Hi all..........one more time trying to post this! This site is not working well.........very frustrating. Oh well. We're here in Miller, SD. This state is one of huge open lands........farms are massive.........you can't see another house for miles. This is pheasant country for sure. You see them in the cornfields........on fences......running along the roads. And when you can't see them, you hear them. We could hear a rooster last night while we sat around a fire. No wonder pheasant hunting is so big here.

Our park here is very pretty, with large sites and a 125 acre lake on it. Actually, it's a dammned up creek, and hooks up to another lake we're told. We want to get out on it with our boat today if we can........the winds here have been fierce, 40-50 miles an hour, so we haven't done it yet.

On the way out here, we saw hundreds of windmills, out on the ridges. As far as the eye could see in some places. Amazing. Maybe they were windmill farms, if there is such a thing. And those windmills are huge......lots of wind going on here! The prettiest thing here I think are the acres of long grass...........undulating in waves, as if on the sea. Dancing and waving as if in some orchestrated movement. It's just stunning to see it. Tony and I have mentioned it many times now, when we see that happen.

We're off to Pierre SD on Tues, to Cow Creek rec area. That is on the Missouri river and we hope to get in some good fishing there. After that, off to the Black Hills and the Badlands. Should be fun.

Bye all.........we'll see you on the road.

Love.........Kath

More boat pictures

Here's a few more. It really DID warm up!

St. Croix boat ride

Hi all........



It seems like it's been a while. The blog site was down and I wasn't able to get on. In any event, we sure had a great time out on the St. Croix river.....Bruce was a terrific captain, and Rowie the most bestest hostess you ever saw......right down to the M & M's! The day started out cool and cloudy, progressed to rain and big waves, and then..........brilliant sunshine and blue skies. Absolutely gorgeous. We had such fun tooling down the river.

Betty loved her 50th presents. I think she'll always know our birthstones now. It was such fun surprising her.

It was hard to say goodbye this time. I know I won't be seeing most of you for quite some time, so that saddens me. I'll just have to concentrate on the good stuff. Tom did tell me that on his flight home, he had lots of time to contemplate what a big, wonderful family we have. It's so nice to enjoy each other as family, as well as friends.

Hope you enjoy these pics. See you on the road.

Love..........Kath

More wedding pictures!

Here's a few more pictures from the wedding. Thought you all might enjoy them. I'll be back with more.

Much love.........Kath

Hansberger wedding

Wow...........what a fun wedding so far! So many of our family, gathered from near and far. Siblings, spouses, children, friends......lots of love to go around! The wedding went perfect. From the cute little Hansberger ring bearer, to the stunning bride, all was fun. The wedding party was in a missing man formation.......five bridesmaids, and four groomsmen.......with a missing spot to honor the much loved Jason......who is in the Air Force, protecting our country while we could gather. We saw and heard him on a video presentation at the reception......much appreciated by all. Especially his family.
Lots of goings on yet to do. Today is a pontoon boat ride down the Mississippi. We'll gather sandwiches & pop, sunscreen and hats, and have a blast. Tonight is a cook-out at Rowie's. They've gone to a lot of trouble so we all could hang out together. Bruce and Rowie are the perfect hosts! That's it for now..........I'll get more pictures going here soon.

Love to all...........Kathie

On the road to Minnesota

Hey everyone.........

We'll be taking a respite of sorts from the blog for almost a week. We're on our way to Minnesota for a family wedding. My sister's youngest boy is getting married....a great way to celebrate that and get together with all my siblings. What a great time we'll have......it's one of my greatest joys to spend time with my siblings and spouses. Since I have 5 sisters and two brothers, it's always fun when we get together. Time is marching on........we take every opportunity that we can to hang out together.

Last night in the campground was beautiful. We had a campfire, while looking out over the lake. And what a night. It was warm, with a full moon.......a moon like I haven't seen in a long time. It was so bright and huge in the sky.....we looked at it thru our binoculars. You could see dark patches that makes me wonder about it. Are they mountains? Are they lakes? It seemed so close, yet so many questions remain. The moon left a brilliant path on the still waters of the lake.... it was so surreal. How I hated to see the night end.......it was just one of those nights that you felt God was close in all that beauty. How lucky we are to experience His majesty in all that is beautiful in nature.

We'll be back after the wedding. The next stop........Granite Falls, MN. We'll see you on the road!

Tony & Kathie

More from Sandy Beach Campground!

Iowa-----flood of 2008

Hi Everyone.......

We took these pictures of the flooding going on here.......and this is at our campground! We're high and dry though, and they think this lake here will come up another 2 foot yet. It's unbelievable.

We were with our friends all day today, touring around Iowa City. It's a beautiful city, but we had many detours, as so many streets were closed with water over them. The road we took back to our campground today is now closed, and the nearest route to here now for our friends to take would be 285 miles......unbelievable. I think we may have seen the last of them for this trip.....we'll see. It's just too far to come here and go back the same day.

We met some nice people right next to us.....they have a fifth wheel as well.........they have been camping here at this campground for years, as they live just west of Cedar Rapids, about 15 miles from here.


I've got a few more pictures from the campground here.......guess I'll get them on the next
posting. See you on the road!


Kathie & Tony

More pictures from Indiana Dunes SP..........now if I can just figure out how to get them all on one posting, I'll have this thing licked!

Indiana Dunes State Park

Well.........here we are, in our first park, on our adventure. And it's beautiful. The park is large, with so much to do.......a great find for our first time out. The sites are big, shady, and mostly grassy. I always try to pick a site on an outside loop, so that we're not looking at someone else's trailer out our back window. We brought our bikes as there are so many hiking and biking trails. And the dunes.........what can I say? Absolutely fabulous.......and exhausting! I used to be a lot younger when I climbed them before. It's just all so much fun.

I told Tony that this is why we retired......to spend time together, exploring new places and having fun together. We are to be here 3 days, and then on to Iowa, to visit with friends there, on our way to Minnesota, for a family wedding. We're looking forward to it all. Right now, we're taking our time to really look at things. We took a 5 mile hike this morning thru a dense forest and around a swamp. With the sun shining thru the branches, we could have gone on for hours. Just so nice to walk and talk........really talk! I am so lucky to have this wonderful man to go thru life with. Thank you God!