We got back last night from a long overdue visit out west. We stayed with Grandpa Larson in Spearfish, SD, for six days, and in that time we drove nearly 1,100 miles. Keith's got a great condo (really it's a small house, I'd say, since it's not attached to any other condos) with two bedrooms and two bathrooms - we were very comfortable there (Reed slept on a cot in the garage! he was happy to have his own space, I think).
On the first day, we had a great surprise when Martha showed up with her granddaughters Harmony and Dalila, who we'd never met. We also got to visit with Pete and Nubby, plus their son Jeff and his family (who were in town from MN). Then we went up to the cabin that Keith helped his brother Pete to build, up on a hill outside of town. The boys all go up there in the evenings and have a few beers. It's a great spot! Kenny's son Sam came to town in the afternoon, on his way home from Texas where he had a summer internship, back to college. We went to town to see the shop where Martha sells the clothes she makes, and then visited the fish hatchery.
The next day, the weather was cruddy (like 55 degrees and rainy) but we made our way to Mount Rushmore. Afterward, Sam and Keith headed back to Spearfish and we hung around for a while. Tod and the kids did a ropes course / zip line park. Reed started strong, but halfway through got to a part where you basically walked on a wire...and he was out. There was a less-than-cool extraction via ladder. We aren't going to talk about that much. LOL. Amy and Tod continued on and did a couple of more courses, and suprisingly, Reed decided to do the main zip line thing - it was so long and so high! I could hardly believe it. It was pretty cool to see. I got videos of that and of Amy and Tod doing the shorter zip lines that were part of the ropes courses.
The next day, we drove to Gillette, Wyoming, to visit Tod's nephew Derek's family. We got to see Derek's oldest son Larson (age 10) play his first football game of the season. Then we hung out at Derek's place for a while, where we were joined by Tod's sister Jennifer (over from Billings) and then Martha too when she got off work. It was really fun to get to see where they live and get to know their kids (Larson, Tensley and Blaine) a little bit. Tod taught the older kids to make para-cord bracelets too - hopefully they'll remember that!
The next day, we drove basically back almost to Gillette again. Stopped at Devil's Tower on the way, which is an amazing national monument. We walked its circumference and then headed to Keyhole Dam for some water sports. Derek has a boat and tubes, so there were several boat rides. Martha brought her kayak, which Blaine in particular loved. Amy and Harmony enjoyed just floating in the water. The spot was quiet and uncrowded - we nearly had it to ourselves. Martha cooked a "low country boil" on a propane grill, and we had watermelon and cookies and a general good time!
 |
| The selfie stick really came in handy! |
The next day we drove through Ekalaka, stopping at the cemetery and driving through town, on our way to Baker to visit with Kathleen. It's been quite a while since we've seen her, and she's had a really rough go of it. I know she was really happy to get to spend a little time with all of us - we had a nice lunch together. Jed was there as well, and joined us for lunch, then showed us around some of the concrete jobs he's done around town.
For our last day, we had a visit to the High Plains Western Heritage Center, where Keith volunteers. It was neat to see a different kind of local history than we see here in Virginia. Well the backlighting isn't so helpful in this photo at right, but here's Keith and Tod with a buggy like the one Keith and his siblings would ride to and from school in, bringing the day's water for the school with them. Wild!
And of course most days included Skip-Bo, as tradition dictates!
An all-around terrific trip, even if a bit exhausting!
On the first day, we had a great surprise when Martha showed up with her granddaughters Harmony and Dalila, who we'd never met. We also got to visit with Pete and Nubby, plus their son Jeff and his family (who were in town from MN). Then we went up to the cabin that Keith helped his brother Pete to build, up on a hill outside of town. The boys all go up there in the evenings and have a few beers. It's a great spot! Kenny's son Sam came to town in the afternoon, on his way home from Texas where he had a summer internship, back to college. We went to town to see the shop where Martha sells the clothes she makes, and then visited the fish hatchery.
