Trip Update

It is cold, about 16 degrees as the sun rose, but clear here in Touchstone, SD.  Blue sky all around!!!

About my photos, while I used my big new Nikon for the birthday pics, I'm using my little Canon Powershot with the 10X zoom for most sight seeing shots.  It's so much easier to pack around, no lens changing, and, as you can see, takes great photos.

Road Trip - Day Two: South Dakota

It was cold and snowy this morning in Rapid City, but the roads were clear, so after a leisurely start we headed east to Wall and The Badlands National Park.

We had Wall Drug pretty much to ourselves as we browsed the tourist goodies.  We did buy two ornaments for the travel section of our Christmas tree.  Then we were off to The Badlands.

It was cold and breezy, but dry as we drove through these exotic land formations, the product of thousands of years of erosion.

We ate a car lunch at the visitors center before heading west again.  There are lots of miles between attractions here in this vast open prairie.  It was about 4:00 when we got to Mount Rushmore, but by then the clouds had moved on and we had blue sky!

The Black Hills are quite spectacular in some places and we enjoyed the drive to the Crazy Horse Memorial.

What an undertaking!  It has been under construction for over 6o years, and will probably take another 50, but when complete it will be the largest sculpture in the world, larger than the pyramids.  It will look like this model.

Leaving Crazy Horse, we attempted to drive the scenic routes in Custer State Park, but were turned back on both routes by snow on the roadways.  These roads are not maintained in winter, the sign says.  Will someone please remind Mother Nature that it is not still winter!

We had a great day, lucking out on the weather again.  We saw wildlife too - deer, antelope, Big Horn Sheep, wild turkeys and elk, and the prairie grasslands were full of bird song.  Of course I have photos of all of these, but Susie is getting tired.  I'll have to do a follow up when I get home.


Tonight we are in Keyhole, SD.  Tomorrow more from the Black Hills before we head to Nebraska.

Road Trip - Day One

There was a lot of road in today's road trip - about 500 miles!  We drove from Fort Morgan, Colorado to Rapid City, South Dakota, with a swing northward to Devil's Tower National Monument.


We drove from mild temps into rain and snow showers in eastern Wyoming, with temps dipping to 32.  Our main attraction for today was to be Devil's Tower, but we wondered if we would even see it when we finally got there.

To our great surprise and relief, it was dry and almost sunny when we arrived at the park at 4:45.

What an amazing land form this is, sticking up out of no where. The tower is the remnants of an ancient lava vent which was originally buried far below the surface. Eons of erosion have left it exposed.

We were very happy to be out of the car and we bundled up against the 36 degree temp and hiked the 1.3 mile trail around the base of the Tower.

It felt great, and I was so pleased to have the weather cooperate.

Even the prairie dogs in the park were jumping for joy!

Tonight we are in Rapid City, South Dakota, where it is 32 and snowing!  We arrived in our motel room at 8:00 and walked to a restaurant next door for a late dinner.

I have spent the last hour getting Suzie, my name for my little Acer net book, to cooperate with what is for her a big job of receiving and posting photos.  I may have to severely limit what I post each day, just to give you an idea of what we're up to.

And who knows what we'll be up to in the morning - maybe three inches of snow.  It might be too bad to get to the Badlands.  Will Mt Rushmore be visible?

We remind ourselves, it's an adventure, anything can happen.  Like today, some of it will be good!

Birthday Weekend

We left Seattle Friday morning on the 6 AM flight to Denver. Corey met us and we were on our way out to Fort Morgan, with a stop at Starbucks, of course, Corey's favorite place!

At 2:00 we were at Irene's school to bring treats and catch her in the act of celebrating being six!  Of course she was wearing her new dress with matching handbag,

About 4:00 little girls arrived for a "Friends Party". Irene's best friend was sick, and several other girls couldn't make, it but that meant there was a place at the table for Isaac.

 Jill and I thought maybe four little girls at once was plenty anyway.

Isaac was needing a gift about then, so I presented the frog shirts,

and the Man Bag.  Both were hits!  I did the frog shirts because Isaac's soccer team is the Frogs FC, and each summer they go camping at a lake in Wyoming where they catch frogs, or actually toads, but close enough.

 Saturday morning we were off to the garden store, for vegetable seeds and pretty flowers.

But the planting was on hold until after soccer.  Isaac's team, Frogs FC, is coached by Jill.  The team took the field at 12:00.

 While they lost 4 to 2, nobody scored when Isaac was keeping goal.

 1-2-3, Frogs FC!  Good game, guys.

 Irene was dressed appropriately for the match, although she spent most of the time at the playground.  Her she hoists the Frog flag. 

 Back at home we watched the Sounders match on TV before taking into the garden patch.  Soil had to be prepared before seeds could be planted. The whole family pitched in.

I worked at the front of the house preparing the bed for pansies.  The kids joined me later to plant the flowers.

 About a month ago Jill bought chicks at the farm store.  They are raising them in a pen in the family room.  On nice days they get to come out and play too.

 In the evening, Jill created her latest birthday cake extravaganza, a Rainbow Unicorn cake.

 Sunday morning, Irene's real birthday arrived at last.  She dressed in her rainbows and fashion accessories.

 The table was set in preparation of birthday luncheon with two grandmothers and three grandfathers, and of course mom and dad and Isaac, too.

 After lunch, it was time for cards and presents.

 Isaac always wants to know how everything works, whether it's Lego's or Barbie horses.

 Time for cake!  Happy Birthday to you.

