July 10, 2005 

Letter 1 – Third Year

Summer has finally arrived and with a vengeance I might add. Friday the temps reached 100 and on Saturday it hit 104. The surprising thing is that we were one of the cooler spots in the Black Hills. Some areas hit 108 and Rapid City was 106. The only saving grace is that it does cool off at night so sleeping is OK. Our house as well as most of the houses in the area is not air conditioned. As long as we close curtains and windows on the sunny side of the house it stays pretty comfortable. We have also had several severe thunder storms and some hail. Fortunately the hail was only nickel size here and didn’t last long. One area south of us got 3 inch size and another area got so much they had to bring out snow plows to clear the roads.

It is hard to believe we are starting our third year of our journey, the one that landed us in South Dakota. For those of you who were not on our email list when we started our letters, below is the start of the first one:

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

June 8, 2003

Letter 1

This is the story of, depending on who you are or how you look at it, a journey, the start of the fulfillment of a dream, or just plain wackiness.

The characters in this story include us, Ross and Kathy, along with Ross’s two daughters Torey and Leigh and Kathy’s son Neil.  Also there are 3 cats, Raji, Rachel and Montana and a dog named Whiskey.

For me, Ross, the dream started in September of 1991 after a two-week trip Kathy, the 3 kids and I took to Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana.  It was then that I decided I wanted to live in the West before I was to old to enjoy it.  I think Kathy began to have the same thoughts about the same time, but I’ll let her tell her side.

The journey or, as some say, the madness started in October 2002…  It was a dark and dreary night… sorry, wrong story.  Kathy came home from work one night and I joined her for dinner at her house.  It was during dinner that she announced that she was going to leave her job, she had been there 26 years, sell her house, buy a motor home and move to South Dakota.  I started thinking this sounded pretty good, but that we should wait until I was 62.  As the next week or so went by the 62 changed to I could put my house on the market in July of 2003.  It did not take much longer for me to change that to April.

A lot happened between October and April, Kathy sold her house and moved with her stuff and animals to my house, we got married, and Montana learned that he was not the only cat in the world.  In February we flew to South Dakota and drove to Lead/Deadwood to look for a house.  Why Lead you ask…  Kathy has a friend from work who owns a spread in Hill City, SD and recommended Lead for its affordability and potential.  Lead is located in the Black Hills and sits at about 5,200 feet.  It is a small town built in a small valley and on the two hillsides that flank it.

We do need to go back and look at this occasionally, yet the result is always the same; We love it here and think of it as home.

We made it to the Big Horns two weeks ago and the only change in plans was that we went to the northern end instead of the Hole-in-the-Wall area. We found a nice campground at the top by Sibley Lake. We stayed for $7.00 per night and that included an electric hook up. While there we took a trip to see the Medicine Wheel. This included a 1.5 mile hike to the site from the parking area. The trail was not bad except for the three snow fields we had to cross. The snow was still up to five feet deep in places, but solid enough to walk on top in most places. The Medicine Wheel is a Native American sacred site that is thought to have been in use for at least 200 years. Part of the site is dated at 500 years old, but no one is sure who built this part. The guesses range from Indians, Vikings, or Spaniards.  Once you get there and see the view it is easy to understand how it became a sacred site.

We also saw lots of wildlife including moose and deer. The spring wildflowers were just beginning to bloom. This is a really beautiful area and one to which I’m sure we will return many times.

This week we are going to Pactola Lake, 25 miles away, to spend several days. Our friend Megan, the student, lives near there with her fiancé in a one bedroom house. Her parents and other family members are coming to visit and will be camping while there and she wants us to meet her family. We are looking forward to a few days at the lake with new people. Speaking of new people we have added Hank and Debbie to our list of friends. They are a work-camper couple we met who are spending the summer here taking care of flower beds in Deadwood. We had them over for dinner last week and will be having dinner at their camper soon.

Our next big trip will be to the Tetons at the end of August and we are really looking forward to going back there as well as seeing a good part of Kathy’s family who will be there and also have Neil and Lori with us for a few days. Leigh had planned to come, but had to change her plans and will now probably be here in November. Torey is looking at coming out in October with a friend who wants to see Mount Rushmore.

The hot weather and storms have led to lighting strikes which have resulted in our second real fire of the season. The fire started Friday night and by Saturday evening it was up to 1000 acres and as I write this it has grown to 3,500 acres. It is located about 30 miles east of us and yet we can see the smoke plumes from our front yard. There have been some mandatory evacuations from several residential areas near the fire and others have been placed on alert and told to be prepared to evacuate. I guess we will wait and see what happens.

Last night we attended a performance by two very talented local kids from Spearfish. The boy is a talented composer, songwriter and piano player who is only 15 and the girl is a senior at an art school in California with a voice that was unbelievable. They did every thing from show tunes to rock to blues. We are frequently amazed at the talent that is here and at events that started here and have gone on to become national events. I previously mentioned how Neighbor Works Paint the Town started here and we just found out that the Student Congress, recently attended by over 2000 high school students and held in Philadelphia, started at Lead High School around 20 years ago.

Kathy is considering making me into a “Deer Slayer.” The deer are continuing to eat the flowers and sin of all sins have started to chew on the tomato plants. I have suggested she look into joining the NRA and learn how to manage the neighborhood wildlife. This will probably never happen, but I am allowed my fantasies.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

August 14, 2005        

Letter 2 – Third Year

The weather for the past month has come close to covering all seasons. We have had daytime temps from 103 to 51. Nighttime lows have ranged from 68 to 34. We have had sun, rain, fog and yesterday just to our west they had a sleet storm. Maybe snow is not far away. Although we had a sleet storm yesterday, last Sunday we had 41 fires, small from one-half to 300 acres, when temps were over 100 and we had several dry thunder storms.

Several weeks ago Deadwood held their Days of 76 Celebration complete with parades, gunslingers (Wild Bill is killed daily at one, three and five), and rodeos. Kathy and I attended the rodeo one night and had a great time. I’m fascinated by people who ride the bulls and broncos and also by the skill displayed by the horses in the barrel races. We also enjoyed the clowns and the “bull fighters” whose job it is to distract the bulls once the riders are off or thrown off during the bull riding competition.

The past week has been the 65^th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and, although the official numbers are not in yet, it appears as if the rally brought between 550,000 and 600,000 visitors to our state—close to doubling the population of South Dakota for the week. During this period you hear the rumble of motorcycles from the time you wake up until you go to sleep (the sound of cash registers for many). It really is amazing to see and hear motorcycles wherever you go and to sit at an intersection while 100 or more go by in a group. I met people from almost all states and several countries including England and Germany this past week.

Of course with this many riders you get accidents and injuries. There were fatalities including one killed when a porta-potty fell off the back of a truck and hit a rider and one killed by a buffalo. The one killed by the buffalo was revving her engine to try to force her way through a herd of buffalo that were crossing the road when a large male charged her. There were also motorcycle vs. motorcycle, car, truck, deer, guardrail and many other objects. Life flight was kept busy for the week and a recent news report stated they made over 150 flights to take injured riders to various hospitals.

The Lead/Deadwood area seemed to have more riders than in years before and this is being attributed to the popularity of HBO’s Deadwood series. I’ve been told that our tourism is up in general for the summer and this is also being attributed to the TV series. I guess Deadwood and the surrounding areas are on their way to becoming a destination spot for vacationers and not just an overnight stop for a little low stakes gambling.

I worked 10 days during the rally period, now I know why I retired. I have to say that the rally people are my favorites of all the large groups that converge on the hills. They are far nicer and politer than the Corvette owners group that comes every July and I’m also told this by many other people in the area. Even many waitresses try to take time off when the corvette people are here.

We have started to work on the second floor of our house. We have really done almost nothing to it in the time we have lived here except use it for storage. Two weeks ago we completed painting the largest of the three rooms and this will become one of two guest rooms. I have the middle room almost ready to paint to turn into a sitting room/office/computer space and then the smallest room will become the second guest bedroom. I am going to build a custom computer desk with slide outs under it for printers, scanner and other stuff. I will also build a sewing table and desk area for Kathy.

We hope to have this project finished before we leave for the Tetons on August 24^th.

As usual we are also working on some landscape projects and have been planting some plants that have come from friends’ yards and are looking forward to digging up some trees, pine, aspen and birch, from friends’ property this fall. Our plan is to turn about a fourth of our backyard into a woodland and wildflower area. Of course, this will attract more deer, but we are reaching a frame of mind that will allow us to “co-exist” with them. In other words if they eat some of our plants – Oh Well. We are also planning on adding another six feet to our side patio in the spring. This will give us a lot more room and means we can have an outside table that will seat six to eight people instead of the one we have now that only holds four. We really do enjoy eating breakfast, lunch and dinner outside when we can.   

Most of our herd of animals is doing well although Montana, now 15 years old, is starting to show some signs of old age and possible liver failure. We will be taking him to the vet next week for a check up to see how he is and what the options are.

We are starting to get ready for our vacation and trip to the Tetons. I will be taking the motor home in this week for a check-up and oil change. It is also time to have the generator serviced. It means oil and filter change and, after reading the manual, I’ve decided that I can do this myself. We will also be having the brakes checked for wear and have any work on them that may need to be done. Then it will just be a matter of giving it a good cleaning on the inside and a bath. The bath part requires several hours and a step ladder to accomplish, but we will get it done.

We are looking forward to the trip, it is our favorite park, and to seeing assorted members of Kathy’s family, sisters, nieces and nephews. We are also excited about spending time with Neil and Lori who will be there for about a week.

We will see the girls in the fall. Torey will probably be here sometime in September or October and Leigh is planning a November visit. We are looking at traveling east in December, probably the week before Christmas. This trip will also give us a chance to visit with our friends in the DC/Baltimore/Annapolis area.

Local events coming up in September include “Kool Deadwood Nights” which features 50-60s Rock and Roll and thousands of old cars from the early 1900s to the 80s. There will be a large collection of muscle cars and several parades. The parade will follow a loop road that starts and ends in Deadwood and comes through Lead.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

September 18, 2005   

Letter 3 – Third Year

There is not much to say about the weather here because we were gone for 12 days. However the weather on our trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone was delightful. We had daytime temps in the 70s and 80s most days with nighttime temps staying in the mid 30s to 40s. We did have one morning in Yellowstone when we woke up to a temperature of 28. Of course, being in the motor home meant we were nice and toasty; inside temp was only 33. We also experienced several hours of light snow in the northern part of Yellowstone one afternoon. Since returning home we have had days of 60s to 80s and nights 0f 40s to 50s.

This trip gave us a chance to visit with much of Kathy’s family and to spend time in an area we truly love. Thank you Becky and Dan for your vision and efforts in bringing about this vacation!

We left for the Tetons on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 24 and spent that night with 7 or 8 other campers at the Casper, Wyoming, Wal-Mart. Not a bad place to stop, free parking and close to shopping. The next day we pulled out just before daylight and arrived in the Tetons around noon. We had the first night to ourselves. On Friday Kathy’s sister Nancy and her friend Ridge arrived and then Neil and Lori arrived on Saturday. Saturday morning the four of us took a nice bike ride to the warm springs in Kelly, about 3.5 miles from the campground so Ridge and Nancy could have a dip. Saturday night the six of us had dinner and then a concert by the fire from Ridge and his guitar. Thank you, Ridge, we love your music!

On Sunday the six of us took a nice hike to Taggart and Bradley Lakes in the Tetons. The hike starts out crossing an area that was burned a few years ago and then descends to the shore of Taggart Lake before climbing over the ridge that separates Taggart from Bradley Lake and then descending to the shore of Bradley Lake. Both of these lakes are deep green in color and have a wonderful shore line that affords easy access to the waters edge.

On Monday we all moved to the Bridge Bay Campground in Yellowstone for a few nights so we could visit the rest of the family members who were on the trip. These included Nancy’s sons Mischa and Danny along with Dan’s wife Becky and their two children. Also in the group were Becky’s mother, Mischa’s father Paul and Kathy’s other sister, Mary along with her husband Mike and daughter Christy.

We spent Monday and Tuesday nights chatting around the campfire planning the next day’s activities. It was fun to see how much the children have grown in what seems like just a short time (but really it’s been a year). Neil and Lori left Tuesday for a night of backpacking that included a stay in an old fire tower. Apparently they had a great 360 degree view from the tower that stretched for around 80 miles. The rest of us spent the day seeing some of the sights in Yellowstone including the Yellowstone River Canyon and the lower falls on the Yellowstone. It was in the area of the falls where we experienced a period of snow.

On Wednesday Kathy, Nancy, Ridge and I moved back to the Tetons and were joined there by Neil and Lori. Mike and Mary had gone down on Tuesday so they could do some fly fishing early on Wednesday. The rest of the gang came down on Thursday. Wednesday night we joined Mike, Mary and Christy in Jackson for a great dinner at a Sushi joint. We really enjoyed the chance to be together and catch up with each other. Thank you Mike and Mary! Thursday morning the six of us took a hike around String Lake and later minus myself they spent an afternoon of canoeing and wildlife watching on the Snake River. I opted out of this for some needed R&R and quiet time with Whiskey (the dog). Kathy came back excited at having seen three moose, a beaver, a coyote and other wildlife on the river.

Also on Thursday the rest of the group moved from Yellowstone to the Tetons (to our favorite tents-only campground at Jenny Lake) and on Friday morning most of us met at Teton Village and took the tram ride to the top, 10,440 feet. The view from the top was awesome and watching the hang gliders taking off from there was neat. I say most of us because Neil, Lori, Paul, Danny and Mischa took off to spend a day climbing Buck Mountain.

On Saturday we left and headed back for SD and Ridge and Nancy also left to head this way. We did not travel together because we wanted to see separate places on the trip back although we followed the same route. We returned through the Powder River Basin and then up over the Big Horn Mountains. On the way across the basin between the towns of Worland and Ten Sleep we came across the only tree on the side of the road with limbs that we had seen in miles and it was covered in yellow ribbons. Part of this route takes you through the Wind River Canyon and some really breathtaking scenery. Kathy and I spent the night at a Forest Service Campground at the top of the Big Horns and then continued home to Lead on Sunday. Ridge and Nancy also arrived on Sunday to spend a few days with us.

On Monday we gave them a tour of the area and we all had a chance for some needed rest. On Tuesday they took a bike ride on the Mickelson Trail to Rochford, about 22 miles. Kathy and I met them there and had lunch with them at the local saloon. Following lunch we loaded up the bikes and drove through Custer State Park and did a drive by of Mount Rushmore, it is clearly visible from the road.

Ridge and Nancy left for California on Wednesday and Kathy and I returned to our normal routine of work, community stuff and projects.

The cats survived our absence, but were glad for us to return. The motor home preformed well and we averaged about 9.2 mpg for the whole trip.

We did not take a TV along on this trip because there are really no stations we can pick up in the Tetons and radio stations with news are also almost nonexistent so we were left with NPR for our news on New Orleans. This was hard on me for several reasons, no visuals and my belief that they are not exactly “Fair and Balanced.” It was amazing to finally see the TV scenes when we returned home, verbal descriptions are just not adequate for had occurred.

We have a little more time before we have to put the motor home away for the winter and are planning a trip next weekend to the Southern Hills to listen to the elk bugle, part of their mating ritual, and hopefully soon another trip to the Badlands. It has been interesting to see the progression of leaves turning colors this week. The difference from last Monday to today is amazing. Equally amazing is that we have not yet had even a light frost. I suppose it won’t be long.

I have posted pictures from the trip on our house web site. Go to www.innonminersave.com and click on “Our Point of View” and than rbryants albums and National Parks.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

October 23, 2005       

Letter 4 – Third Year

Our weather has been all seasons lately. Two weeks ago we had a foot of snow and two days later the grass was back and temps were in the 70s. We are having 50 to 70 degree days and 20 to 30 degree nights.

Our fall color was close to peak and I was all set to take pictures when the snow came and took care of the leaves and the color. The one thing the snow did get us was several mentions on Fox News Cable Channel and on the Weather Channel.

Kathy spent the last week in Buffalo with her aunt who was experiencing some health problems which involved two hospitalizations and two weeks in rehab. We had been trying to talk her in to coming here and after her experience with the hospital she agreed. Kathy’s sister Mary, who is an RN, from Texas also made the trip to Buffalo and returned to SD with Kathy and her aunt. They had planned to get here on Thursday, but due to the normal poor service from “Northworst Airlines” they did not arrive until Friday. The airline was supplying O2 for Aunt Marge and did not factor in enough extra to cover the delay before they ever left Buffalo. One would think that an airline with a 70% on time rate from Buffalo to Rapid City would consider there might be a delay. Things went better on Friday and they only arrived 19 minutes late which for “Northworst” is like being on time. Mary spent Friday night with us and then returned to Texas on Saturday. Because of the unexpected travel delay, she had no time to see our sights. She and Mike will just have to come back soon!

Aunt Marge has settled in and there has been a marked improvement in the few days she has been with us and we think she will agree to remain here. We are hoping if she regains enough strength she could stay in our other house, but if not she is welcome to stay with us.

Raji, the cat who allows me to feed him, has taken to Aunt Marge and spends hours on the sofa with her. She really seems to like the cat and he cuddles right up to her to be rubbed.

The other news in our live is that Robert Cohen, a coworker and great friend from my days at Baltimore Behavioral Health, died unexpectedly a week ago Saturday. For two years or so Robert and I had daily conversations and ate lunch together with several other friends three or four days a week. We used to laugh about keeping each other focused, sane, on track and non-homicidal towards our staff. This is a great loss for Kathy and me and for the many people who knew and loved Robert. He was a kind, caring and compassionate friend who made a difference in our lives and in the lives of all of those he touched. Some say the joy is in the journey, but Kathy and I believe the greater joy is in being allowed to share parts of the journeys of others so for sharing with us Robert we sincerely thank you. You will be missed by many.

As I said earlier Kathy was away for the week and in her absence I finished several projects that we had been considering, some since the day we moved in. I repainted the kitchen and added lighting so it’s not like cooking in a cave. Apparently 103 years ago when this house was built work space lighting was not high on their list of priorities. I also did some work on the bathroom. This involved a new toilet, paint, new floor, bead board and new molding. W also added baseboard heat to our 1^st floor bedroom. This is the room Aunt Marge is currently in. In addition to all this, I moved our bedroom upstairs and am now thinking that the smaller of the three upstairs room would make a great bathroom with room for his and hers walk-in closets. I am looking into the cost of this–figuring out which part I could do myself and which part I need help with. Although here you do not need a licensed plumber or electrician if you are doing the work in your own house, you do have to build to code and have it inspected. In regards to the finished projects, I am actually quite proud of myself and don’t mind sharing that with anyone who will listen. Kathy even understood that I was to be congratulated on her return.

SD is having its first mountain lion hunting season in the area with a quota of 25, with breeding females counting as five. There was a law suit filed to try and stop it by a group in California, none of whom have ever visited SD by the way, and this tactic failed. We still have sightings of mountain lions in yards and on city streets here in Lead.

Kathy and I are still working our two days a week and staying involved with meals on wheels and the food pantry. Also the YMCA Skate Night is up and running again so we have no lack of entertainment for our Friday nights.

We will be going East for Christmas. Our plan is to stay with Neil and Lori from the 22^nd to the 26^th and then stay with Torey and Leigh until the 30^th or 31^st. Kathy’s sister Nancy, from California, plans to come and stay with Aunt Marge while we are away.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

November 30, 2005   

Letter 5 – Third Year

“T’was the Month Before Christmas”

T’was the Month Before Christmas

In our small, little state

And the stores were all open

Early and late.

The people they shopped

as they hopped from store to store

no hitting, no biting, no trampling at all

no TV reports of fighting

from our one and only mall

Here in the hills

The homes are covered in lights

With absolute disregard for high energy bills

And as night falls it really is a beautiful site

CHRISTMAS PARTIES are planned

and in the schools trees are not banned

so let’s keep this all a secret

here in our little land

Christmas will come this year

And our wish for all is for family to be near

Merry Christmas to all……………

I had to make one more attempt…………….

I think winter has finally arrived in the Black Hills. A week ago we were still having 55 to 75 degree days and we now have 15 inches of snow on the ground from a storm on Sunday and Monday and as I write this it is snowing again. Daytime highs have dropped to the 20s and nights are in the single digits. Of course, since it’s a dry cold it’s OK. Monday while it was snowing we had winds to 40 mph which not only made it feel cold, but it made it really hard to see. Our snow tends to be very dry and fluffy so wind can really move it around. I should add that school was not cancelled.

Whiskey loves the snow and seems quite happy that is has returned. I can’t say the same for the cats. Raji is the most distressed. He will holler to be let out and then stick his head out, holler at the snow and run back in. Waconda likes it better and chases snow flakes, although once catching them she seems really surprised that they have disappeared once she opens her paws to look at her prize. She is not overly fond of the wind and cold.

Aunt Marge is doing well and seems to be improving since arriving here; however some of this may be due to the fact that she is now taking her medication as scheduled and is eating three meals a day. She has decided she likes it here and at this time and seems willing to call SD home.

Leigh was here for a 4-day visit before Thanksgiving. Fortunately, she being a “tropical girl,” it was warm and sunny during her trip. We took a day trip to the Badlands with the obligatory visit to Wall Drug, the South of the Border to the western states. While Leigh was here Aunt Marge took us all including our friend Megan out to dinner at the Deadwood Social Club. And yes as its name implies in Deadwood’s wilder days it was a “Social Club.” They have great food and the most incredible cheesecake I have ever had. It is made by them daily and there are around seven to choose from including one that is sugar free. My favorite is the Mocha Chocolate Chip. Leigh also helped me with some outside Christmas decorating while she was here and we had a really good visit with her.

We have put up our outside decorations. Yes it is early, but when you live here you take advantage of warm weather and calm winds to put them up. Not a job to be left to the -20 wind chill days. Many of our neighbors have theirs up also and it is starting to look like Christmas on our block. Each evening as I look across town I can see more and more houses lighting up.  We have also put up our tree and the many ornaments we have collected over the years remind us of all the trips we have made and of our kids.

We have made a lot of friends at church and they are quite a varied group, saloon owners, executives, retired folks and every thing in between. A while back as we were talking with a group of them the subject of how lucky I was to have Kathy came up and of course they all agreed that I was. The surprising part, at least to me, was no one mentioned how lucky she was to have this wonderful builder of shelves, layer of flooring, installer of molding, painter, gardener, part time cook and bottle washer, car cleaner, dog and cat walker, motor home driver and an endless list of other tittles. Oh well, some people say good deeds should be done quietly so I will remain my humble, quiet and non-suffering self.

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, stuffing and all the stuff that goes along with the traditional meal. We had our neighbors, Bev and Dennis, join us for dinner. They are good neighbors who don’t cook so it was eat here or continue on a diet of Mac and Cheese. After dinner while we were sitting here chatting an 8 point buck strolled right down the middle of the street like a gunfighter looking for a challenge.

Our friend Shirlene who directs many local theater and musical productions is doing a “Christmas Cantata” this year and has talked Kathy into be part of the cast. The show will have three performances in Deadwood and will be in two weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing it although Kathy may be worrying about my video camera.

We are looking forward to our trip east over Christmas to spend time with the kids. We will be in Baltimore for four days with Neil and Lori and than will spend four days in DC with Torey and Leigh. Kathy’s sister Nancy from California will be giving up Christmas with the grand children to come and stay with aunt Marge while we are gone. She will arrive the day before we leave and will be leaving the same day we get home.

We wish for all of you and your families a wonderful Christmas and a year filled with peace, joy, love and companionship.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

January 1, 2006

Letter 6 – Third Year

Happy New Year to all and Happy Birthday to me…………..

December was another month of all season weather. It was as low as -14 and as high as the mid 60s. Through all of this we have had periods of sun, snow, clouds and rain. Today it is raining, but that is supposed to change to snow for tonight and tomorrow morning. No big deal snow, up to 4 inches is expected. (It has been a week since I started this letter and it was 60+ yesterday and snowing again today)

We had a wonderful eight-day visit to the country some of you refer to as the East Coast. We spent four days in Baltimore with Neil and Lori and four days in DC with Torey and Leigh. We had a great time, met lots of neat people and ate like royalty. The royalty part, at least speaking for myself and my queen, is justified. Spending time with the kids and seeing how well they are doing is always enjoyable.

Although we really enjoyed our visit it was great to return home, even to the cold and snow. Being in Baltimore and DC provided some reminders of the things we don’t miss by living in SD; sirens, police helicopters, traffic, masses of people and poor air quality. Having said that, we must admit that is was nice to be able to walk from Neil and Lori’s to Fells Point for shopping and at Torey and Leigh’s to have two grocery stores, Giant and Whole Foods, within a four-minute walk along with restaurants, dry cleaners and all the other shops and stores that come in handy in life. As they say, there is no place like home and for us that is SD. It is nice to be back to our land of blue skies, spectacular sunrises, beautiful sunsets and open space.

I did get a chance to stop my old work place, Baltimore Behavioral Health, and see some of the people I used to work with. Of course being the Friday before Christmas, there were a lot of people I would have liked to see who were not there. Several of these folks would not even cancel a family ski trip to Tahoe to stick around because I was coming; go figure. The changes in the facility were amazing. Growth has continued; they have purchased the building we were in along with the one next to it and the space has about doubled. The number of patients they serve and the size of the staff has also grown. It was a good visit.

Traveling, of course, is not without its dark side. Our trip east went well, but then of course there was the return west. On the first leg of the flight, from Baltimore to Minneapolis, sitting directly behind me was a young elf-sized creature who cried, screamed, whimpered, complained, squirmed and kicked for the first 90 minutes of the flight. Of course, the kicking was against the back of my seat. I have to say that his mother tried, tried really hard, to settle him down without resorting to things that might be deemed illegal or inappropriate; like duct tape, alcohol, pillows over face, exiting the airplane in flight or an auction. She did have books, coloring books and crayons for his amusement, but apparently he was in no mood to be amused. There were also two children in the row in front of us, but they had the advantage of great airplane toys. The coolest was the laptop with plenty of games and a great 17 inch screen. When we landed several people told their parents that they would travel with them anytime. The moms comment was that it took years of training the kids to travel. No one mentioned to the mother behind us that they would be glad to travel with her anytime. I guess when it comes to travel with kids the cost and size of the toys does matter.

We were late leaving Minneapolis; partly due to leaving Baltimore late and partly due to needing to be de-iced before we left. The de-icing part we did not complain about and we were only 35 minutes late arriving in Rapid City. This is not bad for “North Worst” when you consider Kathy’s last two trips have both been a day late on the return flight. If they keep up this level of service, we may have to stop referring to them as “North Worst” and just call them “North Normal.”

Kathy’s sister Nancy flew from California to stay with Aunt Marge while we were gone. They seemed to enjoy themselves and even got out and about some. Our herd of animals apparently likes having someone in the house instead of just dropping by to feed them. The day before Nancy left it started to snow. They had about 8 inches which is no big deal unless you consider Nancy is from the coast of northern California were snow is not exactly a common occurrence. Her trip to the airport (she had to leave the house at 3:30am) was a little scary with the dark, blowing snow and unfamiliar roads. Her real surprise was arriving home to a state under water and having all the roads to here town closed shortly after arriving home. Nancy….all we can say is thanks and come back again.

Raji, while we were gone, decided to have a slight altercation with the bully cat of the neighborhood. Of course, Raji lost and received a rather nasty bite on his left rear quarter panel. When we arrived home it did not look to bad, but several days later it was obvious that is was becoming infected. We decided a trip to the vet was in order. This is a big decision for us because Raji, although he travels well, does not like being stuffed in his travel box. After multiple attempts and numerous wounds to both Kathy and me, we resorted to dropping him into a pillow case and then into the box. Once in the vet’s office he behaved fairly well, at least for the exam. It was decided he needed a drain put in the wound and for this, the consensus was that he should be asleep. Once the procedure was done and they decided he was awake enough to go home the staff put him in the box, or at least tried to. First one of the young techs went to get him, then she returned to the desk for an assistant and then returned for band aids. After a period of time and some cat squalling she returned to the desk with the cat in the box.  We took the box and headed home where much to our surprise and that of the cat in the box it was not our cat. I immediately called the vet clinic and they were very apologetic for their error and asked if we were going to bring the cat back. My reply was “I’m not keeping him.” So off we went for another hour round trip to get the right cat. Now you might be tempted to ask why we did not look in the box before leaving the vet. If you open the box he is out and gone and the fight is on again and through the air holes in the box we could see gray and white so we assumed it was Raji.

The snow this winter has been good for the local ski areas and for the snowmobile business. Both of these industries really struggled last winter which also means that the hotel, restaurant and all local businesses that depend on tourist also had a bad year. We have already had more snow this winter than we had all of last winter. Local business people are excited and hoping that the snow continues to come. We have two ski areas with in four miles of town, ski rental shops and snowmobile rentals. Our ski areas are not as big as those in other states, only an 1100 foot vertical drop, but for the flatlanders who live east of us and in surrounding states it is the closest to them so they come and come and come. We also are surrounded by about 300 miles of really good snowmobile trails and also some areas for off trail riding.

We are not sure about future travel plans, but I’m sure there are more trips east in our future and hopefully the east will also come west. We are working on planning some summer travel and looking forward to a visit in July from my brother and his wife. We are also hoping that Kathy’s sister Mary and husband Mike will make it here this summer for some great fly fishing.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

February 12, 2006

Letter 7 – Third Year

We have finally had some real winter weather, at least in terms of snow. It started last Wednesday with a quick 4 inch snowfall that started about 5:30am and was over by 8:30am. This was followed by more snow on Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday. School was cancelled on Friday due to blowing snow which made visibility drop to zero at times. This is what happens when you have powder snow and 35+ mile an hour winds gusts. When it was all over we had about two feet of snow on the ground. Of course, we did not have the benefit of one week of media frenzy leading up to the snow. This frenzy seems to be reserved for our East Coast brethren. Now before you all start thinking that the reason for this is that we get snow all the time, let me remind you that last year’s snow totals here were about three feet. I also know some will say we are better equipped for it, but in our town snow removal equipment consist of one pickup truck with plow, one large front-end loader, one bobcat, two road graders and two salt/sand trucks. The salt/sand trucks are also used for carting the snow away. Many of the streets in town are narrow and there is no place to plow the snow to, so it has to be loaded up and trucked out of town. The state plows the major highways, but they do not plow between the hours of 9:30pm and 4:30am. If you choose to drive during that time period you are on your own. Our latest forecast calls for snow starting Monday night through Friday.

This weekend we had scientists in town to look at the closed Homestake mine as a suitable deep underground laboratory to explore such things as neutrinos. These scientists gathered from all over the country and from all reports the conference went well. They had a delightful view of our winters and seemed to enjoy their stay. Our economy would benefit from the creation of a scientific lab at the closed mine.

Things here have not changed much since our last letter. We are still figuring out the things we need to do to make the house comfortable and safe for Aunt Marge. We are doing well with that and life here in paradise is going good for us, at least for now.

I am planning in trip east in the middle of March to go to Buffalo and have Aunt Marge’s furniture shipped to Lead. At least some of it is coming here. Kathy’s sisters from Texas and California are meeting me in Buffalo and they are making arrangements for some stuff going to their houses. We will also be getting Aunt Marge’s house ready to sell while we are there and hopefully pick a realtor and get it on the market. Aunt Marge is amazed that all of this can be done without her being there. We are hopeful that getting this over and behind her will reduce our stress levels somewhat  Once I’m done in Buffalo I will spend a few days in DC with girls before returning to SD. Hopefully “North Worst Airlines” can get me there and back without major issues or melt-downs and stress on my part.

As is common to many communities these days, our town has a limited budget and limited opportunities to increase revenue without increasing property taxes. This leads to some real challenges for city government. The latest challenge here is the continued funding of the YMCA, at least at its current level. The Y is predicting a budget shortfall of approximately $60,000.00 and the city is unsure if it can make up the difference. The city would need to put in $30,000.00 more than they budgeted for the Y for 2006 to allow it to stay open. I, along with several others, have been appointed by the mayor to serve on a committee to look at the Y and recommend to the city commission what should done and how it can be done. Our choices are limited and include funding the deficit, turning it into a city-owned recreation center, closing the doors or some combination of these options. This has been a big topic in our little town. There are two camps; those who believe the city has an obligation to provide recreational opportunities for its citizens and those who feel that since the money spent on the Y does not benefit all citizens equally that the city should not fund it. Of course when I suggest to members of the equal treatment crowd that snow removal money should be divided equally for each residence and those who need more should pay more or that since about 60 percent of the police budget is spent on dealing with events caused by the use of alcohol that drinkers should be taxed extra to make up for that they think I’m from another planet. We are, by the way, recommending that the city fully fund the Y through 2006 while other ways of funding are explored. What happens next is up to our elected officials. Recent fundraising efforts have resulted in promises for about 1/3 of the projected deficit.

Our cats, who are usually easy to get along with, get a little testy when the weather does not allow them to go outside. They look out the door and growl at the snow and wind and then come back in. Five minutes later they are back at the door to try again and again and again. Guess they still need to understand that doing the same thing over and over is not likely to yield different results. The dog on the other hand seems to love the snow and will charge right out to run around in it. I did have to shovel out a bathroom area for her this time because of the depth of the snow along with the drifts. Not really sure who is the pet and who is the master.

I still have my part time job, but for the last several weeks I have been working four days per week and will probably do that for two more weeks. Betty, the owner’s wife, had some surgery and is not supposed to lift anything for a while. She has been in almost daily to do paper work, but is not up to working her normal schedule yet. Four days per week makes for about 36 hours and is a great reminder of why I like the retired life.

We have not done much on the house lately, although we still have some projects planned and will get to them some day. The next project for me will be replacing the baseboards in the ground floor bedroom and then hopefully we will move ahead with adding the second bathroom. This will be a long project and require some careful measuring to make sure that the fixtures we pick will go up the stairs and around the corner to the bathroom area. The upstairs has a very small landing at the top of the stairs with an immediate 90 degree turn through and undersized doorway. This may mean a small vanity and no tub. The shower will be no problem because we are looking at a three piece surround with two other pieces that form a base and a top.

The other project is the enlargement of the patio area and this means the snow needs to be gone and the ground needs to thaw out for digging. We are also exploring adding a retractable awning, much like the one on the motor home, to cover a 12 foot area of the patio. This should make it a lot more usable on hot sunny afternoons.

One other major project we would like to complete some day would be to redo the kitchen, new floor, counter tops and cabinets. When we weigh this against having a second bathroom the kitchen tends to look fine the way it is. It does work, meals get fixed and it has everything you need in a kitchen; stove, sink, refrigerator and room to work; so it could be left just the way it is for some time to come.

Wishing you a good month and, to our East Coast friends and family, a quick recovery from your snow storm.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

March 20, 2006

Letter 8 – Third Year

We continue to have all season weather here in the Hills. Yesterday morning it was 56 degrees and by afternoon it was 36 with freezing rain and snow. We got around 5 inches of snow overnight and we are back in the 50s today. Last week we had about 8 inches of snow here while parts of Rapid City got up to 23 inches. The snow in Rapid made a mess of travel, more on that later.

It is now April 1^st, yes it has taken a while to do this letter. We had another 4 inches of snow on Thursday, but Friday’s 60+ temps took it away pretty fast. However, there is a chance of more snow on Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

I flew to Buffalo, NY, on 3/10 to pack up Aunt Marge’s stuff and to have it shipped to Lead. My flight to Buffalo should have been  a warning of things to come. We had to circle for about 30 minutes before landing because of wind gusts to 65 mph on the ground. We did land and Kathy’s sister Mary and her husband Mike who had come in about 30 minutes before me on a flight from Texas met me and we shared a cab to the house. We went right to work sorting and boxing with only a break for dinner before bed. Kathy’s other sister Nancy arrived from California on Saturday morning. We continued to sort and pack all day Saturday and Sunday. Mike and Mary left on Monday morning to drive Marge’s car back to their home in Texas while Nancy and I continued the sorting and packing process. I picked up a rental car on Monday morning so we would have a way to get around and take several loads of stuff to the Salvation Army. On Tuesday the movers arrived to load the items coming to SD and Nancy and I took more stuff to the Salvation Army and also some boxes of hers to the UPS Store for shipping to California. The movers arrived right on time and did a great job of loading. We then finished cleaning the house: bathroom, kitchen, floors, windows, oven, behind refrigerator, under washer and dryer, garage and every other place we could reach or think of. We spent Tuesday night at a hotel and both departed on Wednesday, Nancy back home to CA and me to DC to spend a few days with Torey and Leigh.

I had a great visit with the girls. On Thursday night our friends, Kris and Vic, came down for dinner and along with Torey’s friend Cary we had a great night out to dinner. It was really good to be able to spend time with them and to catch up on people and events. Kris and Vic are friends that I ate lunch with 3 to 4 days a week for 2 years or so in Baltimore so we had a lot to catch up on. The girls and I also made a trip to Chinatown in DC to pick up several kilos of tea for Kathy. The girls took good care of me while in DC and I had a great time with them. Vic and Kris gave me a great book with the title of “Crunchy Cons” or “How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of counterculture conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party)”. Among the guiding principles are “the institution most essential to preserve is the family” and “small, local, old and particular are almost always better than big, global, new and abstract.” I really enjoyed the book and think many of you might also.

On Saturday I flew out of DC for Minneapolis and then a change of planes and on to Rapid City. At least that is what I had planned. We left Minneapolis and were halfway to Rapid when the crew announced that due to low cloud cover at Rapid we might not be able to land. We arrived over Rapid, or so they tell us, circled once and headed to Sioux Falls, SD for fuel and then back to Minneapolis. Our crew told us the ceiling at Rapid was below 300 feet and that is why we could not land. Some of us were skeptical of this report since crew members had been heard discussing the fact that they did not want to get stuck in Rapid and were almost out of daily flight-time hours. Upon arriving back in Minneapolis several of us discovered from family that had been waiting at the airport in Rapid for us that a United flight landed right after our one pass. Needless to say we did not have enough fuel on board to circle or to get back to Minneapolis without an unscheduled stop in Sioux Falls. And while on the subject of fuel, NWA gave free tickets and overnight accommodations to 26 people who volunteered to give up their seats on the flight from DC. This was not due to a serious problem with overbooking since we flew with all the middle row seats empty. All we could figure out is that they either did not want to pay the high price of fuel in DC or possibly they had no credit there. The 26 people with luggage would have saved around 8,000lbs in weight which would mean a substantial savings in fuel. They did not fuel this plane in DC, it came to the gate and unloaded and then we boarded and left. Once back at the airport, Northwest booked us on the Saturday 9:15pm flight. As time for this flight arrived and then passed the pilot announced they were canceling the flight due to poor weather. We were then booked for a Sunday morning flight and sent to find hotels on our own. Of course we were not allowed to pick up our luggage. On Sunday morning we again flew to Rapid only to be told that cross winds combined with poor braking due to ice were forcing us to return to Minneapolis once again. We then waited for the afternoon flight only to be eventually told that that flight and the evening flight were being canceled. At this time and with so many canceled flights, the earliest flight they could get me on was Wednesday morning. We were also told that we had to pick up our luggage. After waiting for close to an hour in the area we were told to wait, we discovered that this was not where our luggage would be. Upon moving to the correct area we discovered that they had one baggage clerk and one person to hunt for our bags and that we would have to individually give them our claim checks and then wait for them to find our bags. As the timed moved from 2pm to 4 pm and no bags had yet arrived many of the approximately 150 of us began to get restless and even reached a point that Northwest baggage personnel might have perceived us as hostile.

