The Adventure Continues....Day 3

We caught up on some sleep this morning, sleeping in and lolly gagging around until after 10 a.m. But then we were on the road, ready for adventure!
Our first stop of the day was Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, burial place of several famous people... two being Wild Bill Hickok, (James Butler Hickok) and Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Burke).

Then we headed down to Main St. to the Saloon #10, the place that Wild Bill was gunned down. The bar was pretty cool, it had sawdust on the floor... the reason being, because drinks and food were paid for with gold...gold dust often, and it would fall on the floor at times, so putting saw dust down was beneficial for the saloon owners because the gold dust would be hard to detect when dropped. At the end of the day, when the owner swept up, they would separate the gold from the sawdust and have a tidy profit in gold dust for themselves.

While we were there for a drink, Wild Bill, himself showed up and invited us to his show. It was fun, interesting and informative, as Wild Bill told us about his life and that fateful day back in 1876 when he was gunned down at that very spot.

Go EAST young woman (and old woman), Go EAST! So we headed out from Deadwood, to the Badlands. At a stop just before entering the national park, we were attacked by an irate chicken who tried to peck my car! (Actually the chicken was trying to eat all the dead bugs on the license plate *lol*) And we photographed a giant rodent...well, not sure if a prairie dog is part rodent or not? They sure grow animals giant size around SD. *L*

The Badlands National Park is WONDERFUL!! Beautiful and awesome sites! But there are things to beware of as well.










Kasey getting badass in the badlands..*G* She thought it would be fun to have a photo of a breakdance move with the background scenery.









It was another great day of seeing really fun and cool things...with some fun and cool company...my daughter, Kasey!
We have had a lot of fun together... and enjoy each other's company... here we are enjoying a pretzel stoogie as we head on down the road to a motel for the night. We made it to Murdo, SD, so we have quite a way to go tomorrow yet before we get home.... Thank you Lord for the fun times, and safe travels so far, we ask for continued good and safe times as we head home tomorrow..in Jesus Name. Amen.

More to come....

Roberta & Kasey's EXcellent Adventure - Day 2

Here are some pictures from our road trip to South Dakota, which today extended into Wyoming even.. *L* We have an extra day too! Kasey was able to take off Wednesday, so we don't have to be back as early. We can take it easier coming back and see more things along the way too!

So, here is where our adventures took us today... This was a funny iron statue off in a field nearby an old 1880's Ghost Town... I think it was about 2 stories tall.

Here we are just outside of Wall Drug in Wall, SD. A tourist town that reminded us a lot of WI Dells. This DrugStore had lots of places you could pose for pictures... so we DID!

Me and an old cowboy who Kasey and I thought had a strong resemblance to John...*L*


I must have a thing for guys with white beards?? *L* This old prospector and I had a thang going on... haha..or maybe I was just after his gold??

Eye to eye with a buffalo...eek!! *L*


Kasey decided to try on the Indian Chief's outfit, and I was trying on the squaw outfit (again)..*L*
These same cutout things were here 36 years ago when John and I traveled here with 4 other couples and 1 single guy in our hippy van..*L*

We found another GIANT jackalope, so this time I tried to ride one.

They have jackalopes that come in ALL sizes...here are some on the wall inside the store.
And here's something I bet you didn't know.. you have to beware of dinosaurs out in South Dakota, as Kasey and I found out!






Mt. Rushmore was one of our next stops .. it's bigger and more awesome then I remembered! Here is a photo also that shows Kasey and I taking a picture of the reflection in the windows ...(see us down below the monument in the window too!- double click on the pic for a larger one)

The Crazy Horse Monument was a short distance from Mt. Rushmore, so we stopped there. This monument is far from being finished, but they have a nice museum, art gallery, shops, video presentation, and models of what the finished monument is going to look like, as well as many old indian artifacts, pictures and interesting displays.
They gave away free rocks from the mountain where they have carved part of the monument, along with a card explaining what minerals were found in the rocks.

Kasey found she resembled one of the indian statues... since we DO have some Cree Indian in our heritage, I suppose it could be true..*G*



An interesting sign along the way through the mountains (oops, guess they call them HILLS, Black Hills)...but shouldn't this arrow be pointing DOWN? (re: where we typically think of hell's location and all? *L*)

We found that we weren't too far from the Wyoming border, so we decided we HAD to go the distance.


We stopped at a look-out point where we were featured as the Wyoming Wildlife..*L*


There sure is a lot of pretty scenery, (we have hundreds of photos, too many to put here). We had a LOOOONG drive through the mountains to get to someplace where there was civilization, or at least a hotel with wireless internet..*L*.. tonite we are in Deadwood, SD...and we are ready to drop dead...*L* Not really, but it's good to be someplace where we can just lay down and relax.

Tomorrow we start again... sure to be an interesting day!

