Mt Rushmore and More

George in front of Wild Bill Hickok and Calmity Jane's graves in Moriah Cemetary in Deadwood

We went sightseeing today and ended up in Deadwood.    It is the end of May and notice George is still wearing a vest over a sweatshirt.  What is that all about?  Do you know the story about how these two  ended up buried next to each other.  Wild Bill was assasinated by Jack McCall in 1876 and when Calmity Jane died in 1903 she said bury me beside Wild Bill.  As far as anyone knows they did not have any realtionship except that Calmity Jane knew him and always wanted to be near him.  Strange but true! 

This is Salon No. 10 were Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back holding the famous "deadman's hand" (Aces and Eights with the 9 of diamonds) in Deadwood, SD

Mount Rushmore

Visting Mount Rushmore is an awesome experience.  But if you get a chance go there late in the afternoon.  Stay for the night show -  it will send shivers up your back.  The National Park Service put on a wonderful show every night during the summer starting at 9:00 with the lighting of the Presidents at 9:30.  I think along with the Tomb of the Unknown ceremony and seeing the Missouri at Pearl Harbor this has to be one of America's must see events for all Americans. 

Pat with the Black Hills in the background

We are half way through our backyard adventure in the Black Hills and we are so glad to report the temperatures are in the 80's and he sky is a very beautiful blue.  It was so nice today that we brought out the golf clubs and decided to play 18.  We got in 8 holes and could not take it anymore since it was 21/2 hours on the course and not a hint of letting us play through - the club pro said that he was sorry but some of the players think that they paid for their round and should be able to take all the time they wanted to play their round, regardless of how slow.  We won't be back to that course anytime soon!  Leaving early allowed us to fire up the grill and put some chicken on for supper...see everything turns out good if you just have a positive attitude!

Tomorrow we will be doing a little maintenence with the motorhome so not much sightseeing but Saturday we will be taking in Elsworth AFB's open house. We will have some pictures to let you all see our Air Force and some of the activities of the day. 

Don't know if we mentioned it in our last blog but we will be two of a very select few who will walk on the arm of the monument of Chief Crazy Horse.  The monument is a work in progress and probably will not be done in our life time but we will be part of it's history.  We are going on a volksmarch Sunday that will end up on the Chief Crazy Horse's monument.  It only happens once a year and only a few people participate in this 10K walk.  We are excited and are anticipating walking on this monument in the making.  For sure pictures will follow!

That is about it for this update, we hope you are living life to the fullest and not waiting to live your dreams.  This great land has so much to offer and see and everywhere you turn there is a special adventure for you to enjoy!  Take extra good care of yourself and if you are traveling this summer be safe (there are some crazy drivers out there).  Next post will be Monday or Tuesday so stay tuned!

  

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!

Disaster turns into Another Great Backyard!

What is the last thing you want to do as you travel the highways and bi ways of this great land?  Add in that you are on I-10 between El Paso and Tuscon!  Add to that the 90 degree plus heat of late April!  OK, what happened to Pat and I was is that we developed motor home problems that prevented us from driving back to Colorado for George's chemo treatments.  Actually, our motor home was acting up but was still chugging along but our friends and travel companions, Bob and Donna's motor home was dead in the water along side I-10 at mile marker 366.  Things did not look good but this story will get worse before it gets any better.  Bob and Donna called for a wrecker for their motor home and about 2 hours later a pick up truck showed up and a very young nice man named Garry, assessed what he needed and said he would be back in 15 minutes with a very hugh wrecker.  True to his word he came back and started hooking up Bob and Donna's motor home.  The last thing he had to do in order to tow the motor home was to disconnect the drive shaft.  As he got under the motor home and started to work all hell broke lose as the drive shaft broke the yoke and crashed into his arm, shattering his right arm.  He had forgot to take off the parking brake and the drive shaft was under pressure and a lot of tork which broke a 2 inch metal yoke before it shattered his arm.  Long story short, because we were so remote it took about an hour to get an ambulance out to him and transport him to a hospital.  During that time we accumulated two highway patrol units, a rescue unit, three sheriff's vehicles, a constable, and Garry's father.  That of course did not deter the traffic on I-10 from trying to get as close to our vehicles as possible as they drove by us.  (Note to self --- the side of the interstate is a very dangerous place, do not go anywhere near the road!) 

DISASTER WILL NOW TURN TO ANOTHER GREAT STORY FOR OUR BACKYARD!  This is the real story about how everyone we met in the next three days bent over backwards to help us out!!!!!