Of course, from our point of view any hostility was justified by the fact that the one baggage clerk would not answer our questions concerning where our bags were and when we might see them. She did comment several times that we had to understand that this was an airline operating in bankruptcy. This remark was answered by passengers stating that at this level of service it was no surprise. At this point we had been waiting close to three hours. Also our mood was not helped by the fact that the baggage supervisor on duty refused to come out of hiding in her office and that several employees from other areas who were passing through the luggage area would turn their backs and just walk away when approached by a passenger. Now, as many of you know, I am a reasonable and relatively well adjusted human being and the fact that I may not suffer well should not be overlooked. I left my carry on luggage in the care of a fellow refugee and went up one floor and after asking several security guards for directions and making several phone calls to “Northworst” discovered were their Operations Office was located and introduced myself to the manager on duty. After explaining my/our problem I was told that I could fill out a complaint form. It was at this point that I again explained that there were about 150 of us and that his office was right next to the ticketing/check-in lines for their 1^st Class and Elite passengers, but that of course we would be glad to line up there to fill out forms. He did not have to think about this long before he called the baggage supervisor to suggest that she have the luggage located, delivered and come out and talk with us. It was like magic, by the time I got back downstairs the supervisor was out of her office and luggage was starting to arrive. The short version of this tale is that it only took us between four and five hours to get our luggage back that most of us did not want to start with. After this is was back to a hotel for a 2^nd night at our expense.

After checking into the hotel I called NWA to see if they had any open seats for Monday and was told all flights were full. I knew that some of the people waiting with me had made other arrangements and some had cancelled their trips completely. I then decided to get up at 4am and call to see about flights and they had seats on their second flight to Rapid. Glad the 1^st flight was full because it was cancelled. We finally left for my third attempt to land at Rapid and actually arrived–of course my luggage did not arrive until Tuesday. Now I’m not mad at NWA about the delay. I fully understand that the weather is not under their control. I, along with many others, am upset about the total lack of customer service, concern and helpful manner of almost all employees that I/we had contact with. I think their business model should be used as an example in business schools across this country of how to lead a company into bankruptcy and not come out. Their employees should also be used as an example of how union attitudes of “I can’t be fired” when used  towards those paying their bills may have an adverse effect on their business.

Now on to happier events; I have discussed in the past the financial problems at our local Y and the fact that I was appointed to a committee to recommend options. Well I’m happy to say that the city has accepted our recommendations and has agreed to 18 more months of financial support so the Y can have a real chance at rebuilding itself. Part of the agreement included the city appointing four board members on a nine member board and I was asked by the mayor to join the board and have accepted. We will see where this leads and how much of my free time it will take up.

Kathy and I have decided that with my recent appointment to the Board of Directors of the YMCA and all the other organizations we are involved with that we have reached our limit if we are to have any free time left. We both work two days a week and Kathy is involved with the Lord’s Cupboard (food pantry), the Library Endowment Board and Neighborhood Housing and I’m a member of the Historic Preservation Commission and now the Y Board also. We are both active with Church and Meals on Wheels so our plate is full. We are not complaining, however, since all these groups give us a sense of belonging to and helping our community.

Marge’s furniture and other stuff arrived Tuesday morning, actually arrived by moving van before my luggage that was flying. It all arrived in good condition with nothing damaged or broken. We are now in the process of trying to blend it all in. We have made some progress, but still have a ways to go. Having some of her furniture and other stuff here seems to have had a very positive effect on Marge and it is nice to see her getting joy out of going through it. We are now using her dining room furniture and she has her own bedroom furniture now. We have moved our dining room table to the office room and had a glass top cut to cover it so we can use it for a desk. Since I have not made the desk yet I planned for that room, this works out perfectly. We still have some of Marge’ stuff and ours to repack and store in the basement, but we are getting a little closer to completing this task each day.

Our tulips, daffodils and lupine are all coming up so we now have our temporary fencing up to keep the deer away. We have not seen any deer in weeks, but we have seen tracks in the snow so we know they are still here. The lack of sightings and the obvious decrease in numbers may be due to a mountain lion which has been seen on several occasions less than a mile from the neighborhood by a friend of mine while out with his dog. He also has seen two buried deer carcasses in the snow. There have been several other sightings of a lion in town lately. Lions roaming around have a tendency to keep the deer away so it’s a question of which is easier to live with. There has also been a confirmed dead wolf found about 25 miles east of us. This is the first confirmed wolf in the Black Hills. They are doing DNA test to try and confirm where he might have come from. The best guess is from Wyoming or Minnesota, both of which have a sizable population of wolves. It would be nice to be able to sit outside at night and hear them howl.

We hope all of you are having a good year and that life is as good for you as it is for us.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

April 22, 2006

Letter 9 – Third Year

The weather has again been all seasons. We have had days close to 80 and nights in the 20s. Monday was 74 degrees and we woke up Tuesday to snow, snow and more snow. It stopped snowing on Thursday morning, by that time we had 65-74 inches of snow, and then started to warm up. By Saturday we were back in the 70s and the huge piles of snow had melted down by three or four feet. Today is rainy and we are expecting several more inches of snow over night.

Seventy-four inches of snow is pretty impressive to see. Our street really looked neat prior to the first plowing. Many of the cars parked on the street were just lumps in the snow and several parked next to houses just blended right in as the drifts up to the house eves just covered the cars and made them disappear. We have a neighbor down the street with a long uphill driveway. It took her two hours to shovel a path to the street so she could then spend several more hours digging out her car.

We had school on Tuesday, but it let out early and there was no school on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday saw school back on its normal schedule. The snow and wind, up to 60 miles per hour, caused many highway closures due to zero visibility and drifting snow. I 90 was closed from just west of Rapid City to the Wyoming border and also across eastern Wyoming to Montana. We also had many local roads closed and for a while only travel by four-wheel drive was allowed. The state and county road crews halted all plowing until the wind stopped. With the zero visibility they could not see to drive.

The City of Lead did a great job of handling the snow and by Tuesday evening our street and most of those in town had been plowed at least for a single lane of traffic. They continue to keep the streets open by plowing about 15 hours per day. The big problem for them was getting people to work since we have very narrow streets that fill in quickly with drifting snow. They used one of the front-end loaders to get to workers houses and take them to the street shop so they could get to their equipment. On some of the really narrow streets there is nowhere to push the snow so it has to be loaded onto trucks and carted to the snow dump. This dump is actually a cliff on the edge of town they can back up to and dump the snow over. They also use vacant lots to dump snow. Any place empty is fair game for snow dumping.

We did a lot of shoveling around our house. Our patio which is partially in a hillside had around eight feet of snow on it. Shoveling a path from the front to the back door was a lot of fun; I had to throw the snow up on top of the pile. We had to clear a path to let water run out and not pile up against the house as the snow melted. We also had snow up to the bottom edge of our kitchen and dining room windows. The warm temperatures on Friday and Saturday really helped with the job of shoveling. This allowed us to throw it in the street and let in melt away instead of having to throw it up hill or carry it across the street. The hardest job was clearing the snow behind the cars where our carport meets the side walk. Once the city plow had been by we had a pile of snow about four feet wide and five feet high to move. It took a while, but between Kathy and me the job was done.

Today we are hearing reports of rock slides and hill slides around the area. One really big slide was in the open cut, a big hole in the ground from open pit mining; the pit is 800 feet deep and about one-half mile wide by three quarters of a mile long, where it is of no danger to anyone or thing. We were able to see the slide area by walking to the end of our street since it dead ends at the top of the cut. We are glad it was across the cut and not on our side, however.

Our daffodils were in full bloom when the snow hit so they are now flat and broken. At least we got to enjoy them for a week before they were buried. The tulips seem to have survived, at least most of them, and we should be enjoying their flowers in a another week or so. We are hoping that the lilac bushes are OK. The buds had not formed so we think, barring a cold snap, they have a chance. They have not really bloomed since we moved here because of late season hard freezes. I did get some wild flower seeds planted the weekend before the snow and we are hoping they will do well. I will need to crank up the lawn mower this week or next. It’s sort of funny to go from six feet of snow to cutting the grass.

My patio enlargement project is done with the exception of mounting the awning. We have added a section about 9 feet long by 7 feet wide which has really opened up the area and now gives us a place to put the grill so that it will not be under the awning. We are really looking forward to spending a lot of time on our new and improved patio. The additional paved area also give us room to add another built in planter box as part of the retaining wall and Kathy is looking forward to planting it.

As we move forward with some gardening, the rhubarb we planted last fall is beginning to grow. We can’t tell if the transplanted raspberry bushes we planted survived the winter or not. We are going to try tomatoes again, this time we’ll put wire cages around the pots to try and keep the deer away. Maybe between the cages, deer repellant and Irish Spring soap we will have a few for the table.

Aunt Marge appears to be getting stronger and is contemplating moving to an assisted living facility for the summer. This would allow us to have vacation and travel time with out having to find someone to stay with her. We have offered to do this, but she is somewhat against having strangers in the house to help her out. We will be taking her to see some of these places this week and will see how she likes them and if there are any openings.

We are looking forward to summer and visits from friends and family. Neil and Lori will be here for Memorial Day, our friends Paul and Trish will be here for a week at the end of June and my brother and his wife will be here for the 4^th of July week. Also our friend Megan’s parents will be here for her college graduation mid May and then back for her wedding in June. At the end of the summer Megan will be heading for UCLA to start a doctorate program. She has a full scholarship to attend.

We are planning a weekend away for Mothers Day. It is a traditional time for us to take a weekend camping trip and it is fun to continue each year. We will not be traveling far from home, but look forward to de-winterizing the motor home and getting it out for the season’s test run.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

June 12, 2006

Letter 10 – Third Year

We have had several weeks of really nice weather, warm days and cool nights. When I last wrote I told you of our 74 inch snowfall and that we were expecting more snow. Officially the 74 inches turned out to be 77 and then we got another three inches and then several days later we got another foot. On top of all of this a week later we added another foot to our total. We have had several inches of rain since then, but as of today no more snow.

Kathy and I have lived in SD for three years as of May 29, 2006 and have grown to love this area and our life here more and more each day. The only down side to living here is the distance between the kids and our many good friends in Maryland. Technology, free nights and weekends on the cell phones and high speed internet, has made living this far from family and friends easier to deal with. The up side, besides being able to afford to retire here, is the beauty of the area. Currently the ranch meadows and fields have an emerald green look to them because of the abundant moisture we have had this spring. This bright green is set against a background of darker green from the ponderosa pines on the hillsides. The pines are also laced with a bright yellow green on the slopes that have aspen and birch on them. If you’re up and out at sunrise or sunset there are plenty of deer to see and it the right areas there are also elk to watch. This is the time of year when it begins to get light around 4:45am and stays that way until around 9:00pm. There have been some incredible sunrises and sunsets along with several very fantastic lightning shows. And of course, I have to mention that you can actually see an absolute sea of stars after dark. This is truly a wonderful, magic and marvelous place to call home.

After being here for three years and having written about 75 letters describing our life here I have decided to once again cut back the number of letters. As we begin our fourth year here I will be sending letters on a random basis. The frequency will depend on what’s going on here and with us. We have really enjoyed sharing our journey with all of you and also love to hear from ya’ll (my NC life is coming through) so stay in touch and if you’re coming this way be sure and let us know.

Aunt Marge has moved to Sandstone Manor, an assisted living facility in Spearfish. She has a two room suite with bath and seems to like it there and is adjusting to the change very well. It is only about 20 minutes from our house so visiting with her and taking her out for lunch/dinner or to appointments is easy on us. She says she may want to move back with us for the winter, but we think she will probably elect to stay where she is. Only time will tell. Meanwhile, we are still living in the upstairs bedroom and her first floor room is vacant for now. We will probably remain upstairs since we are planning on adding the bath and having a really nice master suite by the end of the summer. We are working on the floor plans and deciding which doors and walls can/have to moved or added.

Kathy and I just returned from spending several days at the Sand Lake Wildlife Refuge in the northeastern part of SD. It was a seven hour drive from the house and we elected to take the car and stay in a motel as opposed to the motor home and a campground. The savings in gas more than paid for our motel which was all of $35.00 per night. It was not a very fancy place, but had queen size bed, cable TV and was quiet and very clean. We spent an afternoon at the refuge and also returned there for a sunset picnic supper and a sunrise breakfast. Although the great flocks of migratory birds were long gone we did see a lot of wildlife. We saw ducks of all kinds, geese, pelicans, song birds of numerous varieties, herons and egrets, hawks, a bald eagle, pheasants, big turtles, muskrats, deer and lots of big ugly carp. We are planning on returning in late October or early November as the migratory birds head north. The refuge gets as many as 300,000 geese per day during that period.

Before setting off on our trip we spent a week or so planting spring flowers and working on the yard. The daffodils and tulips are over with, but the irises, lupine, pansies, geraniums, marigolds, alliums, and others are blooming and add some nice color to the yard. We also have a bumper crop of dandelions, but we also have a supply of weed and feed to apply this week and we are hoping it will help. If that doesn’t work my next step may have to be to see if I can have dandelions declared a wildflower and then everyone can relax and learn to live with them. I have often wondered what makes a weed a weed and a wild flower a flower.

I have built a fortress to plant tomatoes in. It is a three by six foot raised bed with 8 foot corner post and wire that currently goes up four feet. As the plants get taller we will extend the wire to the top to prevent the deer from reaching over. Along with tomatoes we have rhubarb and raspberry bushes that a friend gave us last year. We just discovered that rhubarb should not be harvested until the fourth year after it is transplanted. Oh well, 2009 will get here and we will have rhubarb to eat. We also have a small herb garden

with rosemary, parsley and thyme so far and Kathy has plans for more herbs once the real growing season is here. Another week or so and we should be good to go.

We have finished our awning project and are finally getting to enjoy it. The first week it was up was the week of the giant snow. The awning provides us with a lot of shade and keeps the full afternoon sun off of the kitchen window. This lowers our kitchen temperature by about ten degrees and in a house without air conditioning that really helps out. The expanded patio with awning is now a great place to have meals or just to sit and watch the air go by.

I have replaced my faithful 1995 Taurus wagon. It had reached 200,000 miles and needed front seals and torque converter replaced at a cost of around $450.00. My replacement is a 1995 Taurus four door with about 50,000 less miles and the cost was less than the repairs on the wagon. Dave, the guy I work for, towed it for the state as a result of a drug bust and since the state had no use for it they gave him title to it to cover the towing fee. I have driven it about 400 miles so far and it seems to run fine and it is certainly cheap to insure. The wagon will soon be headed to the junk yard for parts. I need to switch out the radios and finish getting my stuff out and then I’ll drive it off and get paid for it. Not a lot, but something is better than nothing.

Neil and Lori were here for the Memorial Day holiday and we really enjoyed spending time with them. We managed to get some walking and swimming in with them. They used our bikes for a 22 mile bike ride from Lead to Rochford and we met them there with the car and had a hamburger lunch at the world famous Moonshine Gulch Saloon. Rochford only has the Saloon, an art/antique shop and about five houses. During the Sturgis Rally people wait and hour or so for a hamburger at the saloon. We also had some mighty fine meals while they were here and on Memorial Day we were joined by Megan and her fiancé for a really fantastic lamb shish-ka-bob dinner.

Speaking of Megan, her wedding is Saturday, June 10 and we are really looking forward to the event. They will be leaving the area in August for LA as she begins work on her doctorate and we will really miss having her around. Megan has been a regular visitor at our house and we have also enjoyed getting to know her fiancé who we sometimes refer to as “Mountain Man” because of his love of the outdoors, camping, backpacking and all things outside. Since this is now June 12^th, we can report that the wedding took place and we had a great time meeting many, varied and fun family members. They are from SD, NY, NJ, NC, VA and NV. The wedding was outside and the thunderstorms in the area at the time of the wedding passed to either side of the location. As the ceremony ended we were blessed with blue sky and sunshine.

This week was Paint the Town Week and again two houses in Lead were painted as part of the program. Kathy and I were both on teams that helped with this project. Lots of labor for a “free” Tee-Shirt, but a worthwhile program and one we enjoy helping with.

Almost forgot, as I have said before there have been occasional sightings of mountain lions in town and we can now add bobcats to the list of critters that wander through town.

Ross and Kathy

July 4, 2004

Letter 1 – Second Year

HAPPY 4^th OF JULY TO ALL OF YOU

As you know, we have survived our first year in South Dakota and our adventure continues as we move into our second year. We have adjusted to small, very small, town living and all that goes with that lifestyle. I have to say that we do not miss the things offered by living in a large urban area. Our nearest mall is about 45 miles away, the closest movie theater 17 miles away and shopping can sometimes be a challenge. The upside of this is that we have discovered that there is not a lot really need to rush out and buy. Although to some of you the lack of shopping may seem like a real hassle, but how many of you can walk to a beaver pond with in 20 minutes of your house, have deer to watch in your back yard, can allow kids as young as five to go to the neighborhood park alone, have clear blue skies almost every day, know your neighbors and on and on. Kathy and I had talked for years about living among the mountains, streams and nature and now that we do we don’t even think about going back. We have found our dream and can now live in it.

We have finally gotten some rain. We only had an inch in June. The problem with the rain we got the other day was that all two inches of it came in about 30 minutes and people were worried about mud slides in the area the fire burned in 2002, but there were no major problems other than lots of water running down our steep streets and flowing over the sidewalks. We have had several periods of gentle rain since than and have had around two and a half inches for July. We have had a few days in the 70s and one in the mid 80s, but as I write this it is about 55 degrees and will be in the 40s overnight. Just a typical summer, if you can call it that, in the Black Hills.

A friend of ours that Kathy used to work with in DC has a place in Hill City, about 40 miles south of us, and invited us to join him for last night’s fireworks show at Mount Rushmore. He had a parking pass and VIP seating so of course we said yes. We met him and a friend in Hill City and then rode with them to Mount Rushmore. We arrived several hours before the fireworks and enjoyed a picnic dinner and musical entertainment by Abby Road, a Beetles Tribute Band, and the U.S. Air Force Heartland Band. There were also a fair number of patriotic speeches by various people. There were two flyovers by F16s from the SDNG and two by a B1B from Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City. The last B1B flyover came from behind and flew directly over the faces of Rushmore and as they crossed over they lit the afterburners, what a picture as they moved away on twin trails of fire. The fireworks show was the best I’ve ever seen and the back drop of the faces on Mount Rushmore certainly enhanced the show. It was a 28-minute show and many of the shots were multiples, as many as ten or so at once. The only drawback was a small fire that was started in some scrub trees under Lincoln. The trees grew above the rock pile after the monument was built and there was no danger of the fire spreading.

As I mentioned we had a parking pass for a lot very close to the monument and without that I’m not sure I would go. People were parked on the side of the entrance road as far as six miles from the monument and as we were driving out and saw all these people walking I could only imagine the whining from the many young children and from adults, too, I suppose. Many people arrived early in the morning to get close-in parking and a good view seat.

Today Lead had it’s 4^th of July parade and there will be fireworks over the open cut tonight. I walked downtown to see the parade and it was a good typical small town event, lots of fire equipment, old cars, a fife and drum marching band from Wyoming and plenty of politicians that are running for office. To see the fireworks tonight we only have to walk to the end of our street, about a three block distance. We did that last year and since our street dead ends over the cut we have a great view of the show. Of course all this depends on the light rain we are experiencing moving out of the area. The forecast

Calls for it to be over and if it’s not there is always tomorrow night.

I have found a part-time job. I’m working for one of our neighbors who owns the local BP/convenience/liquor store. I will be working about 20 hours a week. This is really a change for me; I haven’t worked since we moved here. I’m not in charge of anyone, no work to take home and no challenge, I really like it and get to meet and talk with lots of interesting people.

We are planning a trip to Grand Teton National Park, one of our favorites, in late July. While we are there Neil and two friends will be doing some climbing so our paths will cross for a few days. We are looking forward to our second trip as “Motor Home People” although there was a real temptation to take the car and tent and be “Tent People” again. Of course, then sanity returned and we decided not to sink that low on the social scale.

A finale note on tonight‘s fireworks – due to low cloud cover the only thing we could see was a colored glow in the clouds. The shots were going off in the clouds so we could not see the sparkly part, but the echoes across the gulch were as impressive as ever.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

July 18, 2004

Letter 2 – Second Year

Summer has finally arrived in the Hills. We have had a week of daytime temps in the mid 80s to high 90s and today it made it to 100. The good part of living here is that as soon as the sun drops below the ridge the temps fall to mid 60s or even into the 50s so sleeping in a house without air conditioning is not a problem. With the arrival of summer has come a lack of rain. The forest moisture is at about 17% which means the danger of fire is very high. To have a low fire danger I’m told that the moisture level needs to be around 30%.

We have resumed walking to the beaver pond in the evenings. When we went last week, our first trip since the snow has melted, we were not sure that Mr. Beaver had not packed up and moved on, but just as we decided he was either hiding or gone he popped out and took a swim around the pond. We were glad to see him and know that he will provide us with many enjoyable evenings again this year. The walk to the pond is nice, as in almost level, and where there are open areas along the trail wild flowers grow in abundance. In other areas the trees come right up against the trail and provide their own beauty. The pond it self is in an open area surrounded by low growing willow bushes and wild flowers. It really is a wonderful place to just sit and watch. I will admit that after seeing the large cat tracks, mountain lion type, this winter I’m more aware of my surroundings and try not to walk ahead of Kathy. That part is hard because of the difference in our strides. All people should be six feet tall and then they would all walk alike.

The deer have come back to the backyard and Friday night we spent some time with our neighbors watching four good size bucks munch their way through the yard on their nightly amble or progressive dinner. They are fun to watch and the fence between our yard and the park next to the house is no barrier to their travels. They appear to almost float in the air as they jump the fence. Whiskey and the cats are not as impressed by their visits as Kathy and I and tend to seek the shelter of our patio or head inside the house while the visitors are here. As long as the deer stay in the back and away from Kathy’s flowers they will have a good summer.

A week ago Saturday Lead finished the fireworks show that was stopped early on July 4^th due to low cloud cover. It was a perfect night for fireworks with temps at 10 pm down to around 55. If you’re wondering why they have fireworks so late here it is because it does not get dark enough until then to shoot them. It was a great show with spectacular displays against a blue-black sky highlighted by the many bright stars we can see from here. We only have to walk about two blocks or so to the end of our street to have one of the best views in town for this event.

Friday night we went to Spearfish, a 17-mile drive, for “Art in the Park.” There were about 150 art/crafts booths along with music and food vendors. The event runs all weekend and when we went last year we made the mistake of going on Saturday during the day. It was one of those days when it topped 100 degrees and although there was a lot of neat stuff to see, we cannot say it was fun. Going in the evening was a great idea although there was an admission charge that we would not have had to pay if we had gone during the day. The admission charge benefits the local food pantry so it was a worthy cause. We saw some wonderful arts and crafts and also shared a variety of food, Indian tacos and Greek gyros. We did buy a pasta bowl from one of the pottery booths; it comes real close to matching the pottery that we use as everyday table settings. We also purchased some wonderful homemade soap. The soap is made by a native American who lives at Interior, SD. This is a town that is surrounded by the Badlands National Park. Some of the ingredients she uses, such as sage, are picked on the ranch she and her husband operate.

The kids are all well. Leigh is enjoying work and playing with her new laptop. Neil and Lori have settled into their new house and have even gotten a small vegetable garden planted. Torey is enjoying the beaches of North Carolina this week with her mother as they visit her aunt outside of Wilmington. She probably needs all the relaxation she can get since she is scheduled to attend the GOP convention in NY–she leans towards being a Democrat (sad, but true – oh where, oh where did I go wrong) but didn’t have a choice of conventions. Oh well, I’m sure there are many worse things in life. (Right Vic, Kris and Robert?)

Kathy and I are leaving Wednesday for a week of camping at Grand Teton National Park, our second motor home trip. We are excited about this because this has been one of our favorite parks since our first visit there in 1997. The mountains are beautiful and provide some incredible sunrises and sunsets. There is also a wide variety of wildlife to watch. This includes buffalo, elk, moose and coyotes.  We will get some hiking in and spend time on photography while we are there. The bonus to this trip is that Neil and two of his best friends will be there to climb the Grand and we will get to say hi and we hope we will even have the privilege of feeding them one night. The campground we will be staying at has no electric or water hook ups, but that should not be a problem. We can run the generator for the microwave and the all important coffee pot. All other appliances are gas so we will have stove, hot water, and refrigerator. I know, I used the word camping above, but we all have our own definitions of things. And sometimes definitions change. I might add that we do plan to use our tent again someday, after all we have stayed in tents for 18 years and, believe it or not, we sort of miss it. The “we” does not include Whiskey who is far happier in the MH.

There is an organization here called “Neighborhood Housing of the Northern Hills” and for the last few years they have had summer work crews spend a week here helping people fix their houses. It is mostly for people who cannot do the work physically or those who can’t afford it. This year there were 387 teenagers and their adult chaperones from church groups in NE, KS, CO, IA, MI and MN, at least these are the states people I met at work were from. We sold lots of ice, water, Gatorade and, of course, early a.m. coffee. The neat thing about these kids is that they each raised $562.00 to cover their food, transportation cost and materials that were not donated by local firms. They slept at the high school, but had to be fed in the conference rooms at the Golden Hills Inn because the kitchen facilities at the high school are being renovated. The kids did painting, decks, stairs and other projects in Lead, Deadwood and Central City and seemed to be having a great time. Each group had a half day off and it seems as if most of them were going to Mount Rushmore. The one group I got to know fairly well had 42 kids and 8 adults from Michigan. The adults all seemed to have woodworking skills and were along to teach the kids, not do the work for them. The groups were broken up once they got here into work groups and most groups had no more than one or two kids from the same home group so they had a nice opportunity to meet kids from other areas. What a neat project for kids. The sense of giving and helping people in need was very high among the kids I got to chat with. Several also expressed thanks for having this great sharing adventure.

I still have my part-time job and am enjoying it, but only working 18 to 20 hours a week makes it hard not to enjoy. I will, however, during the Sturgis Rally work about 40 hours because that is their busiest week of the year and generally requires at least two people most of the time. The Rally organizers are predicating another big year with about 700,000 people or so added to the state for that week. After that experience I may need a VACATION.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

August 1, 2004

Letter 3 – Second Year

The weather for the last two weeks has been really wonderful here, at least until yesterday. We have had daytime temps in the 60s and 70s with nights going into the 40s. However, we are now looking at a forecast that calls for daytime temps of a 100 or higher and nighttime in the 60s. Oh well, guess this is the price we have to pay for living in paradise. Now that August has arrived, the question is when will the first snow fall.

We had a great trip to the Tetons. The motor home behaved well as did our motor home dog. Grand Teton National Park really is a magical place and is our favorite park, also the one we have made the most visits to over the years. One of its great aspects is its mountains. They are really “in your face” kind of mountains. As you enter the valley known as Jackson Hole from any one of the high passes that lead into the valley, the first thing you see as you cross the top of the pass is the Grand Tetons. They are steep and rugged and just stick straight up from the valley floor; there are no foot hills. They are green at the bottom with tree covered slopes up to the tree line and from there to the top they are massive blocks of granite with snow covered tops that reach over 13,000 feet, about 7,000 feet above the valley floor. The top of the Grand, the highest of the peaks, seems to have its own private cloud the frequently keeps you from seeing the summit.

Early morning is one of my favorite times there. As the sun begins to rise over the mountains on the east side of the valley, the light, a delicate pink, starts to light up the granite peaks and then almost like a shade being pulled down it slowly moves down the mountain and then floods the valley floor with light. The varying shades of green from the trees, sagebrush and grasses seem to glow with light and old weathered barns take on a golden glow. This entire show is accompanied on many occasions by the howl of coyotes, wolves and the grunting of buffalos as the herds begin their daily journey. Early morning is also a good time to spot elk, moose and deer as they move from their sleeping areas to their grazing areas. The colors this year were brighter than we have ever seen them. This was due to abundance of spring (and summer) moisture. The area was greener than we have ever seen it in our past trips and the wildflowers in the meadows and along the road were beginning to come out in full force. We wish we had gone a week later because they would have been in full bloom and growth by then.

We also had a chance to visit with Neil and two of his close friends, Erin and Mike, while we were there. They allowed us to cook dinner for them one night and on another night they came to our campsite to eat and did most of the dinner prep for us. They were there to climb the Grand. They began their ascent on Tuesday with a hike to the saddle which is around 11,000 feet where they spent the night prior to their ascent to the summit, 13,770 feet, on Wednesday and then all the way back down to the valley. They made it and did call us on Wednesday to let us, mainly Kathy, know all was well. The fact that Kathy knew they were down and safe certainly made my life easier—thanks guys.

The drive to the Tetons from here really takes one through a range of landscapes. You start out in the Black Hills and then, shortly after crossing the Wyoming border, the land flattens out and stays that way for several hundred miles. The land is covered with sagebrush and has a very dry look to it. You can easily tell when you are near rivers because the landscape begins to turn green with grasses and lines of trees growing along the water courses. During much of the trip we could see antelope in the grassy areas along the road. Wyoming has the largest herd of antelope in the U.S. On the way to the Tetons we took a southern route which has no major mountains to cross until you reach the Rocky Mountains, of which the Tetons are part of. You cross the mountains at Togwotee Pass which is at 9,658 feet and then begin the descent to Jackson Hole. As you begin this descent the splendor of the Tetons unfolds before you.  We stayed at the Gros Ventre campground. This is a national park CG and therefore there are no hook ups, but this was no problem for us. There were lots of motor homes on the CG and ours was among the smallest. Many of them were over 40 feet and very fancy. We made some new friends while there and we are sure we will camp with the neighbors we had there at some point in the future. On our return trip we chose a route that took us north into Yellowstone and then east across the Absaroka Range and through the Shoshone National Forest before returning to the high plains. We then crossed the Big Horn Mountains and made a long descent back to the plains as we traveled towards the Black Hills and home. While in the Big Horns we stopped at the Shell Creek visitor center which overlooks Shell Falls. It was a very neat place to stop and rest for a while.

We had a sad event while we were on our trip, our beloved 15 year-old Rachel, the “house queen,” died. Our cat sitter was here and called us. It was obvious to her that Rachel was dying and she took her outside where she was able to spend her final hours in the shade of one of her favorite bushes. We are thankful that she was not alone, did not suffer and had someone with her whom she liked. She has been buried among the wildflowers in the back yard and in an area where we will be planting aspen and birch trees this fall. We will miss her company and her dinner table antics.

This as been a week of celebration in the Black Hills. The event was the return of the 842^nd Engineer Company of the SD National Guard from their deployment to Iraq in support of the 1^st Armored Division. The 842^nd left SD 475 days prior to their return on Wednesday. They arrived by bus from Fort Carson, Colorado, and crossed the Wyoming border at 1:30 a.m. They were met at the state line by a crowd of family and friends complete with a lighted statue of liberty, flags and lots of cheering. On Thursday there were parades through Belle Fourche, Sturgis and Spearfish, the three towns they are based in. There were also several community picnics held for them and their loved ones in towns across the hills. All the towns in the hills were lined with flags and yellow ribbons to welcome them home. The parades included 150 cars, one for each member and their loved ones. Most of these cars where convertibles from local dealers and from classic car clubs. Miles of highway between these towns had yellow ribbons on all roadside reflector poles.  Many hay bales in the fields along the road carried “Thank You 842^nd” messages. Since their farewell parade on April 9^th, 2003 there have been fundraisers and events to provide support for the families and friends they left behind. The people of SD are thankful they are home and also appreciate the job they did to protect our freedoms. An anonymous donor provided each soldier with a red rose that had “U.S.A.” stenciled in gold on it. One of the picnics held in their honor was attended by 4,000 people from the local area.

The 64^th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally starts next Sunday and we already can notice an increase in motorcycle traffic. Officials are saying they expect around 700,000 people for the week of the rally, which will about double the population of the state. Motels and campgrounds are booked for several hundred miles around and many vendors and some riders are already in town. We are not planning on going to Sturgis this year. We went last year so it’s “been there – done that.” We will, however, see plenty of rally sights since Lead is only 17 miles from Sturgis.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

August 15, 2004

Letter 4 – Second Year

The weather for the past two weeks has been delightful, unless you were here for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. We have had cool days and nights, sort of like October in Maryland. Daytime temps have been in the low to mid 70s and nights have dropped as low as 35. Today is our first really warm day, it reached 84. The forecast for the next week is 70s to low 80s during the day and 40s to 50s at night.

The 64^th Sturgis Rally started on Sunday, August 8^th and officially ended yesterday. I say officially because a lot of people attending will be here for a few more days for various reasons. Some come the week before the official rally to beat the crowds and the high rents, while others come late for the same reason. Others are staying longer at the “County Hotel” while the indiscretions they committed are dealt with. This year’s rally seemed to be larger than last year’s and it was obvious that many more people came the week before than did last year. Official estimates, riders are hard to count and many don’t even go to Sturgis, range from 450,000 to 600,000 cycles and from 700,000 to 900,000 people. South Dakota only has a population of around 750,000 so this event really helps the economy. I worked pretty much full time the week before and the week of the rally, poor me. Several times we probably had 100 to 150 motorcycles on the lot at the same time. Of course they only hold 5 to 7 gallons each, but when you have 1,500 a day filling up and buying other stuff it all adds up. I got to meet a lot of people from most of the United States and have to say that they were all very polite and fun to chat with. Many of them are corporate types who try to hide that fact once a year under leather jackets, chaps and bandanas and just become bike riders. One of the funniest encounters was the young, I thought, lady that I carded for a cigarette sale and then discovered she was 35 and has seven children…she really did look to be about 18…lucky her.

One group that came in on several occasions said that they came the week before because they really came to ride and not party and also it is less crowded with cheaper rents. They paid $1,300 a week for their cabin and the week of the rally it went for $3,500. Hotels in a 150 mile radius of Sturgis really jack their rates for the rally; many go from $45 to $160 or more per night.

Many local businesses do about 30% of their yearly sales during the rally period and of course have to add extra help to keep up. The other places hiring extra help are the police departments and emergency rooms. Deadwood goes from a force of about 12 officers to around 30. The city of Sturgis, which owns the rights to the rally, takes in about $1,200,000 from royalties, vender fees and product licensing.  The number of riders who are inexperienced, not used to our curves and hills where a 30 mile an hour curve sign means 30 miles an hour, and those not used to deer (and the occasional mountain lion) on the roads lead to quite a few accidents and fatalities. As of today there have been about 130 motorcycle accidents and 9 fatalities in the area around Sturgis, Deadwood and Lead. In one case where a Life Flight was needed it was not available because the two choppers in the area were already busy transporting patients from other accidents. The other problem with accidents here is that many of our roads including the interstate go through some very unpopulated areas and it may take 20 to 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive and many people reporting the accidents are not familiar with the area and in some cases it takes a while to figure out where they are. Also, we have large areas of very sketchy cell service due to high ridges and deep canyons. All of these can contribute to a long wait for medical help.

Kathy and I treated ourselves to a really great dinner at the Bay Leaf Café in Spearfish last night. This was the first time we have been there since the week we moved here. Kathy had herb-encrusted Walleye and I had a great pasta dish. While in Spearfish we went to Safeway, first time I have been to a serious grocery store in a while, and I discovered shopping has changed. Regular, fatty, good tasting food is hard to fine. It seems to be hidden by the low fat, no fat, low carb, no carb, light, extra light and low or no sugar stuff. Even low carb hotdog buns–you’d really need to be eating a lot of buns for that to help. Next thing you know they will take the garlic out of garlic and the olives out of olive oil, two of my favorite foods. The last thing I want is a nice ribeye with all the fat trimmed off. When I was growing up we ate regular food and seemed to be healthier than many people eating what they call food today so if something in food is bad for you and you continue to eat it, sue yourself not the server.

Kathy and I are going to spend a few days at Pactola Lake, only about 30 miles away, but a nice break after working fulltime for two weeks; I know, but remember I did not work at all for the first year we were here so it’s almost like new to me. I admit I have tried to milk my working status with Kathy, but you all will be happy to know that it is not working. Our plan for our time at the lake is to do some hiking and spend the rest of the time sitting and reading.

We are planning a September trip to the Badlands. Our friend Margie from Annapolis is coming the second week in September for a two week visit and we plan to go while she is here. She will be our first non-family visitor and we are looking forward to having her here.

Torey, Leigh, Neil and Lori are all doing well and staying busy with work, school and house stuff. Leigh has been accepted into a graduate program, but has not decided if or when she will go.

Congratulations to our friends Robert and Leslie who will be getting married this Friday in Maryland.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

August 29, 2004

Letter 5 – Second Year

We have had a great two weeks as far as the weather is concerned. Daytime temps have been mostly in the 70s and nights have been in the low 40s. We have had some rain, although we are still behind for the year. The days are getting noticeably shorter as we head towards winter. Sunrise today was at 6:15 and sunset was 7:35, a far change from summer’s sunrise at 5:00 and sunset at 8:45. Several of the old folks we know here are predicting a long, cold and snowy winter. Guess we will eventually find out if they are right.

Kathy and I took the MH to Pactola Lake for three days of camping and really enjoyed it. We had a great site with a view of the lake and no crowds. The loop we camped on had about 30 sites and only about five were occupied. The first full day we just sat and read books all day, a very relaxing way to spend time. On the next day we did get some hiking in. There is a nice trail along the lake that is made up of two loops and a one-way walk to an overlook with a bench and a great view. Whiskey enjoyed the walk until we got to the bench and then she was ready to head back. She was digging her feet in and pulling on the leash, tail between her legs and ears back. We are not sure what spooked her, but on the shore below the overlook there where tons of deer tracks and we think maybe she detected the smell of a mountain lion in the area. Maybe the bench had been marked because of the human smell that must be on it, but whatever it was really freaked her out. Actually, since she is not overly brave, that is not hard to do.

When we arrived home on Friday we had an automated message from Senator Tom Daschle’s staff inviting us to a free cookout next week to meet with him and take part in a discussion on the high price of health care and other issues. We also had a second message from a member of his DC staff with a personal invitation. This must have something to do with the fact that I have contacted his office on several occasions with questions and advice. We are planning on attending and I do have a few questions for him. Hopefully I will get a chance to ask them to a staff member since there will be a ton of people there. And before you ask, yes his office knows I’m a registered Republican.

This week was the annual “Kool Deadwood Nights” festival, a gathering of old car enthusiast and 60s Rock and Roll music. The area was filled with antique cars and trucks. A lot of these were 60 to 70s muscle cars and it was really neat to see them, brought back memories. Today they had a parade with close to 900 cars in it. The parade takes them through Deadwood, up to Lead and then back to Deadwood. This is followed by a show on Main Street in Deadwood which gives visitors a chance for a close up look at the parade. This event fills up a lot of motel rooms in the area and gets bigger every year. Last year there were only about 500 cars compared to around 900 this year. I talked to several people who had cars here and they were from Wyoming, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Several people told me this is the event they like the most because of the scenic rides and the long parade. They told me a lot of these shows just involve being parked in a fairground with no place to ride. It may never equal Sturgis, but it is growing every year.

We have had several large bunches of fresh vegetables given to us lately. Some from people at church and others from Betty and Dave, the people I work for. Betty’s mother has a large garden and brings her more vegetables than they can eat so instead of saying no she shares them with us. We are glad to have them and they grill nicely.

We have continued to do small projects around the house. We are painting the outside doors, sanding windows – to paint before the storms go back up – and added some trim to the front of the built in bookshelves. The bookshelf project maybe one of those never ending stories, but we are enjoying it. We have used the fireplace several evenings this month and Montana has reclaimed his spot in front of it.