Road Trip - Day One

Today, after sleeping for about 3 hours, we headed out at 4 a.m. for South Dakota.

What a loooooooong day of driving... but it was fun, (we stopped for a short power nap ... after just 5 hours of driving.)



We stopped at some pretty goofy places along the way.


The Jolly Green Giant was another photo-op we HAD to get..*L* Gas was cheap here too $3.43 per gallon in Blue Earth.









The Spam Museum didn't open for 2 hours, so we just snapped photos outside the entrance and were on our way...








We had a bit of sun and a bit of rain, but nothing bad... and when the "heaven's opened", there was this small little church chapel at one of the rest areas we peeked in at.

We saw this place on the way, NEXT EXIT, the sign said..so we turned off, but alas, it was closed for the season.. rats!







The Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD was along the way, we stopped to take a picture, but it sounded boring, so we didn't go in...but we DID eat a late lunch/early dinner at the western saloon across the street before heading out again.

Jackalope's are everywhere here... Kasey found a giant, tamer one to ride..*L*

We crashed at the hotel for the night at 7 p.m., looked at the 400 photos Kasey and I had snapped, did some blogging, and now for sleep... so far it's been fun, but looking forward to tomorrow... Badlands, Black Hills, Wall Drug and Mt. Rushmore....

More to come....

Aaron and Amanda's Wedding

My nephew was married today... it was a wonderful wedding and celebration... here are a few photos from it ... Congrats to Aaron and Amanda, and prayers for a blessed union!

Nephew Aaron and new niece Amanda, the happy newlyweds!





Our kids, Kaine, Kasey & John.



Our DIL Janel and grandsons Jake, Josh and Jeff (trying to steal a sip of champagne).





Niece Angelina blowing bubbles outside the church.



Nephews Jesse and Matthew, handsome groomsmen.


Nieces Hannah, Sarah, Chloe & Claudia, all beautiful bridesmaids.


Me and Kasey at the reception, husband John was in Canada moosehunting and missed all the fun!

Now it's off to sleep for a few hours before taking off on a road trip with Kasey...
*more pictures from that to come*
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EDITED - ANOTHER PHOTO ADDED...

Here's a family photo from the wedding, this is MY side of the family, sisters, brother, spouses, kids, grandkids and my mom and dad...there were about 10 of us (I think?) who couldn't be at the wedding.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!!!

I am officially on VACATION!! ... for a few days anyway. Today we have a family wedding. I'm from a large family, just my side of the family numbers about 60 now...it's easy to lose count, seems even the nieces and nephews are exploding with new kids lately..*L* And my sister's son, Aaron, who is getting married, her husband Mel's side of the family is a HUGE one too.. so, with family and friends, it's gonna be a BIG wedding! It should be lots of fun too!

Right after the wedding, depending on how late we stay, (we may leave that night or before dawn the next morning), daughter Kasey and I are going on a road trip. Since hubby is off to Canada hunting for moose, Kasey and I are off to South Dakota. Our destination is Mt. Rushmore, but we plan on seeing all the cool, whacky, unusual, beautiful, awesome sights inbetween here and there too!

Here are some funny things I googled that we may take time to stop at and see....
World's Largest Ball of Twine, Darwin, MN, Old Brewery Hill Spook Light, LeSueur, MN, Jolly Green Giant, BLue Earth, MN; The Spam Museum, Austin, MN; Replica Statue of David, giant Muffler Man Mr. Bendo, giant Buffalo Bill statue, Sioux Falls, MN; Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD; tiny Church Rest Stop, White Lake, SD; Wall Drug, Badlands, SD; Lawnmower pileup art, Dinosaur Park, Men made from tires art, Rapid City, SD; and if there are art galleries along the way, of course we will stop there...and much, much MORE!

We are taking our computers and our digital cameras so we can snap photos and record our events in our blogs along the way... I can't wait!!

Praying for good weather, no car worries, safe travels and FUN times!

MORE TO COME ALONG THE WAY....

A new apartment... a new experience...

The last few days I've been helping our son, Kaine, move into an apartment. This is his first time living alone.. and in a place of his own. So we've been raiding our stash of things in all parts of the house, and searching Good Will stores all over hoping to find some cool stuff and good deals for his place.

We are still looking for a sofa, a coffee table, end table, and some more chairs for the two tables he has. But so far his place is looking pretty good.
Here are some pictures from today after we finished doing a lot. He has yet to put up a bunch of his signs and pictures on the wall, and he needs a bed yet, and some more furniture there too. He also has to set up the second bedroom as his "den", a place for all the stuff he has to make his kind of "art" projects. And get the TV stand shelf supported more so he can insert his TV, but so far, so good.. *S*
He has a chair to sit in, a TV, food in the frig, freezer and cupboards, and a lot more than he had a few days ago.