Garry's boss, Dave, drove up and told Bob he would be towing the motor home to a town called Wilcox about 25 miles back toward Tucson from our location.  We finally ended up at Dick's Auto Service after their published closing time, with all the staff still there and still working! We walked into the office to find the nicest young lady you would ever want to meet, Dina.  The owner and Dina's husband Gary was on the phone trying to help another customer and Dina asked a couple of mechanics to come in and help Bob out.  George asked if someone could also look at our motor home since it was acting up also.  She asked another mechanic, James to look at our motor home------ remember this was all after they should be  home.
James hooked up his equipment to our engine and said he thought our fuel pump was going out and that it should be replaced.  Dollar signs were going off in George's head because Bob just three weeks earlier had a fuel pump replaced and he paid over $1800 to fix his and he still was dead in the water.  We talked it over and George was going to get a ball park estimate of the repairs but it did not look good--- remember we are in the middle of the desert in southern Arizona (a perfect place to get overcharged).  James told George that it would be about $1000 depending on what our fuel pump would cost.  Bob was told he still had had some problems with his fuel pump but they would have to lower his gas tank again to see what was happening with fuel pump.
It was now after six o'clock (an hour after closing time) and James started calling around to find a fuel pump but everything was closed, he apologized to us for being so late (James FYI- time marches on, it is not your fault that we did not breakdown earlier or closer) and said he would have to start calling in the morning.  Dave, the wrecker owner, told Dick's Auto Service owner, Gary that he would cover all costs associated with the broken yoke and not to charge Bob.  Gary told all of us to stay overnight in our motor homes at the repair facility and he hooked Bob up with electric.  Around 6:30 or 7 o'clock they said they were headed home.  We all felt a little better about our situation but did not know what the next day would bring.
The next morning before 7 o'clock Dina and Gary arrived, Dina offered coffee and they both treated us like family.  Dina said that if we went down the street to Docs truck stop we would really like the breakfast so off we went for breakfast -she was right!  When we got back,  they had some bad news, they could not find a yoke for Bob's drive shaft and there was a nationwide back order of the yoke -- it might be two weeks or a month before they could get their hands on on one to repair Bob's drive shaft.  Also, James told us that he found a fuel pump but it was in Phoenix and he could not get it before Saturday!  Oh No - George had to be in Denver on Monday!  So we are thinking a black cloud has descended over us and we were in a pickle.  Gary came over to George and said if we drove to Phoenix he would not charge us his usual add on charge (all repair shops add their markup to parts)and we would be on the road sometime Friday.  Dina got on Map quest and gave us the directions and a map to the Chevy dealer in Phoenix, she told us it was a three hour drive.  Off we went, all the way there and back we phoned everyone George knew in about six states to see if they would check around to see if we could find a yoke for Bob and Donna --- absolutely no luck!  (but thanks to all of our friends that we called who worked so hard to track down the yoke)  When we got back to Dick's Auto Service, the young man, Dave, who was assigned to help Bob out was on the phone all day and finally tracked down a yoke in Fresno, CA and it was being shipped overnight.  Things were looking up! 
We realize that this is a long story but it is only the half of it! 

The real story is the friendly, professional, and the old fashion American values that everyone displayed every minute of every day.  As we spent three days at Dick's we observed how the whole crew worked together, how Gary and Dina treated every customer like family, how all the staff was happy to work here, how every customer who came in was treated with the same outstanding service and how they all left with a smile knowing that this shop was going to do the best job possible to make sure the customer left happy.  We all believe that Dina and Gary should be hired by every major American company to learn how to treat their customers and what it means to have the American work ethic and standards that made this country great!  If you are ever near Wilcox Arizona stop in and see for them for yourself.  You will see just how great these people are and how they made our disaster turn into another great story for our backyard!  What a great place, we think the whole town has the same attitude, everyone we met smiled, went out of their way to help us out, and were just down right friendly!  Enjoy the pictues of our new friends in Wilcox, Arizona.

Dina and Gary "discussing an issue" - Gary told George later that it was the first discussion he every won!

We know why Gary, she is really smart! You are so lucky that she does so many things so well!!!

David and Robert were assigned to Bob's motor home and believe us they know their stuff!  By the way, Bob's name is Robert David Dembinski - seems it was destiny!

James, he bent over backwards to ensure we got the fuel pump and that it was installed in record time!

Dick's Auto Service with Bob's motor home back up to the front door!

Bob and Donna's home while being serviced - notice the TV antenna up!  Someone had power!

Our spot was across the street but we had all the room in the world!  Oh look, no TV antenna, must mean we had  no power!  Offered, but we did not need it!

James under our motor home with the gas tank down getting ready for the fuel pump!

