I need to stay on track, I've left you in suspense with the final days of the SD trip. Heavens! On July 1, we rode into Hill City and ambushed the Alpine Saloon for a great lunch of more German food, got to observe a thunderstorm outside while we ate and then explored some of the merchantiles in the burg. The boys and I ended up at the end of town in front of an old time photo studio. I sent them back to roust the troops and all 8 of us partook in a 1/2 hour of revelry posing as the outlaw in-laws. J was less than enthusiastic and N was all over it because he was equipped with not 1 BUT 2 GUNS!!! Talk about a s**t-eating grin on his face. The photo shoot was a hoot and I thought we'd have to twist arms to get my parents to participate. Not so. I've been trying to get a good scan of the photo, but it always comes out sideways. When I get it right, I will post. We took the 1880 steam train from Hill City to Keystone through the lower Black Hills of SD and lots of rustic homes, ranches, old decrepit farms and mines. Some new and interesting construction in the mix as well. A brief stop in Keystone and we saw we should make a return trip in the next day or two.
We arrived back at Palmer Gulch in time for a potluck to eat up any remaining leftovers at Rick and Mary Lyons cabin. This is one of the PLUSH cabins with several rooms, a big porch and large dining table which heard many great stories and much laughter that night - and saw a few empty wine bottles as well. We did a good job clearing out the leftovers - like a hoard of locusts.
The morning of July 2, Dan wanted to get us up early to go to Mt. Rushmore, into Keystone for some entertainment and onward to Custer State Park to our next lodging so he and Joe could run down to the Badlands for the sunset. The Presidents were foggy, so we skipped the tour and saw them later in all their glory in the tunnel view in Custer State Park. We had seen them at night all lit up due to several wrong turns the first night in so the novelty had worn off at that point. In Keystone, the guys tolerated some shopping with Mom then wanted to do the Alpine Slide. A ski lift takes you to the top of a small mtn., and you ride down on a luge sled in a concrete track. You really get zipping. Dan took a film of one of his runs and if I can get him to post in on YouTube, I'll post the link here. It was a hit for all 3 boys and I found my commemorative t-shirt "Don't make me open this can" of Whoop-Ass. Well worth the cost.
We headed onward to Custer State Park and found our cabin to be cozy but quite plush with a heat pump and satellite TV, much to Nick's amusement. I had a nap, Nick watched an informative outer space show and Dan and Joe headed for the hills. Moseyed in to Custer for dinner and caught a street corner Indian dance performance with the rents and the newlyweds, and returned to the lodge for pie for dessert. While walking back to our cabins, the forward group grew suddenly quiet and moved rapidly. There was a bison the size of a mini-van 25 feet from D/D's cabin, so we watched him for about an our out the back windows, 1/2 of us in the bathroom and half in the bedroom. So nice to have a close family. At 10:00 it was too dark to see if he was lingering and we used camera flashes to return to our own cabin. Joe and Dan returned about 11:00 and Joe had sat on a cactus in one of their hikes, he wasn't hurt but his jeans were handled gingerly. They stopped at Wall Drug and Joe drove for a bit in the middle of nowhere, so they had a bonding experience.
Early on the 3rd, we ventured back into Rapid City for our return flight home via Salt Lake City. We found cooperative flight personnel who cut our layover time by 5 hours and got us in to Seattle by 5 p.m., so the return trip kept me a happy camper without spending much time in SLC. I'd learned my lesson and napped from Rapid City to SLC. I sat next to Joe, who is not a social flight partner. Overall, the trip was good, we made some cool memories for our parents, ourselves, our relatives and the boys. Safe travels, no major mishaps and good times.
Peace and Blessings,
Michelle ;-P
Showing posts with label SD trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SD trip. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Trip Recap - Day 3
Trip recap day 3 - 6/30 - My sister awoke to discover that at some point she had broken a tooth, so our duty for the day was to find her an emergency dentist and get her there. The rest of the group decided to spend the day at the Palmer Gulch relaxing, recovering and visiting with relatives. My dad and I took a roll in the park, the kids played in the pool, jumped on the bouncy pillow and Dan worked on some projects he had brought along. We all read, napped, and passed the day at will.
