GREAT NORTHERN PIKE IN PACTOLA LAKE

A few nights ago these guys knocked on our door to take their picture with their catches of the day! These are each GREAT NORTHERN PIKE and weighed in from 9 to 15 lbs. They were happy fishermen!!!

REVISITING MOUNT RUSHMORE!!

Here we are down to the last two weeks in South Dakota and we are trying to work in last minute visits. Thursday we revisited MOUNT RUSHMORE. It was a beautiful day and we got there early...it was very crowded as we left. The weather has been beautiful but the weekend (Saturday & Sunday) are forecast to be "fall like" with stiff northern winds!!!!

ON COUNTDOWN...20 MORE DAYS & COUNTING!

Good Morning All, We are on "Countdown...20 more days and counting!" We have officially given our notice that we will not be returning here next season. It has been beautiful and we have had fun...but there is so much still to see and do out there! Our store here at North Marina will close at the end of Labor Day and we will leave here Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. We have at least one more place we want to visit in the Southern Black Hills...BLACK HILLS WILD HORSE SANCTUARY and then we will head toward COLORADO (if weather is still permitting). We would love to camp a couple of nights at ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, but we will see. They do not have electric hookups and we do need electric for Dennis' CPAP and OXYGEN at night! He may try to use our inverter for power...time will tell! Again, weather permitting, we will head from CO toward TEXAS to visit my brother & family as well as well as an elderly Aunt and several cousins! We are ready to TRAVEL!

RAINBOW AT LAKE PACTOLA

This RAINBOW occurred after our Saturday afternoon thunderstorm. Yesterday we woke up to RAIN and had several showers off and on until late afternoon. Today the sun is shining brightly and it is forecast to be a beautiful week. We will treat ourselves to breakfast out this morning -- then go by the South Marina to turn in our weekly sales -- then it is off to do our laundry...which we had postponed last Thursday because of the motorcycle rally crowd. Have a beautiful day!

STURGIS BIKE RALLY WEEK, 2009

MAIN STREET, CUSTER, SD

I do believe that we have survived STURGIS BIKE RALLY WEEK 2009 without any ill effects! We did venture out on the roads some and did encounter thousands and thousands of bikers riding...usually in the opposite direction from us! We did NOT venture to Sturgis during this Rally Week! Below is a photo of BLUE STAR MEMORIAL REST AREA which is just across the lake from us! All is going well here and Labor Day weekend is approaching fast!

B-U-R-R...HIGH 30's/LOW 40's!

The small electric heater is buzzing this morning as I am here at the computer...the last couple of nights have been high 30's/low 40's and it feels B-U-R-R-Y! Daytime temps have been in the 50/60's, so not too hard to take, but not very good for boaters as there has been a pretty stiff wind also! Hopefully today and tomorrow (Saturday & Sunday) will be calmer and bring out the boaters!

WILDLIFE SITINGS...BIG HORN SHEEP PLUS A YOUNG BUCK

This BIG HORN SHEEP RAM had a harem of 8 or 9 plus there were 3 or 4 lambs that stayed back in the woods. We have been fortunate enough to see BIG HORN SHEEP three times now...all in different places.

We spotted this young BUCK standing in a stream while we were exploring a back road nearby. He stood on alert for quite a few minutes and then turned tail and ran from us!

VISIT FROM COUSINS JOE & KAREN CAMPBELL

Yesterday we enjoyed a visit from cousins JOE & KAREN CAMPBELL. Joe & Karen are visiting the Black Hills on their way to ALASKA. They will meet up with an RV caravan group...sounds like FUN! We were happy they worked us into their busy travel schedule!

RED-TAILED HAWK

The days pass quickly here in the Black Hills. We are continuing to ride the back roads and enjoy exploring. The photos below are what we believe to be a YOUNG RED-TAILED HAWK that we spotted and Denny captured with the camera while on a recent ride.




We enjoyed a visit from our Frostproof neighbors, Bill & Ruth Creswell(next to us) and parents Bob & Faith (across the street), on Sunday afternoon. They are doing a trip similar to what we did last June...flew into Denver and making a big loop to include Yellowstone, Tetons, Black Hills and Cheyenne Frontier Days. They also got to experience one of our HAIL STORMS! We are looking forward to having cousins, Joe & Karen Campbell, stop by this coming week. The STURGIS BIKE RALLY will be the following week...that should be interesting as we are told the crowds impact a 100 mile radius...which would certainly include our area!