Kathy and I have been looking for a nice comfortable chair for the living room and this has reminded us that we don’t have the shopping choices we had in Maryland, good way to save money. Also we have discovered that most of the chairs being made today are designed to hold one and a half to two people. What ever happened to normal-sized chairs? Some of the chairs we have seen would need a 1000 square foot living room to look proportioned. So far we have not found a normal size chair that we like that we won’t have to wait six to eight weeks for delivery. We are considering some re-arrangement of the living room to allow for one of the big chairs.

I continue to work at my little job. I do enjoy it and this week I worked a couple of extra days so Dave and Betty could go away for the weekend. I’m still in charge of nothing and no one and still enjoy working there and being able to chat with all kinds of people while getting paid for it

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

September 12, 2004

Letter 6 – Second Year

Summer has returned to the area with temps for the last few days in the high 90s. However, Monday’s high is forecast to be in the low 60s. The old folks, long term residents, are still saying we will have a winter similar to those of the 40s and 50s. That means, if it’s true, that we will have 10 to 14 feet of snow. I can always hope.

Our friend Marge from Annapolis arrived on Wednesday and will be spending two weeks with us. It is nice to have company from the old home state and to catch up on news from there. We have plans to show her around the area and the western part of the state.

We took the motor home out for a weekend trip to the Badlands and had a really good trip. Whiskey and I drove the MH, actually she is not much help with the driving, and Kathy and Marge brought the car so we would have a way to drive around. The Badlands are an incredible place. It is a landscape that seems to be out of a sci-fi movie. It is almost all one color with many steep slopes and cliffs. There are some horizontal bands of red coloring that run through the formations and stand out best in the early morning or early evening light. The light at mid-day gives the whole are a very flat appearance. The sand color of the formations is broken by the dark green of an occasional clump of trees and areas of dry grass. Water is almost non-existent as the area only gets about 16 inches of moisture a year and close to half of that comes in May and June. Rain turns the Badlands in to a slick, clingy and dangerous goo. There are posted warnings about the hazards of traveling on the unpaved roads and trails during wet weather. The roads become extremely slick and it is compared to driving on ice. We stayed at a KOA near the town of Interior. Interior has a store, post office, gas station and school. The school is in a small building that serves K through 12. The only industry in the area is ranching so there is a very sparse population. On our return trip we stopped in Wall and had breakfast at the world famous Wall Drug. We also took the time while there to view their collection of historic photos of South Dakota taken in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These included photos of General Custer’s expedition through the Black Hills prior to his meeting the Indians at the Little Big Horn. They also have a collection of pictures from all over the world that people have sent them featuring a Wall Drug sign. These included pictures from the Great Wall of China and both the North and South Poles. We intend to go back again in the future. I would love to be able to photograph the Badlands when it has a dusting of snow.

Next weekend we are planning a trip to the Wind Cave area to listen to the elk bugle as they begin their mating season. We have been told that it’s best to listen from a distance since the males tend to be a little testy as they go about their business. We will also make a side trip while there so Marge can see Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park. We hope we can also fit in a trip to Devils Tower before she leaves and of course we will take her to the beaver pond.

I did attend the cookout for Senator Daschle the other week and was in good company since about half the attendees were Republicans. He has a lot of Republican support and since the state is about 60% Republican he needs this support to be elected. He is in a tight race this year and polls show him having only about a 4% lead at this time. Most of his support comes from the amount of federal dollars he brings to the state and the fact that he has a staff that is very responsive to questions and concerns from the people of the state. My last e-mail to his office resulted in a phone call to clarify my questions within 48 hours of sending the e-mail. My e-mails to my elected representatives in the past only resulted in form letters that arrived six to eight weeks after I contacted them and never answered the questions. All they ever did was assure me they shared my concerns and would look into the issues.

Kathy will be heading east for a 10 day visit in a little over a week. This includes a side trip to Buffalo to see her aunt. Once she returns I will plan my trip east.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

September 26, 2004

Letter 7 – Second Year

Kathy is away this week so any errors concerning editing can be blamed on me.

We have had a few days of chilly weather, days in the 50s and nights in the 30s, but this weekend temperatures have returned to summer levels with days in the 70s and nights in the 40s and 50s and the forecast looks like that for the next week. We did have snow last Tuesday, but not in town. It snowed at Terry Peak and in Ice Box Canyon. Both of these areas are over 6,000 feet and are with in several miles of town. My snow will come someday.

We spent a couple of days with Marge at Wind Cave National Park. On Saturday night we attended a ranger program about elk and than the ranger lead us to an overlook where we walked out into a field and sat on blankets to listen for the elk bugle. There were about 10 people in our group, but once our eyes adjusted to the dark we realized that there were about 40 other people spread across the sloop. We did get to hear the elk. They don’t really bugle; it is more of a scream followed by grunts and snorts. It was really neat to hear them. We stayed on the sloop for about 30 minutes under a star filled sky with the Milky Way very visible over our head. It was quite an experience. Sunday night we were able to hear the elk from our campsite and also the nearby heard of buffalo were very vocal.

 On Sunday we took a tour of Wind Cave. The cave is famous for its box work, an unusual formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs. The cave has about 100 miles of explored passages and they say that is only about five percent of the total cave. The cave got its name because of a hole I the ground from which wind comes out. American Indians believe that this is the hole from which buffalo came onto the earth and after the buffalo came to earth the Indians followed. You can still follow a short trail to the hole and feel the wind coming out of it. Also on occasions the wind flows into the cave. The wind direction depends on the atmospheric pressure within the cave.

We also visited the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD. This site was discovered in 1974 when a bulldozer clearing land for a housing development struck a tusk. The site is actually an old, 26,000 years, sinkhole that has yielded 52 mammoths, as well as camels, llamas and the first wolf and giant short-faced bear fossils found in the north-central plains. A building has been erected over the site and work continues today. They have only excavated the first 24 feet since 1974 and figure they have another 60 to 100 feet to go to reach the bottom of the pit.

While at Wind Cave Park we took several rides through the park to see the buffalo, coyote, deer, and prairie dogs. We were also able to introduce Marge to the “Begging Burros” who stuck their head in her side window in there on going quest for handouts.

Since Katy left for Baltimore on Thursday I have finished the molding work on the front porch. With the new carpet down and the molding installed I think the porch is done. However, since my boss is not here, I could be mistaken – probably am. There are also several other small projects I hope to complete before she returns. I also will take some time for photography since the leaves here are almost at there peak and once again the color is just amazing. The gold and yellow of the aspen against the dark green of the pine is absolutely breath taking. We do live in a beautiful part of the world.

Kathy is enjoying her trip and reports that Neil and Lori really have a lovely house and that all is well with them. Leigh and Torey are well and both continue to work hard and have busy lives. Torey is hoping her work will ease up a little once the election is over.

Kathy’s birthday has come and gone and for a few months she is closer to my age, of course than I’ll have a birthday and once again be old. Kathy wanted a mountain ash tree for her birthday and we found a 14 foot one, the smallest they had, at a nursery in Sturgis. It has now been planted by the front corner of the house and on its first night it was visited by two elk that munched on the leaves of the lower limbs. I’m blaming the elk because they were in the backyard in the evening after the tree was planted. On discovering the evidence of munching I went to the local hardware store and purchased some tuff made from coyote urine that is supposed to keep elk, deer and the like away from plants. So far it has worked and this is good because Kathy really does not want to be the one who insist I buy a gun and become a hunter. Of course, the herd at our house was a little nervous when they first noticed the odor. Our brave dog came out, sniffed the air and when right back in the house. It’s a good thing we don’t have to depend on her for protection.

Speaking of elk, these are the first we have seen in our yard, but we have discovered that mountain lions have been seen at the top of the street behind us. This is only about three city blocks away. People have had tracks in their yards and on their decks. There are also reports of a decreasing wild house cat population and of fewer deer fawns and elk calfs then there were a month or two ago. People who live up there and walk in the woods in that area also have reported finding skeletons with evidence of lions at work. Oh well, I’ve always wanted a really big cat.

Ross and the absent Kathy.

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

October 10, 2004

Letter 8 – Second Year

The weather this week has been pretty much the same as the last. It has been summer-like, at least by South Dakota standards. We did have two hard freezes while Kathy was gone so she did not get to see the cosmos in bloom. They looked like three-week old parsley by the time she returned.

We have a black cat that has been hanging around since last week. It obviously belongs (ed) to someone and is used to lots of human contact. It is declawed and will jump right in your lap if you sit down outside. We where hoping it was just lost and would find its way home, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen so I guess we’ll call the shelter to see if anyone is missing this cat. If no one is, we will probably take it to the shelter which is a non-kill shelter and this cat will have no problem finding a home. Our cats seem to have accepted the cat as long as it stays outside. Whiskey, on the other hand, treats it like any other interloper and tries to chase it away. This tactic doesn’t keep the cat away for long.

Fall here has been beautiful and there is still a fair amount of color in some of the protected areas, bright yellow, orange and the occasional spot of bright red. It will be sad once it is all gone. It’s nice to sit in the yard or by the front window and see the bright spots of color across town. Last weekend we took a ride on one of the back roads we had not done yet and discovered a whole bunch of millionaire homes tucked away in the woods. They appear to be weekend places–what some people here would refer to as their cabin in the woods despite the fact that several of them probably exceeded 6,000 square feet with walls of glass and stone. I guess cabin is a relative term.

Kathy has returned and had a good trip to Baltimore and Buffalo and I’m looking forward to my trip east at the beginning of December. Now that Kathy is back, she will be working as a lifeguard two to three days a week at the YMCA. She enjoys it so far, except for the 5:00 am part of the job. This means that occasionally we are both up and at work at 5:00 am. We had our first skate night last Friday night at the Y and it went well. We will be volunteering with this program again this year and have actually been looking forward to it.

We are getting the house ready for winter and finishing up some projects that have been started, but not completed. All small things like painting the trim around the windows before the storms go up, painting the outside of the back door and finding the inside storm window kits we have for several of the windows that do not have outside storms. We are also planning some winter projects. We hope to have a new kitchen floor and countertops by spring and maybe a center work island. The floor we are considering feels and looks like stone, but is actually a composite that requires no glue, grout or nails to put down and can be laid over our existing floor. The only decision we have made about the countertops is that they will not be granite because of the $70 to $80 per square foot cost. We have approximately 54 square feet of counter surface.  The island will probably be a moveable one with locking wheels. We are not sure if we will buy one or build it ourselves. The other project we hope to finish soon is the painting of the stairs. We have primed and put on the base color. The next step is to mark out and paint a runner and then decide if we want to do any stenciling on them.

Tomorrow may be Columbus Day for most of you, but here in South Dakota it is recognized as Native American Day. I suppose Columbus is not very popular with our large Native American population and since he never got close to this part of the country it is only natural that he be ignored or at least not honored high enough to warrant a holiday. Remember that Lakota Victory Day here is in honor of the Battle at the Little Big Horn.

It is hunting season here and once again one can see pickups with elk and deer “resting” in the back. We occasionally see a car with an elk/deer on the fender, buckled up for safety of course. As long as I’m on the subject of hunting I’m reminded of guns and that brings up a recent court ruling here that determined SD residents to not need a permit to carry to have a handgun in the car, as long as it’s not concealed. We surely live in a “red state” and, of course, we – maybe only I – love it.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

October 24, 2004

Letter 9 – Second Year

We have had summer and winter in the same week. There have been some really nice days with temps in the 60s to 70s as well as a little snow. We had several days of snow last week. One day we actually had a dusting and the other day it would snow until it started to stick and then stop long enough for it to melt and then snow again. We woke up to a dusting of snow this morning, but by noon the snow was gone, the sun was out and temps were headed for the 50s.

Kathy and I are staying busy, more her than me. We both work two days a week and she spends time as a volunteer at the local food bank and does meals on wheels once a month. She is also busy with some things at church and we both help with Friday Night Skate at the YMCA. It really is amazing how much one can do when a full time job is not an issue.

I will be glad when this election has come and gone. I don’t know how it is in your state, but here you cannot turn on a TV or radio without hearing a “vote for me because” or don’t vote for… because”. South Dakota has a senate race that seems to being followed by the whole world, Daschle vs. Thune, so we also hear endless discussions by news folks who have probably never set foot in South Dakota yet they all know what the people of SD will do. Obviously some will be right and some will be wrong. The other aspect of this election is finding out how many college students will sign anything with out reading it and then complain that “I didn’t know.” Also there appears to be a large number of folks in some states who don’t know their own address or name for that matter. These people are not smart enough to be allowed to vote and, of course, I did learn that cocaine is a form of currency when it comes to voter registration payrolls.

The other aspect of the election here are some propositions on the state ballot. One of these is important, at least to me. SD currently elects its judges thereby making it possible to fire them and there are those who want to change to have judges appointed by the governor. These judges would be selected from a list provided by the State Bar (trial lawyers) Association. I really do prefer to have a way of getting rid of judges who legislate from the bench.

We are attending another “greet & eat” for Senator Daschle this evening. Free food is always a good thing – even democratic food.

We have finished winterizing the MH and guess we are done for the season. We hope to take it out in February and go somewhere sunny and warm for a week or so. It will only take about an hour to set it back up for travel and then another hour to winterize it again. I will be stopping by it at least once a week to run the generator, start the engine and drive it around the lot it is parked at or up the hill and back to keep all the seals lubricated. We are already working on a travel plan for next summer, nothing firm yet, but it is fun to start the process. It makes summer seem a lot closer than it really is.

We still have “our” black cat hanging around. Kathy has let him in the house a time or two, but on one of those visits the dog discovered there was an interloper in the house and ran it out. The cat is now reluctant to come in. This may change when it gets really cold. We have been bad and against our better judgment we have been providing the cat with food and water. It also has a nice warm and secure place to sleep in our neighbors shed so I guess this one maybe here for a while.

We took a walk to the beaver pond this afternoon. Mr. Beaver did not make an appearance, but it was a great fall like day for a walk and it is a beautiful place to walk. Amazingly enough there were still a few daisies in bloom. We also saw some evidence of “cat” traffic along the trail.

Our backyard deer are still around. Usually we have between two and four that sleep in the backyard and last night by the time we went to bed they had rearranged themselves so their rears were turned into the wind.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

November 7, 2004

Letter 10 – Second Year

We are still in the grip of summer/fall/winter/spring weather. We have had several days lately with temps close to 70. We have also had nights in the teens and we have had snow. Last week on Friday we had about 8-9 inches of snow and then again on Sunday, Halloween, we had snow all day. It did not start to stick until sunset because temps stayed in around 33 degrees until then. We have more snow forecast for Tuesday/Wednesday.

The good thing about this week ending is the constant “vote for me/don’t vote for him” has now come to an end. There were days when we received as many as ten phone calls. We also received pounds of slick mailers from all the candidates. The Associated Press has ranked SD 4^th in terms of voter turn out. Four of the top five states are in the Midwest. Our county had a voter turnout of 76 percent. SD is a split state, the house seat was retained by a democrat, a very moderate one, and Senator Daschle, democrat, was defeated by his republican challenger. This race seemed to get as much attention by the national media as the presidential race.

I guess I need to say congratulations to some and offer my condolences to others as far as the election is concerned. As for me, I’ll quote a friend of mine in North Carolina who emailed and said “I swear it has been hard being humble this week.” I’m also waiting for all those who promised to leave the USA if Bush won to leave or check into their favorite monastery. Of course, I won’t hold my breath because those that promised to leave in 2000 are still here. And one more point; if you look at the map of red and blue states it is obvious that the Kerry camp did not have a clue as to the thoughts, issues and ideas of a huge section of this country. They certainly do not understand SD where the average income is around $26,000 and teachers make about $23,000 and yet people here manage to raise families, own homes, go to church, send their kids to college and, yes, we shop at Wal-Mart.

We still have the black cat and I guess we can now say she is ours. We took pity on her last Friday night because of the snow, cold and wind and brought her in the house. She now seems content to live here and the other members of our herd have been mostly accepting. There has been some paw patting from Raji, some hiss/squeak/growling from Montana and some chasing by Whiskey. All of this to no avail since the new cat doesn’t seem to have any boundaries. This cat is young enough to still be playful and does try to get the older members of the family to play. It can be entertaining to watch. We have decided to name her Wakanda, a Sioux word meaning “one who processes magical powers.” Leigh suggested Shadow, Torey opted for Puck (as in hockey puck) and I suggested several that Kathy and others consider not appropriate and/or politically incorrect. So much for me and my ideas; sometimes I wonder why people ask since they generally know what they will get.

We have had a very lazy week and that is not all bad. We did get a vent, one we bought a year ago, installed between the living room and our bedroom. The bedroom is the coldest room in the house and the living room due to gas fireplace and full sun is the warmest. We are hoping the vent; about 12 x 14 will let some of this heat flow to the bedroom. If this does not work I intend to get a low speed fan to place inside the vent to improve the air flow. Cutting through the wall was not too bad once I located a stud. My stud finder is of no use in most of the house because of the plaster and laths in the wall. Both sides of the wall had sheet rock over plaster so cutting through took a while. On the plaster part we discovered several layers of wallpaper and paint. I assume this is why someone eventually put up the sheet rock. I have also gotten the front storm windows out of the garage, cleaned and installed. My next big project is to start work on my close to life size buffalo cut out to light up and place on the carport roof for Christmas. I’m planning on making it out of a four by eight piece of plywood and mount about 300 to 400 hundred lights on it. I think it will be “cool” and unique.

We both continue to work, although some don’t consider 20 hours a week to be work, and we also continue with the Y Skate night. The night of the snow we had about 35 kids, all in costume. Prizes were given for the best and fun was had by all. Some of the kids who walked came with ice in their hair and frozen jean bottoms, but they came.

While at the place where we keep our motor home and chatting with some of the old (yes, older than me) folks who hang out there I discovered that although SD Game, Fish and Parks (GF&P) officials publicly say there are only about 150 mountain lions in the Black Hills they privately think there are closer to 1000. There is an area in Deadwood where residents have complained about frequent sightings of a mountain lion on their decks and in their yards. When one person called police about a mountain lion in his yard and stated he was scared because his kids were outside playing, the first instruction he should have gotten was to bring the kids in. GF&P has told them not to worry, that there is no danger from this lion. Having said this, they also stated when the opportunity arises they will kill it. I also discovered that one of the sets of tracks verified in Lead were in the backyard of a house on the street right behind us. Although we have coyotes in the area, we have never seen one and have only heard them on several occasions and the reason maybe the high population of mountain lions. The lions may be coming into or closer to town because town deer are not as easily spooked as forest deer making them an easier meal.

I’m looking forward to my trip east the first week in December to see the kids and visit with friends. The kids have plans for me and all of us, Leigh, Torey, Neil and Lori will have dinner together on Sunday. The girls and I will also be sharing dinner one night with friends from Baltimore Behavioral Health. This will be my first trip back by plane since we moved here and only my second trip in total. Kathy has returned more often than I have, but she needs to be able to visit and help her aunt in Buffalo and we are able to combine her trips for this with trips to Maryland.

And now a note to Kris and Vic….have a great and well deserved trip to Paris.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

November 21, 2004

Letter 11 – Second Year

Winter has really arrived in the Black Hills. We are experiencing nighttime lows in the single digits, but days are still reaching the mid-40s to low 50s. We have not had any snow since the last one. We have had several forecasts for snow, but the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming appear to be stealing all the moisture we need for snow. Our next chance of snow is tomorrow night. Terry Peak, one of our two local ski resorts, has been making snow for the last few weeks and hopes to open by Thanksgiving weekend.

More on our local mountain lions, one was spotted on a main Lead residential street, opposite side of town from us, while out for a stroll just after dark earlier this week. The police were called, but the lion was nowhere in sight by the time they arrived. We are not sure what they would do if they saw it since they are a protected species and you need permission from the state to kill one. A friend of mine here says his solution would be to “shoot, shovel and shut up.”

Wakanda is still with us and shows no signs of wanting to leave. Some other members of our herd show signs of wanting her to leave. She is still young enough to be playful and the others, being old and some what stuffy, are having trouble with this. Montana is her favorite target and at times becomes quite vocal over her attention and has been known to run and hide. He, of course, forgets that he kept Kathy’s cat Rachel trapped under my living room sofa in Annapolis for a month when she and hers moved to my house. It maybe that he is getting his just reward.

Our church in Deadwood had a celebration with potluck lunch today to celebrate the pipe organ being 100 years old. The church is older than that and this is the second organ in the church. One church member that was there has been attending the church for 76 years. He started when he was three. The church in Lead had its annual bazaar this weekend. They had lots of donated “junk” to sell, a bake sale and served lunch. Kathy spent all of fifty cents for a Singer Touch and Sew that actually works. It is about 25 years old, but in pretty good shape. Certainly cheaper than buying a new one.

We have started putting up our Christmas lights. This is not because we are in a hurry, but putting up outside lights is a weather dependent project here and since this afternoon was sunny and in the 40s so it was a good day to start. We have a 10-foot spruce tree on our property line, it actually belongs to our neighbors, that we decorated last year and with the help of our neighbor it is now decorated and ready to turn on. We put white lights, red and gold bows and gold garland on it along with a star at the top. We have it turned on tonight just to see how it looks and we think it looks pretty good. We are not the first to put lights up and there are those who leave them up year round because of the difficulty of putting them up. Many of the houses here have very high and steep pitched roofs which make outside lighting difficult so once done they are left up. Another reason they are left up is due to the advanced age of many of our residents. We still have the windows and inside tree to do, but hope to have it all done by next weekend. We need to have this done before I head east for my visit. I may not get my buffalo made before I leave so that could be a next year project.

As we approach our second Christmas in SD we only have one regret and that is the distance between us and the kids and a few friends. We are thankful however for e-mail and cell phone plans that allow us to have frequent contact with people we miss. Technology is a great thing.

The vent we installed between the living and bedroom seems to be working. The coldest we have had since installing it has been 62 degrees. Prior to putting it in there was one morning when the bedroom temp 54 degrees. And yes, the heat was on.

I was reading the news in the Annapolis paper the other day and saw a story about a guy who while driving under the influence, had an accident and killed the other driver. He was sentenced to five years. Recently, in a similar event here the driver was sentenced to 17 years in jail. Of course driving under the influence is taken very seriously here and the third offense carries mandatory jail time, usually 60 days and the fourth will result in two years and there is no time off for good behavior. We have also noticed that other crimes here receive a stiffer sentence than in Maryland. Among those are child abuse, murder – not a frequent occurrence here – and sexual assault. Another difference is that due to the low crime rate and small population here in SD the courts are not overly busy and for minor crimes you can be arrested this week and in the court next week. I like the system here and the fact that they actually give jail time.

I am getting more excited about my trip to see the kids as my date to leave gets closer. Leigh and Torey have a few things planned for me in DC and I will be spending a night in Baltimore with Neil and Lori.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

December 12, 2004

Letter 12 – Second Year

The weather has stayed about the same as it has been. Yesterday was around 60 and today was barely over 30 and tonight’s low is supposed to be around 10. We have still had no snow to speak of and we really do need it; for the moisture and for the economy. Terry Peak has opened two of their runs, but it is all man-made snow and would be like skiing on an ice rink. The other snow sport here is snowmobiling and, of course, that requires snow. We have about 1,300 miles of snowmobile trails here in the Black Hills and this sport has been a big part of the winter economy in the past.

I had a great trip to see the kids and a few people I used to work with. The kids kept me fairly busy and fed me well. We did some shopping, ate out, visited the new Museum of Native American History and made a trip to China Town to pick up tea for Kathy. The girls have their condo arranged and decorated for Christmas and are looking forward to their first Christmas in their new place. They have done a nice job of making it theirs and comfortable. I also spent a night in Baltimore with Neil and Lori and again was well fed. They have also decorated and are also looking forward to their first Christmas in their new house and as a married couple. Their house is an old, about 100 years, row house with hardwood floors and some exposed brick inside walls. They, as with the girls, have done a good job of making it theirs and comfortable. I stopped by Baltimore Behavioral Health, my old work place, and visited with some people. The growth in their business has been tremendous and it was neat to see plans started while I was there come to pass.

Having spent a week in the big city has reinforced my view that we live in a wonderful place. Boring at times, but wonderful. The traffic, crowds in the stores and constant sound of sirens and police and medevac helicopters is not something I miss. I do, however, understand why the kids would not like living here at their age.

Mountain lion stories and sightings continue to be the subject of many neighborhood chats. No loss of pets or children here in Lead as of yet. The SD Game and Fish Department is trying to track down one of the lions in Deadwood and will eliminate if they get a chance. This is the one that has been looking into peoples houses from their decks and has frequently been spotted near houses during the daytime hours.

I was talking with someone the other day about school Christmas parties; they still call them that here. He told me a story about several parents two years ago that threatened to sue the school board if they had Christmas parties. The board decided to not have them and when the rest of the parents found out they went to the board and said “you can be sued by two or by sixty, take you choice.” A Christmas party was held that year and they are still being held.

On Saturday Kathy and I attended a local production of the “Christmas Carol.” It was a great show with all local talent and direction. The show was held at the Deadwood Pavilion, a city owned building with stage and bleacher type setting. The building used to be a school gym. The show included Christmas Carols, some of a religious nature, and in parts of the country probably could not have been held in a public building.

We have finished decorating our house and even we think it looks pretty good. The houses around us are also decorated along with the park beside our house. Kathy and some neighbors decorated the park with lights and garland while I was in D.C. The decorations were supplied by Neighborhood Housing and they are covering the extra electric cost for one of our neighbors whose house the lights are plugged into. Our street and the one above us are well decorated so the area looks very festive.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

December 26, 2004

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GREETING

Letter 13 – Second Year

Kathy and I want to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a great year to come.

We had 50 degree temps last Sunday and woke up Monday to snow and cold. It snowed on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday although the total accumulation is only about 8 inches. The cold has arrived with revenge in mind for not being invited earlier and low temps have gone as low as 15 below and wind chills have reached 35 below. It did warm up to the high 30s on Friday and Christmas day was sunny and in the high 40s. Warm enough that we grilled steaks for dinner. You know it’s cold when the falling snow is in the form of crystals and it squeaks when you walk on it.

Lead has a community Christmas dinner and the whole town is invited. The only charge is a request for donations to the Lord’s Cupboard, the local food pantry. It is complete with turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings that go with a Christmas dinner. It was held at the high school this year and we saw most of our friends and neighbors. People who are unable to attend can call have the dinner delivered to their home. Delivery is done by the local police department as part of their service to the community . They also make sure that those who use Meals on Wheels also receive the Christmas dinner. This is a great event and last year around 1500 people attended.

The weather has made our herd, Raji, Montana, Wakanda and Whiskey, housebound, restless and just plain ornery. They are starting to turn on each other and we could be next. In naming Wakanda we should have looked for a name meaning possessed by evil powers instead of magical powers. She has turned into an alpha and the boys are not happy about this turn of events at all. She has become an in their face cat and no amount of hiss/growl/squeak or hitting seems to deter her. Actually the more they protest the more fun she seems to have; reminds me of a certain younger sister tormenting her older sister – names will be left out to protect the guilty. Raji, although vocal, seems to hold his own, but Monty tends to run for shelter.

Christmas day was spent opening gifts and talking with the kids and other family members by phone.

Kathy and I are enjoying our second white Christmas in South Dakota and hope wherever you are you are enjoying yours as much as we are ours.

Merry Christmas

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

January 16, 2005

Letter 14 – Second Year

We had another week of cold and snow, a lot more cold than snow. Last week we had five inches or so of snow which is not close to what we need. As I mentioned we also had cold and lots of it. We have had temps here in Lead of around -14 with wind chills down to around -20, however compared to other parts of the state it was warm here. Aberdeen, in the eastern part of the state, had a high of -35 with wind chills of around -40. ABC news listed SD has the coldest state in the nation on Friday. We are looking for a warm up to 30 by Tuesday. Of course it is winter here in paradise. Saturday was a great day, it warmed up to 12 and with the sun out we could open the door and enjoy our closed in front porch. We also were able to open the porch today, but are expecting snow showers tonight.

The cold here brings with it some things one must do to get along. There is the gas antifreeze, sleeping bags, water and snacks in the car when traveling. We dress in layers, many of them, and of course proper footwear is a must. I’m really enjoying the fleece-lined jeans Torey sent me and both of us are getting lots of use from our smart wool socks and the collection of fleece and insulated wick shirts we have. Also hats, gloves and scarves are always handy. Needless to say our gas fireplace is being used daily (nightly too).

Our herd is not wild about the weather and not overly fond of going out. The cats go to the door many times a day, stick their little heads out, growl (or yowl) and walk back in. They keep doing the same thing all day and hoping for different results. If they keep it up until spring, June-July here, they may get what they wish for. Whiskey does not seem to mind the weather as much as the cats and will go out and romp around for a short while. We have noticed that the few birds that are around flock to the tops of chimneys and huddle there for the warmth. Kathy and I have been staying in unless we need to go out. I go out more than her, but that has to do with the fact that I do not smoke in the house so “I’m forced” to go out. Last night the Deadwood Police called Game and Fish to have them bring in the tracking dogs to hunt down a mountain lion that has been hanging around a residential area but, due to the cold, game and fish declined to bring the dogs out.

We have started planning for our summer trip and are leaning towards three to four weeks in Montana during June-July and then a trip to Grand Teton in September. One of Kathy’s nephews and maybe her sisters and various family members will probably be there so it will be a good time to all get together. For our Montana trip we are planning on going across the northern part and coming back through the southern part of the state. We will spend some time in Glacier National Park during our trip, it is a must visit place for us. We have only been there once and that was in 1991 and we still remember the vastness and beauty of the area.

As you know, Kathy and I have tried to become an active part of our community by volunteering at the local food pantry, skate night at the Y and attending city council meetings as often as possible. Two weeks ago I was appointed by the Mayor to serve a three year term on the Historic Preservation Commission. I am happy to be appointed and hopefully can help make a difference for our community. I may shock a few of the old timers on this commission with my belief that just because it is old does not necessarily make it historic or worth preserving. Kathy and I were also both nominated to serve on the vestry of the Episcopal Church in Deadwood. Kathy declined to serve, but I was elected. I’m assuming the church will survive this decision. 

We are in the process of rearranging the upstairs. There are three rooms upstairs, one large room to the right of the stairs and a smaller one to the left with an even smaller one behind it. We had our computer and desk in the larger room and used the middle size room for a guest room and the small room behind it was filled with unpacked boxes. We have cleared that room out and moved the computer and home office stuff into it. This will give us two guest rooms which makes a lot more sense. After moving computer, scanner, modem, printers and all the other computer gear I was pleasantly surprised when after hooking it all back up it all worked first time around. The equipment move has not affected our wireless performance on the laptop which is usually set up in the living room. I have been surprised with the wireless setup because of the thick walls, sheet rock over plaster, in our house. We still have some boxes to move to the basement and then we can paint the two guest rooms. Now we will have room for more visitors so schedule your trips!

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

January 30, 2005

Letter 15 – Second Year

We have had two weeks of unseasonably warm weather. Daytime temps have been mostly in the 40-50s with several days reaching the mid 60s. The area we live in is known for radically different temperatures within a small area. Thursday the high here was 55 while Spearfish only reached 34. Spearfish is on the northern edge of the Black Hills and only 17 miles away by car, probably 12 as the crow flies. We have had no snow until this morning. Around a half inch has fallen within the last hour and it is still coming down. We have no idea how much we will get because it was not in the forecast, at least not until it started to fall. At this point we are glad for any moisture we get. This has been the driest winter in about six years here in the hills and if does not change we will be in for a long and dry fire season come spring.

We do have some news for a change. We are buying a second house, at least at this point we are 99% sure this is what we are going to do, here in Lead. The house is only two doors from the one we are living in. Our intention is to use it for a rental property, but not as a full time rental. We want to use it as a “Bed and almost Breakfast.” We say almost because we will not be serving food to the renters. In lieu of breakfast served by us, our intention is to provide coupons for a local coffee house that is opening here and will be within walking distance of the house, about a 10-minute walk. Not serving food will be easier on us and on the cost of insurance. The house is a small, just under 1100 square feet, three bedroom, one bath, kitchen, living room and dining room. It was built in the early nineteen hundreds from plans supplied by the Homestake Mine to their workers. It includes the furniture which although not antique is in good condition. We are hoping to have it rented for the three weeks surrounding the Sturgis motorcycle Rally and then for a few more weeks as a summer/winter vacation rental. The Rally rental should cover the cost of the house for a year and the other weeks can be used to upgrade that house or this one over time. We will be setting up a web site for this house once it is ours and will let you know when that happens. We are still considering what to call the house…possibly “The Inn on Miners Avenue – a Bed and almost Breakfast Establishment”…any suggestions would be welcome.

On Wednesday we took a day trip to Devils Tower. It was a beautiful sunny and warm day and while there we took a nice hike along one of the ridges by the Tower. The other purpose for the trip was for me to purchase our, actually my, “Golden Age Passport” from the National Park Service. I say “my” so none of you will have the idea that Kathy is old enough for this yet, she has a ways to go. This could be considered a reason for marrying an old geezer.  This pass, for a onetime $10.00 fee, allows us free admission to any federal managed land area and half price camping at all of these areas. There might as well be some benefit to turning 62.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

February 13, 2005

Letter 16 – Second Year

“Happy Valentines Day to One and All”

We had snow last Sunday night and Monday during the day. We only got about 6 inches and this was followed by several days with temps in the 60s. It really did feel like June/July on Friday. I have decided that the only good purpose for cold weather is to produce snow and if we are not going to have snow it might as well be warm. Snow is again in our forecast for tonight and tomorrow, but no amounts are being talked about. Last winter we had about 7 feet of snow and so far this year we have only had about two feet. The yearly average snowfall here is supposed to be 10 to 12 feet.

We are continuing with our plans for the “Inn on Miner’s Avenue” and will close on the house in about a week. Once we close we can begin to work on the minor things that need fixing. One of the main fixes will be to remove the 40’s gas stove from the kitchen and replace it with an electric one. Other small items are smoke and CO2 detectors. We are also taking a long hard look at the bathroom which is small and only has a tub. One end of the bathroom backs up to a storage closet that is about six by seven feet and would be a good place to add a shower by opening it up to the bathroom and then the bathroom would also have direct access from one of the bedrooms. The other immediate chore will be to set up a web site to help with marketing and rentals. We have friends in Deadwood who just opened a small Inn and are already booked for the Sturgis Rally. They are going to refer anyone else who contacts them to us. Our house will be perfect for the Rally since it has a small one-car garage that would be perfect for getting motorcycles out of the weather.

We got out for a walk to the beaver pond this afternoon. The pond is still frozen so it will be a while before our old friend pops out of his winter sleep. We did see some large cat tracks around the edge of the pond, but we have seen tracks there on several occasions. Cats (mountain lions) continue to be seen more frequently in our area and more in daylight than in past years. We have also had less deer in our yard this winter than last and are not sure if this is related to the cat who seems to live on the hill about two blocks behind us or if it  is related to the weather. Since our tulips are starting to come up, I hope it is due to the cat.

The Lead-Deadwood Arts council is having a photo show that opened in January and will run to the end of this month and I have six photos included in the show. Part of the show is a display of photos from the high school digital photography class and we were very impressed with the work from these kids. We were also impressed with the range of talent from local amateur photographers.

Both of us continue to work two days a week and Kathy has found a friend from church to exercise with at the Y. They go about three mornings per week at 7:00 am. They are doing weight training, walking and swimming.

We are starting to look forward to summer and de-winterizing the motor home. Hopefully, we will get in more short trips this summer than last, but will see if being a “Land Baron” will allow us to do that.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

February 27, 2005

Letter 17 – Second Year

“Happy Birthday to Leigh”

The East Coast people have been stealing our snow and we are really getting tired of this behavior. We did have snow last week, but only about three inches. Local news report stated that the tree/plant moisture is as low as it has been since 1976. O’Neill pass, west of us towards Wyoming should have a snow pack of around 40 inches this time of year and when they measured it last week they recorded 7 inches. This week we have been in the 50s and even 68 one day. The forest service has started preparing the local airport at Spearfish to handle the large, converted C130 water tankers for the summer fire season. Last year they only had two small tankers stationed there, but plans seem to be for the larger ones this summer. There have been several medium size brush fires and one small forest fire in the area this week.

The lack of snow for winter sports has not been good for the local economy and several businesses in the area that depend on snow will probably not make it until next winter. The area affected is not just here in the Black Hills, but includes a big area of eastern Montana and we hear the ski resort at Red Lodge, Montana has closed for the season.

We closed on the second house here and have spent the last couple of days sorting out the stuff that came with the house. We will keep the dishes and household items and most of the rest we will give to the Free Store in hopes that others can use some of this stuff. We did find several “treasures” which we are keeping. These include several small pieces of quartz with visible gold in them, several pieces of carnival glass and a set of bowls. Also we found a box of old tools and drafting instruments that we will keep. We have been making lists for the fix up we need to do before we begin to rent it. This includes some outside trim painting and adding a shower, as it currently only has a bathtub. We may be adding a second bathroom, but are waiting on the official estimate. The verbal price is a fraction of what this would have cost in Maryland. Once all the details are worked out we will have a website for the house and will send you the link. We will also being decorating the house with some of our photographs of South Dakota sights and yes, they will be available for sale.  So far this has been a fun and exciting project and we are looking forward to the actual marketing of “The Inn on Miners Avenue.”

Last weekend Kathy and I along with a girlfriend went to Rapid City to see

“The Odd Couple – the female version” at the Black Hills Community Playhouse. It was a great show and we are planning on seeing more plays there in the future.

We continue to stay busy with community events and happenings and find it amazing how little free time we have even though we only work two days a week. I guess we will never be bored or lack for things to keep us active, involved and busy. Today Kathy and Diana went to a concert in Sturgis and then Diana and another friend, Megan, joined us for dinner. Megan is a college student at Black Hills State that we have become friends with and try to feed on occasion. She is a non-traditional student, which means older than the average. She is all of 28 years old and is from Las Vegas.

We are looking forward to some summer travel and to visits from family and friends. If they get “too much” for us we can always move them down the street, rent free of course.

Kathy will be heading east at the end of the month to visit with kids and take a side trip to Buffalo to spend a few days with Aunt Marge. I will plan a trip for later in the year–unless being a baron of capitalism keeps me too busy. We are hoping that summer travel will be several weeks in Montana and a week in Grand Teton. Of course if we get lucky in the rental market we can take a long winter break or spend all our money on house stuff.

Ross and Kathy

               “The Inn on Miners Avenue”

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

March 13, 2005

Letter 18 – Second Year

Winter has returned to our area, actually it has returned several times in the last two weeks. We have had several periods of snow, an inch here, two inches there and so on. These snows have been followed by 60 degree days which means we wake up to snow cover and by mid afternoon we are back to green grass. As I write this it is snowing and we now have about 4 inches of snow on the ground. Not much to brag about, but at this point we will take any amount. The forecast calls for this on and off snow to go through Thursday.

We have a new addition to our outside animal herd. We have had deer since we moved here and this fall elk joined the group and now we have a jack rabbit. He/she is huge – my guess is around 20 plus pounds. So far the cats have wisely left it alone since a kick from one of this size would probably send a cat for a 3 point field goal. We have seen jack rabbits at the end of our street where there are a group of vacant lots with tall grass and shrubs that provide plenty of cover. Since rabbits tend to multiply rather rapidly I am assuming it is getting crowded down there and they have decided to spread out. The top part of our back yard offers plenty of cover for them and should be an ideal spot for the outcast ones to migrate to. Guess we lack good border security. When it hops across the yard we can hear the thump-thump noise as it hits the ground  It’s like living in a Monty Python movie….the one with the killer rabbit.

