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...