My sister's appointment was in Rapid City at 2:00 and we hung out until she returned. At 33, she has never had so much as a filling, so she was a little apprehensive. Fortunately she had her new husband to go along and he's an experienced dental patient. When we were young, by parents would reward us for good dental check ups with a toy or Barbie doll. Mom and I were perusing the camp gift shops selection of Black Hills Gold jewelry and determined that a broken tooth ramped up the reward a bit. We chose a simple pinky ring for her and presented it to her after she returned - from having a crown AND a root canal performed in 2 hours of chair time. She was fully recovered, had little pain and was able to enjoy the rest of the trip.
We gathered again that evening with the extended family group for an evening of visiting and had a great chicken dinner - nice soft food for both Denise and me! We answered SD trivia and tested each other to see how many new family members we could name from memory. My mom and sister worked well as a team and then many of the cousins shared memories of family members no longer with us. Another great night culminated with S'mores at my parent's cabin and the boys bunked with them that night, so... Dan and I EACH got a double bed to ourselves! Hey, after almost 20 years of marriage there is just so much romance we can handle.
On July 1, the guys went on a trail ride on horseback and then we drove into Hill City. More on that subject tomorrow...
My sister's appointment was in Rapid City at 2:00 and we hung out until she returned. At 33, she has never had so much as a filling, so she was a little apprehensive. Fortunately she had her new husband to go along and he's an experienced dental patient. When we were young, by parents would reward us for good dental check ups with a toy or Barbie doll. Mom and I were perusing the camp gift shops selection of Black Hills Gold jewelry and determined that a broken tooth ramped up the reward a bit. We chose a simple pinky ring for her and presented it to her after she returned - from having a crown AND a root canal performed in 2 hours of chair time. She was fully recovered, had little pain and was able to enjoy the rest of the trip.
We gathered again that evening with the extended family group for an evening of visiting and had a great chicken dinner - nice soft food for both Denise and me! We answered SD trivia and tested each other to see how many new family members we could name from memory. My mom and sister worked well as a team and then many of the cousins shared memories of family members no longer with us. Another great night culminated with S'mores at my parent's cabin and the boys bunked with them that night, so... Dan and I EACH got a double bed to ourselves! Hey, after almost 20 years of marriage there is just so much romance we can handle.
On July 1, the guys went on a trail ride on horseback and then we drove into Hill City. More on that subject tomorrow...
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Med update and trip recap - day 2
Medical update: M's energy is at 75-80%; Ian is beginning to lose his hair from chemo, but being 8, thinks it's cool for now. We are at 17 people who have had butt scopes due to my experience and all have come out with no surprises - clean bills of health! ;-P
SD trip recap 6/29 - I was much better after a full night's sleep. Dan and I were unsure of how sharing a double bed would go since we have a king at home. I think once I finally fell asleep I didn't move until 7 a.m., so he had no complaints. We met the first wave of cousins at the breakfast room of our lodge (www.palmergulch.com) and one of the local cousins had brought two large coolers filled with snow from last January for a snowball fight in July! Great fun and a welcome cool down as it was already 75 degrees at 10 a.m.
We met the families of cousin LaVer's 4 girls including identical twin cousins I had not seen since I was 4 and they were 9. Found we have 3 sets of twins in the family of which I was not aware - glad I dodged that bullet! Hope we didn't jinx my sister as it usually skips a generation. Spent the day visiting and catching up on who was connected to who, sharing old photos and new photos of D/D wedding. Had a nap just after the snowball fight , a wheelchair tour of the park with my dad and Nick and then hung out with family and another nap. We gathered for a BBQ dinner and cousin Barney made the grub. He worked for the Forest Service feeding forest fire volunteers and smoke jumpers, so he's a grubbin' pro.