We have cleaned out most of the stuff from the second house that we do not want to keep. Three loads of clothes and kitchen stuff have gone to the Free Store and one pickup load has gone to the dump. We still have one more load for the dump and probably another load for the Free Store. We have cleared out the utility room, 6 feet by 9.5 feet that will become a second bath. This bath will have a shower, neo-angle design, and no tub. We have been to our favorite home center store in Rapid City and purchased the fixtures and flooring for this room and expect the contractor to start next week on the installation. Once completed, we can take the pictures we need and launch the web site for it and begin our Innkeeper/slumlord career. If any of you want to plan a trip and bring family and or friends with you, we now have plenty of room so plan a trip and get in touch, we would be glad to see you.

The other part of the new house stuff is exercising my very rusty skills in Microsoft Access. I have not played with database stuff since retiring in May 2002. I have been setting up a program to track expenses and income and my skills are slowly returning. If all else fails, we have a book on Access here somewhere. The book is needed because the MS Online Help is not much help.

Kathy and I will be helping the Y with a basketball tournament next weekend. We are expecting 60 plus teams for the event. They are grades 4 through 8 and include both boys and girls teams. We did this last year and really enjoyed watching the kids play and we are looking forward to it again this year. We will be helping on Friday and Saturday, but will be taking Saturday night off to go to Rapid City and visit with an old friend, Sandy Beach who will be in town for a conference, from my days of working for the Specialty Hospital Group of National Medical.

Gas prices here, as I’m sure they have where ever you live, have started to go back up. Regular is currently at $2.049 and diesel is running $2.149. The news here indicates that we could see it go up another 30 cents by summer. This is not welcome news when I consider the gas mileage on the motorhome. If it comes to this I guess we will just shorten the length of our planned trips and take some closer to home. We will still go to the Tetons in late August. I can not cancel a trip to our favorite spot and now that I’m old and have a “Golden Age Passport” we will not have to pay to enter the park and will be able to camp for half price so it should even out. Speaking of old I have reached another milestone in life and received my first Social Security Check. My thanks to all of you, friends and family alike, who are working hard everyday so I can goof-off.

We are looking forward to the opening of the new Wal-Mart Super Center in Spearfish, 10 miles away, in April. This will make grocery shopping easier, but we will also probably lose our local grocery store. However if we do, it will not be solely due to

Wal-Mart. It will have more to do with what they have perceived as a captive audience for years and the way they have treated the local people and the lack of fresh produce or of trying to have it in the store. There are indications that most of their produce comes from one of their stores in a larger area when they are unable to sell it there. Kathy and I do try to shop locally when we can, however this is not always possible.

Torey, Leigh, Neil and Lori are all doing well. Leigh just returned from a business conference in Orlando. She had a great trip and her part of the meeting went well. Torey continues to stay busy with work at Congressional Quarterly, Neil is busy trying to graduate by December and Lori is busy with her new job at a pediatric clinic in Baltimore. Neil and Lori hope to visit us in May and we are hoping for a visit from the girls sometime this summer/fall.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

March 27, 2005

Letter 19 – Second Year

Today it is about 65 degrees and sunny here in the hills. We did have some snow last week, but it only amounted to four or five inches. At least it was a wet snow. With the warm weather we now have the snow has melted away and all is green again.

Kathy is enjoying a visit with the Neil and Lori in Baltimore and will make a stop for five days to see her aunt in Buffalo before returning to paradise next Saturday. She got to see Leigh for breakfast one morning, but unfortunately Torey’s schedule did not allow for them to get together this trip. She is eating better than I am while she is away. This is due to Neil and Lori’s gourmet cooking ability and the ethnic restaurants in Baltimore.

Kathy’s absence means I’m without an editor and will be forced to take credit for any errors in grammar and spelling in this letter.

The herd at our house has finally realized that Kathy is gone and they have been making great demands on my time. They have become, like children, very spoiled and used to having their demands met since someone is usually home most of the day. They are not used to going out and not being able to come back in the house on demand. The wacky one, Wakanda, continues to chase snow flakes and can’t seem to understand why when caught they disappear. This activity does provide me with a certain amount of entertainment however.

The work on the second house is moving along and should be finished by Wednesday or Thursday. We had hoped it would already be done, but there have been several pesky unexpected difficulties along the way. Little things like having to take out the entire floor in the new bathroom area to run the drain lines and having to remove the tub in the other bathroom to hook up the hot and cold water lines. The crawl space under the house only has about six inches of head room so we had to take out the floor and dig down to put a “T” in the existing drain lines. The tub had to be removed since the existing water lines run along the baseboard in the other bathroom and there was no way to reach behind the tub to connect them. The other hold up has been the amount of time it is taking for the mud coats on the sheetrock to dry. We have since hooked up the heater for the bathroom and that should speed up the drying process. Once this dries and the finale coat is put on and sanded I can than prime and paint. Once the painting is done we can hook up the fixtures and be done. I helped out several days this week by being the errand boy and hopefully saved a few bucks by doing that. I also learned a few things about plumbing flooring and construction that may come in handy in the future. Of course the time spent on the second house means I have not gotten the list of things done at our house that I intended to finish while Kathy was gone. I assume I will be forgiven for not completing my man duties.

WE have completed a design for the Inn’s website and once we get the pictures done we will post the site and send the address to all of you. We have also designed a sign for the front, a small sign that will incorporate the address. We are working on selecting the scenic photos of South Dakota, ones we have taken, to be framed and hung in the house. Our friends who have a house they rent for vacation people stopped by to see ours and think it will be a good vacation rental. It was nice to have someone with experience in the area with vacation rentals feel like we will have a good deal going.

The YMCA Basketball Tournament was a success and Kathy and I got to see several really good games. The girls tended to be much more aggressive in their games than the boys of the same age group were. In retrospect I’m not surprised by this. We did take Saturday night off as planned and travel to Rapid City to see our friend who was in town. It was good to see him and catch up on news of the friends we have in common.

I have fenced in the small area where we had tulips planted last year and so far it seems to be keeping the deer from munching on them. We have a second area of tulips that we planted last fall and I plan on getting it fenced this week since those tulips are starting to come up. Not the most attractive look, but it appears to be an effective solution to the problem of deer eating flowers and certainly less obvious than gun fire. We have had fewer deer than last year so we could hope that our neighbor hood mountain lion stays around for spring and summer.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and Other Thoughts

April 10, 2005

Letter 20 – Second Year

We have had good weather for the last two weeks, days as high as 78. We still have nights below freezing, 15 – 20, and we did have one good day of rain. One of those all day gentle rains that dropped close to two inches. We had several snowfalls, the kind that covers and then melts away. There is a slight chance of snow tonight. We are still about nine inches of moisture behind for the year.

Kathy returned from her trip. She had a great time if you don’t count the trip back. “North Worst Airlines” had their usual equipment malfunction so instead of getting back on Saturday she arrived on Sunday. She had to spend the night in Minneapolis. They gave her a beautiful room at the Sheraton, but, since she only got to spend about three hours in it, the quality of the room was not important. She also had to spend about two hours or more standing in line to make the arrangements and for all the trouble they gave her a $35.00 coupon for future travel. This is a scam, she had one for this trip from a previous problem with NWA and when she put the coupon number into the reservation system the price dropped by $3.00. We continue to hope that a good discount carrier will begin to serve Rapid City and that NWA will cease to exist.

The bathroom at the other house is finished and we are now in the process of cleaning from top to bottom, arranging furniture and looking at sheets and spreads. We hope to have the website up next weekend and will send it to all of you once it is launched. The new bathroom adds a lot to the house and really looks good.

We have been delighted with new businesses opening in Lead. There’s a new shop offering a variety of vitamins, books and merchandise; a meat market offering no added hormones, grain fed South Dakota beef, buffalo and pork; and, most recently, a coffee & sandwich shop. There are still many empty buildings on Main Street but things are moving in the right direction. We make it a point to shop locally when we can and the South Dakota steak was superb.

In about six weeks we will have lived here for two years and looking back on things it is sometimes hard to believe that it has been that long. In some ways it feels like we just got here yesterday and in others it feels as if we have been here forever. We feel as if we are South Dakotans at this point and are now used to drinking pop, putting groceries in a sack, knowing that “yah” (see the movie “Fargo”) means “yes” or “well duh”  and “youbetcha” is one word meaning “yes” or “sure I will.” We really enjoy small town living since this gives us a chance and the desire to be involved in the community in ways you can’t be in a dense urban area. We have also learned to live without shopping malls and with Wal-Mart as the place to shop. The fact that we live in a wired-town and have the choice of two cable providers for TV, phone and high speed internet helps a lot. We have grown to depend on the internet for communication with kids and friends, banking and shopping. These things are much more important here than they were in Maryland. It is amazing that all of the towns here in western SD are wired for cable by at least one of several providers and the cost is about 30% less for these services than it was in Annapolis. We have also learned that no matter where you live the weatherman is wrong. It must be nice to have a job where you can be wrong 80% of the time and still have a job and a paycheck.

Our daffodils are in bloom, several tulips and the lilacs have buds. We hope the lilacs will bloom before we have a hard freeze. Last year they did not flower due to a late freeze. The deer have done some munching on the tulips and a friend told us to try cutting up bars of soap and spreading the pieces among the flowers. We have tried this and it appears to be working or else we have just been real lucky. I guess time will tell. Last year we used dried coyote urine and that worked, but the stuff is pretty expensive if you want to use it for the whole growing season. It also caused some stress among our herd members.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, the Weather and Other Thoughts

April 24, 2005

Letter 21 – Second Year

We have had another two weeks of fall, winter, spring and summer. Nighttime temps have ranged from the low 20s to the mid 40s and daytimes have been between the mid 30s and 82. Thursday we had about 6 inches of very wet and heavy snow, the kind we desperately need, but by Friday night it was gone. The area is still way behind in moisture and the fire season has started early.

Last Sunday afternoon a fire of undetermined origin started in an area a few miles from us. At 4 pm it was only about 20 acres, by 9 pm it had grown to 100 acres and by Monday morning it had reached about 800 acres. On Tuesday afternoon the fire crews had it fully contained and then we had the snow. Even with the snow and rain in the area things have dried out already and today the fire came back to life although it is currently only burning inside the fire breaks that had been made to contain it originally. Fire crews did go back into the area today and will be keeping an eye on it. When we first heard about the fire last Sunday we could see towering columns of smoke from our front yard and from the end of our street after dark we could see a faint red glow along the ridge several miles to the northeast of us. Residents in Boulder Canyon, 6 miles east of us were told to be prepared for an evacuation order, but when the wind shifted about dark it became apparent that they would not have to evacuate. Because the fire was so early in the season, no tanker aircraft were available and it was Monday afternoon before they finally got air support from two Black Hawks from the SD National Guard. There are two sides to the moisture we received, one is that it will cause the grasses and undergrowth to flourish and the other part is that without continued moisture this new growth will dry out and add more fuel to the forest. The east and north sides of our town have a fire break that was caused by the large Grizzly Gulch Fire the summer before we moved here. That fire raged for over a week and caused a four day evacuation of Lead and Deadwood. We will just have to wait and see what this year brings, but it not starting out to look good.

We have finished all the work at the Inn with the exception of the kitchen. We have a small counter to add, a counter top to replace and a microwave with stove hood and over head cabinet to install. I really will get the website up soon, but will stop saying by next week it will be ready. I’ll send a link to all of you once it is up.

Kathy and I attended a Celtic music concert in Deadwood last night. The performance was by “Willson and McKee,” a husband and wife group who have been playing together and traveling for about 15 years. They were excellent and she, Kim McKee, is a National Mountain Dulcimer Champion and also first and second place winner in a national Irish song writing contest. It was fun to hear them especially here in the land of country music and farm radio stations.

The big event last week was the opening of a new Super Wal-Mart in Spearfish, about 15 miles from our house. This was a big event in the area and even resulted in a traffic jam by the store on opening day. Kathy and I have been there several times by now and found it a great place to buy bedding for the Inn. Yes, bedding from Wal-Mart, they have up to 400 thread count and a great assortment of comforters, pillows and the like. They also have a great grocery department with a large produce section that actually has a large variety of vegetables, fruit and salad stuff. Fresh produce, the key word being fresh, is one of the things that has been hard to find here. Having this store 15 miles away will save us a few trips to Rapid City. Now if we only had a nearby Menards or Home Depot we would be in heaven instead of just paradise. Our standards in shopping have been “slightly” lowered since leaving the land of malls, Nordstrom’s and Macy’s.

Friday night was the last skate night until fall. This does not mean our volunteer work has stopped because we will be helping the Y with concessions they do for some of the local track meets and we still have the Lord’s Cupboard food pantry.

We hope all of you are well. We are really enjoying our taste of spring these days and are sure your weather is equally pleasing.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, the Weather and Other Thoughts

May 8, 2005

Letter 22 – Second Year

We have had another two weeks of very mixed weather. Last week we had snow from Monday through Friday morning. It would snow all day and barely cover the grass on one day and the next it would put several inches on the ground and then, as the temperature rose, it would melt away and then the temperature would drop and it would accumulate again. This week we have had several days it the mid 70s and today it is raining, which we need. It started raining last night and we have had a little over three inches so far. We have a chance of rain until Saturday. Maybe we will continue to have the nice steady soak in type rain that we are having today. The rain and chill today have made it a great fireplace day.

The bad part about the rain is that our yard now needs cutting and that is no easy job. Of course the rain is good for our flowers, trees and weeds. One of the things I have been wondering about is who decides which plants are weeds and which are flowers. I wonder about this because my life would be a lot easier if they declared the dandelion to be a flower instead of a weed. It really should be–pretty yellow flower, long blooming season and great ability to multiply. It would look nice along with our daffodils and tulips. We spent a lot of time getting rid of them last year and now they are back and certainly there are more of them and they seem healthier than last years. We are not sure how the cold last week treated the lilacs. We had some nights in the mid teens and lilacs don’t seem to appreciate this. I guess we will have to wait and see. Of course we have a chance of a hard freeze until early June.

We will spend part of this week getting the motor home ready for our first trip of the year. We will be going to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming for the weekend. It is only about a 90 minute drive and gives us a good opportunity to check out everything and make sure it all works like it is supposed to. This will be our second camping trip to the Tower. It is a beautiful and peaceful place to camp. I had it out for a drive this week and stopped by the house for a minute. Waconda was given a tour by Kathy and then sat in the street, judged the distance up to the open driver’s window and hopped right back in for a second look around. She may join Whiskey as a traveling animal. Part of getting the MH ready will be draining the antifreeze from the water system, flushing it good and filling the tanks. It is also in need of a wash job, not an easy vehicle to wash, but it must be done. We are also planning on installing a second coach battery this season since we will be doing more non-hook up camping than we have in the past. Being old, I can now get into National Parks free and camp for half price and of course I get to take Kathy on my pass. The second battery will give us more 12 volt power and means we will not have to run the generator as much.

Mountain Lions have been in the news again. Early Monday morning, 2:00am, a Deadwood police officer shot video tape from his dash camera of one strolling across the city tennis courts. The SD Department of Game, Fish and Parks has issued a kill permit for this one since he seems to be getting far too comfortable with city life. The kill permit is only valid for GF&P personnel so they have to be called the next time he is spotted in town. They will bring tracking dogs and attempt to run him down. People are still finding evidence of Leads resident mountain lion, but he has not been seen lately.

We have continued our cultural experience by attending the Annual Vaudeville Show that Lead has to showcase local talent. We really enjoyed the show and saw some really talented acts.

We completed the last inside project at our other house this weekend. We installed a cabinet over the stove with vent hood and microwave oven. There is still some outside trim to scrape and paint, but it is now ready to rent and hopefully to begin earning it’s keep. Website should be up by end of week. We will send the link to all of you as soon as it is running.

At the end of May we will have been here for two years and sent 78 letters. We will continue the letter project, but they will be monthly unless something really exciting like a huge forest fire or the town collapsing into the mine occurs. We have enjoying sharing our adventure with all of you and hope we continue to hear from you on a regular basis. And of course we would love to show you around our part of the world.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, the Weather and Other Thoughts

May 22, 2005

Letter 23 – Second Year

Once again summer has arrived. The last few days have been in the 70s with nights in the 40s. This has been a welcome relief from two Wednesdays ago when we had snow that lasted most of Wednesday and Thursday. We only had eight inches. But that is because it did not start to stick until Wednesday night after sundown. Of course the summer weather we are experiencing does not mean winter is gone. Two years ago just a few days after we moved here we had about four inches of snow on the 1^st of June.

Deadwood has, at least temporally, solved its mountain lion problem. They shot and killed him. This occurred after they discovered he had buried his most recent kill with in about 200 yards of the elementary school. It was in a wooded spot that over looked the play ground. He turned out to be an old male who was losing his teeth. The question is now how long will it take for a younger and stronger male to discover the territory is now up for grabs.

We spent last weekend at Devils Tower and are happy to say the motor home worked perfectly after a winter in storage. We had a wonderful weekend and took a four mile hike on Saturday along a trail from the campground that crosses the prairie dog colony and then goes uphill to circle the tower before returning to the campground. We saw turkeys, white tail deer, rabbits, hawks and even a coyote. And the rain and snow this month have helped green up the landscape.

We have done some local hiking this week including a hike to the Devils Bathtub. This hike was about 3 miles round trip, but involved about seven stream crossings which resulted in wet and cold feet. (yes Trish – kinda like a death march) We have made a list of local hikes we want to take and plan to get out and about more than we did last summer.

This weekend we will be motor homing to the Badlands in North Dakota (Theodore Roosevelt National Park). We will leave on Wednesday or Thursday and return on Saturday or Sunday. We have some hikes planned for the area while we are there. We are determined to be in shipshape for hiking when we do our Glacier/Yellowstone/Grand Teton Park trip in late August. One of the hikes we want to take in the Tetons is Surprise Lake. We have done this one before, so we are aware that it is 4.5 miles one way with an elevation gain of around 4,500 feet. Last time it took us about 5 hours to go up and 1.5 to come down.

In addition to our outdoor experiences this week we also had a cultural experience. On Saturday night we attended a dance recital that included around 80 performers from age 4 to about 60. The show is put on by “Dance Alley,” a local dance school run by a friend of ours. She teaches jazz, tap and ballet to all age levels. This year’s theme was “It’s all Rock and Roll,” and it was a fun and lively show.

We have also finished some projects on our patio that we started last year. We built the last part of the flower box wall and covered the steel columns that hold the lower retaining wall in place. We also took our nine foot umbrella off its base and mounted it to the wall. This freed up about three feet of space on the patio and makes it much easier to sit four at the table for dinner or chatting.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, the Weather and Other Thoughts

June 12, 2005

Letter 24 – Second Year

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOREY”

(June 12)

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEIL”

(June 6)

“HAPPY 1st ANNIVERSITY NEIL and LORI”

(June 5, 2004)

The weather this week has been mixed. We have daytime temps from the 50s to the high 70s with periods of sun, rain, sleet and hail. The moisture has been good for us, unless you consider the grass cutting aspect of rain and sunshine.

Kathy and I were part of the Lead Historic Preservation Commission painting team for “paint the town” week. This is a project sponsored by Northern Hills Housing Service (NHS) as part of Neighborhood Works Week. The project involves painting houses for people who are unable to do it themselves. NHS selected five houses, two in Lead, two in Deadwood and one in Central City, this year. Several teams from various groups and businesses are assigned to each house. Kathy and I spent about 20 hours between us working on the house this week and the final painting was done on Saturday. It’s seems strange that we have done more priming, caulking, scraping and painting on a total strangers house than we have on our two houses. We did enjoy it, however, and made new friends while working. For those of you who play trivia, the first ever Paint the Town was done in Deadwood, SD, 11 years ago and has now evolved into a nationwide program.

This is also the week I chose to do the painting we needed to do on the Inn so it has been a real week of work. (I thought I was retired, oh well). We are repainting the whole front of the Inn and touching up the other sides in a few places. The front is the side that bakes in the sun all day. When I took some paint chips from the house to the local hardware store to get a computer match for the paint the owner suggested I could get a better match if he brought his portable paint analyzer to the house. This sounded good to me so we hopped in my car and went to the house so he could shoot the paint. This was done at no charge, love small town living.

We took a motor home trip two weeks ago to Theodore Roosevelt National Park at Medora, ND. This park is in the Badlands of ND. We had a good trip and shared our campsite with several 2000lb buffalos. The park has a herd of buffalo and about 90 wild horses. We got to see two groups of the horses, the buffalo herd and the old bulls that hung out on the campground. It was nice to compare these badlands to the ones in SD. The big difference is the ones in ND have grass and trees so they do not appear as stark as ours. It was about a five hour and very boring drive. I say boring because after the first 20 miles or so the road is almost straight the rest of the way. I do remember a slight curve to the left and one to the right along the way. We passed by the Cave Hills in SD along the way, but due to past uranium mining in this area it is recommended that you spend no more than one day a year there. This area was mined before there were laws governing reclamation once mining ceased.

We have a trip planned to the Hole in the Wall area of the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming for Fathers Day. This is the area where the Hole in the Wall gang and other outlaws hid cattle they rustled in the 1800s. We will be staying at a national forest campground which means, due to my advanced age, we can camp for half price.

I have a friend, Buddy, from my days in Greenville, NC whose daughter, Alice is an accomplished Bluegrass musician. She plays with her friend Rick and they sent us a copy of their first CD last week. We have played it umpteen times already and for those of you who enjoy Bluegrass music I recommend you check out their web site – http://www.gabrieldance.com/zincone - and listen to the cuts they have on the site.

As of May, 30^th we have been here two years. We arrived with a 35-foot Penski truck, two cars, three cats and a dog along with Neil without whose help we would have had a much harder trip. Also the help Torey, Leigh, Lori, Margie and he gave us in packing was absolutely great and there is no way to say thanks enough. In many ways it feels like we have been here forever and in others like we just arrived. We have adjusted pretty well to not having a life clock that runs on a work schedule although we have managed to stay quite busy. We have often wondered why we did not do this sooner in life and the answer always comes back to resources and the fact that we feel you do things when they are meant to be.  

Small town living is suiting us well and we do not miss things like movies theaters, malls and traffic jams. We do miss our kids and the wonderful friends we had in our other life, but with email, cells phones, FedEx and airplanes we have managed to stay in touch. One of the things about small town living is that you really get to know a lot of people and it seems as if close to half the town is related to the other half. There are many families here who have been here since the late 1800s and with uncles, cousins, grandchildren and in-laws are related to a huge number of people living here. Of course, this means you have to be careful how you talk about people, easy for me of course.

The other aspect of living here is the beauty of the area and the Black Hills are truly beautiful. I am often reminded of a passage in John Muir’s book “Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf” in which he said:

“Thousands of tired, nerve shaken, over civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home, that wilderness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”

The landscape is diverse from the near by plains to the hills and each area has its own personality. Of course, living among this beauty makes one spoiled and I find that I’m getting picky about things such as sunrises and sunsets. When you have so many spectacular ones you begin to expect bigger and better things. I now find what was special two years ago is now an every day occurrence and it really takes a special one for me to say “wow.” This does not mean that I do not truly enjoy the day-to-day ones and I still take a few quite moments to wonder at the sight of them.

We have added a new button to the web site www.innonminersave.com . Clicking on this will lead you to some photo albums we have posted on the so we can share photos of our lives and travels with all of you. We will be adding photos to this site on a regular basis so for a look at “Our Point of View” please check it out.

This will be the last of our every two week letters and we will now only do one per month. The first monthly one will be at the end of June. Both Kathy and I have enjoyed sharing our journey with all of you and to hearing from you about your lives and hope that you will continue to stay in touch.

Ross and Kathy

June 8, 2003

Letter 1

This is the story of, depending on who you are or how you look at it, a journey, the start of the fulfillment of a dream, or just plain wackiness. We did have a brief, five minute rain shower on Friday night and today has been mostly drizzle with some snow showers mixed in.

The characters in this story include us, Ross and Kathy, along with Ross’s two daughters Torey and Leigh and Kathy’s son Neil.  Also there are 3 cats, Raji, Rachel and Montana and a dog named Whiskey.

For me, Ross, the dream started in September of 1991 after a two-week trip Kathy, the 3 kids and I took to Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana.  It was then that I decided I wanted to live in the West before I was to old to enjoy it.  I think Kathy began to have the same thoughts about the same time, but I’ll let her tell her side.

The journey or, as some say, the madness started in October 2002…  It was a dark and dreary night… sorry, wrong story.  Kathy came home from work one night and I joined her for dinner at her house.  It was during dinner that she announced that she was going to leave her job, she had been there 26 years, sell her house, buy a motor home and move to South Dakota.  I started thinking this sounded pretty good, but that we should wait until I was 62.  As the next week or so went by the 62 changed to I could put my house on the market in July of 2003.  It did not take much longer for me to change that to April.

A lot happened between October and April, Kathy sold her house and moved with her stuff and animals to my house, we got married, and Montana learned that he was not the only cat in the world.  In February we flew to South Dakota and drove to Lead/Deadwood to look for a house.  Why Lead you ask…  Kathy has a friend from work who owns a spread in Hill City, SD and recommended Lead for its affordability and potential.  Lead is located in the Black Hills and sits at about 5,200 feet.  It is a small town built in a small valley and on the two hillsides that flank it.

The house we found was a story and a half with, by Lead standards, a fair sized lot. The house is 102 years old and is located in what was once the Italian neighborhood of this historic mining town. The house has been described by us as funky, eclectic, great, and in need of some (lots of) attention.  It was at this point that I think some people began to think Kathy and I were just plain nuts.  The idea of going to a state and town you had never visited before, spending 4 days, buying a house, and preparing to move, apparently to some, is a somewhat less than sane thought.

About this time a few things hit home…  We would miss our children greatly.  I had spent the last 29 years speaking to or seeing one or the other of my daughters almost daily. Also, there were friends I had known, some for over 20 years and others at work that I had eaten lunch with close to daily for 4 years.  These were friends who knew our children and animals and whose children and animals we knew.  We knew their good points and bad, their ups and downs…we knew them and leaving them was difficult.  We are grateful for the many well wishes from our friends who supported us even though they were (are) sure we are in the throes of a mid-life crisis!

Reality really hit on May 22, my last day at work. Being jobless created stress and loss even when planned.  By then my house had been sold and the closing and our departure were set for May 27.  We had those few days to finish packing, say goodbye to friends and load the truck.  We picked up the 25-foot, actually with the cab it was about 33 feet long, truck and tow dolly on Saturday, May 24 and started the job of loading our life into the 25-foot box of the truck.  Once loaded my car would be put on the tow dolly making the length of the truck and car around 50 feet.  Kathy’s car would carry the 3 cats, dog and provide refuge for one person to drive at a time.   If you can call driving with three cats meowing from their travel cages in the back and a dog in the passenger side up front a refuge.  Actually for me driving the truck proved to be more of a refuge.

The final packing and loading meant some hard decisions on what to give away and what to take–not to mention the actual process of getting it out of the house and on to the truck. This could not have been accomplished without Neil’s help. He proved to be a master at packing, carrying and leaving things behind. Torey and Leigh were also instrumental in helping with this part of the task. Last two nights in Annapolis were spent in sleeping bags since the beds were loaded on Sunday.

Our trip West started on Tuesday, May 27.  Kathy and Neil loaded the car on the tow dolly with the help of Steve, one of the neighbors that we will miss.  Steve and I had had many a conversation from deck to deck in the years we were neighbors.  While Neil and Kathy headed west in the big yellow truck, I went to the closing on my house.  When this was completed I (with the cats and dog) headed west to catch up with them.  They were about 100 miles ahead so it was late afternoon before we joined up.  We spent the first night of the trip at a small motel on just across the Pa. line in Ohio.

The next morning we again headed west. It was my turn to drive the truck, my turn lasted all day. We crossed Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and spent the night just over the border in Wisconsin. Kathy spent part of the day in the truck with me so that Neil could have some alone time in the car, of course that meant being with the cats and dog. Not exactly quality alone time but there were the CD & tape players. We crossed Wisconsin and Minnesota that day and ended up in Chamberlain, South Dakota, for the final night of the trip.

On Friday we crossed the Missouri River and continued west.  More fuel stops, the truck gets about 5 miles per gallon so on a 1700-mile trip there are frequent fuel stops.  It’s a shock to fill up a 60-gallon tank.  We made one tourist stop on the trip at Wall, South Dakota–couldn’t go by there with out stopping at the famous “Where in the Heck is Wall Drug”– sort of a very upscale South of the Border.

We arrived at our new home town of Lead at around 1:30 p.m. and drove to the new house to meet Bill, our Realtor, for a walk through prior to our afternoon closing so the fun of unloading could begin.  The unloading lasted part of Friday evening, all of Saturday and a good part of Sunday.  The heaviest stuff, i.e., sleep sofa and dressers, were the first things on the truck and that meant the last things off.  As we reached this point we were able to get some help from several of the new neighbors and was it ever so welcome.  On Monday I had the task of returning the truck to Cheyenne, Wyoming.  I left with car in tow at around 7 a.m. and 2 tanks of fuel later arrived at the turn in point around 1:30 p.m.  After a quick trip to the local Home Depot, I headed home, much more comfortable and a little faster in the car and arrived in Lead about 7:30 p.m.; what a long day behind the wheel.

Moving in was not with out some problems however.  During the walk through we discovered a leak in the bathroom.  One that meant we had to turn the water off until a plumber could get to the house, this was not until Monday.  To use the bathroom, we had to run down to the basement and turn the water on, flush, and run back down to turn it off.  We had decided to join the YMCA, which has an indoor pool, and for the time being more importantly showers.  The plumber arrived on Monday and actually cost less than the credit we received at settlement for the leak and now all is well with the plumbing.  After the water was turned back on, there was a leak in kitchen sink drain, however, this was one I could do myself.  It only took 4 trips to hardware store to get the right parts.   Old houses have their charm, also their problems.

Of course the unloading left the truck empty and many rooms in the house a sea of boxes.  It may take a while longer to work our way through these, but as of today we have a usable kitchen, living room, dining room, bedroom, and computer/study room.

We have made a shopping trip to Rapid City, about an hour away, to purchase a washer and dryer from Lowes.  Service here is no better than that at home.  Washer and dryer arrived today so we now have clean clothes to wear.  Today was the first perfect weather day since our arrival.  Yesterday we had snow for half the day and before it ended it was sticking on the grass and trees.  This morning as I looked up at Terry Peak you could see a blanket of snow on the ski slopes, happy June 8, 2003!

We have been shopping for a gas fireplace and are in the process of selecting the model and dealer.  If all goes well, we should be able to have it installed in 3 to 4 weeks. Once it  is in I can start installing the base cabinets on the wall flanking the fireplace and the book shelves from the counter top to the ceiling.

We have been here a week now and it is starting to feel like we live here.  We have hung up some of the artwork and the pictures of the kids are starting to appear around the house.  There are still some items we packed that we could use and haven’t found yet, but they will turn up and we do have the essentials; coffee maker, tea, working kitchen, TV, Internet, food in the fridge and library cards.

Weather here the first week was damp and by our standards chilly.  Rained some everyday and of course there was the issue of the snow.  Today was sunny all day and the upcoming weeks look like pretty good weather.  Temps are now in mid 60s to low 70s during the day and high 30s to low 40s at night.

The pine trees smell fresh and the air is clean.  Depending on the time of day and the cloud cover the sky is an incredible shade of blue.  At night the sky, when clear, is full of bright stars.  We are grateful for the opportunity to live in this beautiful part of the country!.

This is the first of what we hope will be a weekly update.

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

Week 2

June 15, 2003

We have now been here two weeks and I guess, having traded our Maryland drivers licenses for South Dakota ones, we are officially residents. The process was easy. We only had to go to Sturgis and fill out an application, no test, get our pictures taken and that was it.

We have been to the Y for five of the last six nights and hope to continue at this level. It is a great facility for such a small town; almost Olympic size pool with a divided section so that lap swimmers don’t get mixed up with kids playing, a whirlpool tub, sauna, walking/running track above pools, weight and exercise equipment room and two racquet ball courts. We started the first two nights with lap swimming, about 10 the first and 18 the second, followed by a soak in the whirlpool. On the third night I used the track while Kathy did laps in the pool. The track takes 17 laps to make a mile. After a mile walk I joined Kathy for pool laps. On the forth night I stepped it up a little and did a mile and one half, running about a third of a mile of this. The fifth night I ran one half mile and walked a mile. The elevation here is over 5000 feet so it may take me a while to reach my goal of running three miles four to five times per week. Kathy continues to swim laps and is up to around 25 laps. We then spend time in the whirlpool before returning home.

We made our second trip to Spearfish this week to do some shopping and pricing of materials we need for some home projects. On the way back we drove through Spearfish Canyon, the site were the snow scenes in “ Dances With Wolves” where filmed. This is a beautiful ride through a narrow canyon with limestone cliffs that tower 1000 feet above it for most of the drive. We took a side trip in the canyon to Rough Lock Falls and also stopped to see Bridal Veil Falls. We will be going back, there are several National Forest Service campgrounds on the side road above Rough Lock and it’s only about 20 minutes from Lead.

We have continued with some projects around the house. Preparing the front window trim for painting, caulking and sanding and Kathy has started trimming the much-neglected lilac bushes in the yard. We also removed an old set of very rotten stairs from one side of the yard that went from the front yard to the upper back yard. There was a set on each side and we really only need one of them. The ones left are concrete and stone.

We have also done some weeding in two existing flowerbed areas and are planning what to plant. Kathy has completed making the screens for the dining room window and they have turned out great. We bought the material for this project at Lowes and then just followed the directions that we got from an Internet site on home projects.

On Friday night we went to Deadwood for the “Wild Bill Hickok Days” parade. Cowboys, cowgirls and gunslingers on horseback along with the 7th Calvary Drum and Bugle Corps, not the current one, but re-enactors of Custer’s 7^th. Parade also had a stage coach and fire trucks. It was a fun event. The gunslingers, unlike those where we used to live and work, were shooting blanks.

The animals have continued to provide us with a lot of entertainment. Montana, also know as Monty, Squeaky or Idiot Cat is turning into an escape artist, we have to be on the lookout any time we open a door. For those of you who don’t know, he spent the 1^st ten years of his life as an indoor cat with the exception of one escape in 1992 when he got out and stayed gone for 3 nights. This spring prior to our move we had started letting him out some because Kathy was home to watch him. He would stay in our yard or the neighbors and did not seem to want to roam far. We have let him out some here also and he has found several favorite spots in our neighbors’ yard. Their yard, like ours, has an upper back yard that is level with the one story back part of their house and Monty has taken up sleeping up under the edge of their roof on top of the storm cellar. Raji also likes their yard, but he tends to come home more frequently to check in with us. He is also very verbal about wanting out and will also dig at the door to get out. Montana also does this, you’d think after ten years of trying this he would give up. The most vocal of all is Rachel, but she is loud about food. The first one up in the morning, which is usually me, is greeted with a meow song that does not stop until she has been fed, 5 minutes – 30 minutes….no difference, she continues until there is food in her bowl, much like raising children. Whiskey, the dog, has adjusted very well, same routine as in Annapolis, get up, eat, go out for necessary events, sleep, eat, go out and than sleep for the night.

We have met a few more of the neighbors and so far they are all really nice. The street we live on has kids that range in age from 4 to around 16 or so and the amazing thing is that the 4 year olds can ride bikes up and down the street including the hills, strong little legs are being produced here, with no fear of being hurt or abducted. There is usually and older child, age nine or ten, with them. It’s just amazing when you consider that this was not commonplace where we moved.

The weather here this week has been wonderful, 70 to 80 during the day and low to mid 40s at night. There have been afternoon showers most days and on Friday we had

pea-size hail that actually started to accumulate, but it was all over in about 30 minutes.

We are still going to bed early and getting up early……..stayed up last night until 11:00, the latest for us. The full moon last night was centered in our living room window and from here you feel as if you could reach out and touch it. We are in love with this part of the country and continue to feel that this was the right place for us.

We have had a fair amount of e-mail contact with friends and many e-mails and phone calls from the kids and that really helps when we are this far away from them. Thanks Kids. Also today was Fathers Day and Torey, Leigh and Neil all called to say happy fathers day. Cards and presents arrived this week from the kids…soon we will be cooking on a new gas grill in the yard. Thanks kids.

Went to church for the first time since arriving. Small Episcopal Church in Deadwood that has services on the second and fourth Sunday, on the first, third and fifth the services are at the church in Lead.

Wild Bill Hickok Days ended today with a free concert by Sawyer Brown on Main Street in Deadwood. Good music and a crowd that lent itself to the art of people watching. Crowd ranged from the stroller to the geriatric set and it was not only the bikers who were fun to watch.

Many of you have asked for pictures and we will be sending some. We are looking into setting up a small web site for pictures. If we put them in the letters, those of you with dial up service could have very long down load times. More on this later.

Ross & Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

June 22, 2003

Letter 3

As we end our third week here in South Dakota, it is hard to believe that it has been that long or that short; depends on how you look at it. One thing is evident and that is that coming here was the right decision for us. This is a wonderful town with great people and surrounded by incredible beauty.

Our neighbors have a huge yellow rose bush in their yard that is now in full bloom and it is a beautiful sight. It is visible from the kitchen window and sure makes dish washing more enjoyable. Guess when it finishes blooming we’ll have to consider purchasing a dishwasher.

Unpacking and projects on the house continue to move along. I have completed replacing the tub/shower surround and we now have our shower back in use. The next step for the bathroom will be painting followed by a new floor. The carport roof has been replaced. It is a flat roof that had been shingled several years ago and the rain and snow over time had not been kind to it. I purchased the materials and hired a handyman to do the actual work.  The front yard had an ugly cattle wire fence with metal poles, that is now gone and it has really improved the look of the house from the street.  I have also set up a workbench in the garage and built shelves to hold tools, got to use my nail gun…very cool. We continue to work on other small things: curtains are up in the dining room, light over the sink, getting the trim on the porch windows cleaned up to paint and general small projects here and there.

This week we had several outings: one to Spearfish to Safeway and to get eye drops for Kathy. Also made one to Rapid City, 41 miles, to go to Sam’s Club and Lowes. Sam’s Club is dangerous because of impulse buying. This time they had the new Harry Potter hardback for $15.42 so we now have it to read. We also got Kathy’s car registered and now have SD plates on it. No sales tax to pay to bring it into the state and no inspection required – - what a change.

The animals continue to entertain the neighbors and us. Montana, who will go out every chance he gets, loves to sleep on the back of the neighbor’s roof. Mornings are still full of childlike demands for food and to be let out to play on whoever gets up first.

We have had a chance to does some exploring this week. Bill, our Realtor came by and took us for a ride to show us where some of the local trailheads are. He told us that a mile up one of them was an active beaver pond. We have been to this twice and both times Mr. Beaver has come out to patrol the edge of his pond and has let us know it is his by thumping his tail and splashing water high into the air. He is quite large and fun to watch. I’m sure we will hike this trail many more times before the snow prevents us from going up the trail. We are able to take Whiskey, the dog not the liquid, on this trail and she really enjoys the walk. We also took a ride to Iron Lake and up to the lookout on Cement Ridge. Iron Lake is small with a campground and swimming. Cement Ridge, over the border in Wyoming, is at 6685 feet and provides a 360 view of the surrounding area. We are told that at night you can see the lights of Gillette, Wyoming, 65 miles away. Both of these places are in the Black Hills National Forest. The forest roads are mostly maintained gravel, in better shape than some of the streets I drove on in Baltimore to get to work. In many areas there are meadows alongside the road and they are starting to fill with wild flowers, wonderful yellows, purples and pinks.

