Week 51 - Trip to Bozeman, MT, to see the Arizona Lairs

Cheryl adds a bit of color to the Badlands.

     We are very late in writing this one, but it was such a wonderful trip that we have to write about it -- our trip to Bozeman, Montana, where Patrick and his family spent four months while Patrick did a special detail in familiar territory.
     We took about 10 days in mid- to late June to drive the 1,600 or so miles. We were able to spend the first night in Omaha with David's family, so that was an extra bonus on this trip.
     Then it was off through South Dakota, which seems to go on forever. We stopped at Badlands National Park, near Wall, rather than go to the drug store! There is a really nice loop highway through the park that takes you by many of the top spots. We didn't linger long in any one spot

 because of signs warning us to "Beware of rattlesnakes!"

They have Power Rangers in Bozeman!!

      Yes sir! And off we went to Bozeman. When we arrived at Patrick and Jess's apartment in Bozeman, we were greeted by a Power Ranger, who we were later told actually was Redick!
     We all took Rowen and Redick fishing. They caught several fish in a short time but didn't especially like baiting the hooks or taking the fish off the hook afterwards. But they caught several and we tossed them all back in.
     The next day it was off to Yellowstone National Park -- buffalo, elk, bears, geysers and just an unbelievable amount

Rowen was serious about fishing, and landed several!

of  gorgeous scenery. Wow! What a beautiful place. How lucky we Americans are that 100-plus years ago

The hot springs flow behind Cheryl, Redick and Patrick.

 some of our leaders had the foresight to create this national park, and that led to others. It was one spectacular sight after another for two days.
     Old Faithful doesn't erupt every hour nowadays. It's about once every three hours but rangers can predict within 20 minutes when it will erupt. They were 2 minutes off with their prediction when we were there.
     After the first day at the park, when a half dozen buffalo strolled over to see what we were having for a picnic, we spent the night at a resort called Chico Hot Springs. The pool has a huge hot tub fed by natural hot springs that are as hot as any man-made hot tub. The springs also help make the water in the large swimming pool warmer than

Old Faithful -- need we say more?

 usual. The boys loved it, and so did we.

Redick and Patrick at Chico Hot Springs.

The next day we stopped at the gas station where Patrick worked in the late 1990s when he spent a summer working at Yellowstone and fell in love with the West. Yellowstone could do that to you!

The gas station at Mammoth Hot Springs.

      After a second day at Yellowstone, we headed back to Bozeman. Patrick showed us his office and took us up into one of the national forests that office cares for. In the Gallatin National Forest, we hiked up to Palisades Falls, another gorgeous area.
     Patrick and Jess had a "date night" one evening while Rowen and Redick spent the night with us at the hotel. We swam, watched some kids shows on TV, ate pizza, read books and had a good time with the boys we had not seen in about a year and a-half. Lots of fun.
     Patrick and Jess got the strange idea that these meat-and-potato Midwesterners would like to eat raw fish!?! They took us to a sushi restaurant in Bozeman. Actually, it wasn't bad. It definitely was different. Cheryl enjoyed it more than Bill, who was looking for a way to stop by a DQ to get a double hamburger.

 

Patrick and family at Upper Yellowstone Falls.

There's a lot of sushi yet to eat on Bill's plate.

     Before our fun trip ended, we got to see Rowen's final T-ball game of the season. That's always a treat to watch the little guys and girls play ball without really caring who wins or loses, but they love chasing after the ball and trying to be the one to fire it  back in, even if they are rolling in the grass while the runner circles the bases.
     Our trip ended too soon and we headed back to the flat cornfields of Illinois, but first we stopped at           Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Supposedly, it's the core of an ancient volcano. It just juts out of the ground 867 feet and actually is almost a mile above sea level. We both were impressed and spent more time walking the trail around the base than we had intended.
     All in all, a fun and educational trip while getting the chance to see the Arizona Lairs in an environment very different from where they live in Fredonia!

Devil's Tower was pretty impressive.

Week 50 -- Home Improvement Project

Jordan enjoyed tearing off the old screens.

     The heading says "Week 50" and it would be accurate if we had done this project in 2011, when we first retired, or even early in 2012.
     After saying for two years that we were going to re-screen our back porch, we finally did it in August 2013!!
     With Brando and Juan in Costa Rica and Colombia for 3 weeks, Grandson Jordan spent days at our house while his Mama was working. He enjoyed kicking out the old screens and pulling them off.
     We decided to do it up right. We took off all the old trim holding the old screens in place. We then power washed all the dirt, spider webs and mold off the old porch before trying to paint. Then came the big job -- putting in a new ceiling fan.

Before painting, we power washed the wood frame.

      A friend put one on our porch years ago but humidity wilted the blades and it no longer worked. We had bought one for, like, 10 bucks at a charity silent auction awhile back, and me, with no electrical skills or ability to follow the incomplete instructions, tackled the job. Cheryl stopped painting and took Jordan to the library or somewhere so I could curse without young ears near by.
     God must have been with me because when I was finished trying to match colored wires and insert the right amount of screws into available holes, the fan worked!! Yeah!!

The master handyman nears the end of the project.

      Jordan and one of his friends went with me to Home Depot to buy screen and molding for trim. We measured and the boys actually cut the molding in half (from 16 feet lengths to 8 feet lengths) so we could hault them in Juan's van.
     We painted, cut screen and used the staple gun to hang the screen. They say you are supposed to measure twice and cut once, but I thought I would try the opposite with some 2x4 boards at the bottom of the screen panels. We had to cut twice because I only measured once. It was a minor delay?!
     Eventually, we finished with just one or two boards of any length left over. Cheryl washed down the concrete floor and, voila, we had a much more comfortable back porch minus flying insects,

Cheryl is a lady of leisure on our 'new' back porch.

butterflies and wayward birds.
     It was so nice that on Saturday we even ate lunch on the porch. We are looking forward to spending more time on the porch this fall and again next spring.
     But, take a good look at these photos because we will never, ever re-screen this porch or hang another ceiling fan again.