This story was a little long but we wanted our friends and family to know about people out there in our backyards across this great land that believe in the values we grew up with and that even if you think that you are in a very bad place, there are people who will help you out.  We are all Americans and as you can see we have found that some of the nicest people are there to help you out of those really bad spots!  We can not think of any place in this great land that can be any friendlier or helpful than the people of Wilcox, AZ and at the top of the list is Dick's Auto Service!

Thanks Gary and Dina Ellis ---- You are the Best!!!!

P.S.  We were on the road by 12:00 Friday and we were all happy with the workmanship and the cost of the repairs --- thanks to the professional crew at Dick's Auto Service

We think it would be great if all of our friends and family could find others out there in the same mold as these great Americans!!!!  Let us know what you find, we would like to know about other people in this great land's backyards!!!!! 

Life is short go out and live life -- it is amazing what you will find in our backyard!

Breakfast at Tom and Maryann's

The best hosts in all of Arizona invited all of us to breakfast and not just your ordinary breakfast but breakfast to order.  Tom volunteered to cook breakfast on Saturday morning and Pat asked what time would he like for us to come over to their house.  Tom said come over anytime and Pat jokingly asked if breakfast in bed was a possibility.  Tom of course said sure!  So here is some pictures of our surprise for Tom and our Saturday morning.

Bob, Pat, and Donna arriving in their robes

Tom was a little overwhelmed with the morning dress of his guests

Tom had to hustle to get all the food ready for us

Relaxing on Tom and Maryann's patio after a great breakfast

Maybe now we should mention the breakfast menu.  Tom fixed waffles, pancakes, sausage, bacon, ham, hash browns, eggs Benedict, toast, juice, coffee and everything was perfect.  We can not think of anyone else who would cook so much for breakfast and that is why we are nominating them as host and hostess of the year!  You too can be nominated this year but the bar is very high!  We have always known how special Tom and Maryann are because we have been friends for such a long time and every time we hook up it is just like we never have been apart but this was extra special for all of us!  Now if Tom just pays for a round of golf .....well how special will that be?

It always amazes us how many friends we have throughout the world and how nice all of our friends are to us and to our friends.  Without friends life would just not be the same and all of our friends make traveling through the backyards of America a lot more exciting and fun!

THANK YOU TOM AND MARYANN FOR BEING YOU --- WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!

We are not done yet in Tucson and our last few days should be worth at least another blog or two, after all the weather is great, we are with great friends and who knows what backyards we can explore!

Sun and the southwest!

We headed for the southwest and Tucson right on schedule after the chemo session on March 30.  What we did not realize was that it would take five days to get to Tucson.  We had motor home mechanical troubles from just south of Colorado Springs all the way to Tucson.  We did make it to Albuquerque after 11 hours of driving.  First Bob and Donna had motor home problems, ie., $2000.00 repair bill but we were able to get back on the road except their winds came up down in southern New Mexico and Arizona.  We elected to stay an extra day with our friend, Mike Kavanaugh.  Once on the road to Tucson, it was our turn to have motor home problems.  Our motor home limped into Tucson and with the advice of Pat's brother we determined that we needed to change our transmission filter.  We are now all hoping that was the problem and we changed the filter and also the fuel filter just in case.  We will know on Wednesday as we head back to Colorado for more chemo and a few days of work helping Bob and Donna's daughter's family build a deck. 
But we are now in warm and sunny Tucson.  It has been in the 80s and low 90s since we have been here and that is the reason to explore more backyards....we get to go where we want and when we want (for the most part).  Although George has been sick for several days he is now on the mend and ready for the golf course.  Today we took a trip north of Tucson to the Biosphere2.  Wow!  If you get to this area it is well worth the side trip to this wonder of science. 

Biosphere 2 from the north

Inside the Biosphere 2 with Bob, Donna and Pat

George - You think he is listening to the Guide?

Tomorrow we will be having breakfast with Tom and Maryann Graue, our very close and long time  friends.  Tom is serving breakfast to order!  But he is also in for a surprise...pictures to follow in our next blog.  Our plans are to enjoy the weather and hopefully golf before we leave on Wednesday.  The trip was short but we really have enjoyed Tom and Maryann and they have went out of their way to make us like family.  BTW it started with them bringing us dinner the night we arrived and continued with soup for poor George.  They also took him to the ER to make sure he was receiving the best of care and if you know Maryann (she is also a nurse) you know he did get the best of care from all levels of staff in the ER.  

We still have a few days left here and plan to make the most of it so there will be at least one more post just to make those of you who are in the last gasps of winter a little jealous!  

Life is a journey....it just takes one step to start your journey!