We are planning some future trips, which include The Badlands, Wounded Knee, Custer State Park and many more.

We continue to make good use of the Y for exercise, mostly swimming now that we are taking walks on some of the trails. The local library is another place we have made good use of, plenty of time to read. As we are out and about in town, we continue to explore the streets and neighborhoods. It really is a fun town to prowl around in. There are some neat and unusual houses here.

This week the TV has been full of ads to celebrate “Lakota victory Day”, the day of “Custer’s Last Stand” at one of the Lakota Reservation Casinos.

The weather this week has been delightful, high 70s to 80 during the day and mid 40s to low 50s at night with no rain to speak of.

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

June 29, 2003

Letter 4

First, some thoughts and wondering. Our house sets at 5,485 feet in the Black Hills according to my GPS. We are several thousand feet below the high point in the hills. Now, if my memory, as poor as it is, serves me right, the highest point on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia is a little over 4,000 feet. Why are they mountains and these are hills? Is it Eastern height envy or do Westerners think smaller. Should it be Black Mountains and Shenandoah Hills…makes sense to me. Oh well, maybe over the ages all this will be determined.

It has been another week of house projects and small outings. I’ve set up a workbench in the garage for all our power tools and me. This could be dangerous. Our gas grill has been purchased, assembled, actually works, and we have grilled four meals on it. We have continued to work on preparing the bathroom for painting and have finished removing the ugly wallpaper from the living room. Fortunately, only one wall in the house had wallpaper. Actually, there appear to be at least two layers.  It will soon be painted and before long will have a gas fireplace, base cabinets and book shelves. We have sketched the fireplace, cabinets and shelves on the wall to get a sense of scale and position. Cut the grass this week. This is the second cutting since we arrived. The cool weather with ample rain has made for a good crop of grass. Although to some it may seem all we do is fix stuff and work on things, we have a lot of time to read, relax and explore.

On Thursday evening we, along with our neighbor Bev, took another walk to see Mr. Beaver and sure enough he came out to patrol his pond and thump his tail at us. While we were watching his antics, a lady with two dogs, one with three legs and one named Harley, showed up. It turns out that Harley and Mr. Beaver are old friends and love to chase each other around the pond. As soon as Harley arrived, he dove right into the pond and proceeded to look for his friend. Much tail thumping, splashing and general swimming around in the pond followed this. Both of them seemed to enjoy themselves and it certainly provided us with a good evening’s entertainment. Kathy and I also went to the pond tonight. I stayed by the pond and watched Mr. Beaver while Kathy, who wanted a longer walk, took Whiskey and continued up the trail for another mile or so. I’m certain we will spend many more evenings before the winter snows close the trail watching and learning about Mr. Beaver.

We are sharing the new Harry Potter book. Friday night, after a cup of my obviously, by Kathy’s’ “standards,” too potent coffee, she stayed up and read until daylight. I went to bed at about 10:45 and was unaware that she was up all night. Sleeping soundly has its benefits.

The 4^th of July is approaching and it seems as if they take that very seriously here in Lead. The celebration will start on Thursday and continue through Saturday. Events include outdoor concerts (free of course) food stands, vendors, parade and fireworks. The parade is open to all and I’m told will include decorated bikes and trikes, individuals, floats and marching units. The parade is held in Deadwood and then comes up the hill to Main Street in Lead. The fireworks show is held over the open cut, part of the old Homestake Gold Mine. We are lucky because our street dead ends at the top of the cut so all we have to do is take our chairs and go to the end of the street which is about two to three city blocks from the house. The locals tell us that that it will be a great show and parade and we are looking forward to being a part of a small town 4^th. The fact that many units of the South Dakota National Guard, some from this area, are serving in Iraq will give a very patriotic flavor to this year’s 4^th celebration.

The other big upcoming event is the annual Sturgis Rally and because this is Harley Davidson’s 100th anniversary they are expecting record crowds. We have been told this could be the biggest rally ever, the largest in the past has been estimated at 750,000 (equal to the population of the state) so we will see what this year brings. Hotels, motels and campgrounds sell out for up to 100 miles away and the traffic apparently becomes like the beltway in a bad rush hour. We have been told to grocery shop and fill up the gas tank on the cars before the Rally opens and then hope we don’t need anything for that week. Our Realtor told us in the past he has waited in line 30 minutes just to buy gas and we are about 20 miles from Sturgis. Should be a fun week with a lot of sites to see.

We have continued to make it to the Y for swimming and walking/running at least 4 nights per week. I guess the exersize will not hurt us. We are getting better at dealing with the elevation issues as they pertain to swimming, walking and running. Of course all this exercise makes one hungry so we usually follow the trips to the Y with a bowl of ice cream, not sure if that’s a good idea, but it sure tastes good.

We attended church again and were pointed out as the new people in town. Following church there is coffee in the basement and this gives us a chance to meet new people and find out more about the town, the area and its people.

The scenery here continues to thrill us. I never knew there could be so many shades of green. It seems as if every species of plant has it’s own shade and with no drought this year it is a site to see. Add to this the wide variety of wild flowers; pinks, yellows, whites and purples; and the white limestone mixed with darker shale and you really have a work of art wherever you go. The early morning and late evening light is also ever changing. From the front windows of the house we can look across the valley that holds Main Street to the ridge beyond. The trees on the ridge top are spectacular to see when the early and late light silhouettes them. They are different each day as the light and clouds change. As you can tell, we are in love with our surroundings.

The kids continue to call and email us somewhat regularly and things are up with them also. Leigh has left her job at the Naval Academy and starts a new one this Monday in Bethesda. She is now living with her sister and Tim, her sister’s longtime housemate. Neil is off for a week of climbing and visiting with friends in Arizona while Lori is attending a friend’s wedding at Cape Cod.

The animals continue to provide us with laughter. Whiskey still tries to keep the cats out of the bedroom. This is an effort that always fails yet she continues to try. She also has failed to keep Rachel away from the table at mealtime. Cats have now learned to let themselves in and out of the back door. It doesn’t shut tight unless you really pull on it and they can push it from the inside to go out and pull it with their paws from the outside to get in. Montana also has discovered that the living room window pushes out. He is now somewhat perplexed because we have a screen, thanks to head screen maker Kathy, in place. We find him sitting in the window staring at it as if to say, “what happened”. Rachel is still the mouthy one of the bunch and I guess this will never change.

Since we are only 40 miles from Rapid City and Ellsworth Air Force Base, we occasionally get to see the B1 Bombers flying overhead or sometimes we just hear the noise of them as they make low level practice runs up some of the valleys in the Black Hills National Forest.

The weather this week, except for one day of rain, has been delightful. Mid 40s at night and 60 to 75 during the day. Plenty of sunshine and an ever-changing display of passing clouds.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

July 6, 2003

Letter 5

First, some comments on South Dakota weather. This past week has been absolutely delightful. The week started with daytime temperatures in the 90s, but ended with temps in the 80s while nighttime temps stayed in the 50s to low 60s. Several weeks ago the eastern part of the state experienced several days of very severe weather. On one day about 60 tornadoes were spotted amid the thunder and hail storms. One needs to keep in mind that hail here can be considerably larger than we were used to in Maryland. The local TV news had film of a man holding a hailstone that had come through the roof of his house leaving a hole big enough for him to climb through. The stone measured 17.5 inches and there were a bunch this size. We did have hail here in Lead yesterday, but it was of the pea to dime size variety. The other side of the weather is winter. We have been told SD has four seasons, June, July, August and winter. The neighbors have been talking about a winter several years ago when in March they had 107 inches of snow in 36 hours.

Wednesday we had our first visitor, Kathy’s friend from her DC job came up from Hill City for a short visit. We went out for Chinese food at Miss Kitty’s in Deadwood. It was a great evening.

We continue to work on small projects around the house. The living room wall from which we removed the ugly wallpaper has been painted in preparation for the fireplace installation. The gas and electric companies have been by to see where they need to run the proper hookups. The next step will be for Kathy and me to build the frame to hold the fireplace. Since it will be here in about a week we will get this done this week. The bathroom has received a coat of primer and is now ready for the final painting. We have also continued to work on the window trim, scraping and sanding, and it should soon be ready to paint. We removed the storm windows from the living room and discovered in the process that several of the living room windows actually open. They swing out from the bottom and currently there is no hardware to hold them open, but a ruler seems to work fine. The 90-degree temps made us realize a need for some window dressings. That meant another trip to Lowes in Rapid City for tab top curtains, rods and mini-blinds. It also meant a day of putting up hardware and hanging curtains and mini-blinds. We now have curtains in the living room and the glass enclosed front porch, as well as new mini-blinds in the bedrooms and kitchen. The old ones in the kitchen suffered from several years of cooking and smoke deposits, nasty to the touch.

We have purchased a small table along with several chairs for the side patio and have enjoyed sitting out there for coffee/tea and several meals. The area needs some landscape work, but we will get to that eventually.

The 4^th of July in Lead was great. We walked downtown in the morning (it is not too bad going, but coming back is all uphill) for an old time Medicine Show and then again that afternoon for the parade. The parade was really neat and small town. There were decorated tractors, golf carts, ATVs, jeeps and trucks. Also there were several entries from local businesses and one from the SD National Guard Family Support Group. There was only one marching band, a high school from Minnesota and did they look hot in their heavy dark uniforms. Parades always seem to bring out the politicians and this one was no different. There were the Mayors of Lead, Deadwood, Sturgis and several other nearby communities as well as our state senator and representatives.

The evening fireworks show was one of the best I’ve ever seen. They fired off about 600 shells and the view we had from the end of our street was fantastic. The sound effects as the shots echoed back and forth between the hills was impressive.

We continue to walk to see Mr. Beaver several nights a week. One night this week he did not show up, but he made up for it on another night when both he and Mrs. Beaver were out for a swim. We have also continued to explore the trail beyond the pond and have seen several white tail deer and mule deer in the meadows along the trail. We take Whiskey, the dog not the liquid, on these walks with us and she really seems to enjoy going.

Today we explored some more of the surrounding country. We took back roads, most of them here are, to the small town of Rochford, actually, a spot where two roads meet that has a saloon and an antique shop. The saloon seems to be a must stop for tourists and bikers. After leaving Rochford we followed several secondary maintained gravel roads

to Hill City. This is a town full of eateries and stores for tourists. From there we went to Custer State Park and drove over the Needles Highway. Named for the rock formations along it that resemble clusters of sewing needles sticking up from a pincushion. Along the highway are several one lane rock tunnels. The last two frame the faces on Mount Rushmore, really neat to see. Also, while in the park, we came across a traffic jam caused by a herd of around 100 buffalo crossing the highway in a very slow and leisurely manner. No one seemed inclined to get out of their cars and hurry them along and I doubt if the universal traffic gesture would have helped. They were fun to see and it was especially interesting to watch the cows with calves make sure the calves got across the road. Many of them also stopped to roll back and forth in the dirt to coat themselves for protection from biting insects. It was a great day with roadside views of lush green meadows and fast running streams along side the roads for most of the trip.

The following links can be used to access more information about the area, history and attractions. Also, Kathy and I are working on putting together a web page of pictures and will let you know when it is available for viewing.

http://www.leadmethere.org/

http://www.travelsd.com/

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

July 13, 2003

Letter 6

The weather this week, until today, has again been absolutely delightful. Nights in the 50s, days in the low to mid 80s and a nice breeze. Today, however, all that changed. It reached about 100 and humid for here, around 60%. Sky is clouding up and getting dark so we are hoping for an afternoon/evening thunderstorm to cool us off. Remember, we along with most of the people here, have no air conditioning. Oh well, snow is probably just around the corner.

Our big event for the week was the purchase of two 21-speed bicycles. They are not quite trail bikes nor are they city bikes. They are called comfort bikes. Main difference between them and trail bikes is that these have a larger seat, for comfort, and allow you to ride in a more upright position, much easier on these old backs. The area has hundreds of miles of bike trails and we will work on being able to ride on a wide variety of them. For now, we are riding up to the beaver pond, all up hill, but the grade is less than three percent and it’s only about a mile. There is a trail between Lead and Deadwood that we plan to take soon. It’s about four miles, but all down hill so we will take one car to the lower end to eliminate, for now, the need to ride back uphill. For those who may be wondering, yes we also bought helmets. All of the bike trails out here have signs that say “Don’t crush your melon, wear a helmet.” We are still going to the Y for swimming.

The first night we rode to the pond, Mr. Beaver was not out; however, last night both of them were out and we watched them for about 45 minutes along with the mother of a trail walking couple we have met along the trail on several occasions. They walk to lose weight and she came along to take photographs of the beaver. It turns out her son is the head of the fire department here in Lead. The Lead Fire Department has two paid fire fighters and the rest are volunteers.

As always, we continue to work on house projects. This week I completed the front porch window project and they are now painted and, even if I do say so myself, it does brighten up the appearance of the house from the street. I completed building the frame on the living room wall to hold the gas fireplace so now it’s just the waiting for it to arrive and be installed. The weather today makes this seem like a silly project, however I’m sure it will not be long before we will appreciate having it. An added bonus is that the position it will be in on the living room wall will allow us to view it from the dining room table. Other projects this week included the installation of a new front door lock along with dead bolt and Kathy planted snake plants (AKA mother-in-law tongues) in the built in planter box that sits on a low wall between the kitchen and laundry. We will see how long they last before the cats treat them as a salad. The dead bolt was for a lower insurance rate and not because of a crime wave.

Crime here is very low. They had a bank robbery in Spearfish several weeks ago and it was big news across the state. It was the first one in Spearfish since 1983. Bag guy was an escapee from a Montana jail and is now in custody. So much for the crime report, unless we count the barking poodles across the street which could lead to crime wave of dognapping by ourselves and a few of the neighbors. We would make quite a gang I’m sure.

Our animals are really at home here now and have each staked out their own favorite sleeping spot in the house. Rachel likes the sofa, Whiskey is under the bed, Raji is on the bed and Montana has claimed the entire upstairs guestroom. The cats are also much more comfortable with the outside at this point and spend much of the day sleeping outside around the house in various shady spots. Raji, Montana and Whiskey have learned to open the kitchen screen door to let themselves in and out. It does not shut tight unless we really pull on it. Montana, after spending a night outside, is now much better about coming in at bedtime.

Kathy will be leaving in just over a week to return to Baltimore to see her son Neil and Lori, his girlfriend. Lori will be graduating from John Hopkins with a BSN in Nursing. For the last thirteen months she has been in school there in a special 13-month RN program for people who already have a college degree. It has been a very busy year for her and quite an accomplishment. After spending a few days in Baltimore visiting with them and seeing Leigh and Torey she will go to Buffalo to spend a few days with Aunt Marge. Then it will be back home to South Dakota. I will be staying here with the animals and my “honey-do list,” but that is the price I pay for being me. I do plan to take some time that week to explore more of the area and work on my photography and art.

We have continued to make good use of the gas grill, thanks again kids. Cooking out is easy and makes for a lot less heat in the house. Grill did a great job on buffalo burgers the other night and grilled eggplant and zucchini are also favorites of ours along with the normal chicken, hot dogs and burgers.

The weather has improved. We did not get any rain, but it is now 9:00pm and the temperature is down to 64.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

July 20, 2003

Letter 7

Well, it has been another warm week here in the hills. Temperatures have been in the 90s during the day, but still fall into the 50s most nights. We have had some humidity, 60 to 70%, and a thunderstorm or two, nothing to speak of. There has been quite a bit of dry lightening and the danger of forest fires is high. Nothing like last summer yet, at least that’s what we are told. Last summer brought the Grizzly Gulch Fire, which forced the evacuation of the southern half of Lead and the town of Deadwood.

Big event of the week was the purchase of a lawn mower. Really didn’t want one, but the backyard was getting out of control and it is far too big to cut with a weed-wacker. The cost of having the neighbor’s son cut it would have exceeded the cost of the lawn mower. The other fact was that he is saving his summer money for gas, he will be able to drive this fall at the age of 14 and we decided the less gas money he had, the better off we would be.

We purchased the mower in Sturgis and took a few minutes while there to drive through town and look at the Rally preparations. Chain link fences are being installed around the houses in town. We assume this is to protect the yards from the crowd that is expected. Some of the fences have signs on them saying “Vendors Invited” and we think that some people will rent their front yards to vendors for tee-shirt stands and the like. Many of the bars are cleaning up and preparing to open for the rally. The vast majority of the many bars in Sturgis are only open during the Rally. I guess they can make enough money during that period to live for the rest of the year. Also the vacant store fronts, of which there are many, are being set up for vendors to sell Tee shirts and other Rally products. I’ve heard that in a good year well over several million shirts are sold. Must be a nice chunk of change.

On Saturday we went to Spearfish for “Art in the Park.” The festival had around two hundred craft tents and many food vendors. It was fun, but a little too hot. We saw some great crafts, but resisted the urge to buy stuff. We have enough stuff that we haven’t unpacked yet. The other big event in Spearfish this weekend was the 32^nd Corvette Rally. There were over 800 Corvettes in town for the weekend. We missed the big show on Friday when four hundred of them crossed the state in a convoy on interstate 90, which would have been a sight to see.

We have continued to go to the Y for swimming almost every night and can now swim a half mile fairly comfortably, that is 36 lengths of the pool or 18 laps. It has been too hot to do much bike riding before it gets dark, but we are planning a ride to the Beaver pond tonight.

Our morning greeting is still a chorus of meows from the cats. Raji has joined Rachel as part of the choir while Montana, the dignified one, just goes to the back door and squeaks to be let out. Whiskey usually just stays in her cave under our bed and eventually gets up. This can sometimes be hours after we are up. What a life, being a pet in our house is not all bad, actually it is a very good life. We should all be so lucky.

Friday we took a long car exploration on the scenic the back roads that meander along the South Dakota/Wyoming border. The scenery is mostly trees and meadows with wildflowers and small creeks. Occasionally we will spot mule or white tail deer, but mostly cows and horses as we ride by the many small ranches that fill the area. Some of these appear like what I envision that the early homesteads must have looked like here. Small cabins and stock barns on the edge of the meadows. Of course sometimes you find one where a large camper or mansion has replaced the small cabin.

Next week brings the rodeo to Deadwood for the “Spirit of 76 Days.” This will be a week-long celebration with many rodeo events, free concerts, shoot-outs in the street (reenactments of course) and street dances. One of the bands is an old favorite of mine, Dr. Hook. Kathy will miss these events due to her trip back east; I plan on at least going to the parade and to the rodeo one night. I have promised to take pictures of all this for her. The bonus for her is that she will get to see the kids and some friends we left behind. Oh well, guess you can’t have everything.

We went to the beaver pond tonight with our neighbor Bev. Dennis, her husband, elected to watch the Cardinals game instead of walk with us. He’s addicted to the Cardinals. Mr. Beaver, Mrs. Beaver and one of the kids were out. First time we have seen three of them. Whiskey went along on the walk with us, but as usual the first thump of the beaver tail and she is ready to head for home. Tonight she slipped her collar and headed off down the trail, stopping occasionally to make sure we were following her. She finally turned around and came back when she saw us take a side trail to one of the many small meadows along the trail. The meadow was full of Bee-Balm wild flowers. Very pretty. This time of year the wild flowers here are really beyond belief.  As soon as one type is done another springs up to take its’ place.

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

July 27, 2003

Letter 8

As you all know from previous letters Kathy is back east this week so I have no editor. I will apologize up front for any errors in grammar and spelling. English class was never one of my favorites.

It has been a warn week. Thursday was 101 here in Lead and 109 in Rapid City. Friday cooled down to 99, however the saving grace is that the as soon as the sun sets it starts to cool off. Nights are still in the low 60s to high 50s so sleeping is not bad. Winner, in south central, South Dakota was the hot spot of the nation with a temperature of 115; their pervious high was 112.

The area is dry and that has created a series of forest fires to the west of us along the Wyoming Boarder. One of them near Custer, South Dakota went from around 1100 acres Thursday night to 7500 acres on Friday morning. It was a windy night and the fire just exploded. They are currently fighting it with two aerial tankers and about 800 firefighters on the ground. I might see if I can get some pictures of it since it is only about 60 miles from here.

I have spent this week doing small things around the house.  One of these projects was a new number plate for the house. We now have one, thanks to power tools, that incorporates a spruce tree, a buffalo and a mountain. Our house is now easy to spot when you drive down the street. Kathy left on Tuesday for Baltimore and than on to Buffalo on Saturday so I have been by myself. Plenty to keep me busy, but boring with just the animals. They seem sad that Kathy is not here and I’m sure they think it is my fault.

Our neighbors Bev and Dennis usually go out rock hunting in the early morning, she hunts and he sits in the car and reads, and on their return we have gotten in the habit of sharing a cup of coffee on the patio with them. We have learned a lot about the area from them and also about the different type of rocks here in the hills. They are really nice so I can overlook the fact that Dennis is a democrat. Actually I have to overlook that fact about many of you. The flip side is you have to overlook the fact that I’m a republican.

On Tuesday after taking Kathy to the airport I did some shopping at Lowes, table saw, and for staples at Wal-mart. We buy some grocery items there such as Soda and or Seltzer water. It’s cheap there and they usually have a good stock on hand. We get about 36 bottles at a time. This will last about us about 10 days. The grocery store at Wal-mart is huge with a good produce department. I have not been impressed by the Lowes Store, short staffed and no one seems to know anything, but there is hope, Home Depot is coming to a town near us.

I have made it to the Y three nights since Kathy left and I’m up to swimming 2/3rds of a mile, not bad for an old man. Sunday night I will walk with Whiskey to see Mr. Beaver and his family.

Kathy has called several times since leaving and has enjoyed her trip so far. Being able to spend time with Neil and Lori, have lunch with Leigh and Torey and see some friends was great and I must admit I would have loved to have been there. She also attended Lori’s graduation from the Nursing Program at Hopkins. We do miss the kids and the friends we left behind. Not a day goes by that we don’t laugh (in a good way) with each other about some of you and the things you have done. None of you on our

e-mail list are exempt from this, we tell stories, true ones of course, about all of you. Maybe some more than others, but they are all precious.

I did take Whiskey to the pond tonight and two of the beavers were out. Of course, once Mr. Beaver thumped his tail Whiskey wanted to take off for home. Good thing I had her on the leash, she was sending gravel in the air from all four feet as she tried to pull me down the trail. Such a brave dog. However, she is respectful of the territory of others.

The large fire I mentioned has now grown to 15,000 acres and getting larger. Have not driven down there yet, but it sounds like it will be around for a while and by the looks of things there will, unfortunately, be more to come.

The Sturgis Rally starts a week from Monday and we are looking forward to going there for one day. Everyone here says the traffic and crowds are a nightmare, but that you have to experience it one time to truly live here. Actually they say the nightmare covers several hundred miles around Sturgis.  Motorcycle traffic is increasing daily and the motels and campgrounds for hundreds of miles are booked.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

August 3, 2003

Letter 9

“The hills are alive with the sound of Harleys.” The Rally has started and a definite transformation has occurred, even here in Lead. Usually, by 9pm when we sit out front we can hear only the occasional car or voice now and then. Now we can hear the almost constant rumble of motorcycles from sunup to the time we fall asleep. It is absolutely amazing. We rode to Deadwood last night and took a walk around town and it was wall-to-wall motorcycles. Several of the public parking lots have been converted to motorcycle only; one of these in the center of town that would normally hold around 50 cars must have had 200 cycles in it. Also, the sides of Main Street where parking is allowed are filled with them and there is a constant parade of them “cruising” up and down the streets. You cannot pass a store or gas station parking lot that is not filled with them and this includes the do-it-yourself car washes. The hotel lot at the end of our street is filled with motorcycles and the trailers they arrived on. Some of these trailers will hold around 20 cycles; clubs traveling as a group. This next week is filled with events all over the Black Hills, events from rides, to G. Gordon Liddy, to concerts, Christian Motorcycle Club free breakfast to a mass marriage ceremony in Sturgis. It will be quite a week for us I’m sure. Being our first experience with Rally Week, there is a lot I/we want to see.

One of the amazing parts of the rally are the number of businesses that are only open for the two to four weeks surrounding the rally. One of these is “The Legendary Buffalo Chip Campground,” 1250 campsites with 1000 of them having full hook-ups. They also have a large pavilion for concerts and a bar that sits 450 people. Jethro Tull is one of the concerts. There is a second campground called Glencoe that is also about the same size. Both of these offer a full schedule of daily concerts, free breakfast, burnout pits and much more. The first year Glencoe was open they had 484 campers and last year they had 16,500. Also, as mentioned in a previous letter there are a number of large bars that are only open for rally time. One of these, bills itself as the worlds largest biker bar. They have concerts from 11:00am until 2:00am.

Now on to more mundane things…

Kathy arrived back from the East on Tuesday night, late but back. It seems that her flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul was delayed due to an “unflyable” airplane, just the kind of announcement you want to hear at boarding time. All ended well, a new plane was brought in and they were only delayed by about 30 minutes. It is good to have her back, the animals are happier and she really enjoyed her visit with kids, friends and family.

The fireplace arrived and has been installed in the living room. The gas company will be here on Monday to run the gas line and after that we will have a working fireplace. We will still have a thermostat to install, but will be able to have a fire without it. Of course, the bookshelf surrounds have not been built yet, but that is a project we hope to start soon. There was a retaining wall across part of the back of the house that needed some work, part of it had fallen down. We were aware of this issue when we purchased the house and were prepared to deal with it. The contractor we selected has been here and the work is completed. Felt a little sorry for the two guys doing the work. All the old material had to be removed and carried to the truck by hand in five gallon buckets and the new blocks, 85 pounds each, had to be brought up the front steps and to the back of the house by hand.  It was obvious why we felt unable to do this work ourselves.

Kathy found a farmers market in Spearfish. She and Bev rode over there this week and returned with goodies: corn, zucchini, yellow squash, fresh dill and basil, cukes and yellow beans. The supply of local or homegrown tomatoes is limited so calling ahead is suggested. Fresh vegetables on the grill are something we really like and cooking outside sure does keep the heat out of the house.

Speaking of Bev, our rock collecting neighbor, she took Kathy with her the other day on one of her trips to an area called Camp Five. This is in the National Forest and the field along the Forest Service Road where you turn off the highway has been turned into a rally participant campground, although one with out facilities. National Forest regulations allow you to camp anywhere as long as your tent is at least 50 feet from the road. Rock collecting could become a fun hobby and the cost is certainly OK.

One addition to our home we forgot to mention is the outside clothes line (fold up umbrella style). This has been something Kathy has talked about for years and Aunt Marge provided the funds.  It was purchased on a trip to Sturgis about three weeks ago. Kathy believes there is nothing better than sheets that have dried in the fresh air!  Ross, on the other hand, believes clotheslines are an economic status symbol, close to the share cropper image, but should remember that, not too long ago, it was only Italian peasants who dipped their bread in olive oil. 

We have continued to make good use of the Y for swimming almost daily. The Y now has a large sign on the highway advertising hot shower, towel and shampoo for $3.00. This is aimed at the rally crowd that is staying in primitive/undeveloped camping areas. In Baltimore/Washington we would have referred to them as homeless.

Leigh has arranged to come for a four-day visit at the end of September and Torey is planning a trip out here in October. We are excited about them coming and are looking forward to spending time with them and showing them many of the sights.

We took a walk to the beaver pond tonight and watched Mr. Beaver dragging willow branches to the bottom of the pond to store as part of their winter food stocks. We also saw two deer along the creek and upon returning to the house saw a deer and her two fawns cross our street and heading up a driveway. There is a heavily wooded section of ground between the houses on our street and the street above us. Deer feed and sleep in this area.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

August 10, 2003

Letter 10

This has been a week of constant motorcycle noise, like living near an airport you get used to it. The Rally officially ends today, but for the last several days there has been a noticeable decrease in motorcycle traffic. During the height of the Rally we could not go anywhere without seeing groups of motorcycles riding by, some of these groups numbered up to 50 just on our local roads. A neighbor told me of seeing a group of 2,000 on interstate 90, east of Rapid City, heading for Sturgis on Tuesday.

Yes, Kathy and I did go to Sturgis one day. We went around 10am and were lucky enough to find a parking place two blocks from the area on Main Street where all the action is. They block of about a six block stretch of Main Street to all except motorcycle traffic. There is have parking along the curbs and a double row down the center of the street. I guess the morning we went there were about 10 thousand motorcycles parked and plenty more riding up and down waiting for a space to open just like Christmas time in a mall parking lot. By the way since we have no malls that is an experience we can skip this year. Almost all the storefronts in downtown Sturgis were rented to a variety of vendors; tattoo parlors, tee-shirt stands, food, beer, collectibles and almost anything else a Harley rider could need or dream of. Leather seemed to be a hot item and for the ladies clothes the smaller the better appeared to be the rule.

We ate breakfast while in Sturgis. The Senior Center has an all-you-can-eat breakfast of eggs, pancakes, ham, coffee and juice for $6.00. It is their major fund-raiser for the year and they do quite well. We sat at a table with a man and his 16 year old son, their sixth year at the Rally and the first that the son rode his own bike. He was really excited about that. Several people commented that this was the only place they eat breakfast while attending the Rally. The center had a sign out front thanking bikers for the money from last year that was used to build a new concrete ramp for handicap access to the building.

There were, no surprise with a group this size, some arrests. DUIs and drugs seemed to top the list. The paper had a story of one man and swift justice. He was arrested for indecent exposure at the Sturgis City Park; don’t know what or to whom he exposed, but he has already been tried, found guilty and sentenced to 180 days in the county jail.

We did not see any strange or outrageous sites while in Sturgis. This could be due to the fact that the late nighters were still sleeping off the night before and it is nighttime when a lot of the strange and outrageous are out. Although, I must admit seeing people dressed only in a couple of Harley stickers has a certain appeal – from a purely academic point, of course.

The next big event for us will be at the end of August. This will be Deadwood Nights, four nights of Jazz, Blues and Classic Rock along with four days of Classic Car shows, contest and auctions. This will coincide with the “Ride Across Dakota” to celebrate Harley-Davidson’s 100^th anniversary. Yes, the motorcycles will be back as they head for the big Harley celebration in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – but only about 65,000 of them this time.

We have a room off the kitchen that we have decided is a pantry and needed some organizing. I have built shelves part way up one wall with pegboard at the top so we now have a place for those pesky kitchen things that you only use occasionally. You know like bread machine, deep fryer, waffle maker, George Foreman grill and many more. At least now we can locate them without having to try and remember which box they are in.

The fireplace now works, we still need the electrician to come by and hard wire the electric part, thermostat and blower control, to house wiring. However, since these are options, it is operable and I did turn it up one night just to see how it looked. It’s great and we will get a great deal of enjoyment from it. We have started the surround for it, book shelves, mantle and such. This project will take a while, carpentry was not my chosen profession, but I am getting better. They say things get better with age.

Leigh, to our delight, has changed here travel plans and will now be here at the end of this month. We are really looking forward to her visit and the time we will have with her.

My brother George and his wife called this evening to confirm that they will be out to visit around the end of August. We are looking forward to their visit and are glad that they will be here during part of Leigh’s visit. It will be nice that we can all get together.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

August 17, 2003

Letter 11

I have often accused Kathy of leading me to the frozen far north. We did have snow in June. This week, however, has seemed more like the deserts of the southwest. It has been hot, very hot. We have had daytime temperatures in the high 90s to low 100s. The saving grace is that it has dropped into the high 50s to low 60s at night. The 1^st floor of the house stays livable, but the 2^nd floor warms up a bit. Our house, as most houses here, has no air-conditioning. It has been cooler today and according to the forecast the coming week will see high temps in the mid 80s so things are looking up.

We took a ten-mile bike ride this week. We have the 143-mile  Michelson Trail that was developed for bikes and snowmobiles. No motorized vehicles are allowed outside of snow season. We took one car to the trailhead in Deadwood and then the other with the bikes to our starting point. The ride we took passed through forests, along streams, by beaver ponds, near the old Wasp and Bismarck gold mines and beside meadows. Parts of the trail are very steep, 17% grade on two sections, while the rest was just a nice ride. The deer were out in full force; mostly does with their fawns that still have their spots. We saw around 20 deer along the way. We also saw several people doing coke, but that was near the end of the ride in the on the urban part of the trail and not near as exciting as the wildlife. I must confess the secret to enjoying a 10-mile ride for me is that with the exception of about ½ mile it was all down hill. The two steep sections were down hill. The first one is grass and the second is mostly sand and gravel. With these two exceptions the trail is maintained dirt and is relatively smooth. The trail is built along an old mining railroad route and on several of the bridges you can see where they just laid planks over the old tracks.

We have taken several more exploratory car rides on some of the back roads in the area. These rides give us the flavor of the area and we have seen some really neat homes tucked away on some of these back roads. We often think it would be neat to live in some of these areas, but then realize that we like human contact and would really miss having neighbors, at the least the ones we have. If our neighbors were different we might feel differently about living in an isolated area. One of these rides was on the Yellow Creek Road and on the 7 mile section we rode on we probably saw 50 or more deer, both white tail and mule deer. This road intersects with another road, the Brownsville Road, that we have also seen a lot of deer on.

We have a low retaining wall between the sidewalk and the front yard. It appears to have been constructed with old mine timbers and was in need of replacement. I completed the job this week by tearing out the old one, moving some dirt and rock and building a new one from treated 2x8s and 2x4s. I also, at Kathy’s request, replaced our mail box post so that the mail box no longer leans to one side or is in danger of falling down. A big thanks to who ever invented the screw gun.

Harold and Marge, our neighbors on the other side of the park next to the house, invited Kathy over to pick chokecherries and she is now busy turning them into juice, later to make jelly. It will be nice to have this winter and it’s nice to have neighbors like we have.

We had a deer in the back yard this morning that was having breakfast courtesy of one of our lilac bushes. This is the first deer we have seen in our yard, although we have seen them in our neighbor’s yard and in the street.

We continue to swim and this past week we went five times. It is a great way to cool off in the summer heat and since the pool is only about 100 yards up the street from the house there is no real reason not to go.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

August 24, 2003

Letter 12

Monday and Tuesday were in the mid 80s and then the 90s to 100s were back. It is supposed to be in the mid 70s by Wednesday.

Monday was a major shopping trip day. We went to Rapid City to hit Sam’s Club,

Wal-Mart and Menards. Menards is a Midwest-based chain of home improvement stores, much like Lowes or Home Depot. We don’t have a Home Depot near us. The closest is six hours away in Wyoming. As for Lowes, I was not impressed with them in Maryland and the one here has done nothing to improve my image of them so we tried Menards. Large store with lots of staff who could actually answer questions and if they did not know the answer they went and found someone who did and brought them back to us. We got two new outdoor light fixtures, lumber for the book shelves that will surround the fireplace, concrete repair stuff and a host of other small stuff. We also found a new light fixture for the dining room, but unfortunately it was out of stock. We will keep checking with them, it is very rustic with 4 shades and deer antlers.

Sam’s Club is where we buy bulk items like cat litter, olive oil, laundry detergent and printer paper. We also buy some grocery items there. They have a good meat department and a great selection of cheese.

The Wal-Mart in Rapid City is a super store with grocery department. The selection is not bad at all and the prices are low compared to what we can get locally. We tend to buy stuff here that will keep for a while.

There were more places we would have liked to get to; however, those of you who know me and my shopping habits will understand that I reach a point where I’m done and it’s time to go home.

We left for Rapid around 10:30 am and returned home around 6:00 pm. After unloading the car my day was done, at least as far as I was concerned.

The big improvement event, there was another big event I will explain later, for this week was that the electrician came by to complete the wiring of the fireplace so that we now have a fully functioning blower unit and thermostat. While he was here we had him move the main thermostat so it is not in the same room as the fireplace and we also had an unused 220 line in the basement removed. It had probably gone to an electric hot water heater at some point and was now just hanging from the wall with electrical tape on the ends of the wire.

I also installed the new light fixtures for the front porch and back door. This was an easy job because I did not run into any surprises and they both worked first time around. We thought there was a problem with the front fixture, but then discovered it works better if the light bulb is installed.

I have been working on repairing the steps that go from the patio to backyard. The backyard is about 7 feet above the level of the patio and the old concrete steps were in desperate need of repair. The steps have hunks missing due to years of freezing and thawing. I put together a form for the steps, mixed up the concrete and poured. Repairs turned out pretty good for my first attempt at concrete work. It is a lot safer now to use the stairs.

Now for the other big event, the one that involved police, ambulance and ER visit. On Friday Kathy and our neighbor Bev were moving the sprinkler in our back yard. Once they had it in place they took off running so they would not get wet. Usually works, but our backyard is rather rough and has some dips/holes in it. Kathy stepped in a hole and as one ankle turned under she over compensated on the other ankle and turned it under also. During the fall she could hear a crack from both ankles and decided that getting up and putting weight on them was not an option. I called 911 and they dispatched a Lead police officer to stay with us until the ambulance arrived from Deadwood, three miles away.

Once the EMTs arrived it was decided that they would put her on a gurney and carry her down to the street and the ambulance, not an easy trick in our yard, 7 feet from back to front yard and another 6 feet to the street. It required the two EMTs, the police officer, myself and our neighbors, Bev and Dennis, to get the gurney down the two steep slopes to the street. Even with the wheels down it could not be rolled due to the roughness of the yard and the angles of the slopes.

I was amazed by our ER visit. For those of you who don’t know, we have a 30-bed hospital with a four bed ER. An on-call staff that must be paged to come in provides specialty services like X-Ray. Now for the amazing part, she was registered, seen, x-rayed, diagnosed, treated and discharged within 30 minutes. She has two rather badly sprained ankles and has an air splint on each, also a pair of crutches for back up. She can get around a little, but since she has me as a nurse she lacks for nothing. Lucky her.

While all the excitement was going on at the house, being watched by all the kids and half the adults on the street, Raji showed up from his daily travels and got a little spooked. He showed up again when I brought Kathy home, but was again spooked, by the crutches we think. We did not see him again until Saturday night. He was in the playground next to the house, but refused to come to the house on Friday night and where he was after that we don’t know and he’s not telling. When he did not show up Saturday morning or during the day we began to worry and made plans for a Sunday search and visit to the animal shelter. I had walked down to the end of the street several times calling him and Kathy had hobbled down the street once. Bev also helped by checking the street above us for any signs of him. Saturday night he showed up just as I was going to bed. I had left the front porch open in case he came home and had actually gone to bed, but Kathy needed a glass of ice water so up I got (gladly I might add) and while up took a look out the front door just as he walked up on the porch.

Once home, he went straight to the food bowl and then to bed. He slept or ate until Sunday evening and then went out, but returned in a short time and is now in for the night. It’s too bad cats can’t talk because I’m sure he had quite and adventure.

We have continued to swim in the evening, at least through Thursday. After Friday’s event we will be taking evening exploration rides by car for a while. The doctor told Kathy that she could resume swimming as soon as she can walk without the splints, probably in seven to ten days.

Leigh will arrive on Tuesday along with an emergency supply of Starbucks coffee beans; Yukon Blend is my favorite. We are excited about her visit and are anxious to show her around the Black Hills and for her to see our house and she is excited about seeing Montana, the cat not the state. My brother and his wife called Saturday and they should arrive sometime on Thursday. We are looking forward to a fun week and to the company we will have.

Torey called this weekend and told us she is making plans to visit the first or second week in October. We also had e-mail from Neil letting us know the he and Lori are anxious to visit and will probably be here sometime around the end of October. Their timing will depend on her work schedule and his school schedule. We excited about their visits.

