Family Visit

OK, so I'm probably a couple weeks late posting these pictures, but hey, one does what they can!

Mom & Dad and Bruce & Michelle came over a couple of weekends ago and we did the sight seeing tourist thing together.  I think everyone had a good time.  Michelle kept saying every time she thought she'd seen how pretty it was, we'd see something else.  Mom had her 'scooter' so was able to see most of the sights also. 

Me, Mom and Michelle with Pactola Lake in the background.

Mom and Dad at Pactola Lake. 

 Michelle and Bruce at Pactola.

Bruce, Bill, Mom, Michelle, and Dad at Mt. Rushmore.

  

Bill and I.  Yes, Casey is missing...she isn't allow at the "Monument".

Mom and Dad at Rushmore.

There is a small picnic ground just past Rushmore that we stopped at for lunch.  The walk is paved so Mom was able to go to the over look.  "Keep up Dad...she's haulin' on that thing!"

Me and Michelle at the top of Needles Highway. 

Who knows what I was trying to get some tourist to get out of my way for.

Notice the tunnel in the background.....it is a VERY narrow, one way.

Cathedral Spires, the east side of the Needles Highway.

One pissed off snorting Mama with 2 stupid morons chasing her and her calf to take a picture.  I'm sure there was an article in the Rapid Journal about someone getting gord.  They deserved it!

Dakota Lake, Custer State Park

Dad, Mom, Michelle and Bruce with Rushmore in the background from Iron Mountain Road.

Sunset over Pactola Lake.

Isn't it pretty?!?!?!?!?  (You may have guessed that Pactola is one of my fav's!)

On Sunday before breakfast, Bruce wanted to do some shooting.  Michelle wasn't going to let him be the only one.  She shot my 9 a bit, although it hurt her wrists some, she really liked my little .22.  If Bruce is smart, I know what she'll be getting for her birthday!

 Even Dad shot a little.

Don't let Bruce lie to you, as yes, he did miss some shots.  I'd hoped to get my new photo shop program figured out and fix most of these pics but I decided I probably should just get them posted.  I'm sure there will be another rainy day for me to be sitting at the computer figuring it out soon!

Dakota Thunder

OK, so I'm still learning how to put video's together and once I think I've got it pretty finalized, walk away, (finally) remember how to save it right to a disk to watch it on the DVD player and sit down to watch it, I see I have some pictures panning the wrong direction.  Well, I'm tired of working on this one, so you get the amature version!  Hey, I'm not even as far a long as beginner yet, I think I consider myself an entry level novus without a single clue!

Every time I think I have loading a video through Blogger figured out, I find I'm wrong so I'm just putting a link to where I have this stored on line.  It's kind of long, (I got so many awesome shots, it was REALLY hard to edit them down!) so grab some popcorn and a coke and sit back and relax!

This picture is just a tease of what is in the video!

https://picasaweb.google.com/105766033855540861970/DakotaThunder2011?feat

(Just click on this link, and IT should take you to the video.)

My First Attempt

This is my very first attempt at making a video.  Please, go easy on me!  A lot of the pictures you've already seen, but a few of them are new.  Some are old enough you might not recognize them!

When I woke this morning, it was raining with some light hail - nice!  With all the rain we've had this spring/summer, this song just keeps coming to mind.  Hope you enjoy!

If you are having trouble viewing directly at the blog, click on the link.  It should take you directly to the google link.

https://picasaweb.google.com/114508192949011493934/Jun92011?feat=directlink

I'm working on putting a video together of all the air show pictures I took last weekend.  This one is going to take some time though.  If it comes together like I'm envisioning, it might be pretty cool!

Now, THAT's a test drive!

Bill came home from work this last hitch on May 18th, and from the 19th through the 25th, we received (unofficially, just according to our rain gauge) almost a full 9" of rain.  I'm glad we live on a hill side!  Flooding was all around us and it was extremely depressing so, at the drop of the hat, on the 25th, Bill came home from running errands in town and said, "Let's go find sunshine!"  We were on the road by 11:30 and headed to find some sun!  We found it!  On Chuck's doorstep..............S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E!!!!! 

Chuck had no idea we were headed out, he's gifted just like his Dad in that manor; but we did give Cathy and the kids a heads up.  When we pulled up in front of the house, Chuck saw us get out of the car, looked at Cayleigh and said "You are in so much trouble!"  He was clueless!  I thought it was hilarious!  I'm told it was paybacks for all those times he's surprised his Dad, just showing up out of the blue.  :)

Driving........

Desert wild flowers outside the Virgin River Casino hotel on our way out.  The wild flowers were the best part of our stay there. 

We took the time to stop at the Shelby Museum/Factory on our way through Vegas.  (Ya, Baby!)

These are the three color configurations you can get for the 2012 Shelby/Shelby Cobras.

Talk about a testosterone rush!!!

Chuck, he was SOOO clueless!

Cathy; you done good Chuck!

Cayleigh and her boyfriend Cameron. 

Grandpa and Nicholas

Chillin' at the hotel in Mesquite on the way home. 

No, it was not the Casino......Opted for the Best Western this time.  Better choice!

And we made it back home!  We were ALL happy to be out of the car!

Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the big kids, nor did I get any pictures of everyone together.  My bad!  They just need to road trip here now so that we can make that happen!  I made an album at Picasa if you would like to see a few more pics from our trip.  Just click on the link and it should take you there.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=114508192949011493934&target=ALBUM&id=5614912635023480705&authkey=Gv1sRgCJSn7Jebxv6ooQE&feat=email

When we got home, we had another 4" of rain in the rain gauge.  I don't care where you live, that's a lot of rain in that short of time frame!  We are back to sunshine now though!  And I even got the yard mowed FINALLY.  OK, I realize I am the only person that cares about this kind of thing, but it has taken me since last Thursday to get the yard mowed and looking semi-descent.  It was so tall you could just see the top of the well cap!  And it was completely headed out and ready to be hayed!  LOL