One more highlight

So back the first of July I got this new fancy phone that I am STILL learning how to use.  One of the nice things about it, is it does take descent photos.  Problem:  How do you get the pics off the phone?  Well, I'm still learning how it works.  A week after I got the phone, Sarah, a friend of ours living in Utah came out to the southern hills with group a gals to do the tourist thing.  I had the opportunity to meet up with them and bike part of the George S. Mickelson Trail.  It's an old rail line (101 miles long) that the state bought and has turned it into a recreational trail open to hiking, biking, snowmobiles, and horses, depending on which leg of the trail you are on.  We did a 25 mile leg, Rochford Trail head to Hill City, and my phone was what I took for a camera....hence my forgetting I had these pictures as until last night, I hadn't figured out how to get them off the phone.  LOL  You can access more info on the trail at

http://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/mickelson-trail/ 

Myself, Sarah and 3 of the gals from the group.  This water fall was just after we left the Rochford Trail head and made a good spot for a group photo.

Sarah, stopped for a water break.

An old church building at the Mystic town site (now a ghost town).

Next time, I would like to take the time to explore all the old buildings there.

There are a total of 3 tunnels on the trail.  The park service has shored them up by putting timbers up around the original ones.  It was really nice and cool in those tunnels!

Sarah and I along about mile 20ish.

This old box car at the Redfern area was used as a bunk house back in it's day.

More old buildings at the Redfern area.

OK, I know you are wondering why I put this sign in.  Well, it wasn't really a trail head, but there was a shelter at Redfern with a well to replenish our water.  We needed it after just completing an 8 mile incline!  But most important, it signified the END of the incline and it was all down hill into Hill City!

Bill says he is willing to bike part of the trail with me one of these times he is off.  He is very specific about which parts, the down hill parts, but I would like to do the trail again and would like to do more of the trail so I think we'll just have to make that happen!

Summer 2011 Highlights

Well, I can't believe we are already at the end of summer!  It was so late arriving this year, it just doesn't seem right that even the dog days of August are almost over. 

Since I'm so far behind, just a few highlights..................

Casey and I went to North Dakota for the 4th of July.  Bill had to work all weekend, so we went north!

Bill and the Guys bought fireworks.......

You can buy REAL fireworks up there!  Yes, these are ones that we were shooting off and not the town of Dickinson's display!  They're pyro's!

We took Casey to Lake Roubaix for a swim one afternoon.  She practically belly flops when she dives!

When it's time to go to work (and the pheasant dummy IS going to work), Casey is on top of her game.  She keeps her eye on the "prize" and just loves to do water retrieves.  Heck, playing or working, she don't care!

I chaperoned a hike to the top of Harney Peak for one of the programs that my Little is in.  7 of the 9 girls and myself made it to the top!  There is a lot of beetle kill up there, and it was pretty smokey that day, but the view was still really cool.  This picture really doesn't show it off.

Me and Kalisha at the top!  There is an old Fire Guard Station at the summit.  I believe the station was built in the late 1800's and yes, it is still plenty safe to climb up in.

I made a trip over to Cody in early August and took the time to enjoy the Big Horn's.  The wild flowers were still in bloom and made for some nice photo ops.

Ten Sleep Creek.

Shell Creek Falls

Looking back toward the Big Horn's on the Ten Sleep side.  You can see part of Ten Sleep in the right center.

Casey and I hiked the Little Spearfish Trail earlier this month.

Any surprise she was in the creek?

I'm pretty proud of this shot!

Mmmmm.........wild raspberries.....and yes, they were good!

Casey hurt her shoulder while we were hiking.  We both ran out of water before we made it back to the trail head and she was really hot.  So to cool her off and put some "cold" on her shoulder I sent her into the creek, except she decided it was better to have a "Natural Spa Day" and had a mud bath instead.  When we made it back to the trail head, I wanted her to get in the creek and clean up a bit...can you not just hear the words "I just want to go home, Mom" going through her head in this shot?  After a pain pill and a good nights rest she was right back to her energetic self the next day!  Lucky me?!?!?!?  LOL

I went kayaking at Orman Dam earlier this week.  These geese were my buddies while I was on the lake.

Yesterday Casey and I went to Sheridan Lake to play/kayak.  She has learned a new trick.

She goes just deep enough that she can stand on her hind legs and splash.  It's hilarious to watch!  I can't get her to get on the kayak with me, so I let her play for awhile and get tired, then I go play while she takes a nap.  Then when I'm tired and get back to where ever I've launched from, she gets back out and plays some more while I load up.  It's a pretty good little routine we have worked out!

Sorry this is such a long post.  Guess that's what happens when I don't stay up to date.  LOL  The only other thing that we've been up to is there is a new Casino/Event venue in Deadwood, Deadwood Mountain Grand and they have had some fan-tab-u-lous concerts!  Bill and I went to The Oak Ridge Boys with Diamond Rio in July, I and a neighbor went to Charlie Daniels with Travis Tritt the first of August and then when Bill was home the last time, we went to Kenny Rogers.  Earlier this week Kalisha and I went to Josh Turner at the fair down in Rapid.  The opportunity to have such great live entertainment is just one more reason why we love living here!  Concert pics are for another post though.

Happy 4th of July!!!!!!!

As we celebrate this birth of this great County, let us all remember those that have sacrificed to ensure we have the privilege of celebrating!

Let freedom ring!!!!!!!!

Have a safe, happy, wonderful 4th of July!

~~Bill, Connie and Casey

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