Yesterday was our hottest day yet (near 90 degrees) and there were hundreds here at our North Marina and on the lake cooling off!

RAINDROPS FALLING ON OUR ROOF!

Good Morning, It is Saturday morning and RAINDROPS ARE FALLING ON OUR ROOF! Phoebe heard it first and jumped off the bed before 5:30 AM and I heard them shortly thereafter and woke up at 5:30 AM! A few minutes later the power went off which, of course, shut down Denny's CPAP and OXYGEN machines...so he is up now also! This was forecast to be a BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND...with a chance of thundershowers in the morning, then possibly in the afternoon and/or evening!!!!!

On a brighter note, we took a ride north toward Deadwood yesterday morning and just a couple of miles north of us we saw this COYOTE standing in a meadow!



The coyote was our only wildlife siting. We did not go all the way into Deadwood before turning around and returning. Stopped at a BOONDOCKS 50's DINER for a cup of coffee...great 50's music and memorabilia BUT coffee was $1.65 a cup...not at all like 50's prices!

We are ready for a busy weekend IF and when it stops raining!

FOURTH OF JULY...WE MADE IT!

Fourth of July weekend passed quickly and smoothly...we were busy, but not as busy as we had imagined. The Mt. Rushmore Fireworks on July 3rd were a flop but they shot them off anyway, even tho the mountain was shrouded in fog. Saturday and Sunday were warm and sunny with NO RAIN!

We visited ROUGHLOCK FALLS at Savoy (near Spearfish, SD) as well as came across the film site of DANCES WITH WOLVES just beyond the falls.



I can not particularly remember ever seeing this scene in DANCES WITH WOLVES...but then it might have changed some in at least 20 years!



Yesterday, we went to Hill City early to do laundry and then rode through CUSTER STATE PARK's WILDLIFE LOOP again! There were more PRONGHORN ANTELOPE visible than usual and we saw our first baby pronghorn!



All is going smooth and our time here is over half completed...what will we do next????

ANOTHER HAIL STORM!!!

Yesterday, July 2nd, was a stormy day starting about mid day! Early morning was bright and clear and I watched two deer play on a green knoll across the cove from our marina. We were expecting friends to visit, Bill & Marline Ferro who had worked with us at Jamaica State Park in Vermont during 2003 & 2004...they live in Nevada and had been in Wyoming for a family reunion. Bill & Marline drove another couple hundred miles to see us as well as "revisit" the Black Hills.

The icy road photo was taken by Bill & Marline as they traveled to visit us...it was taken about 5 or 6 miles from us.


The next photo shows our flower beds...they do not have a chance!!! We planted Impatients and a couple of Zuchinni plants in May, just before Memorial Day and they have so far endured lots of COLD, lots of RAIN and several HAIL storms!!! Something chewed off one Zuchinni and the other has "tried" to grow a few new leaves. The Impatients have NOT grown at all, but have continued to blossom as little dwarfs!


The HAIL storm occurred between Noon and 1 PM and we heard later on the TV that Lake Pactola received about 2 inches of rain in about 15 minutes. When I drove to the South Marina around 5 PM there were still piles of ice from the hail storm all along the roadway and throughout the woods.

OUR HAPPY 47th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

WOW...how fast 47 years have flown by! Many of you who read this blog shared our special day 47 years ago and many have shared our anniversary celebrations somewhere through the years...THANKS! Our greatest joys and accomplishments are Randy and Rusty as well as the love and support of family/friends -- THANKS to all of you--WE LOVE YOU.

SUMMER WEATHER IN THE BLACK HILLS, SD

FINALLY, we "think" that summer has arrived in South Dakota's Black Hills! This last week the weather has been very summer like...even HOT a couple of days! Hot days bring more folks to the lake so we have been busier also! I was up at 5 AM this morning and I believe it might be back down in the 40's this morning, but today is supposed to be beautiful and in the 80's! We have not come across any new wild life to share lately...we rode to Custer State Park one morning last week but did not see anything new. We were almost all the way through the park before we came upon the herds of buffalo. All is going well and we will try to add more photos soon!

A DAY WITHOUT RAIN!!!

Sunday we had a day without RAIN! Saturday, however, was a whole different story...it had been forecast to be nice with a "chance" of scattered showers! The wind blew HARD and the rain came shortly after lunch and continued off and on all afternoon. The wind blew so hard that it jammed the main dock up against the shore and buckled the connecting walkway. Dave came over and had to revamp the walkway and stairs...there was no real damage done! Today (Monday) I will work from 10 AM to 3 PM at the South Store and Denny will hold down the fort here! No new photos today...we got some on Friday of more Big Horn Sheep -- this time ewes and lambs -- will add later!