Dan will be editing the numerous photos he took of the family reunion, a side trip to the Badlands he took with J, and other assorted photos and I'll provide the link when they are ready to go. At the BBQ, he was a snapping fool because he wanted to get photos of each family group as well as individual conversational groups when all were wearing name tags. Then he would have a master to figure out names and faces on subsequent photos. Good plan, man!
SD trip recap 6/29 - I was much better after a full night's sleep. Dan and I were unsure of how sharing a double bed would go since we have a king at home. I think once I finally fell asleep I didn't move until 7 a.m., so he had no complaints. We met the first wave of cousins at the breakfast room of our lodge (www.palmergulch.com) and one of the local cousins had brought two large coolers filled with snow from last January for a snowball fight in July! Great fun and a welcome cool down as it was already 75 degrees at 10 a.m.
We met the families of cousin LaVer's 4 girls including identical twin cousins I had not seen since I was 4 and they were 9. Found we have 3 sets of twins in the family of which I was not aware - glad I dodged that bullet! Hope we didn't jinx my sister as it usually skips a generation. Spent the day visiting and catching up on who was connected to who, sharing old photos and new photos of D/D wedding. Had a nap just after the snowball fight , a wheelchair tour of the park with my dad and Nick and then hung out with family and another nap. We gathered for a BBQ dinner and cousin Barney made the grub. He worked for the Forest Service feeding forest fire volunteers and smoke jumpers, so he's a grubbin' pro.
Dan will be editing the numerous photos he took of the family reunion, a side trip to the Badlands he took with J, and other assorted photos and I'll provide the link when they are ready to go. At the BBQ, he was a snapping fool because he wanted to get photos of each family group as well as individual conversational groups when all were wearing name tags. Then he would have a master to figure out names and faces on subsequent photos. Good plan, man!
Friday, July 4, 2008
First day of SD travel 6/28 recap
We started our travel to Rapid City, SD for a family reunion of my grandmother's siblings children. All of the grand-siblings are deceased and we wanted the 3rd and 4th generations to make some connections for the future of the family reunion planning; because you know the old folks will want to make this an annual thing now. So 6/28 at 8:00 a.m., my extended family - parents, sister and bro-in-law converged at our home to catch the airport shuttle and have a community breakfast. I had been up at 3 a.m. covering the many myriad of things crossing my brain in fleeting ferocity and was a little drained by 8. We arrived at SeaTac and I began my wheelchair experiences for the trip just after snaking through the security area. That wheelchair was a welcome sight at that point. Flew from Seattle to Salt Lake City (SLC). The SLC airport is adequate except for 1 small thing - there are no chairs without arms enabling someone to say, stretch out and take a nap (which I was really needing by that time). I tried to nap on the floor, I tried to nap close to a door, I tried to nap from 1-4 and there was no nap to be had for sure. So on to Rapid City, SD. Flight was OK, sat next to a private charter pilot from Florida who brings FL bigwigs to SD and other areas in their private planes for fishing, R/R, meetings, whatever. Too interesting of a seatmate to sleep on the flight. So we arrive in Rapid City about 5:30 p.m., tired, hungry, disoriented. Decided to fix the hungry first at a restaurant called Sanford's Grub and Pub - if you leave hungry there is something wrong. I had a deep-fried OREO sundae that was a near-BTS (better than s*x) experience. Then we began the navigation process to get to our lodging. From the instructions we had, it would be 25 miles from the airport - as the crow flies maybe... we rolled into Palmer Gulch Lodge about 2 hours later. THEN, my mom rolls in to claim her reservation and finds out she made our reservation to start SUNDAY night, not Saturday. At that point, I had been near tears since about 3:30 p.m. due to extreme fatigue, and just the strain of travel, after navigating with Dan for hours I dissolved right there in the lobby into convulsive hysterical sobs. We did however manage to get 2 rooms for the night promptly. When we were safely in our room, Dan's comment was "Nice job on the pity cry timing," few words and subtle humor, that's why I keep him around. High points of the day were 1-we all arrived safely (including luggage), 2-saw Mt. Rushmore lit up at night en route to our hotel, 3-had a great meal in RC, 4-my wheelchair service was excellent in airports, and 5-the boys were helpful and cooperative all the way. More anecdotes for your amusement tomorrow.
