjoy another summer in God's backyard!  After Doug and April depart, we will drive up to the Denver area where we will go to our monthly doctor's appointments and of course the fourth chemo sessions.  June's plans are not solid but we will keep you posted as we continue our travels through the backyards of America. 

As we travel and visit friends and family we are continuously struck by how everyone we visit go out of their way to treat us like royalty!  We pinch ourselves to ensure we are not dreaming and that we can live this dream!   We used to say "watch out when you see a motor home coming down your street, it might be us".  Now we are changing that to say "we hope we visit your backyard and renew our friendships".  Without friends and family (who are also our friends but somehow were lucky enough to actually be related) it would not be possible to have so much fun traveling the backyards of this great country.  Thank you all!!!!

Get out and enjoy life - you only get one chance and tomorrow is not guaranteed!