Paws and Friends

  No, that is NOT a black and white photo, even tho' it looks like it.  We are currently at the Rafter J Bar Ranch RV Resort just south of Hill City in the "Central" Black Hills of South Dakota.  We initially received a weather watch regarding snow which was upgraded yesterday to a weather warning for snow 6 to 10 inches at elevations above 5000. We are at 5200. Yes, we received around 6 inches of snow last night! We were ready! The park had turned off the water and we had stowed all the "water" tools, after filling up the fresh water tank to 90%.  The high today will be 39 degrees. For most of the morning it has been just under 32 degrees or right at 32 degrees. Mike has been on the roof three times so far, trying to remove as much of the snow as possible to prevent freezing.  Lindy "shoveled" the snow away from the sewer hose set-up. Again, to prevent freezing as much as possible. We had decided Sunday to stay a couple of extra days here, anticipatin...

 Why are we here? Gee! A very deep question, no? If you are following us, you might have one answer to that question. As full timers, we seek locations that have a beautiful back yard and terrific views. The Rafter J Bar Ranch Campground certainly has all of these!  But there is one more positive attribute added to the mix. The proximity of the 109 mile George S Mickelson Trail. You can find several web sites with information about this trail. Here is one from the South Dakota Game, Fish and and Parks website. This website starts out with: Imagine a path where the ghosts of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane still roam; where bicyclists, hikers and horseback riders can explore spruce and ponderosa pine forests; and the very young, the very old and people of all abilities can enjoy. Are you hooked? You might guess that with our new e (for electric) bikes, we are! On one of our recent rides, we were asked about our "power" bikes. The fellow asking said he had one, but had not...

July 28, while staying at Yellowstone's Edge RV Park, we drove down to MM 9.65 (no, there wasn't an actual MM, but a road to the left to the trailhead parking area just a tad past mm 10 😃). The Forest Service has changed the access to the trail head for the OTO (original brand--and if you look at it closely, you will see two oxen linked by a yoke) Ranch access, and this was it! After climbing up a narrow but good gravel road, we reached the trail head parking lot and guess what! We were the only vehicle! And we were the only ones hiking up to the old OTO Dude Ranch!  We gathered together our "stuff":  backpack with water, snacks, one can of bear spray (thanks Lisa and Carol for the loan!) and other small odds and ends, and took off walking! Lindy uses the app AllTrails to "track" hikes, bike rides, and other trails. This hike was 3.8 miles total:  up to the old dude ranch and back. Total elevation gain was 545 feet, and moving time was 2 hours. We spent a t...

We knew it was coming. DM is called an insidious disease. Knowing does not make facing it any easier.  August 10, 2020, Rupert fell into forever sleep on Mike's lap, at a great Vet's office in Rapid City, SD.  Early Tuesday morning, the 11th of August, Mike watched a lightning storm behind a hill over Rapid City from our site here in the Black Hills. Then, a meteor burst across and into the lightning cloud, "exploding" and disappearing.  Rupert made his entry to the Rainbow Bridge. He joined the Paws and Friends December 2010, 6 months into our full-timing adventure. He loved riding:  in the motorhome, in the pickup, in the car, in the Blue Buggy, in his chariot behind Mike's bike... He LOVED going, being with his people wherever we went.  We miss that silly guy! (Maddie not so much, if she were asked, and if she could actually tell any listener. ..) We do cherish the memories! We are adjusting. It has taken some time for us to get used to a new routine. We are...

Tuesday, July 21 we drove down into Yellowstone National Park 5 miles past Mammoth Hot Springs to hike the Bunsen Peak Trail. At 9:15 we were lucky to get one of the last parking spots at the trail head! Note to self:  GO EARLY, EARLY into the park! That note was even more important as we drove back after the hike, at 1:30! Mammoth Hot Springs was a MESS.  But I jump ahead!  Flowers were in abundance!  You can see from the graphic at the top of this post that indeed, the going up was just that--going up for most of the way! The total elevation gain for us, as we stopped just short of the final stretch to the actual peak, was 1,273 feet.  It was a beautiful hike! Great views! Lindy only hugged the hill side a few times...maybe a little more than just a few.  And she completed the hike without mishap!!!!  Even on the rocky part!  As the morning progressed, we met more hikers on the trail:  those coming up behind us and meeting those coming down...

All four of us are enjoying our time along the Yellowstone River in Montana. Here is Rupert attacking a box: He LOVES chewing up boxes! Thanks, Amazon! Did you notice how much Maddie helped....? ! NOT! We made an animation, but not able to upload it...so just think of each shot as the next "action"! We laughed when he disappeared under the box! The 4th of July: The river with busy with raft/fishing boat traffic! Maddie-- "This is MY ball--but I don't know what to do with it!" Rupert:  " I DO! And I still can!" Then here we are: "the friends"...enjoying our 10th 4th of July,  SWIRVIN down the road (well, NOT on the road yet, just enjoying this spot!).  We are staying safe and healthy! May the same be for you, the reader. Roving Riders...enjoying life and living! 

We rode our e-bikes every day while staying at Mesa Verde RV Resort, creating our "special", private bike route! We rode up the highway (US 160) for about half a mile, then down the bank and around a barricade onto the frontage road. From there we rode up to the closed entrance to the National Park (all uphill!). But, it was like my friend Ruth said:  "she always wished she could ride bikes always down hill!"  With pedal assist, it almost was like that!    On the last day before the park opened, here are my stats: average speed:  11.8   maximum speed:  24.1   When we turned around at entrance station, we moved the gear to no assist, as we were going downhill!  Hence the 24 mph speed!  I went almost all the way  down without any pedal assist, only shifting it into pedal assist level 1 just before I had to turn around when the frontage road ended. At that point, the ride up-hill began! When level 1 pedal assist was not ...

I drafted this post on my reunion journey traveling to and from Aurora, Illinois October 2017 on April 18, 2018. I'm posting it now. I am working on "catching up" on posts, as we continue enjoying our experiences traveling in our home on wheels with our two special Corgis. Here is Lindy's Road Trip to Aurora University, Class of 1967 Reunion - Part 1.  Waaay back in January, 2017, I began planning on a road trip to Aurora, Illinois. Fifty four years ago, I, and two others from teeny tiny Colton, Oregon traveled to Aurora to attend college , and graduated June, 1967. Instead of flying back for the 50th, I planned a road trip where I could visit friends along the way:  stopping in Gallup, NM and Dubuque, Iowa. I also squeezed in a short visit to a Presidential Library along the way! While in Gallup, I had lunch with three former students at Lincoln Elementary, in Shirley Russell's and my 5th grade classes; who are now teachers at that school! We had a great ti...