And now a closing note; Kathy is reading a book on the history of Deadwood, there is a section that talks about respectability coming to Deadwood because a night passed in 1870 in which no one was shot or killed. If that happened in some areas of the country today it might be cause for a holiday.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

August 31, 2003

Letter 13

Leigh arrived on Tuesday and was here until today. We were glad to have her and for her to see our house and the area we live in. Also my brother George and his wife Mardg Etta arrived on Wednesday and will be here until at least Wednesday. Leigh claims she is the first of our children to visit even though Neil helped us move here. According to Leigh Neil was working, he really worked hard, and therefore technically not visiting.

We had saved several sites here for Leigh’s visit, including President’s Park and Tatanka.

Kevin Costner built Tatanka after he was in the area for the filming of “Dances with Wolves.” It is sub-titled “The Story of the Bison” and is an exhibit that tells the story of the Sioux and their relationship to the buffalo. It has a gift shop with inside exhibits showing how Indian tribes moved as the herds moved and all of the various implements they used in their daily lives that came from the buffalo. Outside there are sculptures that represent a buffalo hunt, buffalo and mounted Indians. This part of the exhibit is built on a bluff from which one can see for miles out towards the plains.

President’s Park was not as much fun or as interesting. They do have bust of each of the presidents of the USA however, they all seem to look very much alike. They are about 24 feet tall and outside on a walking path and each one has a sign giving a brief history. Viewing all of these look alike presidents while walking through the woods was just not my idea of fun.

Kathy joined us for both of these trips which gave us the opportunity to engage in wheelchair pushing. And before you ask, no we did not turn her lose on the downhill runs, although she did opt to get out and walk on some of the steeper uphill parts.

On Thursday Leigh and I spent the day at Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore, both places she really wanted to see. At Custer State Park we drove the wildlife loop road which gave her the chance to see buffalo, a herd of them, antelopes, prairie dogs and the famous “begging burros.” The burros are a small group of about eight that beg for food by walking up to your car and sticking their heads in any open window. Feeding them is allowed, the park magazine suggest carrots; however, we forgot to take carrots so Pringles were our substitute. Leigh kept her window up so I put mine down and immediately had two heads inside the car. They obviously are used to windows going up because after feeding them I started the window up and they moved right on to a car that had stopped to watch.

The buffalo are huge and the herd we saw contained around 50 of them. Many of the cows had calves with them. We also saw several very large, around 2500 pounds, solitary males. The older males that do not have their own herd are discouraged from hanging out with the herd by the dominant males; they are run out of town.

Leigh has wanted to see Mount Rushmore ever since she was old enough to know about it. She was impressed by it, not hard to have happen, and really enjoyed the chance to see it. Part of our visit to Rushmore included a drive on Iron Mountain Road. The tunnels on this road are all set so that they form a picture frame for the faces on Rushmore.

Leigh and I spent an evening in Deadwood; ice cream, slots and the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok – he gets killed four times a day in the summer. She also tried her hand at the nickel slots, better keep her day job. The highlight of our evening out for her was being carded in one of the saloons while playing slots. Needless to say I’m never been carded.

Leigh and I also took my brother and his wife to the Black Hills Mining Museum here in wonderful downtown Lead. It was a neat and informative experience. The lower level of the museum is a replica of some of the underground works of the Homestake Mine. It was built by a group of miners because they could not take people down into the actual mine.

We had a steak cookout on Saturday night here at the house for Leigh, George and Marg eEtta. Steak, grilled zucchini, potato salad, salad and a wonderful peach shortcake dessert that Leigh made.

Leigh likes board and card games, so several evenings were spent playing dominoes and cards in front of the fireplace.

Leigh really enjoyed her visit here, however she thinks life here is a little on the slow side as in nice place to visit, but not to be from. Our tour guide at the museum, who is from here, summed it up by saying “Lead is a great place to grow up and an even greater place to retire.”

Kathy is still wearing her air splints, but is able to get around much better. I like to credit her recovery so far with my superb skills as waiter and servant, a point I’m sure she may view differently.

The heat finally left the area, 97 on Wednesday afternoon and 42 on Thursday morning. We actually used the fireplace for warmth several times since then and it is really enjoyable. We have also had a day of slow drizzle, we really needed the moisture.

With all the company this week we have not done much around the house. The one project that is now finished is the repair to the steps leading to the back yard and the painting of the window trim. I also oiled the hardwood floors in the living and dining room and that really improved the appearance.

After taking Leigh to the airport on Sunday morning for her flight home, I stopped by Menards, the building supply store, and picked up information on cabinet sizes so we can complete the designing of the fireplace wall. We are being very careful with this part of the project. Once started, changes will be difficult to make. I also ordered a new ceiling fixture for the dining room, it has four bulbs with shades and incorporates antlers as part of the design. It has a very rustic look and western cabin feel to it.

We are looking forward to a few more days with my brother and his wife. It has been a real treat to have family visits. We love sharing our new home and are also excited that a visit from Torey is not far off and Neil and Lori should be here before Christmas. We also hope some of our friends will make the trip. Hint – hint! We miss you.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

September 7, 2003

Letter 14

The Dakota Sioux name for the this area is Paha Sapa, the “Hills That Are Black.” They have from a distance the appearance of being black. This comes from the thick stands of pine that cover most of their slopes. The hills rise 4,000 feet above the plains and over 7,000 feet above sea level. They are some of the oldest mountains on earth. When the Alps were just beginning to form, these reached up to about 15,000 feet. Most of the bedrock in the hills is pre-Cambrian. This explains the lack of fossils in the deep open mine pits and shafts. 

Pictographs have been found in two canyons in the southern hills indicating that at least some aborigines visited the Black Hills. Two Canadians made the first recorded visit of white men to the hills in 1742 and the real rush to the hills came in 1874 following the discovery of gold.

The weather this week has not been too bad, days have varied from 80s to 90s and nights have been in the 40s and 50s. The forecast for next week is for a cold front to pass through on Monday night resulting in daytime highs in the mid 60s by weeks end. Can snow be far behind? The answer to that is yes, we are expected to have more 90s after the front moves on.

Kathy is doing much better and is able to get around without the air splints. Going is slow, but she gets there and of course still has me to wait on her as needed. We have returned to swimming, we missed that a lot when she could not go. We have also missed the beaver pond; we walked up that way one night, but lack of light and the pace of our travels meant that we did not quite get to the pond.

This morning we had a surprise outside our kitchen window, a young buck with about

8-inch spikes. We looked out at him and he looked in at us, not sure if he could really see us, but we’re sure he could hear us. Kathy became concerned when he appeared to be considering eating her flowers.

We made a trip to Menards in Rapid City again this week and picked up the dining room lamp we ordered, the one with four shades and antlers. I installed it and it works. Also, it looks pretty neat.  While at Menards we also purchased half of the cabinets, that’s all that would fit in the car, for the base of the bookshelves on the fireplace wall. We are using wall cabinets because regular base cabinets are too deep for the space. Getting all of this level and plumb in a house where nothing is level or plumb should be a lot of entertainment.

As we drove towards Rapid City it began to look like we were headed into Los Angeles, the air was gray and visibility was way down. The smog was from the fires in Montana and Canada.

Our neighborhood, the Historic Italian Neighborhood (yes Buddy, Italian), had a block party on Saturday at noon with a cookout. It was fun and gave us a chance to meet more of our nearby neighbors. One man really knew the history of the area. He has lived in the same house since he was four years old, about 56 years I would guess.

The Mountain Ash is in bloom and is absolutely spectacular with its red flowers and berries. It is a favorite of the birds; however we have been told that they get drunk from the berries and have trouble flying for a while. This could provide us with entertainment, remember life here is slooooooow.

Kathy and I did make it to the beaver pond tonight. They were not out, but it was a nice walk. On the way back to the car, clouds and lightening developed along with a partial rainbow. The result of the lightening has been three forest fires in the area. At this time they are of unknown size since fire crews must hike in over some very rough terrain to assess the size and exact location.

We explored more back roads this week. One to Galena, the site of an 1876 silver mine. The mine is long gone, but there were some nice houses to see, both old and new, and some old buildings from the mine days. The other trip was to St. Onge, a very small town with a stockyard, a bar and not much else.

The days here have gotten quieter now that the kids are back in school. They do all come out to play when they get home. After a summer of seeing them on their bikes and skateboards all day or playing in the park next to the house it is sort of strange to only see them in the evening.

We had a call from my brother today. They have arrived at the Grand Canyon and will be there for the next few days.

Fire update – All fires are now contained, out or nonexistent.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

September 14, 2003

Letter 15

The weather this week has really changed, fall has arrived. The nighttime temps have been in the 30s and 40s with daytimes in the 50s to 70s. Tuesday we had two inches of rain and have had several smaller showers since then. The rain has been greatly appreciated because it has been a really dry summer. Saturday afternoon we had a short period of rain and small hail with a few, very few, snowflakes mixed in. Not enough to call it our first snow, but it was snow. The weather this week has given us an opportunity to really use the fireplace. I have also replaced the fan on/off switch with a rheostat and we can now control the speed of the fan. This also allows us to control the amount of noise it makes. Montana has discovered how nice and warm it is on the rug in front of the fireplace. I think he has found his winter nesting spot.

The cats have been surprised by the change in the weather and go out and in and out and in. No more going out and staying for hours. They also seem perturbed that they can no longer go in and out the back door on their own, we are keeping it shut because of the low temperature and this does not make them happy campers. We don’t know what they will do when they wake up one day and find three feet of snow in the yard. Montana, the clawless one, chased a visiting cat right out of the yard this week, hissing and growling all the way. He was really proud of himself. Guess it’s a good thing the other cat was in the mood to leave. That cat chased the dog home from the neighbor’s yard a week ago.

As you ride around the area you can began to see the first hints of color on the wooded hillsides. We are really looking forward to the color changes. Many of the hillsides and meadows here are filled with aspen and paper bark birch which should make for some spectacular color in a few more weeks.

We had another deer in the yard again this week. Once she spotted us she walked down the front hill to the street and then headed up the street.

Saturday we made yet another foray to Rapid City. We now have the rest of the cabinets and shelving material for the fireplace wall so we can move ahead with this project. As you know, the room had one wall with ugly wallpaper, which we have removed and painted over. The other three walls are paneled and we are planning on painting them because with the hardwood floors, wood furniture and the wood shelves there would just be too many different woods and tones. Once this is done (we start this on Monday) we can start installing the base cabinets and then we’ll put up the shelving that will go from the cabinets to the ceiling.

This has led us to a decorating dilemma. What to put in the large opening above the fireplace, painting, mirror or what?  My idea, which was vetoed quicker than the USA in the UN Security Council, was a moose head. I figured that with the plate-like areas in the antlers we would have a place for two of the cats to relax. Kathy thought for less than a second and decided to exercise her veto power. I’m glad she did since I was teasing her too start with. I can be so much fun when I try. Unfortunately she also vetoed the plasma screen TV.

Once this project is done we can look at other rooms that have areas need improving. One of these will be the kitchen. It has a 60s vintage gold tile floor that needs to go. Not only is it ugly, but it is well-worn in places. The bathroom floor tile also needs to be replaced and a final coat of paint applied to the walls. Of course, in a 102-year-old house there is really no shortage of projects. Maybe I should be thankful for the long winter that is almost here.

Today Bev and Dennis went with us to Galena, an old mining town, for an open house at a one room school that is being restored by the Galena Historical Society. This school was used from 1887 until 1942. It was really neat to see with the inkwell desk, old books and wall charts. Today Galena has 14 lived in houses (several are really big modern log homes) with a total of 24 residents, but when the mines were operating in the late 1800s to early 1900s the population was a little over 2000. During that period there were two boarding houses, a post office, several stores and 13 saloons in the town. You can still see the remains of some of the old buildings and evidence of the mining railroads that once served the area.

We talked with all three kids and Kathy’s sister Nancy today. It is really good to be able to talk with them on a regular basis. Phone and e-mail allow us to be part of their lives even though we are 1700 miles away.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

September 21, 2003

Letter 16

We have exciting news. Neil and Lori are engaged. He set up a weekend on Block Island and proposed to her while they were there. There are no definite plans yet, but they are talking about a June wedding in Annapolis. We are very happy for the both of them and also for ourselves.

While those of you who live in the east were having some horrific weather we had an absolutely beautiful four-inch snowfall. It started snowing in the afternoon and after about an hour it began to stick. It ended around dark and by then the trees and shrubs were covered with piles of snow. It looked like a Christmas scene. The sad part was it melted the next day, but it was enough that I had to shovel the walks. Unlike when we lived in Annapolis, there were no lines of panicked people clearing the store shelves of toilet paper, bread and milk. The other difference was that there was no discussion about closing schools, they were open.

For those of you in the path of Isabel we hope that all is well and that you came through with no damage to property or to yourselves, family or friends. We have talked with the kids and although Neil and Lori now have power back in Baltimore, Leigh and Torey tell us that power is not expected back in Bethesda until Wednesday. Our local paper had some news of the storm and used a wire photo of downtown Annapolis for the story.

Saturday Kathy and I took a ride over to the Devils Tower in Wyoming, a 90-minute drive. It is fantastic to see (http://www.newyoming.com/DevilsTower/). For those of you who are not familiar with it, it was the large rock formation in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” We took a mile and a half hike on a trail that circles the base of the tower and had a great view of four groups of climbers on various parts of it. This is a sacred site for Native Americans and we did see some prayer flags and prayer bundles that had been placed in the rocks. There is a large prairie dog colony along the entrance road and we spent a few minutes watching them. We probably saw around 25 of them.

The other adventure for the week was a dendrite-hunting trip. What are dendrites you ask? They are manganese oxides that are found on rock surfaces and resemble pen and ink drawings of ferns, trees, or leaves. Most of the ones you can find here are small and usually the “picture part” is one to three inches, however we have found a few that are much larger. They are really beautiful and provide for cheap entertainment. All you need is a little gas in the car, a back road and a large pile of rocks. The dendrites you fine here are usually on a rock that resembles sandstone so you have a nice black pattern on a tan to gray background.

Kathy had a birthday this week and even got several presents. I got her a new frying pan; the old one had peeling Teflon. This was actually a gift for both of us. I also made her a candleholder from several large dendrites. When lit the candle flame reflects of the back piece and resembles a campfire reflecting off trees in a forest.

Our neighbors Harold and Marge, really a nice couple, came by the other day and gave us some elk meat to try. He hunts, butchers and freezes his own meat. They gave us a small roast and a package of fry meat. We cooked the fry meat the other night and it was fantastic, very tender and no gamey taste. We haven’t tried the roast yet, but we have found a garlic-rosemary recipe for elk roast that we want to try. They also brought us a large bag of apples from their yard. Apple pie is in the near future for us.

We walked to the beaver pond one night and Mr. Beaver was out. It was good to be able to go there again now that Kathy’s ankle is better and we can return to hiking.

The leaves are starting to turn here and every day we can see more color in the hills. The cool nights seem to be speeding up the process and it should not be much longer until peak color is reached.

This is such a great place to live. You can take a five minute drive and then walk for about 20 minutes and see a beaver swimming in his pond, wake up in the morning and have a deer looking in the kitchen window or drive an hour south and view a herd of buffalo; not to mention all the animals from birds to chipmunks in between. The sunrises and sunsets and cloud formations here are also fantastic. Also the night sky with millions of visible stars is a real treat. For us, it just doesn’t get any better.

In case by this point you are wondering if we’ve stopped work on the house projects, we have not. The cabinets have been primed and temporarily placed in position. The

counter-tops and fireplace top have been cut and fitted. This week we will begin the bookshelves for the upper part. Before they can be put in place, a back will have to be attached and they will have to be painted.

And now for a technical note, we still have not put together a web site so those of you with high-speed cable access or who don’t mind long download times that would like to have pictures occasionally please let us know and we will send out pictures to you from time to time.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

September 28, 2003

Letter 17

This week has brought a rapid change in the foliage colors. Peak color was probably today. The intensity and amount of color has increased each day. It has been amazing to watch; we could see a change between morning and evening. The colors here are greens, yellows and gold. We have almost no reds, except for poison ivy vines. The lack of reds is due mostly to a lack of hardwood trees. The yellow and gold of the aspen and birch really stand out against the dark green – almost black – of the pine trees. The aspen and birch tend to grow in areas that have been opened by fire or logging and it is rare to find them in the dense growth of pines. Because of this they sometimes form a pattern of color running up a hillside that resembles a vein of gold in rock.

We have taken several rides over the back roads of the area this week to see the color and we have been rewarded with some awesome views. If you would like to share in some of the beauty of the area go to – www.spearfishcanyon.com  - this site has some great views of Spearfish Canyon.

Kathy and I spent most of Saturday at Custer State Park. We went to a craft show that is part of the annual Buffalo Round Up. We also saw some wonderful scenery and color as we drove over Needles Highway in the park. It is named after some rock formations that the road passes through that resemble needles sticking out of the ground. The neatest sight we saw was of a lone horseback rider on a ridge silhouetted against the bright blue sky. After watching him for a few minutes he was joined by a large group of riders, photos were great. They seemed to like banana muffins. We will not see the actual Buffalo Round Up, to view it you must be there Monday by 6:30am. It is a little over an hour drive from home, don’t really want to get up that early. There is always next year. We also had an encounter with the begging burros. Two of them had their head in Kathy’s window at the same time, there would have been three, but the window was not big enough.

The weather this week has been very fall like, close to cold nights (30s) and cool days (50 – 60). It has also been windy so as soon as you’re out of the direct sun you can feel the chill in the air. More snow can’t be to far away?

We have used the fireplace almost every night this week and most mornings also. Montana, who really likes to sleep in front of it, will sit by it and stare if it is not on. The animals are not staying out as long as they used to. They seem to sense that their life is about to change. The worst will be Raji, after being stuck in the house for several days, he begins to walk up to and smack the other animals; much like children who have had too much togetherness. It could be a long winter on Miners Avenue.

I have finished one side of the over-the-counter bookcases (except for painting) and it really looks good (even if I do say so myself). It will be really nice to have this project completed so some of our books and treasures will have a home and be accessible. Also, it will allow us to finish decorating the living room. I’m still holding out for the moose head, but my hopes are really, really low.

Neil called today and the wedding is set for June 5, 2003. While he was talking with his mom, she asked me to get her a cup of coffee and I responded loud enough for Neil to hear “my wish is your command.” Upon hearing this, Neil’s comment was she should tell me to “stop smoking and vote democratic.” Good laugh was had by all.

For those of you who think that because we live in the “hills” that we are therefore devoid of culture, we need to let you know that a Book Festival is coming to Deadwood. There will be about 100 authors. It includes children, fiction, non-fiction, history and poetry. Two of the authors are Tom Daschle and George McGovern, not sure culture is included with these two. The festival will last three days and includes workshops on writing, book production, publishing and also book signings.

Kathy has accepted a volunteer position at the Y. She will be there two days a week from 3pm until about 7pm to “baby sit” the arcade, a place for kids after school. I guess this will give me a chance to improve my cooking skills.

Torey called this week and has purchased her ticket to fly out for a visit. She will be here in three weeks and we are really looking forward to spending time with her, showing her our home and the wonderful area we live in.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

October 5, 2003

Letter 18

Our first order of business is to say “congratulations Lori!” She passed her nursing boards the first time around and is now officially an RN with a BSN. Way to go!  

We have more exciting news. Not as exciting as Neil and Lori being engaged, but still exciting. We have found a good used motor home. It is a 24.5 foot Minnie Winnie (Winnebago.) Although it is small, it has the features we were looking for: shower and fixed bed. It is fully self contained so if we are not staying at a developed campground we will still have all the comforts of home compliments of a generator, 12/120 volt electrical system and propane heat and refrigeration. We should be picking it up from the dealer by the end of the week and will probably make our first trip to check it all out soon after that. We have not been to the Badlands yet so that would make a good first trip.

I have been called for jury duty and I’ve only lived here since June. For all the years I lived in Maryland, I was never called and here I get hit right off the bat. Jury duty in SD is for six months and you have to call in every Friday to find out if they need you. My term is from January 1, 2004 through June 30, 2004. They do make allowances for vacations and such so there will really be no conflict with the wedding or any other plans. If you call and are told to show up, the pay is $10.00 a day for showing and $50.00 per day for each day you’re on a jury.

There is a cat from the street above us that likes to come visit. Whiskey tries her best to keep her out of the yard, but she is not very successful at this. Our cats tend to hiss a little and then they all lay down and stare at each other. Saturday after the unsuccessful attempt by the dog to end visitation and the obligatory stare contest, the cat walked right in the house. Montana just sat in the dining room, no hissing, howling, squeaking or protest of any kind. Not sure why we keep him. Not sure why we have any of them, guess it’s for entertainment.

I have the bookshelves installed on the counter tops. They are not painted and the molding has not been installed, but they are up and look really good. “I done good.”

We will get them finished soon, but for now they are usable and really add to the appearance of the fireplace. Of course, now we are faced with the task of locating the things and books from unpacked boxes that we would like to display. This could be time consuming.

Kathy’s leg is better now and we can resume bike riding. We went for two rides this week; one in the morning and one in the evening. The ride was from Englewood to Kirk which is a distance of about 7 miles and a beautiful ride through forest, meadows and along a creek. Considering only one-half to three-quarters of a mile of the ride is up hill, very slight up hill, it is an easy ride. Some of the down hill part is on a 17% grade so one must be a little careful. The color in the woods and on the ridges along the ride was spectacular.

Today we went for a walk in an area by the open cut. This is the area where the original Homestake gold mine shaft was located. We did not find the exact trail we were looking for, but had a nice walk anyway. The trail we are looking for follows a long narrow ridge from Lead to Deadwood from which you can view the towns of Central city on one side and Pluma on the other at the same time. Kathy found out about the trail from the girl’s cross-country coach at the high school. Apparently the cross-country teams here do as lot of ridge running with some severe elevation changes.

Friday evening we went to the South Dakota first Annual Book Festival in Deadwood. Kathy wanted to see Joy Harjo, a Native American poet and entertainer and college professor. I found the poetry reading a little much and the chairs far too hard for my enjoyment. Kathy really enjoyed the show so we were glad we went.

The weather this week has been fantastic. Shorts during the day and long pants early in the morning and late in the afternoon.

This coming weekend is homecoming for the high school. We plan on attending the Main Street Homecoming Parade on Friday.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

October 12, 2003

Letter 19

This has been the week of the deer. We have had deer in our yard every night this week. It started Monday when we had a deer in the back yard around 10:00pm that had settled down for his evening nap. It seems as if they know the hunting season is upon them and that they are safe within the city limits. As the week progressed we had more and more of them. One night we had three in the back yard and eight in the little park next to the house. Last night I took the dog out around 11:00pm and one was standing in the front yard, scared the %&@# out of me when he took off down the hill to the street. He then went up into the park and continued on about his business. Whiskey, being part bird dog – at least we think so- shows no interest in the deer and doesn’t even appear to know they are there. Oh well, we have never claimed to have the brightest animals on the planet.

Whiskey may be part bird dog, but it is Raji who has a nose for birds. The other morning I let him out and within 30 seconds he ran past the kitchen window with a bird in his mouth and proceeded to have breakfast. Guess he doesn’t like our cat food. Later when I checked the execution site, all I could find was a head and a few feathers.

We know from our visit to Lead last February that the folks here are big into Christmas decorations, but some of them are also into decorating for Halloween. Several of the houses near us are really decorated with ghosts, goblins, witches and pumpkins along with green and orange outdoor lights.

We had lunch today at the Chinatown Café upstairs at Miss Kitty’s Saloon. Our neighbors Bev and Dennis treated us because we had them over for dinner one night. They don’t cook so going out was the thing to do. After lunch we took a ride with them into the hills to an area called Camp Five. The area got its name during the mining days of the 1870s and still retains that name.

Kathy’s ankle and leg are much better although she still has an occasional pain after to much exertion. Her other pain, of course, is me. We continue to swim at the Y and this week Kathy got there four times and I made it there three times. It’s nice to be able to swim, boring but nice, and then spend time in the hot tub.

The fall color is about over with. There are still some spots of gold and red, but a lot of the trees have begun to drop their leaves and others are turning brown. Now that many of the leaves have gone the paper bark birch have taken on a whole new look and are quite pretty against the dark green of the pine. The scenery here is fantastic and the change of season has given us a brand new world to look at. The sky has been bright blue all week with wonderful sunrises and sunsets. At these times the sky, for a few minutes, has an incredible pink color to it and if there are any clouds they pick up the color. The night sky continues to be full of stars and the full moon this week was spectacular. This is an area of incredible beauty and I would encourage all of you to take an opportunity to experience it.

The City of Lead is working on a 20-year comprehensive plan to guide them through the changes the future must bring. Tuesday night  Kathy and I attended the first public meeting on the plan. There were about 65 residents present and after an introduction from the plan consultants the attendees formed small groups to discuss their likes, dislikes and vision for the future of Lead. It was an interesting and informative meeting and gave others and us a chance to share ideas. The economy is suffering here due to the closing of the mine and the loss of around 800 jobs in the past two years as the mine operations ground to a halt. Many people here are hoping that the National Science Foundation will move ahead on the proposal to convert the mine into a deep underground lab for the study of Neutrino particles. There is a good chance that this will happen, however, the earliest funding could be voted on by Congress will be 2006 and many here are not willing to just sit and wait for that to happen (or not happen.) There are those, including Kathy and myself, who believe that this area has many potentials and that Lead should move forward with exploring and developing its options. The lab, if it comes, will initially provide jobs constructing the lab at the 8000-foot level in the mine. Once that phase is complete they estimate that there will be around 200 scientists here along with support staff and support businesses. The lab prospect should be treated as an extra, gravy if you will, and the area should not wait until 2006 to discover that it may not happen. We are hopeful that over the next year as the plan develops that options will be selected and acted on and that by 2006 a recovery will already be under way. More public meetings and work groups are scheduled and Kathy and I intend to be part of the “solution.”

Torey will arrive on Friday and be with us until Tuesday. We are really looking forward to seeing her and sharing a part of our life here with her. We have plans to show her part of the area including Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park and the beaver pond. Not sure what else we will do, part of that will be up to her.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

October 19, 2003

Letter 20

Torey arrived on Friday and we are having a great visit with her. She was scheduled to arrive Friday morning at 10:00 am so Kathy and I got to the airport at 9:45 am only to see her coming out of the terminal with her bag. The advantage to a small airport is that it doesn’t take long to get through and with only eight people on her flight from Denver to Rapid City it didn’t take long to get off the plane. She had a good flight from DC to Denver and among the passengers were three FBI dogs and agents, each with their own row of seats. One of the dogs turned out to be a “turbulence alarm,” the dog would howl and about 30 seconds later the plan would hit turbulence. Also on her flight was a man on his way to Denver for a liver transplant. He had been notified at 3:00 am to get on the next flight to Denver. We are hoping he does well. After getting to the house we went downtown to see the Lead-Deadwood High School homecoming parade. Typical western small town parade, marching band, decorated pickup trucks, fire trucks and the king and queen in jeans and tee shirts. Even the elementary and middle schools were let out early to enjoy the festivities.

We have had a fun time with Torey and she is enjoying her stay here. On Saturday we went to Mount Rushmore, a must for all visitors, and then took the circuit through Custer State Park. This includes Iron Mountain Road, that has tunnels framing the faces on Mount Rushmore, and Needles Highway, that passes through rock formations that resemble needles stuck in the ground. We also took the Wildlife Loop Road and saw the buffalo herd, a group of big horn sheep and prairie dogs. The park is really beautiful and changes each time we see it.

On the way home we stopped in Hill City for a late lunch and browsed in several of the gift shops. We saw some nice ceramic work and other neat items. After arriving home we were too tired to cook dinner so we went to the Chinatown Café in Deadwood for dinner. Great Chinese restaurant and I think the only one I’ve ever been in with no Chinese people on the staff.

Today we took Torey to church with us and then she and I had a ten-mile bike ride. Kathy dropped us with the bikes at the trailhead and then picked us up at the end of the trail an hour later. Yes, this is the ride that is almost all down hill – still ten miles.

The weather has turned unseasonably warm here, Friday was in the mid-60s and Saturday and today it has been in the 80s. Everyone tells us to enjoy it because if you don’t like the weather in the Black Hills just wait 10 minutes and it will change. They’re expecting all next week to be above normal, probably 60s and 70s.

Kathy has learned to make pasties, not what you’re thinking – pasties are sort of like a potpie or turnover with potato, onions, beef and pork. The ladies at church make and sell them as a fund-raiser and Kathy was asked to help. Pasties are Cornish in origin and were a favorite lunch item for the miners, everything in one and wrapped to keep the dust out.

We finished priming and painting the living room paneling this week. The white paint is a big difference from the brown paneling and really does brighten up the room. It is so totally different with the paint and fireplace wall that it does not resemble the original at all. We still have the backing and molding to add to the bookshelves, but all in good time.

We have only seen deer by the house once in the last week. It may be that they tend to feed more at night when there is a full moon, as there was the week we saw so many of them.

Our own tribe of animals have behaved this week, no killings that we are aware of and no other really obnoxious behavior. There has just been the normal growling, hissing, squeaking and guarding of the dinner table. It does take away some of our entertainment when they behave. Oh well, such is life in South Dakota!

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

October 26, 2003

Letter 21

Our summer weather has disappeared. We have gone from the 70s to yesterday’s high of 32. When we got up Saturday morning at 8:00 am it was 24 and snowing, although we only had around an inch of snow. Today is 40 and rain. The forecast calls for a chance of snow Wednesday through Sunday. Yesterday’s snow did not cause the panic it would have in Maryland, no long lines at the grocery and no 24-hour emergency snow desk from the local TV stations. Just a normal day in the hills!

The snow was beautiful as we looked out the living room windows from which we can see the other side of town and the woods on top of the far ridge. Lead is a town built on two sides of a gulch and Main Street goes through the center of the gulch. Our house sits on the North Slope and is about 200 feet up the hillside. All was covered in white and the cold air gave everything a sharp, clear look.

Our animals are not fond of snow. Montana went out the door and turned around to come right back in. Raji stuck his head out, felt the snow, howled in complaint and went back to bed. Whiskey just did what she always does, went out, did her business and went back to bed.

The change in time has moved sunrise to 6:24 am, however, that moved sunset to 4:55 pm today. We have 57 days until December 22, the shortest day of the year, and if you accept the fact that we lose about one minute of daylight per day it will move sun set to about 4:00 pm. It may be a long winter here in the hills. The good news is that by June it will be light at 4:45 am and stay light until after 9:00 pm.

The house princess, in an attempt to entertain her self has taken up rug diving. Understand that the house princess is not Kathy or Whiskey – although they are considered to be princesses also (there is a lot of royalty in my house), it is Rachel. We have a hand woven rug that Torey made me some years ago and Rachel will run from the kitchen into the dining room, hit the rug and go sliding across the floor, rug and all. Montana has been known to practice this also, but lately he seems content to pretend he is a slug and just lay in front of the fireplace. There are those who think he resembles a slug also, but I’m sure they are mistaken.

Torey’s visit ended on Tuesday with a 6:50 am flight to Denver and then on to DC. On Monday we went for ride through Spearfish Canyon and then went up to Terry Peak for a look at the ski/snowboard slopes. They are adding an area for snow skating this winter. The ski areas here are scheduled to open by November the ninth. We really enjoyed having Torey here, as we have all the kids, and can’t wait for return visits.

This past week, I learned a new homeowners skill, window glazing. We are stripping the paint from the storm windows for the living room and in the process discovered that sometime in the past glazing on some of the panes had been replaced with latex caulk. The paint stripper was not exactly kind to the latex so we decided to re-glaze those panes. Actually, once you get the hang of it, it is not too hard to do. With the change in the weather, this is a project that is probably overdue.

Life continues to move along, we continue to swim three to four times per week and to get outside as often as we can. Kathy is still volunteering at the Y and also helping out with some things at church. We both continue to work on house projects and feel that we have really made some progress in that area. We are now looking at some changes to the kitchen, possibly a work island and a desk or computer station. Currently the one computer we have set up is upstairs and we are considering placing the other one in the kitchen. We would then network the two together.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

November 2

Letter 22

Winter has come to the Black Hills. Snow arrived on Wednesday night and continued until Friday afternoon. We had a total here in Lead of about 14 inches. Of course, this amount of snow is not without consequences; school was delayed for two hours on Friday. The temperatures have ranged from high 20s to mid 30s during the day and low teens to single digits at night. I stood outside several times to watch the snowfall and it was amazing how quiet the town was; no sounds of cars or people, just the falling snow and the breeze.

The view from our living room window, as we sit in front of the fireplace, where we can see the far side of town was wonderful. During periods of light snow we could see the ridge top and during heavy snow it would disappear, so we now have a new way of judging the intensity of snowfall.

By Friday morning all the trees and bushes were covered in powdery snow and the area resembled a Currier and Ives print. As one of our neighbors commented, “it would be great if it was a postcard.” On Saturday we took a ride over some our favorite back roads that had been cleared and saw some beautiful scenery. We wanted to go to the beaver pond, but that will have to wait for snowshoes.

The cats are not big fans of the snow. Raji and Montana will meow to be let out, stick their nose out the door, howl and run back in. Rachel who goes out the least of the cats just doesn’t even try. Whiskey, being part husky – very little – seems to like the snow and will run around in it. She does seem confused, however, when she can’t find the scent she has left previously. Of course, her way of dealing with this dilemma is to re-mark the territory.

As I write this, the forecast is for more snow to start tonight and end on Tuesday morning. We are expecting another 6 to 8 inches here in the higher elevations of the hills. The difference between how snow is looked at here and in Maryland is really funny to us. Those of you who live in Maryland and other areas know what I’m talking about. As I’ve mentioned before, there is no 24 hour news coverage with people sticking rulers in the snow and shots of cars sliding down hills, no lines in the grocery store, life just goes on here as if it is a normal day. Kathy and I still laugh about the year in Maryland when they spent a week preparing us for the “blizzard of the century” and we woke up to closed schools, 50 degrees and sunshine.

Halloween brought about 12 trick-or-treaters (temperature was about 14 degrees) to our door. They were all neighborhood kids and no middle or high schoolers. Kathy carved the pumpkin, really good one with a howling, yet slightly-snaggle toothed, wolf. We placed it on the front porch and it looked really cool from the street. The area had a lot of indoor activities for kids on Halloween. Lead had a party at the armory and Deadwood had Deadweird at the pavilion. Almost all the towns around here had something for the kids inside. Part of this is due to the weather and, of course, the other reason is to cut down on the trick part. As far as we know there was only treating and no tricking.

We were supposed to pick up the motorhome on Thursday, but we have delayed this until it is not snowing and we can get it into the place where we will be parking it.

I did manage to finish the front storm windows and get them installed before the snow started on Wednesday. Other than that, I have been fairly lazy about projects. Of course, outdoor projects, other then shoveling, are probably on hold for a while. We do have plenty of indoor projects to keep us busy through the winter and I intend to return to watercolor painting and other art projects now that outside activities, except for cooking on the gas grill, have been curtailed.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

November 9

Letter 23

The snow has ended. We did not get the six to eight inches we were expecting on Monday and Tuesday, but we did pick up another three or four inches on top of the 14 or so we already had. Since the end of the snow the temps have been in the mid-30s to 40s during the day and today even made it above 50. It is sort of sad that we now have patches of grass showing through the snow. Oh well, I’m sure that will be corrected before long. Our temperatures this week have actually been warmer than the lower elevations because of a temperature inversion. We were at 40 Saturday afternoon while Sturgis was at 27.

We had to spend two nights without the central heat because of a faulty electronic ignitor on the central heat system. It was not bad, we folded out the sleep sofa, turned up the fireplace and slept in front of it. The fireplace kept the living room very warm and the kitchen, on the back and cold side of the house only dropped to about 44.

The advent of winter has given me some new outdoor culinary skills: the ability to cook on the gas grill with wool hat, ski gloves and down parka. Thank goodness for North Face. On Saturday night we had Dennis and Bev over for hamburgers and then enjoyed a great view of the full lunar eclipse from our front yard. I guess the lack of a lot of city lights is one of the advantages of small town living. We were also able to see it from the living room window.

We have picked up the motorhome and it is now parked in a storage lot about two miles from the house. We spent about two hours at the dealership while they walked us through it and showed how all the systems work. They have also agreed to help us set it up before our first trip and then re-winterize it afterwards. This is a good thing because there is a lot to remember – water system and pumps, waste system, generator, hot water heater and much more. Once we have done it a few times it should be easy and of course in the summer we will not have to drain everything.

On Saturday we will be leaving for Jackson, Wyoming for a week. (Due to this you will get a short newsletter on Friday night or Saturday morning – got to get that laptop.) We are going by car for this trip so we have an easy way to get around while we are there. We are planning a three-day stay in Santa Fe, New Mexico in December and will drive the motorhome there and back. We can camp along the way in a Wal-Mart parking lot with all the rest of the cheap travelers. It is only a two-day drive from here and should be a good first MH trip. I can use this trip to check it all out and to teach Kathy to drive the beast.

Kathy made noodles with the church ladies. They will sell them at the annual bazaar later this month. They will also be selling the pasties that they have been making the last month or so.

Kathy has been volunteering at the Y Friday night skate parties and this past Friday I also went. 65 to 70 kids, age six to about 14, were there. The noise level was incredible, mostly from the girls and not from the music. They also have darts, pinball, arcade games and pool tables for the kids. Kathy and I had the job of policing the game area. Several kids had to be reminded, more than once, that darts are for throwing at the dartboard and not at each other. I have agreed to continue to help on Friday nights when we are in town.

We made our monthly shopping trip to Rapid City on Thursday and made the normal rounds – Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart and the building supply store. We also stopped by the mall; Kathy had not been to a mall since before we left Annapolis. The mall here is just like the ones in Maryland. Same national chain stores and then a mixture of more regional chains. There is nothing in the malls in Maryland that you can’t buy in the one here. I say one because it is the only mall for 300 miles. As it turns out, not having a mall to run to is no big deal. Of course that’s easy for me to say since I’m old enough to remember life before malls. Yes kids, there was a time when there were no malls!

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

November 16

Letter 24

The weather this week has been wonderful. We did have one snow that covered the ground early in the week and Friday night we had a brief snow that almost covered things. It was all gone by Saturday morning. We have had several days of high 50s temperatures with sun and bright blue sky. We spent part of Saturday setting outside “working on our tans” and having coffee with the neighbors.

We are leaving today for a trip to Jackson, Wyoming. We will be there all week and are looking forward to seeing the Grand Tetons again. It is one of our favorite places and we have been there about 5 times over the years that we have been coming west. There are several places in the area that we want to see again and will, of course, spend sometime on the National Elk Refuge. There is a herd of about 5,000 elk on the refuge and it is quite a sight to see. We will also look for the buffalo herd that is out on the flats along the Snake River.

Our neighbors, Bev and Dennis, will be taking care of the animals while we are gone so we have been busy making sure that there is plenty of food, cat litter and pet things available for them while we are gone. Montana knows we are leaving and has ventured into our bedroom today and is currently asleep on our bed next to my suitcase. He gets nervous when the suitcase come out. He has always been this way and at his age I guess it is unreasonable for me to expect him to change. Of course, he could be thinking – oh no, not another 1700-mile trip in the cat cage.

Kathy and I spent Friday night at the Y helping to “baby set” the roller skate crowd. There were fewer kids this week than last and they were a little better behaved. Still very noisy. Oh well, the things one will do to be part of a community.

