Rapid City, South Dakota

We didn't travel very far yesterday, maybe 70 miles so we still had the afternoon free after we got all unhitched here at Heartland RV Park in Hermosa, SD.  Since we hadn't seen a Wells Fargo in miles and miles and miles we thought it prudent to go into Rapid City to get some green.

I love our new little GPS - she just takes us wherever we want to go.  Of course Rapid City is not very big so getting to the bank and then downtown was not too difficult.  Neither was it difficult to find parking downtown after visiting the bank.

With our pockets full of cash we thought we should spend some of it so we visited the local brewery for a cold one.  Firehouse Brewing really is in an old firehouse and they have done a fantastic job making it special.  They also have done a fantastic job of brewing.  Both Kirby and I loved what we chose to drink.  And the clientele was so friendly.  There was a really good looking young man sitting next to me having lunch and a brew.  He was from Knoxville, TN, and is sort of a storm chaser.  He and his cousin go around the country  making repairs to cars after hail storms.  He was loving the travel and getting to see new places.  After lunch they were off to Denver by way of Mount Rushmore.

This is just a few of the sculptures that are on all the corners of the streets in Rapid City. I believe that each one of our presidents is there somewhere.

This was on the way into Rapid City from the east on I-90.  They love billboards up here!

Armitage Park, Eugene, Oregon

(CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT)

I am sure we will have even better places to visit in the future, but Armitage Park in Eugene, Oregon is now my most favorite.  Just by chance we had the best site there (No. 30), the most interesting neighbors and the best views.  We spent almost all of our time either walking, biking or sitting under the Big Leaf Maple tree playing cards, reading or eating.

You can just see the Big Leaf Maple we were sitting under and then the blackberry bushes behind us.

The McKensie River flowed by the day use part of the park and had two trails running along beside it, one just above the river and one right along the bank.  We walked and biked both quite a few times.  There were almost no other people as it was weekday and the holiday had just ended.   Besides the freeway that passed nearby, there was also an old railroad trestle that had been converted to a walking/biking trail.  We took it to the other side of the river and taught Jake to drink river water.  (he is NOT a water dog at all!)

This is the old railroad trestle built in 1887.  Loved it!

We watched him paddle upstream and then glide back down with the current.  And he did it more than once!

Pretty sad to see the freeway cross the river and not even have a pretty bridge.  You don't think of it when you are on the freeway - just when you are viewing it.  Plain, ordinary, not interesting at all.  But what a gorgeous river! (You can see the paddleboarder down there, too)

Kirby and Jake taking a break on the railroad trestle while I took pictures and found us each a ripe berry.

The trees were what got me.  Big beautiful maples and cedar.  Awesome trees that defied getting their picture taken.  They were just too big.  We had one Big Leaf Maple (Oregon Maple) at our site that stopped my heart with its beauty.  And there are the wild blackberries everywhere.  Too early for us, darn!  By the time they ripen up, we will be long gone.  But – I did find two that were ripe so both Kirby and I got to try one.  Can you imagine just picking those berries at your leisure?  They grow wild everywhere!

This is my favorite tree, the Big Leaf Maple, and I just couldn't get a good picture of it.  But I loved it!

I ate that one ripe berry.  It was wonderful!

We had barely gotten set up and were out enjoying the quiet serenity of the park when a bus load of teenagers showed up and started setting camp up right across from us.  We moaned and groaned – how could this happen to us?  But they turned out to be the nicest young people ever.  They were part of the Northwest Youth Corp.  They spend 5-6 weeks away from home working in the forests and parks.  We enjoyed visiting with them and Jake gave them lots of pets.  They were great neighbors!

I did not get a picture of our interesting neighbors but they made our visit more fun.

Soon we will be in Montana where we will spend a few weeks.  Can’t wait to see that big sky and huge mountains!

Lodi, CA

When we realized that son, Lee, would be able to meet up with us we went looking for a perfect meeting place.  We were heading north on I-5, Lee was coming from San Jose, CA and our friend, Lou, would come visit from Grass Valley.  So we needed a place central for all of us and a decent RV park for Kirby and I.  We decided on Lodi, CA and Flag City RV Park.

