More Rapid City-October 20, 2017

Before I wind up this trip and start to plan another one, I'd like to share a little more about Rapid City. It is a great city. It is clean. And it is friendly.

 

 

This corner does not have a presidential statue. Instead this statue

is standing larger than life in front of Prairie Edge. We found Prairie

Edge years ago. It is four stories of the most fabulous art work and unique

gifts made by Native Americans, mostly Sioux, that we have ever seen

anywhere. We go there every single time we are in Rapid City. One entire

floor is just hand beaded art in all forms. It's just breathtaking. This store is a must see.

 

This was an old fire station that has been renovated to a brew pub/

wine store/gift shop/theater company. Somebody has a real nose for

successful business. We found in our travels around the country that

it is best to look for restaurants that attract local people. No chain

eating establishments. This is one such place. The food is out of this world.

This is also another place we go to every time we are in the area.

The décor in this restaurant is antique fire equipment in every

conceivable type. A fascinating place with great food and nice people.

 

For the record, I do not work for the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce. It's just a great place to visit.

 

Lost Springs-October 26, 2017

To the west of little Lusk, Wyoming is an interesting town named Lost Springs. The only sign of life we have ever seen there is one car parked outside of a bar. Low and behold, we discovered on this trip there has been an increase in population.

Lost Springs, Wyoming

Elevation 4997 feet

Population 4 (previously 1)

 



I can see a small travel trailer on the left of this picture. Maybe

somebody came to visit a resident?

It is blurry but you can see the bar and in front is one white vehicle.

 

 



The buildings are never in disrepair. They always look like they have been freshly painted. It is somewhat a mystery to me. There is not much available information on this town. One day when we have a few spare minutes we might just drive down Main Street. I wonder who the mayor is? Where do they go to shop for groceries? Lusk is the nearest place and they only have one tiny grocery store. They don't have a gas station, obviously. I'm sure there's no doctor or dentist. What keeps these 4 people here? Who maintains the buildings? Who does snow removal? I just have too many questions and no real way to get answers. This is such an interesting place.

From Wyoming to South Dakota-October 23, 2017

Going from Wyoming to South Dakota is like opening a door and going into another room. They are as different as daylight and dark. First of all, there are many, many more trees in South Dakota. And fortunately this time of year, the leaves are changing. Again, in no particular order I will share a few of the many pictures taken on this short but fun trip.

 

 

 

These houses are high above Deadwood. I wonder what kind of

view they have? I see a day of exploration in our future.  

 

This is a golf course between Deadwood and Sturgis. It is pretty

every season of the year.

 

A park in downtown Rapid City.

 

There are more pictures but this is enough for today. Hope you are enjoying seeing these as much as I enjoyed taking them.

 

To have been blessed enough to get to pick our home state we are very happy we chose South Dakota.

 

 

 

 

Wyoming-October 20, 2017

In no particular order I would like to share pictures of Wyoming as it is on the way to Deadwood, South Dakota.

It is rough and rugged country. Yet there is a beauty to it.

Not populated at all except by cars passing through.

It takes so little imagination to visualize how this earth was formed.

You can clearly see what was carved out by the oceans that once

covered the earth's surface.

I often wonder what history is buried deep inside these mesas.

 

On one trip we saw a dead animal on the side of the road. It was such a surprise to see that Jerry said it was the last living thing in this area and it ran in front of a car to end it's boredom and loneliness!

Rapid City-October 19, 2017

We were very blessed to make yet another trip to South Dakota, our adopted home. I have several things I want to share. So, as soon as I get all of the pictures transferred and arranged I will share on this blog.

Rapid City is a great city. We so enjoy going there. One of the most wonderful things you can see there is a huge display of bronze statues of all of our presidents through George W. Bush. They are life size statues and they are beautifully done.

This is Thomas Jefferson. He was over 6 feet tall, but very thin. The expression

and detail on his face is wonderful to see. There is a statue on almost every corner

of the downtown area. We have seen them all, but on this day we had business

to take care of and Mr. Jefferson happened to be on the corner where we were.

When the city started doing this they paid for the statues, $50,000 each, but soon ran

out of money. They asked for donations. The statues paid for by donations have

the name of the donor on a plaque at the base. This statue was paid for by the city.

 

If you are ever in Rapid City, please take the time to see these statues. It is very impressive. And when you look in the eyes of these statues you can almost be transported back to that time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peaceful fun-October 13, 2017

We had all three girls today and for once they were peaceful and played well together. Nobody got kicked or hit or sat on or pushed down. It was wonderful to see them be little girls!

I just noticed this is a terrible picture of Zoey. However, I look at

what this picture represents and it makes me happy. They all played

together. I must say another thank you to our friends in Birmingham

who gave Hannah the doll house several years ago. It's on its third

little girl and will still be used for a long time. Thank you, James and Gloria.

Snowing today-October 9, 2017

We woke up to light snow this morning. It is not a blizzard as national tv networks would have you believe. It is a very wet heavy snow which can create problems because the trees have not lost their leaves yet.

It's not a big snow storm. It is, however, cold. A high today of

37 and a low tonight of 25. We were not quite ready for this right now.

Daisy is one-October 3, 2017

Last Friday was Daisy's first birthday. More than the other two, she loved tearing her cake apart.

With a name like Daisy there is only one balloon bouquet to order.

 

First it is necessary to read one's birthday card.

 

She was happy to enjoy her cake. We are not the ones

who ordered a cake with black and purple icing.

 

She was not shy about putting her hands into the gooey cake.

 

Concentration is needed.

In this battle it was Daisy 1, Cake 0.

 

We had a good time watching Daisy enjoy her birthday.

 

I feel like should explain the pink bow. It was on her birthday card. I took it off and just stuck it in her hair. She never objected so I really should have moved it and made it look like it belonged in her hair. But she was having too much fun to interrupt.