I installed an inside storm window kit on the dining room window and it seems to have really helped with the draft we were getting from the window. It is one of those that goes up with two-sided tape and than gets stretched tight with the hair dryer. It was easy to install and we are now considering one for our bedroom.

Kathy helped with noodle making at the church again this week. We also took some items to the church to donate to the bazaar sale they are having next Saturday. I guess we will eventually get rid of all the stuff we don’t need. It’s hard to believe, considering the weeding out we did before we left Maryland, that we still have stuff to get rid of. I guess we should have pawned more stuff off on the kids before we left. Better their basements than ours. The reality is that we gave them more than they really wanted, but they graciously accepted it anyway.

We have visited the motorhome several times this week and have started to figure out what we need to put in it and leave there permanently. Our goal is to not have to take a lot of items each time we use it and then have to bring it all back to the house. We will weigh it all before we load it because there is a weight limit. This should not be a problem, because of very limited amount of storage space it the MH. We did get a platform rack at a garage sale that attaches to the hitch on the back and will come in handy for the bicycles.

We had a little excitement this week when a resident of the safe house near us did some volunteer gardening in the neighbor’s yard while no one was home. My suspicion is that this person was in dire need of a medication adjustment. The police contacted the director of the local crisis center who agreed to have a talk with the client about boundaries. All has been quite since than. When you live in a small town everyone knows everything and entertainment is sometimes hard to come by.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

November 23

Letter 25

Kathy and I had a fantastic week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. A long drive, 570 miles, but well worth it.

We chose a route to Jackson that took us through the Big Horn Mountains and over a pass that was just short of 10,000 feet in elevation. The scenery in the Big Horns was great and we want to go back and spend some time camping there. The state has signs out telling the age of some of the rock formations; the oldest was 600 million years (give or take a year or two). We also drove through part of the Wind River Range and through a canyon that followed the Wind River. It was beautiful and is another place we would like to return to.

The drive was not bad until we reached Dubois, Wyoming. It is here that the road begins to climb up to Togwotee Pass, 9,668 feet, and where it started to snow. At this point we were about 100 miles from Jackson and this part of the trip took about three hours. The snow covered roads, blowing snow and darkness made the drive difficult.

Our condo in Jackson was a very well equipped one bedroom unit with fireplace and full kitchen. It was very comfortable and allowed us to cook instead of having to eat out all the time. We did go out for breakfast at the Bunnery once and had an afternoon snack of onion rings at Bubba’s while there.

We took drives almost every day to look at and photograph wildlife in places like the National Elk Refuge, Colter Bay, Jackson Lake and on Antelope Flats. We saw lots of elk and buffalo. We both got some great photos, we have already downloaded the ones from the digital camera and will get the others developed tomorrow. We also saw six moose, some antelopes and a deer or two while there. It was elk hunting season so we also saw plenty of hunters in the areas that were open to hunting and discovered that some enterprising souls making a living with businesses called “You Tag Em – We Drag Em” and “Elk Recovery.” We have to assume that Elk Recovery was not a rehab program for ill or problem elk. Hunting there seems to consist of parking one’s truck along the road near a tree line and waiting for the elk to walk out of the trees, at which point the hunter gets out of the heated truck cab, kills the elk, arranges for it to be dragged to the truck and then gets back into the warm cab again. Not much skill involved, but they do have more elk than the area can support.

The weather in Jackson was good while we were there. It snowed almost every day and was cold, low teens to minus at night. Several days the temperature reached close to 40 and the sun was out for part of the day.

On one of our drives on the part of the Grand Teton National Park road that was open we saw a snowmobile. It was one of the new four stroke engine models and was it ever quiet. You could hear the swish of the snow over the engine as it went by. No nasty fumes or blue oil cloud either.

We, technically I, did manage to get the all wheel drive vehicle stuck once while driving along Flat Creek Road. I had pulled over to let a pickup truck go by and as I started forward again the car just slid sideways right off the road and dropped the right side into a shallow road side ditch. The road was extra slick due to a very fine and wet snow that was falling. After several attempts, all of which failed – even though I talked to the car in a very polite yet stern manner, to drive the car back on to the road we were rescued by a hunter with a very large four-wheel drive pickup. He had us back on the road in a minute and refused out offer of payment. His only comment when I offered to pay him was “if you see someone stuck stop and help them.” In a phone call with Neil, he was quick to point out that I had managed to get stuck the last time we were there in the winter.

Jackson has the National Wildlife Museum and we went there to see a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian called “Through the Lens – 85 years of nature photography.” It was a great show and we also enjoyed seeing their permanent collection of wildlife art. Senior citizen discount to get in was nice to.

Our drive back was again slow in parts even though we changed our route to avoid the Big Horn Mountains because of a forecast of heavy snow. We did all right until dark, about two hours from home, and that made it difficult to tell if parts of the road were just snow covered or were ice coated. The lack of visible lane lines also stressed Kathy.

We returned home to snow, eight inches or so on the ground, and cold temps. It was four degrees when we got up at 7:30 this morning and the low during the night was around minus four. We had a great welcome from the animal tribe when we got home. They all survived and seemed to have been perfectly happy with Bev looking out for them. Bev also learned that they can be quite funny at times and all have a personality of their own.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

November 23

Letter 26

We have now been living in South Dakota for half a year. We started letter number one with “This is the story of, depending on who you are or how you look at it, a journey, the start of the fulfillment of a dream, or just plain wackiness” and at this point in our journey we have to say it has been the fulfillment of a dream. There are some whom I’m sure were convinced that this we were wacky and there maybe more by now. Living here has been everything we had hoped for and then some. This is an incredible part of the country, the hills, plains, woods, trails, stars at night, sunsets, sunrises and everything that makes up this part of the world. We are in the Promised Land.

Of course, I have to say, that one of the reasons living here has been so great is that we have been able to stay in close touch with our kids, other family members and friends through the magic of “free nights and weekends” and e-mail. We talk with the various kids four to five times a week. I think without all this it would be very difficult for us to live this far from family and people who are important to us.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a great one, with a ten pound smoked turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, apple pie and all that goes with good eating. We shared our dinner with Bev and Dennis and had a wonderful day.

We have started getting ready for Christmas. Our tree is up, continuing my tradition of putting it up over Thanksgiving so the kids could help. Of course the kids weren’t here, but the tree went up anyway. We have also decorated the seven foot spruce tree that actually belongs to Bev and Dennis, but since it is right on the property line we made plans with them to decorate it. We have put lights around the living room window and will be putting icicle lights along the front porch. Besides the tree inside we have many other Christmas decorations that both Kathy and I have collected over the years and they are slowly being unearthed and put out.

We have been told that people in Lead really go all out with Christmas decorations. As we look out over the town from our hillside location we can see more and more Christmas lights each night. It has been fun to spot them and watch them spread as the days go by.

The weather this week as been delightful and quite a surprise for this time of year here. With the exception of a couple of snow showers early in the week that covered the ground it has been great here. Temperatures in the 50s and on Saturday they moved into the 60s and we were able to sit out on the patio in the morning with Dennis and Bev and enjoy coffee and fresh baked scones. Even the animals enjoyed the spring-like temps and the chance to stay out all day. Kathy even hung out a load of laundry.  It was really a treat and we probably will not be able to do this very often until spring which arrives about the time most of you will be having summer. The warm days have once again allowed the grass to peak through the snow cover.

We walked to the beaver pond on Friday. The trail was snow covered and packed by the passage of snowmobiles. It was a nice walk, but the pond is iced over and snow covered and will probably remain that way until spring. We will continue to go to the pond when we can and will let you know if there is any sign of the beaver family.

We are looking forward to a visit from Neil and Lori. They are planning on being here for Christmas or around my birthday in January. Neil was here when we moved, but that was real work and not exactly a visit.

I just stepped out for my evening smoke-break and surprised two deer in the front yard. They took off up the hill to the back yard and then stopped to watch me.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

December 7

Letter 27

Only 18 more shopping days until Christmas! Shopping here is different from Maryland. In Maryland there is a mall on almost every corner and certainly there were three or four within 20 minutes of the house, but here the nearest mall is an hour away and it is the only one within 300 miles. I really don’t miss the malls, but it does mean you have to plan shopping more carefully. We did make a trip to Rapid City this week, Kathy had an eye exam and we got some shopping done. We also took in a craft fair in Spearfish this week and did some shopping while there. While at the craft fair I had a talk with a man who owns Dakota Gold, a mustard manufacturing company. When he discovered we moved here from Maryland he had quite a laugh about the national news coverage of the recent snow there.

Shopping is not the only thing here that is different. Kathy called the doctor for me on Monday to set up my annual physical and was given a choice of that day or the next. No waiting – really nice. My physical went well, EKG and x-ray. Labs are not back yet, but there is no indication that I’m – surprise to some of you – not in great shape. The only part of the physical that has not been done is the probing with a camera attached, not the fun part, and that is scheduled for next week.

The weather here this week has been in the 50s almost every day and several days have made it over 60. This morning we were able to have coffee with the neighbors outside in t- shirts, but tonight we are expecting two inches of snow. No big deal and hardly mentioned in the weather forecast.

People say if you don’t like the weather in South Dakota you only have to wait a few minutes and it will change. Sometime ago Spearfish, SD, made the record books for the quickest and most drastic temperature change in history. The temperature dropped from about 60 to 0 in a matter of minutes. Severe enough change that windows in cars and buildings broke. It not only did it once, but it did it several times in one day.

Kathy and I continue to help with the Friday night Y kids skating parties and are starting to know some of the kids, even those we don’t really want to know. We are attending the Y staff and volunteer Christmas party on Monday. It should be fun and will give us a chance to meet some more people.

On one of our shopping trips we purchased some additional Christmas lights and now have lights around the dining room window and icicles along the front of the porch. We also have plans to add to the lights next year. We would like to outline the entire front and both sides of the house. Outdoor decorations here are a big deal and everyday more and more houses are decorated. As we look out the front window from day-to-day, it is like watching a fungus of lights spread across the town.

We were able to take a walk to the beaver pond again today. Even with all the warm weather the pond is still iced over and will probably remain that way until spring comes – sometime in June. It was a nice walk and Whiskey was excited about the walk until she figured out where we were going. After that she spent the rest of the walk trying to convince us it was time to head back to the car.

We continue to have deer in the yard and one night this week a buck strolled right down the middle of the street. It really is amazing and still brings a smile to our faces to watch the wildlife without having to leave the house.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

December 14

Letter 28

We did get our snow, several inches only, last Sunday night. On Monday we had very light snow most of the day. The amazing thing about Monday’s snow was that the sun was out and yet it continued to snow.

The weather this week has been good, for winter in South Dakota, with daytime temperatures reaching the 50s or close to it most days, although nights have fallen to single digits more than once. We are supposed to get snow tonight and tomorrow, but they are not predicting more than a few inches. I guess we will get the big one(s) at some point before winter ends in May or June.

We continue to get ready for Christmas although, since it will just be Kathy and me, there is not a lot to do. The biggest thing was to remember, with the distance between us and the kids, that we could not wait until the last minute to mail presents. Part of the week was spent packaging up stuff to mail and getting it down to the post office. We also had to send Christmas cards earlier this year to assure that they would arrive by Christmas. It seems to take about five days for a letter to reach the East Coast from here and we are told about ten days for packages.

This Christmas will be different for us, because it will be the first time in years that the kids have not been around us for Christmas. That will make Christmas day a little different from those in the past. However, if we were in Annapolis we would not see much of them. Leigh is leaving on the 26^th with her boyfriend to spend a week at Disney World with his family and Torey and her mom are heading for London for a week. Neil and Lori will be in Baltimore for Christmas, but will be arriving for a visit on January 3^rd (my birthday). We are really looking forward to their visit. This will be Lori’s first trip to South Dakota and we certainly hope it will not be her last.

Kathy has gotten all her baking supplies and is baking cookies for Christmas to share with friends and neighbors. I will probably be offered a few of them also, one can always hope and I have been good!

Flu has struck our area fairly hard. We are glad we got flu shots. The high school-middle school have about 200 students out sick between them. Custer, about 30 miles south of us, closed their schools for several days and has closed preschool and kindergarten until January.

This has been a lazy period for us as far as the house goes, although we did get the paint for our bedroom and hope to get it painted by Christmas. We continue to say that we should get to work painting the cabinets around the fireplace, but so far all we have done is say that, even though we have had the paint for weeks. I guess the spirit will move us at some point.

We continue to make use of the Y for swimming and Kathy has added the indoor track to her workout routine. We have also been going in the morning some. The pool is open from five until eleven in the morning and then reopens from four till eight in the evening. The rest of the Y is open from five in the morning until eight in the evening and on Saturday it is open until nine and closed on Sunday.

We still have our animals for entertainment and they do provide some really good laughs from time-to-time. Raji has taken to getting on the roof at the back of the house and crossing over to the front and then dropping down onto the front porch roof to survey the neighborhood and bask in the sun. Whiskey continues to get swatted by all the cats at times and still unsuccessfully tries to keep Rachel away from the table at meal times. They all still have their favorite resting places, Montana in front of the fireplace, Rachel on the back of the sofa (warmed by the floor lamp) and Whiskey and Raji fight over possession of the dogbed in our room. We now have two of them set up so they can each have one.

We are still helping with the Y Friday night skate party and last Friday, with no regard for her ankles, Kathy put on a pair of skates and skated around the building for a while. She did pretty good for the first time on skates in longer than she will tell me about.

The National Weather Service has just changed our snow prediction from several inches to six to eight inches with winds to 40mph. Still not a lot of snow for here, but things are looking up.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

December 21

Letter 29

They say it is winter, but you cannot tell from our weather. Although it is snowing now, it was 60 and sunny yesterday. We are only supposed to get up to an inch of snow tonight and then it will be in the 40s through Christmas. My dreams of a white Christmas are rapidly fading away. The one reminder of winter is that sunrise was at 7:21 today and sunset was at 4:13. We did not actually see the sun until around 7:45 because of the high ridge to our east and the one to our west swallowed the sun up around 3:45. I’m starting to understand how people in the Arctic Circle feel.

The big excitement this week was a trip to the Oriental Market in Rapid City. They carry a fair selection of loose teas of which Kathy is very fond. They even have her favorite in stock. While in Rapid we stopped at Wal-Mart for water and treated ourselves to lunch at Hardee’s. Doesn’t take much to make us happy these days.

Actually there was one other exciting event, Kathy and I had our first anniversary. There have been many changes in our lives in the past 12 months. There was the blending of households, mixing of the animals, leaving jobs and friends, not to mention moving 1700 miles. Our anniversary would not be considered a memorable day by most standards. I started the day with an early wake up, 5:15am, had several enemas and then Kathy drove me to the local Health Clinic/Doctors Office for the last part of my physical. The part with a camera on a long, very long, flexible tube….need I say more. I’m glad to report that the test was fine, the camera worked and all is well. Perhaps we will celebrate at a later date with something more appropriate for the occasion.

Monday night we are attending an event put on by the youth at our church. They are having a Christmas party with the intention of making sure no child in Lead or Deadwood goes without a Christmas gift.

On December 24 Lead is having their sixth annual Christmas dinner for the whole town. Turkey, ham and all the trimmings that go with it will be served. It is open to anyone and there is no cost. You are encouraged to make a donation to The Lord’s Pantry, a local food bank sponsored by all the churches. Last year they served over 600 dinners and will deliver to those who are unable to get out or have to work. We are planning on attending and expect to see a lot of people we know there and to make some new friends.

Y skating ended for the year on Friday night and will not restart until the second Friday in January so we will have a couple of free Friday nights. They will probably be no different from most of our other nights.

The neighbors came by today with a Christmas gift for us to open. We now, much to the horror of Torey and Leigh, have a lighted deer with moving head in our front yard. When I told them on the phone they accused us of being “Redneck.” They seem to have forgotten that I’m a guy who likes Willie Nelson, vacations in tents, owns cowboy boots and hats and drives a Ford station wagon. We don’t have Neil’s reaction yet, but I’m pretty sure he may agree with the girls. If they are lucky and I can find the right sale after Christmas the one deer could easily become a herd by this time next year. We haven’t mentioned the full size buffalo frame I plan to make between now and next Christmas. It will be wrapped in lights and shine from the carport roof.

“A Lead Christmas”

Twas the week before Christmas, when all around our town no one was scurrying and running up and down

There was no beating on other’s faces, just to find the best parking spaces

The lights were strung on the houses with care, so others could drive by with children and stare

Our children were all living far away with visions of the UPS guy saving the day

Kathy in her fuzzy slippers and I with my bald head had just settled down to watch TV in bed

When outside our bedroom there was a big noise coming from the cats we call our boys

I sprang from the room to check it all out and found them rug diving and running about

The light from the kitchen (left on at night) played with their shadows and made them a fright

And then I saw it was not just the boys, but the dog and the princess where also there with delight

I knew in a moment if we were to sleep, this running about….it just had to cease

So treats we did make and hand out, so that these creatures would give us a long night’s break

We scolded them all, using each name…here Montana and Raji, Whiskey and Rachel………of to your beds before your to blame for our lack of sleep and disrupted domain……….

To the top of the furniture and under the bed… go away….go away or you shall not be fed……..

And then in a flash they all took a dash and ran away to their favorite hiding places…

Back to bed we went in the blink of an eye to continue watching that show with an unstylish straight guy

And to those of you in your own places we remember trying to find those parking spaces…we think of the malls and the mobs all around…doing that running all up and down………..and we are again thankful for a small town……

Yet we leave you with just this thought………..Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

We wish you one and all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS………..

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

December 28

Letter 30

Kathy and I had a great Christmas, our first in South Dakota. We attended the community Christmas dinner on Christmas eve: turkey, ham, stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams, dessert and beverage and saw quite a few neighbors and people we knew. The food was excellent and entertainment was provided with Christmas songs sung by members of the high school chorus. Later that evening we attended a Christmas eve service at church and it was packed (a lot of Christmas and Easter folks is my thought). Christmas morning we got up and had our traditional breakfast, pigs in a blanket made with small smoked sausages and fresh OJ and then opened presents. That evening we had Bev, our neighbor, over for dinner. We had a rib eye roast cooked in our “set it and forget it” gadget. It was a nice quiet day for us. We talked with kids and other family members on the phone and being able to be in touch was great.

We had quite a gourmet Christmas from the girls – air popcorn popper with special toppings, fancy soup mixes (already tried the Tuscany Bean and boy was it good), good coffee, ice cream scoop with designer chocolate sauce, and an assortment of dipping spices for bagels, bread and pasta. They also gave us some board games and hand creams and I got a pair of fleece lined jeans. They’re great now that winter has arrived.

Kathy and I hope that all of you had a great Christmas and that you will have a good New Year and that the future will bring you happiness and joy.

We finally got snow – it started snowing yesterday and is still snowing. As of now, we have between 18 inches and two feet of snow. It’s hard to tell exactly how much because of the 20 to 30 mph wind gusts. We have some drifts around the house, which are up to about four feet. It is a nice dry powder snow so shoveling has not been too bad. Some highways have been closed because of whiteout conditions. We are expecting another round of snow late Monday night. Our animals, with the exception of the dog, are not impressed by the snow. Montana and Raji keep thinking they want to go out, but once they stick their head out the door they quickly change their mind. Raji gets very verbal about the whole thing and loudly meows at the snow. Oh well, spring will come someday. The people involved in the ski and snowmobile business are really glad to see the snow.  Other than them, I may be the happiest guy in town. I still love snow.

We have taken advantage of the weather to start a new house project, the painting of our bedroom. Kathy chose hunter green for the color. It takes two coats to cover the off white that was there. I have one wall left that needs a second coat and then we will paint the trim. Once the painting is completed we will add curtains and crown molding and another room will be complete.

We are really looking forward to Neil and Lori arriving on Saturday for a visit. Neil helped us move, but Lori has not been here so we will have fun showing her the area, I would say the town, but that can be done in about 30 minutes and there really is a lot to see in the area.

Torey and her mother landed safely in London after and overnight flight from DC. Leigh arrived at Disney World and wasted no time getting to the park. She called this morning and they had been at the park since 6:30 am and had already ridden three coasters. She really loves DW and I don’t blame her.

We are heading to Rapid City tomorrow for some shopping. We planned on going today, but with the wind and blowing snow we decided it could wait. It’s not like we have a pressing schedule that we must adhere to these days.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

January 4, 2004

Letter 31

Winter has finally arrived in the Black Hills. As I write, the temperature is –10.9 and falling. We are expecting a low tonight of around –15 and a wind chill of –25 to –40. This weather will be with us for a few days, but the good news is that by Saturday we will be back in the 40s (So they say). This morning when I got up I looked at the temperature and thought it was 4 degrees (I did not have my glasses on) and later commented that it had dropped to 0.4. That’s when Kathy pointed out the – sign in front of the .4 and then I realized that it was actually –4 when I got up. Felt colder right away. This morning when I stepped outside there was very light snow and because of the low temperature it appeared as if crystal was falling from the sky. Really neat to see.

The animals are not overly fond of this level of cold and don’t stay long when they go out. Montana and Rachel are the smart ones; they just don’t go out. I can’t say that I blame them. As for us, the house is nice and toasty and we can always turn up the fireplace.

New Year’s Eve was quiet for us, we stayed home and discovered another great advantage to living in South Dakota (at least for us old folks – of course I’m now a year older than I was then). You can watch the celebration in Times Square and it is only 10pm here and be in bed by 10:05.

Neil and Lori arrived yesterday and will be here until Tuesday. Kathy and I are happy to visit with them and catch up on the wedding plans. We are also taking some time to give them a guided tour of the area while they are here. Today, after a fantastic breakfast cooked by Neil and Lori, we took a ride through Spearfish Canyon and stopped for coffee at a coffeehouse in Spearfish. Our plan for tomorrow is a visit to Custer State Park and Hill City. Tonight is “Harry Potter” on the DVD and popcorn.

Torey made it safely back from London and really enjoyed her trip. She did say that Heathrow Airport was a zoo on Friday when they left. Fortunately they were on Virgin Airways and not British Airways. The cancellation of the BA flights did mean that they flew home on a full flight as those from canceled flights looked for seats on other carriers. Leigh is also back from Disney World and she had a fantastic stay there- on the go from early AM to early AM and loving every minute of it.

We have finished painting our bedroom, except for some of the trim. We also have about a third of the crown molding up. The rest is here and ready to go up after Neil and Lori leave. Thank God for nail guns is all I can say when it comes to installing molding.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

January 11, 2004

Letter 32

Neil and Lori left on Tuesday and it was really great to have them here and to be able to spend some time with them. We did go out to dinner on Monday night at Miss Kitty’s, our favorite Chinese restaurant that is upstairs at the famous Saloon #10 – the one where Wild Bill Hickcock was killed. The weather was not ideal for a visit, but they both said they would come back.

The weather stayed cold through Tuesday with highs in the single digits, except for Sunday when it did not get above 0, and lows of –15. The wind chill varied from –20 to

–40, of course that was at night and we were in a warm bed by that time. This week has been better. Saturday reached 67 and we were able to enjoy coffee outside with the neighbors. We have had several snow showers this week that add up to another six inches of snow, but grass is showing again due to the warm spell.

Saturday night we walked to the end of our street and watched the annual town burning of the Christmas trees. Big, but very short fire. People can drop their trees off at the visitor center parking lot and then the Lead Fire Department burns them. Refreshments are served and a good time is had by all. It doesn’t take much to have a town event here, especially in the winter.

We have finished painting our bedroom and the molding is up. Molding was a tough job to the lack of straight walls and level ceilings. We would like to tackle the kitchen floor next, but that is a big job and I’m really nervous about how many layers of flooring I might have to remove to find the original. The floor is noticeably higher than the rest of the first floor.

One of my birthday presents was a laser level and stud finder. The stud finder is a big help, but the laser level has proven that there are few straight or level floors, walls and ceilings in this house. This has made some of our improvement projects difficult, especially for us do-it-yourself amateurs. We are getting better with time and are learning from previous mistakes. Guess an old dog can learn new tricks (I’m speaking of me and not Kathy of course – in regards to the old dog part).

We continue to help out with the Y Friday skate night and it seems as if some, not all, of the kids are learning what our expectations of behavior are. Next weekend the local Y is hosting the Y Team Basketball Tournament. They will play on Saturday and Sunday and are expecting over 30 teams to participate. Most of the teams are from SD, but there will be some from ND, WY, NE and WI also. It is a big source of income for the local Y and should put some money into the local economy as well, since many of the teams will be here overnight. Kathy and I have been asked to help supervise activities at one of the two tournament sites. We don’t know what our duties will be yet, but we have agreed to volunteer some of our time. Kathy has also agreed to be one of many cooks who will each prepare about ten pounds of Sloppy Joe mix for the concession stand.

We have been watching the weather for other parts of the country and are glad to know we are not the only ones being allowed to experience some real winter weather. Hopefully ya’ll will get a break and warm up to tee shirt weather soon like we did.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

January 18, 2004

Letter 33

Kathy and I spent most of the weekend helping with the Y girls’ basketball tournament, 13 games on Saturday and four on Sunday. There were a total of 68 games, grade 5 through 8, played between the three gyms at the high school and the one at the Y Family Center, aka The Armory.

I had forgotten how much fun it is to watch these age groups play and how serious the players can be. There were some differences between the way games are done here and what was going on in Annapolis and others areas of Maryland when we moved. Parents, family and friends are allowed to cheer here instead of being forced to sit silently on the sidelines. No referees were assaulted, no players attacked and no adults or players were ejected, just a fun weekend of basketball for all involved. There were at least two to three adults plus friends and siblings per player watching each game, many grandparents also. During and after many of the games adults and a few players even took the time to thank us for working the tournament.

You could tell a little about the economy of the area the teams were from by their uniforms. Some had fancy shoes and matching warm up suits while on other teams the only things that matched were their jerseys. Rules allow you to play up one age group and it was obvious that some of the small teams from rural areas had to do this in order to have enough girls to make a team.

The weather this week has again been warm, mostly in the 50s, until the weekend when the temperature went back to the 30s and low 40s for daytime. No snow this week and many people are talking about how this is not helping the outlook for the fire season. It is also not helping the ski and snowmobile businesses in the area. Temperatures this week are forecast to range from a low of three to a high of around 35 with a possibility of snow on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday.

On several days this week we have had absolutely fantastic sunsets. There have been just enough clouds in the sky to reflect the light of the setting sun. The underside of the clouds turns an incredible rose quartz color. The color will usually last only for a few minutes. There has been a noticeable increase in the length of daylight. This morning the sun cleared the ridge on the east side of town at about 7:00 instead of 7:45 as it was doing a month ago. We are looking forward to the longer days. It allows for more time to do outdoor activities.

I finished installing the trim on the front of the fireplace this week, what a difference a little trim makes. We have picked up the backing, we used the motorhome for this errand, for the bookshelves that surround the fireplace and will spend most of this week taking them down, adding the backing, painting and reinstalling them. Then, except for the molding we still need to pick out, the living room will be done.

As mentioned above we took the motorhome out for a ride this week and while out stopped by the lumberyard. It is the perfect for hauling 4×8 sheets of plywood.

Driving it was fun and I’m getting more comfortable with it. It handles well for a 25 foot, 12,000-pound vehicle. Kathy hasn’t driven it yet and that is the next step on our agenda. It really is easy to drive, just like a very big car.

Neil is in Ecuador with a group he works with from the climbing gym outside of Baltimore. They will be climbing Cotopaxi Volcano, dormant we are told, while they are there. If my memory serves me right, it does on occasions, the climb is at around 14,000-feet. We have had two e-mails from him since they arrived and he is enjoying the trip.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

January 25, 2004

Letter 34

We have had another great weather week, at least by SD standards. Nights were in the low 20s with daytime temperatures reaching mid to high 50s. That all changed today. We woke up to snow and a temperature of 10. This went up and down during the day, ranging from four to 13. We have had about six inches of snow and at this time the temperature is two below and ice crystals are falling. It is going to be a cold week with temperatures ranging from 30 to below zero and a wind chill of as low as –20 at times. We also have a chance for snow every day except Monday.

The animals have enjoyed this past week and have spent a lot of time outside. The boy cats especially enjoy being out, although the appearance of a deer in the yard Friday night seemed to unnerve them. They hunkered right down on the sidewalk and rushed in as soon as we opened the door. They are not brave when it comes too much larger animals that are not part of their family.

We are also, thanks to the Weather Channel, aware that some of you are having less than pleasant weather. It looks as if in some areas you will be staying home Monday with your kids due to school closings and or icy road conditions.

Our big deal of the week was finishing the bookshelves that surround the fireplace in the living room. We managed to take them down, install the back, paint them and put them back up with no major problems. What a difference paint makes. They are painted white to match the base cabinets they rest on. The last project for this room will be to install the crown molding. We have picked out the molding we want and will probably purchase it in February. Once this is done another room can be crossed of our list of projects.

Saturday night we attended a girl’s basketball game at the high school. We didn’t have to pay since we had the starting time wrong and when we arrived there were only about 12 minutes left to play. Lead won so it was a good game. Following the game we went to Deadwood for a free laser light show on Main Street. I’ve seen better shows, but it was free, local and something to do. The next big events coming up in Deadwood are Chinese New Years with a parade complete with dragon and Mardi Gras. The Mardi Gras festival will also include a parade. When we came out here last February to look for a house, it was Mardi Gras time so this is an anniversary of sorts for us, the first time we saw South Dakota.

At church today, from a friend with four boys, we learned that the physical education program for grades three through eight includes a half-day a week of skiing and snowboarding instruction. This takes place at Terry Peak, one of the two local ski areas. This is a neat program for the kids who live here since outdoor recreation is and should be a big part of their life.

We have had several e-mails, one with photos, from Neil while he is on his climbing trip in Ecuador. The photos were really although we are wondering about the one of a guy with a machine pistol strapped across his chest. We also had one phone call, but Internet-based phone calls, which are like radio communications, leave a lot to be desired. Kathy wasn’t home when he called so Neil was stuck talking with me. He has had a great trip so far and said the climb was great and that he turned out to be one of the better climbers, no surprise to us. He will return to the states later this week.

It is now 8:30 PM here and the temperature is pushing –3 and heading down.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

February 1, 2004

Letter 35

We experienced a few cold days at the beginning of the week and then thanks to a friendly temperature inversion it got warmer. We have had several days with temps in the high 40s to mid 50s while just a few miles away, out on the plains as the crow flies, they were in the teens. It is amazing here how the cold air will lie like a pancake and we stick up through it into the warm air. We had several very light periods of snow and the most we got was about two inches. Next week is forecast to be in the 20s during the day and low teens to zero at night. Our next chance of snow will be late next week. We need the snow.

We haven’t seen deer for a week or so although we have seen evidence of them in the form of droppings in the yard. Deer are not the only wild animals here in the Black Hills. I was reminded of this Thursday night just after dark when a mountain lion crossed the road in front of my car between Lead and Deadwood, just a hundred yards or so from where the motorhome is parked. Mountain lions are not uncommon here and several people, including one policeman from Deadwood, have told us they live a lot closer than many people want to know. We have friends from church who live on 10 acres about 10 miles out of town who do not like their children to play outside alone because mountain lions are in their area. They are protected here so if you see one you may not shoot it unless it attacks you. Several years ago a hunter killed one that was stalking him and this resulted in some serious problems between the hunter and the South Dakota Game and Fish Department.

This has been a nice slow week for us. We haven’t done a whole lot and that has been very nice. We continue to help out with Friday Night Skate at the YMCA and Kathy has been back to church for pasty making. We did spend some time this week catching up on our house cleaning, laundry and all the things that won’t go away, even for retired people.

Neil has returned safe and sound from his trip and had a great climb and a fantastic time. He has sent us, by web, the photos he took on his trip and they are all great and some of them are really fantastic. He is a good photographer and we hope he will continue to develop his skills in this area. Lori, of course, was glad to have him home and safe and sound.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

February 8, 2004

Letter 36

It has been a mostly chilly week although yesterday reached about 45 degrees. We did have several inches of snow early in the week and woke up this morning to snow. It has stopped for now and we have around four inches and are expecting several more tonight along with winds to 50 mph. The forecast is for snow through Wednesday with an inch or two each day.

I do not smoke in the house. The reason for this is my kind, considerate and compassionate nature and of course the fact that Kathy does not smoke. There are some advantages to going outside for a smoke break; there is the opportunity to enjoy the sub-zero temperatures, to feel the icy wind on my face and to contemplate life’s mysteries. I have discovered on quiet nights, any night after 5:00 PM here is quiet, you can actually hear snow fall and during sub-zero temperatures you can hear faint squeaks in the air as the last drops of moisture are squeezed from the atmosphere.

My project for the week was the refinishing of our coffee table. We sanded the old stain off and restained it and then applied three coats of tongue oil. The new stain is much lighter than it was and it turned out really nice. Today I started on my next project, which is to restain a sofa/entryway table. When it is finished it will match the coffee table.

We have not seen anymore mountain lions, but we did have three deer in the back yard on Saturday morning. Our cats and dog are still not impressed and keep their distance. The cat that comes to visit, Heart, does not mind the deer and wanders right among them. They don’t seem to mind the cat, guess the size is no threat to them.

Our neighbors took us for lunch today at the Chinatown Café (Miss Kitty’s), our favorite place to eat. This is the second time they have taken us. It is sort of payback for morning coffee and scones at our house and an occasional dinner.

We have not done a lot of eating out since moving here. Certainly not like we did in Maryland when Kathy rarely got home before 8:00 PM and I would get home, depending on work, between four and eight. Kathy and I would eat out together between one and three times a week and I would take Leigh out to eat one or more times a week. This meant I was eating out three to five times per week plus going out to lunch everyday at work. Of course, here we do not have the variety of restaurants we had in Maryland. Our choices locally are Chinese or beef. There is an excellent Italian restaurant in Spearfish, but that is a 20-minute drive. I know that 20 minutes is not much, but after being here a while it seems like a long way to go to eat. The ways our thinking has changed continues to amaze me. I’m sure part of it is not having to go to work every day, but I think a bigger part is the lifestyle here as opposed to that of Maryland. I should add that with two good cooks, each with different specialties, in the house there is really no good reason to eat out.

Kathy and I continue to swim and use the walking track at the Y. The Y has changed it’s hours some and will now be open on Sundays also from one till five. The pool will not be open on Sundays, but the walking track and exercise equipment will be available.

We are going to indulge ourselves in a little culture in the coming weeks.  We will be going to see “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at Black Hills State in Spearfish and to an Oscar Wilde play in Deadwood. A group called the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express from Virginia is doing both these plays. We may be in the middle of nowhere, not to mention the geographic center of North America, but we do have culture. Actually the center of North America is about 30 miles northwest of us.

It has started to snow again and in the last 30 minutes it has covered the sidewalk. The far side of town is barely visible through the snow. It really is pretty, quiet and peaceful here when it snows.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

February 15, 2004

Letter 37

The weather the last few days has been warm, in the high 50s, and sunny. It was not this way all week however. We had around 9 inches of snow between Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. The snow was not bad, but the winds gusting to 50 mph caused whiteout conditions and drifting snow. School was closed on Wednesday because of the blowing and drifting snow. I-90 was also closed from Rapid City through Western SD and across Wyoming to the Montana border. Our next chance of real snow is Thursday although there is a slight chance for light snow tonight.

The two days of nasty weather had some benefit. I used the time to refinish the hall/sofa table. We also decided on the final way we wanted the molding in the living room. The molding has been bought, primed, painted and installed. The room really looks good and is one more project from the “honey-do” list that is completed.

We have news from DC; the girls, Torey and Leigh, are buying their first house (condo) together and will move in around the end of May. It is a two-bedroom unit with a gourmet kitchen. They are both very excited about this and we are happy for them. We are looking forward to seeing it  this summer on our trip east.

I don’t want any of you to think I’m trying to be Oprah or “Perky” Katie from the Today Show, but I have a book to recommend to just about all of you. The book is “Monkey Dancing” by Daniel Glick. Torey and Leigh sent me a copy for my birthday and I did not put it down until I was done. It should be a must read for anyone who has children, has traveled with children or is considering either option. The children he traveled with were a nine-year-old girl and a thirteen-year old boy and the trip covered Australia, Java, Borneo, Thailand, Vietnam, Nepal, India, The Netherlands and France. There are several of you who I thought of as I read this book and yes Vic and Nancy you are two of them.

This has been a quiet week for us and that is nice from time-to-time. There was no Friday Night Skate because the Y family building was rented to several Boy Scout Troops for the holiday weekend. They are in town for skiing and snowboarding. We have not seen any deer this week or mountain lions either and that is sort of sad. Our tribe of animals has been their usual noisy and entertaining bunch.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

February 23, 2004

Letter 38

It was a year ago this coming week when Kathy and I first saw South Dakota and the house we would eventually buy. We arrived in Lead around 10:00 PM so we did not really get a good look at the area until the next morning. I do remember the ride from Rapid City to Lead and after leaving the interstate at Sturgis and beginning the climb up through Boulder Canyon remarking on how pretty it seemed. We would get glimpses of the canyon in the moonlight as we drove. Once checked in to our hotel we could see the lights of Lead and started to feel that this was our place. The next morning we had a good view of the town from our window and I think by the end of the day we knew we would be living here. We spent the next several days looking at houses with Bill, our Realtor, and then took Sunday off to think. We also drove to Mount Rushmore and through Custer State Park while we considered the move, the house and what a change a move would make in our lives, those of our children and friends. Of course, ya’ll know the decision we made and how that turned out.

We had good week weather wise. It snowed once and that turned out to be just a dusting. Although a dusting is still pretty as you look out our front windows and watch the far ridge disappear and then reappear depending on the intensity of the snowfall. Most of the week has been high 40s during the day and sunny. One day even made it to 67 degrees. The next chance of snow is Thursday night and Friday.

Kathy will be leaving Thursday for a trip east; I secretly feel that she is trying to escape the next snow – to get out of shoveling I’m sure. (Note: the previous statement is included under protest from my editor – Kathy) She will spend five days in Baltimore with Neil and Lori, also plans to see Torey and Leigh, and then on to Buffalo to visit her aunt before returning home. I will be left here with the animals, poor me. I’m hoping a revolt does not break out in her absence; with our herd one never knows. The house is well stocked with food and Kathy is making some pasties for me – I will not starve to death. I may run out of ice cream, but that is a situation that is easily remedied right here in town. All I have to do is watch for the four half gallons for $5.00 sale that occurs fairly frequently. I have a fondness for ice cream with peanut butter and chocolate syrup.

I do have a “Honey Do” list posted in the kitchen and am sure I’ll get at least part of it done while Kathy is gone. No big deals on the list, just some trim painting, floor cleaning and such. Nothing a man with tools can’t handle providing the herd does not demand my full attention and if they do I can blame my lack of progress on them. I would do that too.

We went to the movies Saturday to see “Calendar Girls” and if you have not seen it you must. It is absolutely hilarious. It is a true story and that makes it even funnier. This is the first movie I’ve seen since leaving Maryland and Kathy’s second movie. Guess we don’t get out much.

Torey sent us some great pictures of her London trip, both color and black and white. The pictures of Stonehenge in both black and white and color were really neat to see. All our kids seem to have a talent for photography.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

February 29, 2004

Letter 39

I will apologize up front for any errors in this letter. Kathy, my editor, is enjoying a trip east and a visit with the kids. She is also taking advantage of the weather there which, at the moment, is quite different from my weather here in South Dakota. She is currently in Baltimore with Neil and Lori, although yesterday she did get to Annapolis to visit with friends and also got to spend some time with Leigh. She has been helping Neil and Lori with wedding plans and associated stuff like invitations. Maybe if she’s lucky, she will get to shovel snow later this week when she stops in Buffalo to visit with her aunt. I would hate for her to miss this experience all together. Why should I have all the fun?