No one was very excited about the location and the weather was forecast to be in the triple digits.  Wow, were we ever surprised at how our day played out.  We left Success Lake and drove about four hours and settled into our site.  Lee arrived about 4:00 and we enjoyed a nice evening together eating carnitas and getting caught up on family news and gossip.

We also met our neighbors who have a beautiful black lab, Lola, whom Jake thought was wonderful.  We found out that Flo and Larry are from Yuma and actually live just down the street from where we were last month.  I remembered seeing them walking Lola.  We all hit it off right away and now l have a new BFF!  We can’t wait to get back to Yuma next fall and enjoy their company again.

Lou came over on Saturday from Grass Valley and it was old home week at our rig.  Kirby and Lee have known Lou for about 20 years and I have known him almost as long….he is family now! 

Since it was already so hot we headed into town to check out the local brewery that we had found online.  Lodi Beer Company is located downtown Lodi on a tree lined street – beautiful!  We each ordered different beers and enjoyed them along with a plate of nachos.  (I got the Red which I loved and Kirby of course tried the IPA which was very hoppy – just the way he likes them!)

The streets of downtown Lodi are really lovely!

What would be your choice?

I love the bar and the beer taps.  Very unusual.

A great smile on Lee's face!

Then it was on to wine tasting.  I had no idea that Lodi was a great wine tasting area so what a wonderful surprise.  I love wine.  I really love wine – so this was perfect for me and the men enjoyed it to.

Our first tasting room was the Van Ruiten FamilyVineyards.  That is where we met Nicole who explained all about their wines (and that she is going to Hawaii on vacation very soon and taking her twin 17 year old sons for their high school graduation).  I think our favorite there was the Sauvignon Blanc. It was a beautiful tasting room full of people having fun and enjoying the wines.  Lou got a couple of bottles for his wife who didn’t get to come and then we went on to the next.

Thanks, Nicole for the fun time!

That's us!

Michael-David Winery was next.  We loved their various zinfandels and we even got to sample a $60 bottle that we would never be able to purchase so that was very special.  It was awesome!  All of the wines we tried there were exceptional and we would like to have purchased a case – but we just don’t have the space!

YUM!!

Tasting at Michael-David

 Then it was back to the rig – which was only about a mile down the road.  We hung out visiting until the power went out!  Yikes – 105 degrees and no AC!  So, what do you do?  You go outside and sit in the shade of the RV, get the hose and get wet and invite your neighbors to join you.  It turned into a great party!  What an awesome day we had!  I love this life!

This is our Jake

And this is his new friend, Lola!

Doings in Yuma

We are enjoying our life here in the deserts of Yuma, Arizona.  The best part has been having my sister and her husband RIGHT HERE!  Well, since we are sitting on their property, we better like having them right next to us, hadn’t we!  But we are alone now.   They left for home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming a couple of days ago and it just seems so lonely without them.  And Jake can’t figure out how that whole “house”, the people and the dogs just disappeared!  We had him in the house when they left so he wouldn’t get underfoot and when he came out, they were just GONE!  He was quite mystified for a full day but has forgotten all about them now!

That's me on the left and my sister, Joan, on the right.

We had dinner together each night – often outside in the shade of the gazebo.  We are trying to get the cover of the gazebo to make it through until we leave!  I mean, what are a couple of holes?  There is still some shade!  (did I mention that the wind blows all the time here?)

We went for Mexican food one night also.  I ate SO much that I think I have finally settled down in my cravings for it.  I love Mexican food that is all mushed together with rice and beans.  I got tamale, enchilada and taco.  My favorite combination – and No, I didn’t eat it all but I gave it a good try!

And speaking of food – this morning we had breakfast with an old friend of Kirby’s and his wife.  Michael and Linda have lived in Yuma for 13 years but Kirby and Michael grew up together in Taft, CA.  They had not seen each other since the late ‘50’s!  They reconnected on Facebook and guess what – we all got together and it feels like we have known each other forever!

Michael on the left and Kirby on the right.