Peace and Blessings,
Michelle ;-P
Peace and Blessings,
Michelle ;-P
Friday, June 27, 2008
Late Night/Early Morning Brain Activity
Too many brain farts to sleep. I keep thinking of things I need to do, pack, complete, get, etc. and today is my sister, Denise's b-day (she is 30-teen too!). News about Ian, his bone marrow treatment is going well, "clearing" is the official term and he's having some trouble with nausea from the chemo but doing well overall. Any good news is welcome when the bad news was initially so devastating.
Well, Wednesday night after getting the all clear for liquor - I overdid with a 1/2 bottle of reisling. Spoke to a few people and have very little recollection of the evening, but I was still wearing my knickers in the a.m., so it couldn't have gotten too racy as I didn't leave the house. Slept REALLY well that night too and no hangover?! Might be onto something here. The packing is wrapping up and the boys are getting wound tighter than springs to escape the usual boring summer at home and actually DO SOMETHING!
I've been spending a few days trying to put my finger on what this whole experience has changed about me or taught me over the last two months. I'm not sure I have it exactly, but it's making me be really present and focused on what I am doing and why and how it affects me and those around me. I'm listening more, explaining my feelings and requests to the boys and letting them know how their actions affect those around them. I'm finding perceptions in the weirdest places and realizing that EVERYONE we encounter in a day has their own "cancer scare" going on in their life and we need to be more patient, honest, compassionate and trust each other more. I'm also learning I can ask for help and extra time and the world won't crash to a halt.
Spending some time in a wheelchair for errands at Fred Meyer and on our trip through airports will give and have given me new perspectives on life from that angle. Reaching desired items in a store is infuriating while seated. Waiting for people to acknowledge that they are in your way requires saintly patience and most people look through you without acknowledgment. A great learning experience for me and the boys as well. Hope it will change our responses in the future when this episode is a distant memory.
By the time we return from this trip I should be fair to middling and gaining ground in endurance, exercise aspirations, meet with a nutritionist to get ideas on what changes I need to make to accommodate a reduced intestinal processing system and get back to work. An ambitious week that tires me out now just looking at it.
Have a safe and festive 4th with rest and relaxation with your leisure activity of choice.
Peace and Blessings ;-P
Michelle
Well, Wednesday night after getting the all clear for liquor - I overdid with a 1/2 bottle of reisling. Spoke to a few people and have very little recollection of the evening, but I was still wearing my knickers in the a.m., so it couldn't have gotten too racy as I didn't leave the house. Slept REALLY well that night too and no hangover?! Might be onto something here. The packing is wrapping up and the boys are getting wound tighter than springs to escape the usual boring summer at home and actually DO SOMETHING!
I've been spending a few days trying to put my finger on what this whole experience has changed about me or taught me over the last two months. I'm not sure I have it exactly, but it's making me be really present and focused on what I am doing and why and how it affects me and those around me. I'm listening more, explaining my feelings and requests to the boys and letting them know how their actions affect those around them. I'm finding perceptions in the weirdest places and realizing that EVERYONE we encounter in a day has their own "cancer scare" going on in their life and we need to be more patient, honest, compassionate and trust each other more. I'm also learning I can ask for help and extra time and the world won't crash to a halt.
Spending some time in a wheelchair for errands at Fred Meyer and on our trip through airports will give and have given me new perspectives on life from that angle. Reaching desired items in a store is infuriating while seated. Waiting for people to acknowledge that they are in your way requires saintly patience and most people look through you without acknowledgment. A great learning experience for me and the boys as well. Hope it will change our responses in the future when this episode is a distant memory.
