Slacking again....

I know, I know...slacking again on my posts. I have been playing catch up at work, and this past weekend was our thresher's weekend in Jordan. My parents and I went down and worked the show for the weekend- mom and me helped out in the kitchen serving lunch, and my dad and nephew Joey were out helping in the fields.

We also had a celebration of life party to remember a friend that recently passed away after being sick for many years. Rich was a friend of my brothers since high school, and had developed hodgkins disease around the age of 25. Later on, he ended up with lyme disease as well. He passed away at 45 years old. It was fun at the party, seeing old friends that I have not seen since I was a kid. We did a balloon release as well, all of us writing various messages to loved ones that have passed on prior. It was a great was to remember and celebrate his life.

That is all for now. I will try to keep up on the posts a bit better.

Until next time...TTFN :)

Back home from an awesome trip!

Sorry for the few days delay in posting. We had a long drive ahead of us, and were just so tired when we got to the hotel and back home, I just didn't feel like posting anything until now.

So we left Hot Springs on Monday and drove through Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park. While driving through, we saw a herd of buffalo as well as antelope....so VERY cool! It was a beautiful drive through the parks on winding roads, seeing all the trees and wild flowers. We stopped for gas and lunch in Rapid City, then started on the long journey back towards home.

Wildlife in Custer State Park, SD



We made it as far as Mitchell and decided to stay the night...good thing too as a big storm was moving in. While there, we learned of a museum that was all about the Ford Mustang...man was I in heaven! This guy had complete years of various Mustangs- from GT 350 and 500's, to the classic car and a cobra. The collection is worth over a million dollars!

Storm over Mitchell, SD



A few of my favorite Mustangs



Tuesday, after stopping at the Mustang museum, we got on the road again. I drove for 3 hours and made a stop in New Ulm, MN at Happy Joe's Pizza (ummm...taco pizza :)). We finally made it home about 7:30 that night, again after hitting a few good storms on the way in.

Overall, it was such an awesome trip. We lucked out with great weather, met some fun people (including a couple from Holland), and took many pictures. The best part of all was sharing this experience with someone you love, and who enjoys trips as much as you do...love ya Joe!!

TTFN!

The fun continues in South Dakota!

Well after a late start this morning, we were off to Deadwood and Mount Rushmore. Deadwood was kinda cool...not much to do but gamble and shop, but I would consider staying there in the future just to check out the night life. One thing we did do was go to Mount Moriah Cemetery to check out the gravesites of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Not the be day weather wise as it was 91 degrees, and it was a bit of a hike in the hot sun to get to the sites.

We then headed off through the hills on our way to see Mount Rushmore. I had been there when I was a kid, but really don't remember much about it. Man, has the area changed in over 20 years. They have this new "plaza" area with all the state flags along the walk to the monument. We did get some great shots:




After this stop, we headed off to Hot Springs for the night. Tomorrow we are off to the Crazy Horse monument and Custer State Park.

TTFN.... :)

Wow, what a day....

We left from Murdo about 8:45 this morning and headed for Badlands National Park. What a prefect day to go as this was a fee free weekend for the National Parks! We drove through the Badlands, then headed off to the infamous Wall Drug. After Wall, we got back on the road again and headed for Stugis and got a room for the night. We then got back in the car and drove yet another 1 to 2 hours to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. We hiked a bit around there, then headed back to Sturgis. The plan now is to work our way back home with stops at Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park and Deadwood.

Here are a few shots from today:

Badlands



Wall Drug



Devil's Tower


More to come tomorrow....TTFN :)

Off to South Dakota...

Sorry for the delay in writing....just a lot going on with work and life in general.

Here I am writing from Murdo, SD as we are on our way to the black hills and Mount Rushmore. We left about 8:30 this morning and this is the furthest we got so far. We stopped in Mitchell to visit the Corn Palace (you have to see this place to believe it...http://www.cornpalace.com/index.php





We decided to crash for the night in Murdo and head out early to get to Mount Rushmore...only another 150 miles away...YIKES! The last time I was out this was I was maybe 13 years old, so I didn't remember the drive being this long. Oh well... Additional spots we will try to get to are Deadwood, Sturgis, Custer State Park,and whatever else we can make it to in the 5 days we are here.

I will post tomrrow if we have access to the internet.

Until then, TTFN!

Girls weekend away....

Angie and I were off this weekend on a scrapbooking/cad making retreat in August, Wisconsin. There were 20 women here working on various projects like quilting, knitting and of course scrapbooking and cards. I didn't touch my scrapbook(though I did bring stuff to work on),but I did whip out some cool cards:






TTFN!!

The morning after.....

Man am I tried, but it was SO worth it!!!! I don't even know where to begin, but I apologize now for the rambling....

Joe picked me up around 2:00, and we headed over to the U of M campus (the Varsity Theater is on the campus of the University). We found a parking spot and decided to roam around looking for a place to eat before the show. As we were walking, we found this hole in the wall (and man, I am not joking about this) cafe that we had seen on the Food Channel (Diner, Drive-ins and Dives). Al's resturant is built in an alley between 2 buildings, and only has about 12 stools to sit on. Too funny, but I really want to try it sometime. Across the street was this Irish pub, so we decided to eat there.

So we are eating at the Blarney Pub, and there are only 3 other people in there. About 10 minutes into our visit, 3 more people come in and sit. One happend to get up and wander off, and I looked over, and low and behold, there sits Rob Thomas! I was so freaking out. After about 10 minutes, I finally got courage up to walk over to him and talk to him. We chatted for a few minutes, and he told me about the show and that he was only going to be able to play maybe 4 or 5 songs since he had to catch a flight to Chicago later last night. As I was getting ready to leave, I asked if he would mind taking a picture with us....to which he said "of course". Color me all happy!!!!

Come show time, we had met some nice people from St. Louis in line, and we hung out with them during the show. Beth is a HUGE fan of Rob, but Matt Nathanson is a close second. We got right by the stage, so I was able to get a ton of pictures. Rob opened, followed by Matt Wertz, then Matt N. All three rocked the place. I have only heard one song by Matt W., but we went and bought his CD after he performed.

After the show, we were able to meet and chat with both Matt's, as well as get pictures and autographs from both. They were both so nice.

I suppose I should stop for now...hard to do, but I have things I need to do. See a few pictures below. Enjoy!!


TTFN!

Al's Resturant


Joe & I with Rob Thomas


Joe & I with Matt Wertz


Joe & I with Matt Nathanson