CURIOUS FAWN

Our cameras have to be ready at all times as we never know what we will see on our rides. We caught this curious little fawn while we were traveling back from town. We first caught site of the doe and fawn side by side, but the doe quickly disappeared into the bushes...the fawn was curious about us but he also soon jumped and ran to his mamma...we could see through the bushes where he was jumping and kicking in a playful manner.

MORE RAIN & HAIL!

Yesterday started out beautiful and the boaters and fishermen flocked to the lake! But by early afternoon the clouds had started building and shortly after that we heard rain on the roof again! The rain turned into HAIL about the size of marbles! No damage done except that it brought everyone off the lake in a hurry and it was pretty quiet after that! Phoebe tries to hide even with rain on the roof and she was really scared with the large hail pounding on the roof. There is no place she can crawl under (like the bed) so I covered her with her towel and that seemed to make her feel safe.

Here are a few more photos that Denny took recently. This Blue Heron seems to be a resident as he visits our docks frequently. The Blue Gill fish are abundant under the docks.


We came upon this YOUNG BUCK in the woods on one of our backroad rides:


This group of horseback riders visited our boat launch to water their horses and take a break a couple of days ago. They rode from Nemo, a small horse oriented community about 8 or 9 miles from here by road...but they were able to come across lots via old trails and it was a little over 5 miles for them! Coincidentally, we had just drove to Nemo that morning and had breakfast at the NEMO GUEST RANCH BRANDING IRON RESTAURANT. The guest ranch consists of a general store, restaurant and several cabins as well as accommodations for horses. There is also a trail ride business there, about a half dozen homes, a community church and a two story building that looks like it used to be a school house but now might be town offices. These particular horseback riders shared with us that they have been coming to NEMO, SD for several years now on family vacations...they trailer their horses with them and go on trail rides out of NEMO! These two or three families consisted of adults as well as children and had traveled here from Minnesota. We really enjoyed talking with them, especially since we had just been to NEMO that morning and could picture exactly where they rode from.

BIG HORN RAMS, TURKEY, DEER...WOW!

Just outside of Rapid City yesterday we hit the jackpot...a BIG HORN RAM! After a little searching we found a herd of 7 BIG HORN RAMS grazing on the hillside! We were in a deep canyon and they were on the far side!



The canyon road was a dead end road and as we turned around we spotted this group of WILD TURKEYS!



After coming out of that canyon we explored another and came across this DEER "FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS"! I love the next photo of a doe "ON ALERT" as we approached! The deer are still in the process of shedding their winter coats!





For a week now the temperatures have been cold and rainy! This morning was in the 30's again but forecast to be in the high 60's and warmer for the weekend...YIPPEE! We are looking forward to being busy!

TRIP TO CUSTER STATE PARK

Yesterday morning we took a trip to Mount Rushmore...which was shrouded in FOG, SO we then drove on to ride through CUSTER STATE PARK! We were welcomed at the entrance by these BUFFALO...they are awesome no matter how many times we see them! They walked right in front of us and ambled up the road...not even going thru the fee station!!!


This is one of my favorite photos...a BEGGING BURRO...they come right up to the vehicle and stick their nose to the window because they are used to being fed by the tourists! We had a bag of tortilla chips and this BEGGING BURRO "LOVED" them and wanted more! We had enjoyed this area last June also when Irma and Clarence were with us!

We enjoyed several PRONGHORN ANTELOPE during the drive and this guy had three girl friends nearby!


This young PRAIRIE DOG seemed rather confused and did not understand all the audience while he was out near the road munching on tender green grass!



It was a nice drive around the WILDLIFE LOOP but we did not see the large herds of buffalo that we had enjoyed last June when we visited the park. We bought an annual pass, so it will probably be a frequent drive for us on our mornings off. The park is about 30 miles from Lake Pactola.

WEBCAM OF INTERSECTION JUST DOWN THE ROAD!

COLD, COLD, COLD this morning...about 30 degrees with a heavy frost over the boats and docks as I peer out the window!!!

DOUBLE CLICK ON THE TITLE OF TODAY'S POST for a WEBCAM showing a nearby Intersection of highways 385 and 44...it is only about 1 mile to the north of us. The camera takes a new photo about every 20 minutes.

It is going to be a cool week with a promise warming to 70's for next weekend...we will see!