By the time we return from this trip I should be fair to middling and gaining ground in endurance, exercise aspirations, meet with a nutritionist to get ideas on what changes I need to make to accommodate a reduced intestinal processing system and get back to work. An ambitious week that tires me out now just looking at it.
Have a safe and festive 4th with rest and relaxation with your leisure activity of choice.
Peace and Blessings ;-P
Michelle
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Off Baby Food and Cleared for Drinks!
SCORE! Visit to the surgeon was OK today. I can introduce any foods but not high fiber, popcorn, corn, nuts or granola. Anything that "wouldn't travel well from point A to point B". Got my note to travel that I need food on my person and a butt skate for the airport. AND, I can now drink - a good thing when convening with multiple family relations. Woo hoo! Fire up the blender for something other than smoothies!
Drove to North Seattle in crappy traffic, went to dr. appt., stopped by WARM for a bit to do some data entry and have a snack and got home at 1:30 - VERY ready for a nap. And it was all good! If it would have been me on a normal day, I would have done some damage at Northgate in the process, so I'm not back to 100% yet - next appt. for sure! Did notice some new stores to check out as I passed by on the freeway, so the shopping muscles are alive, just flabby.
We'll be packing voraciously Thursday and Friday to get OOT and then we have an 8:00 a.m. p/u for the airport to be ready for. That's an amusing anecdote waiting to happen - my parents, the newlyweds, our boys and me vertical and ready at 8:00 a.m.?! Dan's up at 5 daily, even weekends, so he's a no-brainer - but he's planning to pack Saturday a.m. Can you say PRO-crastinator; he gives me s**t because I was packed for Australia 3 weeks ahead of departure; so we balance. ;-P
WARNING: The following is NOT G-rated. Some years ago, during my early 90s working stint, a list called the boobie list made the rounds when we passed jokes on PAPER, and not the Internet - remember those days?!? Since I've christened the BRA chix, I thought it would be fun to find and post again. And, eureka, you really can find almost anything on the blasted i-net. I'm sure we can come up with other variations as well, with our creative and deviant minds. The first two that come to my mind are tattooed breasts (*o)(o*) and
breast cancer survivor breasts X (o) - ({HUGS} you know who you are! ;-P). Put your additions in comments.
Peace and Blessings,
Michelle ;-p 8 >= It's almost bikini weather
Drove to North Seattle in crappy traffic, went to dr. appt., stopped by WARM for a bit to do some data entry and have a snack and got home at 1:30 - VERY ready for a nap. And it was all good! If it would have been me on a normal day, I would have done some damage at Northgate in the process, so I'm not back to 100% yet - next appt. for sure! Did notice some new stores to check out as I passed by on the freeway, so the shopping muscles are alive, just flabby.
We'll be packing voraciously Thursday and Friday to get OOT and then we have an 8:00 a.m. p/u for the airport to be ready for. That's an amusing anecdote waiting to happen - my parents, the newlyweds, our boys and me vertical and ready at 8:00 a.m.?! Dan's up at 5 daily, even weekends, so he's a no-brainer - but he's planning to pack Saturday a.m. Can you say PRO-crastinator; he gives me s**t because I was packed for Australia 3 weeks ahead of departure; so we balance. ;-P
WARNING: The following is NOT G-rated. Some years ago, during my early 90s working stint, a list called the boobie list made the rounds when we passed jokes on PAPER, and not the Internet - remember those days?!? Since I've christened the BRA chix, I thought it would be fun to find and post again. And, eureka, you really can find almost anything on the blasted i-net. I'm sure we can come up with other variations as well, with our creative and deviant minds. The first two that come to my mind are tattooed breasts (*o)(o*) and
breast cancer survivor breasts X (o) - ({HUGS} you know who you are! ;-P). Put your additions in comments.
