Fargo, ND and Cold Spring, MN

Well, the wedding in Fargo, North Dakota (actually in Walcott) was a blast! We parked on the farm. Turned out our friends, John and Marijean, could not make it to the wedding but were able to visit the farm before the wedding day.

Parked at the farm in Walcott, ND

Sean (the groom) with one of his Kiko goats. 

He runs operates a Kiko goat farm.

More Kiko goats.

The good thing about weddings is that they get the family together.
Here are a couple of pictures of the wedding day.

Sean and his bride (Rochelle)

My brothers and sisters (seated) with their spouses (standing behind them).

Would you believe that my parents had the first 6 of us in a time span of 7 years? I am the eldest (seated on the far left) and Jerry is standing right behind me.

We are currently in the Cold Spring, Minnesota area -- the place where I grew up and where four of my siblings still live. The weather is humid and in the 80s.

Jerry attended a "belt sander" race at a local Cold Spring event last night.

Belt sanders ready to race.

And, the race is on!


Here is a short VIDEO of the belt sander race.

We leave here tomorrow and head towards Minneapolis. Now that the wedding is over, we will continue to slowly make our way to the East Coast.

ENJOY YOUR WEEK, EVERYONE!

Devil's Tower (WY), Rapid City, Mitchell and Sioux Falls (SD)

Got to do a lot of things these past couple of weeks. First, our trip to Devil's Tower, WY without our motorhome (we drove our car) -- what a fun time we had with John and Marijean! They were kind enough to get us a cabin to stay in as an early birthday gift for me. Thank you John and Marijean. Made our stay there all the more pleasant.

Cabin we stayed in at Devil's Tower,WY

The beauty of this area always amazes us. 

Taken from the KOA Park that John and Marijean stayed at.

And there is Devil's Tower reaching majestically towards the heavens.

Another view of the tower taken in later afternoon sunlight.

Looking over the valley from high up near the tower.

After two days there, we all drove back to Rapid City. Jerry and I stayed at the Rushmore RV Resort while John and Marijean stayed at the Hart Ranch RV Resort. Jerry and I jumped around among four different RV parks during our 9 week stay in this area. Both the Rushmore RV Resort and the Hart Ranch are top notch parks.

The four of us visited Mount Rushmore one evening and took in their evening show. 

Mount Rushmore at night.

Thought I would have a little fun

turning the memorial into a

grayscale photo, especially 

since it was taken at dark.

Took this picture the next day driving 

near Keystone. Can you see Washington's profile?

On another occasion, we spent a bit of time at the Crazy Horse memorial. 

The road into the memorial.

Impressive!

A model of what the final sculpture will look like 

together with the real work in progress.

Two horses sculpture on the premises.

Later, we had a very good dinner in their 

restaurant. Here is Jerry, Marijean 

and John obviously enjoying themselves.

On Tuesday, we drove 288 miles from Rapid City to Mitchell, SD for a one-night rest. Had to see the Corn Palace which I last saw again in the mid-60s.

The Corn Palace at Mitchell, SD

Inside the Corn Palace.

Yesterday (Tuesday), we drove to Brandon, SD, a drive of only 70 miles from Mitchell. Brandon is right outside of Sioux Falls. We are staying at the Big Sioux Recreation Area which is really a nice secluded place with lots of trees around. The weather is hot, humid and even rainy.

This morning, Jerry and I drove into Sioux Falls to check out the very first place Bob and I purchased back in 1962 and the hospital where I was employed and where Sean was born. 

First, the house. We were the first occupants in 1962.

And then the hospital. The small

brick building in the center comprised

the whole hospital back in 1962.

Now, the place ballooned to fill blocks,

typical of medical centers in other areas.

We've had lots of fun in South Dakota and with our friends in the last 10 days. Tomorrow, the four of us will head north to North Dakota to attend a family reunion on a farm and a wedding thrown into the picture. Should be a blast.

LIVE THE LIFE YOU LOVE!

Rapid City, South Dakota

We are still here!!! Outside of staying in Pismo Beach for two months each year, this is the longest time we are staying in one area. It will be 9 weeks by the time we leave here.

We have had our usual issues with the weather. One day the temperature reached 115 degrees and was still 108 degrees at 9 pm. That was not a particular good day for us. I won't say anymore about that as we survived.

Our niece, Carolyn, and her husband, Wayne, stopped in to see us on their way to Colorado. We had a nice evening catching up with them. Unfortunately, I used my new wide-angle lens to take some pictures of them. (Wide angle lenses are better suited to taking landscape pictures.)

Carolyn, Wayne, Chanti and Me

Carolyn and Chanti (See Jerry in the background

excited about explaining something

earth-shattering to Wayne.)

We did take a day (even though it was really too hot) to take pictures of the statutes of Presidents in downtown Rapid City. Let me explain, Rapid City has a statute of every past President on one of its corners. It was actually quite fun visiting each one. Here are a few of them (not chosen for any particular reason except that I felt they were the better statutes.)

President James Madison

President Abraham Lincoln

President Andrew Johnson

President Thomas Jefferson

President John F. Kennedy

Jerry with President Warren Harding

Now here are a few close-ups.

President Harry S. Truman

President George Washington

President Bill Clinton

President Ronald Reagan

President Richard Nixon

President James Monroe

There you have it. Maybe it's because of Mount Rushmore, but Rapid City is a very patriotic city.

We are looking forward to tomorrow. We will drive about 100 miles to Devil's Tower (been there in 2008) to join up with our friends, John and Marijean. Will be spending until Wednesday there. They will then follow us back to Rapid City where we will stay for a bit longer and do some of the things on our list that we have been putting off until they are able to join us. 

Have a great week ahead everyone.