 Irene modeled one of her new dress up gowns, and cradled her new American Girl doll, Julie.

But the smile was beginning to fade.  I'm afraid that friend who couldn't make it to the party shared her "bug", even if she couldn't share in Irene's party.  By mid afternoon, the fever had set in.  The celebrating was over, and couch time had begun.

In spite of the final act, it was a lovely birthday pageant.

Tomorrow we set out on a little road trip while life returns to normal here in the Fort Morgan household.

Packing

We leave early tomorrow morning for Colorado.  The taxi will arrive about 4:15 to take us the short distance to Seatac for our 6:00AM flight.


This weekend we will celebrate Irene's sixth birthday, watch Isaac play soccer, and catch the Sounders on TV.


On Monday through Thursday we'll take a short road trip into Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska, territory new to us.  We'll visit two National Parks and several National Monuments and Historic Landmarks.


We'll be back in Fort Morgan, CO Thursday night to begin another fun filled weekend.  There is no school on Good Friday.  We'll help plant garden, play, color eggs, watch Isaac play soccer, go to the Seattle sounders vs Colorado Rapids Soccer match, and celebrate Easter.


We return home late Easter Sunday night.


I'm taking my cameras and my little net book, so I may get a few posts off, but most  photos will have to wait until I return.


Happy Easter, every one.  I'll see you later.

Man Purse

Last week I sent Irene the rainbow dress and matching purse I made for her for her birthday and Easter.  She and Isaac loved unwrapping the box and examining the contents.  The purse put them over the top, and Isaac ended up in tears. I had loaded the purse with a little rainbow note pad, several mechanical pencils and some brightly colored sticky notes.

"Look at all the things you can carry!", he said.  He wanted a purse too!

And so I told him I would make him a "man purse".  I put it together this morning, using some fabric left over from making Sounders flags.



I made it the size to carry a small sketch book. Isaac loves to draw and is quite good at it. There are a new set of markers, some mechanical pencils, a pen and some sticky notes in blue and green.

And there will be a new sketch book for Irene too, to go with her other tools.  I aim to please.  I will take these things with me when we fly to Denver Friday morning, along with a bunch of other surprises. 

We will be in Colorado for Irene's 6th birthday as well as Easter, with a little road trip during the week in between.  I'm sure glad the government didn't shut down.  We have several National Parks and National Monuments on our itinerary.

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In other news, we are disappointed here in Seattle that we did not get a space shuttle for our Museum of Flight, located at the original Boeing plant.  We are building a new building which would have held a shuttle.  It will be devoted to space flight, and display our space capsule, moon lander, Sky Lab, and lots of other stuff. Former Astronaut Bonnie Dunbar is the museum director and has worked hard to get a shuttle for Seattle.  We will get a full size shuttle trainer, which is a shuttle cabin without the wings, so we're not completely left out.

It's partly sunny today and the temp is finally above 50, so I'm going for a walk this afternoon instead of working out on the stationary bike.  I may come limping back, but I'll get my Vitamin D!

Jake

Our son Jake is 36 today.   That seems a little hard to believe.  I think maybe he thinks so too.

Jake is a hard worker and a hard player, and it's even better when he can combine the two!  He's a sometimes surveyor and a developing bio-fuel expert.

He loves the beaches at Rockaway and Whidbey Island,  the mountain peaks of the Cascade Mountains, and all of the hills and valleys in between.

His niece and nephew think he's just the coolest uncle.  He's a loved brother, nephew, son and grandson.

 Jake is a soccer loving fan from a soccer loving clan.  SOUNDERS!

 We celebrated with him yesterday at Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse, where he and good friend Tad kept an eye on Masters Golf and Mariners Baseball.

Happy Birthday, Jake!

Time With My Mother

On Thursday and Friday of this week we traveled to Oregon to spend some time with my mother.  I have written of her recently, so some of you know that she is 89 years old, has many physical limitations, is still very sharp mentally, and still lives alone.

Mother fell recently, and was not really hurt, but it was enough to tell us it was time to make the move.  An apartment will be available to her starting May 15th in an assisted living complex about a block from her house.  While none of her children live nearby, she knows lots of people in her small town of Molalla, and probably half of the seniors living in the complex, as well as most of the staff.  She visits there often.  She also has a brother and a sister nearby. 

We took her to see her two room apartment so she could start thinking about what she will take with her.  She is not really ready, and hoped she would be on the waiting list longer, but we know we've waited almost too long.  And no, she would not even consider living with any of her children!  She doesn't want to "be a burden".

And so the process of getting her moved begins.  We'll be sorting long after she has moved out of the house.  While I was there she and I began sorting through stacks of greeting cards for all occasions that she has saved over the years.  We found a few treasures, and it was fun, and occasionally sad.  That's what family histories are like.

My mother's name is Violet, and my love of flowers comes from her.  In her honor today, you get flowers.

We took her to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm on Friday.  It was a beautiful day and she could sit in the sun while Tom and I tiptoed through the tulips.

To get tulips in the background, we had to look into the sun, so you get a squinty  photo of Mom and me.

Then we stopped at Al's, a favorite nursery in Woodburn.  Mom sat and enjoyed a cup of coffee while we shopped.

I'm afraid we wore her out.  She was very tired when we left her about 3:30 Friday afternoon, but she had a friend coming to check on her about 5:00, so I felt OK about leaving her.  I called her today, and she's still a little shaky, but she says she had a good time, and it was worth it.


And now we'll take it one day at a time, while also planning ahead for the process of creating a successful move for her.