Mount Rushmore

Woke up this morning to cold temperatures.  Our plan for coming this way was to see Mount Rushmore and we will do it by hook or by crook.  We headed out around noon so it had time to warm up a little bit.  Still only around 2C.  Brrrrrr   As we climbed up the mountain it started to snow and blow and we wondered if we had made a good decision

By the time we got to the top and Mount Rushmore the clouds thinned and the sun peeked out a little bit.  The visit there was worth it even though it was cold, and its one more thing off the bucket list.

Once you are at Mount Rushmore you have to go another 20 miles to the Crazy Horse monument that they are currently working on.  It is a slow process and they charge you 25 bucks to see it.  They do have a lot of exhibits in the information area to look at.

Here is what the finished product should look like.

 We headed back to the Ponderosa and ran into some pretty icy roads on the way.  This is why we head south for the winter to get away from this.

The view from our window is the same as last night.

Surprise in Sturgis ND

Today we traveled from Williston ND to Sturgis SD.

We noticed how green things were in this part of the country.  The temperature was great and the road was smooth.  Charlie even enjoyed the trip.

Saw a couple of planes mounted at some junk business along the way.  Some people will do the darndest things to get attention.

We have always heard what a great biker town it is and how there are parties 24/7.   Well when we got there you could shoot a cannon down the main street and there was neither a party or a motorcycle to be seen.  I guess the parties are not held in October.

Sue found us a great place on BLM land again.  She is so awesome at finding great spots.

When we got there it was about 26C so we spent and hour or so soaking up the sun.  Sorry for the view but it felt good on the bare skin.

View from our window for the next 2 days.

Its time to go

Monday morning we had breakfast with all our Rivers kids and grand kids and our friends Pat & Harold and Cam & Jill.  I spent most of the afternoon doing some stuff at Greg and Kaitlyn's while Sue looked after our grand daughter Grace.  We left around 4:30 and headed to Reston to have supper and spend the night with Derek and Nicole and grand kids Abby and Silas.   The toughest part of this whole south adventure is not seeing our family for that long.

We headed out from Reston Monday morning and crossed into the USA after lunch, south of Estavan Saskatchewan at Noonan.  We were at the border for less that 5 minutes while the customs agent came on board and confiscated half a tomato and 2 yellow peppers.  He waved and said have a nice winter and we were off.

We called it a day in Williston ND and found a nice spot down by the Missouri River.

  

We woke up to the most awesome sunrise ever the next morning.  Sure glad to be back on the road again.

Here's where we traveled the last 2 days.

The view from our window tonight

A summer review

Well its been about 6 months since I last did a blog so I have a lot of catching up to do.  I have determined that blogging is not something I want to do in the summer months right now because we are just too busy running CJ's Snack Shack and Mini golf.We have a lot of friends here who like to sit around the fire at night and often it is midnight before we are back to the Ponderosa. I guess I should commit to doing it once a month just so the events stay current.

First thing we did when we left our daughter Sheri's house in Lacombe Alberta in late April was to head to our sons home in Reston Manitoba to spend the weekend with them.

Derek works lots so it is nice to be able to co-ordinate it so he has a weekend off when we are there.  He and Nicole and our grandkids Abby and Silas were busy doing yard things getting ready for the summer.  Derek let me take his new lawn tractor for a spin which was right up my alley.

I helped him with a new railing on the stairs so all the old people like me had something to hold onto.

The first week in May we arrived back in Rivers Provincial Park to begin to prepare for another season of operating CJ's Snack Shack and Mini Golf. We had to park at the shack for the first while so we had power in the MH to be able to keep the heat on.

The lake didn't have any ice on it but it was still cold and there was still a bit of snow in the shaded areas.

Temperatures started to come around real fast and our summer got under way.

Lots of work to get the course in shape. Nothing out of the ordinary, just normal cleanup and spiff up.

We had a young couple who waited patiently all winter for a game and they wanted to play long before the course was open. I hadn't even blown off the greens yet, but they insisted. I didnt have the heart to charge them.

Charlie was so happy to be back and he had the run of the park for the first 2 weeks. He wandered all over. He even found some left overs from the long cold winter.

May 15th we got to move into our new seasonal site just a few steps down the road from the Snack Shack. Thats where we stayed until the 12th of September.

The lake began to come to life with fishermen, campers, and the colours began to brighten.

Something we started this year at the Snack Shake was a Library. It was to take a book and leave a book. Its something we saw lots in the states and it caught on real good by the end of summer. We had about 60 books in there by the end of the season.

Gramma always found time in her busy schedule to entertain the grandkids. We had them all with us for a while this summer. That was so nice. They all got in the picture except Silas who was off on his own eating ice cream.

We had a few fun things happen around the MH. The bees were crazy this summer and built a big nest under our slide topper. Good thing we noticed it before anyone got stung.

All summer long I left the awning either rolled up or down all the way because I am always scared of a wind coming up or a rain storm coming through when its out. Now you have to know that we didn't have a drop of rain for the first couple months. Well the kids wanted it all the way up one day and they sat around the bonfire until after I went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night to a really slow soft rain. It was perfectly calm and it was only spitting so I went back to sleep. About 8:30 in the morning I heard a huge crash and the Ponderosa shook a bit. I thought someone ran into it. I dashed up to see a huge lake in the front yard and the awning bent in two pieces. I guess it rained more than I thought. I estimate the sag in the awning would hold between 50 and 100 gallons of water when it sagged so that could be 1000 lbs. Well now the awning will be going in every night.

CJ's was happy to be a sponsor of our local adult baseball team The Rivers Comets. I really enjoy watching baseball so tried to get to as many games as possible. We got a sign in the infield for our sponsorship.

We had a good summer with lots of good friends around and lots for friends we hadn't met before. We sure like the social aspect of this business.

Soon the summer was over and it was time to turn out the lights on CJ's. Another year in the books. It was a great year, far surpassing last year. The weather was good and lots of people from town took the time to support us. Thank you.

I spent about 3 weeks working on a rock crusher for the people I normally work for each summer. The crusher operator they had, had surgery and was off for a while, so because I had experience on one from a long time ago, they asked me to fill in for as long as I could. By October 20 the weather looked like it was going to take a turn for the worse, so I bade them farewell and we got ready to head south for another season.

As usual, I will leave you with the view out our window for most of the summer. Our new adventure will begin on Monday October 23, 2017.