Guide to Breasts (Through the medium of ASCII text):
(o)(o) perfect breasts
-------------------------
( + )( + ) fake silicone breasts
-------------------------
(*)(*) high nipple breasts
-------------------------
(@)(@) big nipple breasts (you know who you are)
-------------------------
oo A cups
-------------------------
{ O }{ O } D cups
-------------------------
(oYo) wonder bra breasts
-------------------------
( ^)( ^) cold breasts
-------------------------
(o)(O) lopsided breasts
--------------------------
(Q)(Q) pierced breasts
-------------------------
(p)(q) breasts w/hanging tassels
-------------------------
(:o)(o) bitten by a vampire breasts
-------------------------
\o/\o/ Grandma's breasts
-------------------------
( - )( - ) flat against the shower door breasts
-------------------------
< o < o electric shock breasts
-------------------------
|o||o| android breasts
-------------------------
(/)(o) scratched breasts (ouch)
-------------------------
(%)(o) extra nipple breasts
-------------------------
($)($) Elle McPherson's breasts
-------------------------
( o0o )( o0o ) Barbell pierced breast
-------------------------
(^o)(o) zit on your breast
-------------------------
( o Y o ) poses for playboy magazine breasts
Peace and Blessings,
Michelle ;-p 8 >= It's almost bikini weather
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Wild and Weird week
Packing for SD trip, butting heads with the boys who want their first week of summer vacation to be all about them and the energy level is at about 60%. Ever want to just slow the world down to about 1/2 speed so you can catch up? That's where I am this week. The shock of the past several weeks hit me this week and I felt like I was having post-traumatic stress episode, anxiety, moodiness, depression all at once. The simple fact of HAVING to get things done snapped me out of that one quickly and here we go again. Six phone calls to get our Rx refilled, one kid needs shoes AND sandals prior to trip, can't find his goggles, all of the clean laundry I had the boys put away cannot now be located to PACK, and a temperamental washing machine... now I know why we never leave the house for extended trips as a family.
As a form of escape, I started reading some of the "bodice rippers" some pals have lent me for recuperation reading. These are high humor in truest form from the intense alliteration at peak points in the passionate parts, to the names of the characters. This prose is just prime for a parody of epic proportions - not to mention the appendages of the protagonists. The one I'm reading now took 286 pages to get to the first love scene between the main characters - people, by the time they got through their three pages of heaving bosoms and turgid tumescence I needed a shower, a cigarette and a dictionary to look up some of these phrases. NOTE: Don't give romance novels to anyone recovering from heart issues; they may not survive.
Felt good enough to go get a lip/brow wax - 6 weeks of neglect is hard to get control of without desperate measures. Tomorrow is my last meeting with the surgeon to assess the recovery and post-op situation. My first question is "Can I drink yet?" A little more tame than the last meeting. I'll fill you in tomorrow night and share something funny I found online if I can find it again.
Peace and Blessings,
Michelle ;-P
As a form of escape, I started reading some of the "bodice rippers" some pals have lent me for recuperation reading. These are high humor in truest form from the intense alliteration at peak points in the passionate parts, to the names of the characters. This prose is just prime for a parody of epic proportions - not to mention the appendages of the protagonists. The one I'm reading now took 286 pages to get to the first love scene between the main characters - people, by the time they got through their three pages of heaving bosoms and turgid tumescence I needed a shower, a cigarette and a dictionary to look up some of these phrases. NOTE: Don't give romance novels to anyone recovering from heart issues; they may not survive.
Felt good enough to go get a lip/brow wax - 6 weeks of neglect is hard to get control of without desperate measures. Tomorrow is my last meeting with the surgeon to assess the recovery and post-op situation. My first question is "Can I drink yet?" A little more tame than the last meeting. I'll fill you in tomorrow night and share something funny I found online if I can find it again.
Peace and Blessings,
Michelle ;-P
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