The past week, until yesterday, has been wonderful and spring-like with temps as high as 60. All that changed yesterday as snow moved into the area. The snow started as freezing rain and sleet and than changed to all snow just about sunset. This morning we had about eight inches on the ground and are expecting to have a total of around 25 inches by the time the storm ends Monday afternoon. The snow is coming in bands so occasionally the far ridge and the other side of town will disappear in a blanket of whiteness. No one is doing much here in Lead today so when I go outside I can hear the snowfall. On rare occasions I can hear the sound of others shoveling or the sound of the towns snowplow. The next chance of snow is for Thursday night. We hope this weather will not affect our tulips or daffodils, both of which are starting to poke their little heads up through the ground.

Speaking of tulips and daffodils, we still have to figure a way to keep the deer from eating them. Our neighbor suggested mothballs. I have spread some out in the flower bed area and we will see if this will really keep the deer away. We have also been told that a border of marigolds will work, but the tulips and daffodils would be deer snacks long before it’s warm enough to plant marigolds. A fence would work, but it would also be ugly.

Our tribe of animals, with the exception of Whiskey, are not impressed by the snow. Montana and Raji would not go out until the walk was cleared. Of course, it’s hard for eight-inch tall cats to move around in 12 inches of snow. When we clear the walks, we clear the one beside the house which allows them to sit under the roof overhang at the back in an area we call the cave. By tomorrow, if the snow keeps up as predicted, the tribe will become restless and start to feed on it self. This is always good for entertainment and as long as I’m not the one being attacked it will be OK.

Since taking Kathy to the airport on Thursday I have been pretty busy with my list of things to get done while she is gone. Some of these are from my “honey please do” list and others are from my own list of things that need to be done or finished. None of them are giant projects, just little things that need to get done. One of the things we accomplished before Kathy left was a good scrubbing of the kitchen floor. After this we applied three coats of a sealing wax and it does look much better. It’s still ugly, but now it’s clean, it shines and it will be easier to keep that way.

The latest weather forecast calls for a period of very heavy snow tonight with an additional 10 inches of snow by morning and more snow until around noon tomorrow. They have taken next Thursdays snow out of the forecast. How sad.

Ross and Kathy – well Ross at least………..

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

March 7, 2004

Letter 40

Kathy has returned home from her trip east, I know this surprises some of you – that she could enjoy returning to the herd, South Dakota and me. She had a really good trip and enjoyed helping Neil and Lori with some wedding stuff, seeing friends, visiting with Leigh and spending time with her aunt. We, the herd and I, are glad to have her back, especially me since she brought me two pounds of Starbucks coffee and two great loaves of bread from the Montana Mills Bread Company. The bonus upon returning home was that the house was presentable and all the members of our herd were present and accounted for.

She is happy with the projects I completed while she was gone. Included among them were installing and staining door treads between the living and dining rooms and between the dining room and kitchen. I also painted the hall area outside the bathroom and our bedroom door and closet doors and trim along with making and installing a desk in the computer room. We needed the extra workspace since the monitor and other stuff takes up a good portion of the desk that was already there. There were also some other small projects that got completed such as cleaning, sealing and waxing the bathroom floor. I should add, not to brag though, that she returned to a clean, orderly and happy house. Although she is happy with the completed work there is more for me to do. She went shopping this afternoon and came home with curtains and rods for our bedroom and for the glass on the front and back door. Saints just never get to goof off.

The snow we had last weekend left two feet of snow by the time it ended Monday afternoon. School was closed for one day and then all returned to normal. The school closing was the result of high winds causing snowdrifts as high as 19 feet in some areas. The weather for the rest of the week was mostly sunny with daytime highs in the 40s and 50s. We did have some snow flurries on Saturday that left us with about two inches of snow. The next snow in the forecast is for next Friday and between now and then we will have daytime temperatures in the 50s and 60s. 

We are looking forward to spring, which will be sometime between April and late June here, so that we can do some planting and basic yard work. We are also considering covering the side patio so we can have some shade for coffee with the neighbors on hot days. We will let you know if mothballs really keep deer out of the flower-beds or if we need to buy a freezer to store venison in.

The Y is sponsoring a boy’s basketball tournament this coming weekend and Kathy and I have agreed to help out by handling the admissions for the games being played at the Y Family Center just as we did with the girls tournament. It should be a fun weekend.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

March 14, 2004

Letter 41

First a technical note:

We have experienced a slight glitch with one of our two computers, actually a complete meltdown. Computers are great when they work as they are designed to, but when they take on a life of their own they really suck. Of course we did not have our address book installed on both so we have had to try and recreate it which has been mostly, but not totally successful so I have a few favors to ask:

Neil, we need Lori’s e-mail.

Wes, I need Allison’s e-mail

Mary at Warwick, can you contact Leigh R in Annapolis and send me her address…unless Wes has it

 Molly, I need your home e-mail, all I have is your Powerware

Jan, I need your home e-mail; all I have is your BBH

Buddy, I need Alice’s e-mail.

If any of you are getting this at an address that’s not right, please send me the proper one.

Thanks to all of you……..

The weather here has been up and down, 65 on Tuesday with two to three inches of snow Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, then 58 on Friday and an inch of snow on Saturday. It is supposed to warm up again this week, but they are calling for snow on Monday and Tuesday and then on up to 68 by Friday. They say “if you don’t like the weather in South Dakota, just wait a few minutes and it will change.”

We spent the weekend helping with the YMCA Mile High Boys Basketball Tournament for grades five through eight. This was not as big as the girls’ tournament, only 44 games instead of 89, but still fun. We enjoyed watching them play and got to see several really good, scrappy games. As with the girls, no one was ejected, players or parents, and there was a lot of cheering from team supporters. The other thing we have noticed while attending the tournaments is that families here seem to have three too five children instead of the one point four we were used to in Maryland. That point four child should be hard to see and even harder to handle.

Our herd is still not impressed with snow, with the exception of Whiskey who runs right out and plows through it. The boy cats will stick their nose out the door and if snow falls on them they hiss, turn around and come back in the house. It’s sort of sad, but also very funny. Of course after several days of being in the house they will begin to turn on each other and anyone else who gets in their path. We have also taught our herd members some bad habits, kind of like we spoiled our children.  We started giving Whiskey a dog treat after she goes out to do her thing and now she wants out 20 times a day. The cats have a goldfish water bowl, but Montana prefers running water so now we can’t go to the bathroom with out him coming in and jumping up onto the sink and waiting for the water to be turned on. Sometimes he will sit in front of the bathroom and meow until we walk by to turn it on for him. We are unable to eat a meal without Rachel jumping up on the table for a snack. Raji’s only habit is to walk up and swat his brothers and sisters. Life here may be slow, but it is entertaining.

We are still working on plans for our yard this spring. We have determined where we want to add some flowerbeds and now all we have to do is figure out what will grow in this area and provide us with flowers. We also want to plant some birch and aspen trees in the upper part of the back yard along with some pine and/or fir. I’m hoping I can find some in the woods to bring home, while Kathy is of the opinion that instead of “borrowing” them I should investigate buying them. We’ll see, I am open to change.

As I finish writing this it is evident that the snow is not waiting until tomorrow, it is falling now and sticking.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

March 21, 2004

Letter 42

The weather is starting to feel like spring here this week. We did have snow on Monday and Tuesday and we had our first rain since last October on Wednesday. Friday was in the 70s and the rest of the week was in the high 50s. Next week the forecast is for daytime temps to be in the mid 50s to mid 60s all week. Of course, spring does not mean the end of snow. We had four inches of snow last June just two days after we moved here. The only month without some sort of snow since we moved here was July. Most of the snow here, at least on our side of town, is gone. We can look across town and still see plenty of snow over there. We have two sides of town, the sunny side – that’s us and the shady side – that’s them. It’s not unusual here when we tell someone where we live that they will comment, “you’re on the sunny side.” Close to class warfare, but stops just short of it. Of course others tell us we live on snob hill and we respond by saying “no that’s the street above us.” Historically and currently the people with money (doctors, lawyers, mayors, etc.) tend to be on the street above us, those who haven’t moved to Spearfish Canyon or Scottsdale.

Even though, as I said above, it feels like spring to Kathy and me the locals have assured us that winter is far from over and that March frequently brings some of the biggest snowstorms. They don’t last long, but they do come.

We took advantage of the nice weather on Friday and Saturday to start spring cleaning in the back yard. We have an open back yard with the exception of the upper 12 to 15 feet, which is on a steep slope and was really overgrown. We cleared out a lot of scrub stuff, dead tree limbs and honeysuckle trees. I call them trees because some of them are larger around than my arm.  We also removed piles of old tin, lumber and the remains of an old clothesline. I have talked with the director of public works and he told me once we had it cleared out to let him know and they would send a city crew and truck to haul it off. They appreciate it when citizens make an effort to beautify. When planting season arrives we are considering native wildflowers for that area and other shrubs that will grow in partial shade.

The warm weather has also allowed us to start hiking again. On Thursday we walked up to the beaver pond. The trail was still mostly snow covered, but since it is a snowmobile trail walking was not bad. The snow pack was thin and sort of slushy, but all in all a nice walk. We saw lots of dog and people tracks and also some very,very large cat tracks. Seeing these has a tendency to make one acutely aware of one’s surroundings. I mentioned this to a guy I know here and his comment was “what did you expect, mountain lions live up there.” Actually, they live all over out here, but there has been no real problem between them and people – yet. There have been multiple missing dogs and cats in many areas, however.

Today we went for a ride along some of the back roads here. On one of them we stopped and while I hunted for dendrites Kathy took Whiskey for a walk. Whiskey now needs a bath to remove the red mud that she accumulated on the walk. We are really looking forward to being able to be outside more and can’t wait until the danger of a hard freeze has past so we can unwinterize the motorhome and begin to use it for outings. We think our first two in the area will be to the Badlands and Devil’s Tower, hopefully no close encounters of the third kind while at the tower.

Our church has been having soup dinners on Wednesdays during lent and we have experienced some really great homemade soups. They usually have three soups to choose from, all made by volunteers. This Wednesday Kathy and I are making a black bean soup to share. This should be interesting because I don’t think to many of the people here have ever had black bean soup. These dinners have been a great chance to meet a few more people and to get to know some others better.

We had to make a trip to the Post Office the other day and while downtown we noticed a new gallery had replaced one that closed so we stopped in. The owners seem very nice and have some neat art related activities planned for the summer and fall. While talking with them we also learned that an Internet café is coming to town and should open this spring. We are excited about this, not for the Internet, but for a place to go for coffee – good coffee we hope. We do miss Starbucks, City Dock Café and the likes.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

March 28, 2004

Letter 43

The weather this week has been great, at least until yesterday. We had daytime temps in the 60s and 70s for most of the week. We also had a little, quarter of an inch, rain. This included a Friday night thunder storm that, from our large front window, was fun to watch. Yesterday was cloudy, windy and chilly and today we have had passing snow showers most of the day. There has been no accumulation, however. As we look across to the far ridge these days almost all of the snow on the “shady side” is gone. It is amazing how fast it goes away with a few days of warm temps and some wind. Of course, we still have April to look forward to which is supposed to be the second snowiest month of the year.

The advent of nice weather means the herd is spending more time outside and they really seem to be enjoying it. Montana’s favorite sport is to chase bugs while Raji’s seems to be waiting for Whiskey to lie down in a comfortable sunny spot and then run up and touch her. This causes her to get up and move to a new spot and then it starts all over again. Rachel, being a dignified lady, will go out and explore some, but is careful to never get to far from the house. We also still have Heart, the doctor’s cat that comes to visit, who Whiskey loves to chase off. Whiskey can sense Heart’s presence even when asleep under our bed and will jump up and head to the door so we will let her out. We think she is afraid we will let Heart in the house to become a permanent resident and that the last thing she wants is another cat in the house.

We were able to do more yard work this week and have finished clearing the overgrown and dead brush from the hillside in the back yard. The city, as promised, has been hauling away the debris for us and has taken away three loads of brush so far. There are probably three more loads of brush and one load of pipe, tin and other metal stuff left to go. The next part of our yard project for this spring involves enlarging a front flower bed and adding some proper drainage. Our latest major project is adding gutters to the house. This is a project that we are not going to attempt ourselves. The gutter contractor should be here within the next two weeks to do the work.

We have a new toy. We have purchased a Dell laptop with wireless card and wireless router. We are now able to access the internet from anywhere in the house and also from the patio. It is really nice not to have to run upstairs to check for mail. Having one wireless and one wired computer also allows both of us to be on the internet at the same time. Amazing how much happiness a little technology can bring to one’s life. The real purpose behind this purchase is to keep us connected to family and friends while traveling this summer and beyond.

Kathy and I have been getting more involved in our community and have been attending some city council meetings and on Monday attended a public hearing on a new ambulance service that a local doctor wants to start. This has been an interesting development. Originally he wanted to be the only service available to the area and was only going to offer basic life support. There were a large number of objections to this because the current service supplied by the hospital in Deadwood offers advanced life support. He then changed his proposal to include advanced life support, but asked the state for an exemption to the rule that both crew members be EMTs. The public hearing was about this issue and a show of hands, 42 against and only five in favor, indicated that the exemption will not be granted. He stated that he should be granted an exemption so he could help the unemployed in Lead by hiring them and that he was trying to run a “Christian based” business. We weren’t sure what Christian based had to do with the issue, unless they would offer prayers in lieu of a second EMT. I did offer my views on the subject, expressing my belief that we already have a quality service that meets our needs and did not need a second service offering a lower quality of care, during the public comment part of the meeting. Many others also spoke in favor of our current service. The doctor who wants to start the new service had also requested that 911 stop dispatching the hospital based service, but that – according to the county 911 supervisor is not going to happen. The 911 supervisor has also received many phone calls from citizens expressing their concern about this issue. Attending local government meetings has really given us a look at small town politics which turns out to be very similar to big town politics, nothing to brag about. There are other issues coming up in the future that we are interested in. These include property taxes, city budgeting, etc.

We attended a musical at the local high school this week. The play was “Godspell” and, yes, it was preformed in a public high school auditorium. Many people, including myself, have commented that if we were on the east or west coast this would not have been allowed. I guess the lack of “political correctness” is one of the advantages of living in “heartland” America. I assume that it is no surprise to some of you that I’m not viewed as a “PC person.” It is not unusual here to hear people speak in less than glowing terms of some of the rules that apply elsewhere. It really does bring to the forefront the idea of two Americas, not rich and poor, but of different values. I can’t wait to see how the political season is handled here.

And for Kris, Vic, Nate and George, have a great trip and remember only peasants like us and people who eat at Macaroni Grill dip their bread in olive oil.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

April 4, 2004

Letter 44

The weather this week has been absolutely wonderful. We did have snow in the forecast, but it failed to show up. We have had several days of daytime temps in the mid to high 70s and several more in the 60s. The one bad part is that it has been dry.

The good weather has allowed us to continue with outdoor projects. The city has finished hauling away the brush and trash we pulled off the hill in the back. I have spent several days working on the area around the patio on the side of the house. The patio is sort of like a walk out basement. The back is about eight feet in the ground and one side has slopes from eight feet to the patio level in the front. These two sides had existing raised planters that also serve as part of the retaining wall that holds the hill back. I have rebuilt both of them and plan to add a second, set back planter, to the back one to help with the erosion. We also added about six feet of patio to the front edge so we now have more room for the gas grill and garbage can. At the front of the added section we have built a privacy fence, five feet across and almost 7 five feet high, to screen the patio from the street. Once all this is finished we will have a great place to eat out, read or just sit and do nothing.

The “Christian based” ambulance service that I mentioned in the last letter has given up and announced that they will not be opening. They were unable to get enough community support to overcome the problems that their lack of a good business plan had caused them.

Saturday night was prom night for the local high school. The prom is actually held at the school and so are the post prom activities. The post prom includes being locked in the school from the end of the prom until 6:00 am in the morning. They have a prom tradition here called the “Grand March.” This part of the prom is open to the public and is held in the school auditorium. The Grand March involves having all the couples attending the prom introduced as they walk out on the stage and provides family and friends with a great photo opportunity. The auditorium holds around 700 and there was standing room only for this event. Kathy and I went because a friend’s daughter was attending as were several of the kids who lifeguard at the Y. It was quite a sight to see all these young people really dressed up. The gowns ranged from simple to really fancy, but none were bare midriff. We only noticed one tattooed shoulder although I’m sure there were other tattoos that were covered. There were many styles of tuxes including some with top hat and cane and of course some with cowboy hats; rodeo is a high school sport in many areas of South Dakota. They also crown the prom king and queen and announce the court at this event.

Torey and Leigh will start moving into their new home on May first. They seem to be really excited about this and we are excited for them. Neil and Lori are continuing with work, school and wedding plans. All of these seem to be going well and we are happy for them. Email and free cell phone time really make it easy for all of us to stay in touch. Living here would be difficult without close contact with our children and friends.

Happy Easter…

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

April 11, 2004

Letter 45

The weather this week has not been as nice as last. Daytime temps were mostly in the mid 50s with nights dropping into the 20s. We have had a few passing snow flurries and as I work on this letter it is snowing. We have had between one and two inches since last night and the forecast calls for the flurries to continue through most of today. At this time the trees on the far ridge have taken on a ghost like appearance. We will be back in the 70s by Tuesday.

The return of snow has brought out the anti-snow behavior in the cat members of our herd. They go to the door to be let out, stick their head out, discover snow and then, depending on which one it is, growl, yowl or squeak to express displeasure with the weather. Whiskey, the dog, is the only one who seems to like the snow. This could be due to the fact that she is rumored to be part husky. I say rumored because her exact heritage is hard to tell, although she does have big hairy feet.

The change to daylight savings time means that it is now light until around 7:30 pm and the sun is coming up around 6:15 am. By June, it will be getting light around 4:45 am and not getting dark until around 9:30 pm or close to 17 hours of light. Living this far north has advantages – sort of like living in the arctic. The change brought on an interesting discussion with some friends here about how when the time “springs forward” people are always late for work, but when it “falls back” no one shows up early, go figure.

Most of you who know me well are aware that I do not like to dress up. Dress up in my book means wearing a coat and tie. The area we now live in is perfect for a person who prefers to be casual all the time. It dawned on me this week that in the close to a year we have lived her I have not worn a tie and have only had dress pants on one time; the first time we went to church here. I than discovered that people of all ages here wear jeans to church so that was it for the dress pants.  The other fact I have discovered here concerning dressing is that even in the heat of the summer, 100 degree days, you can’t keep shorts on until bedtime, unless of course you go to bed before sundown. You can have a 100 degree day here and the temp can drop into the 40s as soon as the sun goes down. So, shorts during the day and jeans and fleece after dark seem to be the rule. However, for those of you who might be worried, I still own suits, ties and the likes and have not forgotten the expected dress at a wedding.

We have finished the work on our patio and now have a really nice place for coffee, outdoor eating and just plain loafing. Now all we need is warm weather. Kathy will add the plants to the three large planter boxes, about 60 square feet of planting space, which form part of the retaining wall around the patio. Most plants can not be planted here before the beginning of June, so we have a while to wait and plan. The gutters were installed on the house this week and I have hooked a buried drain line to the down spout on the front so that the water will be carried away from the house. This involved digging a 10 foot long trench and than tunneling under the sidewalk so that the water will be carried down the hill in front of the house.  I guess when the snow melts we’ll find out if it works.

Kathy has stepped up her swimming. She plans on taking the Lifeguard certification in May and one requirement is that you must be able to swim 20 lengths of the pool non stop, 8 lengths must be crawl, 4 lengths breast stroke and the remaining 8 may be a combination of the above strokes. She is now able to meet the swimming requirements. I have also stepped up my swimming and am considering taking the test.

It is starting to dawn on us that in about 6 weeks we will be headed east to see friends and for Neil and Lori’s wedding. We are excited about all of this and about our first motor home trip. We have slowly started putting gear in the motor home that we will need. This includes cooking and eating stuff along with bedding, tools and all the conveniences of life. Of course, there are items such as camera gear and the laptop that will not go in until we are ready to leave. The prospect of this trip was a little more exciting when gas was under $1.60 per gallon, but oh well….we are still really excited.

Seven more editions of this letter will make for a year’s worth and we have to decide what form it will take next. We are considering going from once a week to every two weeks or maybe even once a month and trying to focus more on the life and customs of the Black Hills, our thoughts on them and there impact on our life and less on our day to day activities. Of course, if we do anything really cool (I’m never uncool) we will certainly let you know. If any of you have any thoughts on this or a request we would love to hear from you.

5:30 pm…full sun and snow has stopped……….

6:15 pm… snow is back……

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

April 18, 2004

Letter 46

We have had another great week weather wise, in the 60s and 70s all week. We did have a brief rain shower Friday night and today has been light rain mixed with snow showers. We have several days next week with rain in the forecast and daytime temps will be in the 60s and 70s again. This probably means we can un-winterize the motor home and get it set up for travel.

South Dakota is entering its sixth year of a drought. The past few years, including this one, have brought only about half of the annual snowfall to the area. In our area this means we’ve only had about six feet of snow for the season and rainfall amounts have also been below normal. When we lived in Maryland the major inconvenience of a dry year was only being able to wash the car or water the yard on odd/even days depending on your tag number and house address. Here, water shortages bring the prospect of large forest and grassland fires. The summer before we moved here the area hade a massive fire that resulted in the evacuation of the south side of Lead and the entire Deadwood community. At a neighborhood picnic last summer one of the people we met showed us photos of slurry bombers attacking the fire on the far ridge, the one we can see from our living room on the south side of town. The photos showed one bomber dropping its load and three more lined up behind it waiting their turn. They also showed the full fury of the fire with columns of smoke rising thousands of feet into the sky and flames reaching up several hundred feet above the ridge. www.detnews.com/2002/nation/0207/01/a04-527734.htm  This is a link to a story on the 2002 summer fire that forced the evacuation of our area. We are fortunate because our side of town, the north side, is not as heavily treed as the other side.

The western fire forecast has placed South Dakota as one of the western states that is danger of a longer and more active fire season than normal. The state depends on the volunteer fire departments to assist with fighting wildland fires and reimburses them for their time and expense. There may be a problem getting their assistance this year because the powers that be, in their wisdom, at a state and federal level have decided they will only provide reimbursement if they are on the fire line for over three hours. Several of the VFDs in our area, including Deadwood which has a huge eight-wheel drive backcountry fire truck, have decided they will not respond to wildland fires outside of their city limits—the issue being that historically the vast majority of this type of fire call are less than three hours. Hopefully the state and federals will change the reimbursement policy because the VFDs are usually the first on the scene. Their rapid response time has been responsible for containing many fires each year before they have a chance to grow and become large destructive fires. I guess living with the prospect of forest fires is just one of the things we have to adjust to if we want to live in such a beautiful spot.

The girls, Torey and Leigh, will begin to move into their newly purchased condo on May 1st. We talked to them on the phone today and I mentioned that we were really sorry that we could not be there to help them and their response was sort of “Yeah – right”.  We were serious about this because without their help and Neil’s we would have never gotten our truck loaded for the trip to South Dakota. Not only were they a huge giant help, but because it was Memorial Day weekend they had also given up a trip to the beach for the long weekend to help us.

One evening the other week we went to the Four Aces Casino for a free music session by a local singer and songwriter. The event included free food and the cost of a coke and a glass of iced tea was all of a buck. We enjoyed the music, a blend of folk and country, and bought one of his CDs, under $8.00 and he autographed it..

We have been exploring the many discounted and free food options at the casinos for seniors; most of them count you as a senior if you are over 50. In most cases you have to join their players club, but since there is no charge for these there is no reason not to join. Some of them send coupons for their buffets buy one – get one free, others have $1.99 lunches and some offer free hors d’oeuvres on Fridays. There is also the two-coiner ($0.50) breakfast which consists of two eggs, toast, and hash browns at the Silverado. I think you can eat a lot for little here if you really explore the offers that are available.

Kathy and I again spent our Friday night helping with the YMCA Skate Night. There is only one more Skate Night for the season and then we will have to find another form of entertainment for our Friday nights, at least until next fall. We have enjoyed helping out with this activity and have to admit that most of the kids are great; however, there are several who could probably benefit from new parents and/or medication. Oh well, I’m sure there are those who thought I could have benefited from medication, especially some of the people I worked with or those who worked for me (or even those who grew up with me).

Most of our tulips are in full bloom and the deer or rabbits have not eaten any more since Kathy put the piece of fence wire over them. We will see what else gets eaten as we plant more flowers. A neighbor has told us about a product called liquid fence that you can spray plants with to keep the deer away and we may give it a try. Of course, the other solution to the deer would be to import a mountain lion, but that might not be healthy for pets and small children.

Our project for this week was to begin removing the rest of the carpet from the house. As you may remember from our early letters we removed it from the three upstairs rooms, the living room and dining room before we moved all the furniture into the house. All that was left was the stairs and our bedroom. I have completed the job of removing it from the stairs and have discovered that our bedroom has hardwood floors so by the end of next week that too will be gone. It is ugly industrial style carpet so it is no big deal. The carpet we removed when we first arrived was stained by ill behaved pets and one very ill behaved small boy. We will have to get an area rug for our bedroom so our feet will not freeze when they hit the floor in the winter. The wood on the stairs is nothing special so our plan is to paint and stencil them. We will also paint the stairway walls while we are at it.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

April 25, 2004

Letter 47

We had a day of snow showers Thursday that resulted in about four inches of snow here in Lead. We had picked that day for a ride in Spearfish Canyon and up to one of the small campgrounds on a road that runs off the canyon highway. The canyon was beautiful in the snow and the dirt road to the campground was snow covered and had a real winter feel to it. Our tulips survived the snow and actually were quite pretty peeking up through the white stuff. The rest of the week has been in the 50s with night time in the low 30s to mid 20s. Today has been another day of passing snow showers, but they have been short with no accumulation. Next week we are expecting temps in the 60s and 70s for most of the week.

Now that spring is here we are trying to get out and about more. Saturday morning we rode up to Terry Peak Summit. Terry Peak is the sixth highest peak in SD (7064 ft.). There is a viewing platform a short walk from the parking area and it affords a 360 degree view of four states: Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and, of course, South Dakota. We have found several other trails we want to hike and are always on the lookout for more.

We still haven’t prepared the motor home for summer use, but it looks like the weather has finally reached a point were we can safely do that. We have not firmly decided where our first trip will be, but we are considering Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. It is only an hour and a half drive and there is a nice KOA there which will give us a chance to try out all the systems and learn how they all work. We think knowing how it all works would be a big help for our 1700 mile trip to Maryland. This will be the first time we have camped without using a tent. We wonder if having all the comforts of home will still seem like camping. After all, having a bed and indoor plumbing is a far cry from my backpack-size tent and single burner stove.

We have finished removing the rest of the old carpet from the house and really like the hardwood look in our bedroom. There is a small hallway outside our bedroom at the bottom of the stairs and this is the area we have picked to experiment with floor refinishing. I have sanded that area using a palm sander, not what I’ll use it for the rest of the floors, and we are going to stain and poly it this week to see what it looks like. We picked up some stain samples from the local building supply store and have had them lying on various parts of our wood floors to try and determine what color they really are. It looks as if they have a cherry tint and that is the color we will try outside our bedroom. We are trying to use an off-the-shelf mix because trying to custom mix a batch large enough for the entire area we want to refinish would be difficult, at least for me. The living/dining area will probably not get done until summer and for that job we will rent a large floor sander. This will be quite an undertaking and means we will have to move, cover and tape off a lot of furniture and built in areas. It should really look nice once it is done, however.

On Saturday afternoon we attended the 3rd Annual Vaudeville and Talent Show which was held in the high school auditorium. The first two years the show was held in the historic Homestake Opera House, “The Jewel of the Black Hills.” It could not be held there this year because the opera house is in the middle of a massive restoration project and currently there are no seats. The restoration has been in progress for the last seven years and once it is restored to its original glory it will be a real show piece. The opera house was built by Homestake and included an indoor pool and bowling alley. It was in use from its opening in 1914 until a catastrophic fire in 1984. From operas to dramatic readings, graduations and comedies – the Opera House was the place to be. So far $2.5 million has been raised and spent and they expect it will take another $3 million to complete the project. Acts at the vaudeville show included one-liners, songs, dance and assorted comedy routines. The show was very good and there was some really top local talent including some people from our church.

Deadwood is projecting a doubling in the number of tourists visiting the area this summer. Apparently, the HBO series “Deadwood” has caused a real interest in the area and reservations for hotels are running way ahead of last year. This could be a financial win for the area and the tourist industry here.

Torey and Leigh are continuing their packing and are getting more excited as their move-in date gets closer. It looks like their first night in their new condo will be May 7^th. And as for our other kids, Neil and Lori, they continue with their wedding plans and it is all pretty much done except for the getting married part.

We, mainly Kathy, continue to swim and she has signed up for the Life Guard Certification Class. There is one more Skate Night for the season and then that is over until school starts in the fall. We also continue to attend and take an active part in our church here in Lead. This has given us a chance to meet people of all ages and a good cross section of the community. It also has not hurt our spiritual outlook; there are those who think I can use all the help I can get in that area.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

May 2, 2004

Letter 48

Winter returned briefly to the Black Hills. We had six inches of snow on Wednesday night and temps dropped to the low 20s. We also had passing snow showers on Friday and Saturday. We are expecting temps to return to the mid 70s by Tuesday.

Last Tuesday we de-winterized the motor home and then, with the change in the weather, we had to drain all the water lines and tanks and put antifreeze back in the system. I think we will leave it this way until we actually use it for a trip.

I mentioned in an earlier letter that I had been selected for jury duty from January 1^st through June 30^th and that I would have to get excused for our trip east. Well, I have been excused and all it took was a phone call; no letters or notarized statements, all I had to do was call the clerk of the court and give her the dates I needed to be excused. It is really nice and unique to live somewhere where the honor system is used.

South Dakota is having a special election in June to fill the US House seat left vacant when Congressman Bill Janklow resigned and went to jail. He was jailed after being sentenced for running a stop sign and killing a motorcyclist. We went to the court house this week and filled out our absentee ballots. This is another to do item crossed off our to do list before our trip east.

I stained and put three coats of polyurethane on the small section of hardwood floor outside of our bedroom. We think the cherry stain we picked is the right color and with the poly the floor really looks good. We are excited about how the rest of the floors will look once we get to that task. We are not excited about the amount of work involved; about 500 square feet of floor space for the living-room and dining-room, but think it will be worth it when it is finished.

I read somewhere that dogs and cats hear about 200 times better then people. This explains how Whiskey knows when Heart, the cat that visits from the street above us, is in the yard and why Heart will show up several minutes after our cats go outside. Heart and our cats will lie close to each other, being very careful not to stare at one another too long. Whiskey however seems to get great pleasure out of chasing Heart. It’s a game and sometimes Heart will run and sometimes he just sits and looks at the dog as if to say “what’s your problem?” Also our boy cats have become more brotherly towards each other and on occasion actually playfully chase each other back and forth across the yard. Of course, Rachel “The Queen Mother” is far to dignified to join in and prefers to watch from a distance. Montana has found a new place to wait by the front door when he wants in; he has taken up sitting or sleeping in a large flower pot we have right outside the door. We don’t know what he will do once it has plants in it but of course since he is one of the princes he can sit wherever he wants – that and the fact that he weighs 17 pounds. Living in a house full of queens, princesses and princes is tough when you are only a court jester, but such is my place in the pecking order.

The deer have returned and we are minus a few more tulips. This is not hunting season and hunting inside the city limits is not allowed anyway. I guess the answer is to plant a lot and hope you have a little left. And plant things they don’t like (marigolds, more daffodils, etc.) They, the deer, are fun to watch and at night just stroll down the street like people out for a walk.  Given a choice of living with or without them I’m sure we would pick having them around.

South Dakota continues to surprise us and is apparently not as conservative as it appears. In a recent newspaper story we found out that it ranks fifth in the nation in the number of same-sex households raising children. We were surprised by this since it is one of the “red” states, although we do have Tom Daschle, so go figure.

Kathy has completed her lifeguard certification and is now a “real” lifeguard. In honor of this accomplishment I am cooking dinner, grilled baked potato, ribeye steak and salad. We haven’t eaten a lot of ribeye since moving here.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

May 9, 2004

Letter 49

The weather this week has been summer like, at least for South Dakota. We have had daytime temps in the 70s and 80s with nights in the low 40s to mid 30s. We have had no snow and only a few drops of rain. We could use some rain. We are currently about three inches behind for the year and this is not a good sign.

We have not done much this week which as actually been kind of nice. I did cut the grass for the third time and we have pulled and dug up a garbage bag full of dandelions. The dandelions appear to be winning the battle. On Saturday we completely cleared the front yard of them (pulling off all the flowers and buds we could find) and by Sunday morning there were another two dozen in bloom, it’s my job to count them – life is slow here. Guess we will just keep at it and so will they until one of us win – if I were a betting person I’d put my money on the dandelions. I guess dandelions are our cicadas.

We treated ourselves to free food Friday night at the Silverado Casino. One of the free food deals for us old folks. They had steamed shrimp, cut veggies, cheese, several kinds of chicken wings and ham sandwiches along with cookies. Food was pretty good, but they have really small plates. Of course, being fast learners and watching the people in front of us we discovered the secret is to use two or more plates. One couple managed to control four or five plates for each of them. This is easier than going back for seconds because of the length of the line. While there, we invested $10.00 in the slots and left with about $25.00. I lost my five dollars, but Kathy made up for it. Getting paid to eat, not a bad concept.

We spent some time this week loading things into the motor home. We need a name for it, to get ready for our trip. We took kitchen stuff, table and flatware and stuff like that. We will also be taking sheets, towels and bed stuff down to it soon. We are using items that we don’t use at the house so we don’t have to empty it out after every trip. That would be too much like camping and of course we are above that type of travel at this point. (Joke)

Torey and Leigh moved into their new condo on Friday and are busy getting everything in its place. Unpacking and putting stuff away is a chore and we have not forgotten what that is like. Living in a sea of boxes is no fun, but they should have it all sorted out shortly. They did get the painting done they needed to do before they moved and that was a big help. We are happy for them and know they will be happy in their new home.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

May 16, 2004

Letter 50

The weather this week has been summer, fall, winter and spring all in one week. We had a day that hit 77 degrees and then that night had two inches of snow. We have had nighttime temps that ranged from the mid 40s to the mid teens and as I write this we are experiencing a thunderstorm with hail. As far as the hail goes, I don’t think we have had a thunderstorm without hail since we moved here.

We bought some plants for the garden areas and have planted some of them. Of course some of these had to be brought into the house due to the cold; naturally, it would be the ones in the large front walk planters – the ones that weigh about 300 pounds each with dirt in them. This will teach us to get excited about a 77 degree day in May. We will have to wait to plant most of the flower seeds we bought until we return from our trip. Maybe it will be spring by the end of June!

Civilization, sadly, maybe coming our way. There was a news story the other night concerning Rapid City installing red light cameras. They have one intersection with cameras according to the story and more to come. The mayor stated it’s for safety and not intended to produce extra revenue and I’m a democrat – right.

We finally got the motor home on the road. We took it to Devils Tower, Wyoming, for a one night trip. It was KOA’s “camp free for the night” weekend. This gave us a chance to hook everything up and try out all the systems. Everything, heat, air, water, microwave, coffee maker, etc., worked great and we were very comfortable in it. We took our “set it and forget” rotisserie oven on the trip and used it to cook a pork roast for dinner. We set it up on the campsite picnic table and plugged it into the MHs outside outlet. It worked well and dinner was wonderful. We meet other motor home owners who were doing their spring check outs also and amazingly three couples had lived in Maryland and chosen to retire elsewhere. We don’t have a TV in the MH yet, but we did watch a DVD movie on the laptop. Devils Tower is an amazing place and the KOA there was really nice. Starting Memorial Day weekend they show “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” on an outdoor screen nightly, weather permitting. We hope to get back to this campground again and to do some hiking in the area.

We have not named the MH yet. We considered Daddy’s Girl and Momma’s Boy but dismissed them as territorial and sexist not to mention the fact that we have both sons and daughters and my brother’s boat is named Daddy’s Girl. I also considered Portable Privy, but Kathy was not impressed especially when she considered what that name would be shortened to. We will keep working on this and will eventually arrive at a name and probably one that would be considered politically correct, at least by our/Kathy’s standard.

Today we attended a dance recital put on by a local dance teacher who is a member of our church. There were two shows, one today and one yesterday, that involved about 70 of her students. The age range was from preschool to middle age and it was a lot of fun to watch. We do have some culture here. The little kids were really fun to watch; there is always one who is moving to a different beat. The older groups have some very talented kids. The show included ballet, tap and jazz dancing.

We will take some time this week to get ready for our trip east. We need to get our clothes ready, add some things to the MH that we now know would be nice to have along. Things like a turntable for the microwave and a few more cooking utensils.  There is grocery shopping to do and some food preparation to take care of so we don’t have to cook every meal along the way. At least not those that won’t be at Cracker Barrel. We also have some route planning to do and need to look at where we will be spending the nights. A friend of ours here who travels with a 31 foot travel trailer said they frequently stay in the parking lots at Cracker Barrel. They told me that if they stop late to eat there and ask if it’s OK to stay in the lot that they have never been refused. The other free alternative is Wal-Mart and, of course, we can always pay to stay on a campground. We are looking forward to the trip and the adventure that goes with it. Of course, we are also looking forward to the wedding and to seeing friends and family.

We have found a cat sitter from our church that will stop by two to three times per day to check on and pay attention to the cats while we are gone. The dog will be traveling with us and for the weekend of the wedding we will board her at her old vets in Annapolis.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

May 23, 2004

Letter 51

We had rain several times this week and now we are less than two inches behind for the year instead of three. Saturday’s rain was accompanied by dime size hail. Although the hail only lasted several minutes it covered the street and the grass. Daytime temps have been in the 60s and 70s with most nights in the 40s. No temps below freezing.

One evening this week we took a drive on Whitewood Creek road, an old railroad bed that is now a dirt road. We pulled over to check out several beaver dams and than noticed a guy out for a walk. As he approached us and stopped to chat we noticed he was wearing a six shooter. Now had I been in Baltimore or Washington and been approached by a guy with a gun I would have thought my life was over. Out here it did not raise any fears and, although it is not a real common sight here, guns are legal along with carry permits. It turned out he was just out checking the creek for fishing spots. Later we saw some fairly fresh, day or two old, mountain lion prints that were running right along side some deer prints. Actually there were two sets of cat tracks, one very large and one smaller set. I think mommy was teaching her young to be self supporting. I also assume the guy with the gun was aware that there are some large cats in the area.

We have spent a good part of this week getting ready for our drive east. We will be leaving in the morning and hope to get across South Dakota or at least most of it in one day. It is close to 400 miles to the east side of the state from where we live. We are not yet completely packed so this will be a short letter. We will have our laptop with us and will try to check e-mail when we find a convenient place to do so. We will be able to check it for sure from the KOA when we get to Maryland on Friday.

The next letter I write will be number 52 and after that we will most likely change to two a month with occasional special editions.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

June 20, 2004

Letter 52

Happy Father’s Day to all for whom it’s appropriate!

We arrived back in South Dakota from our trip on Wednesday, June 16 and it felt good to be home. It also felt like winter with temps in the 40s, but it has warmed up to 66 today. We traveled about 4100 miles in the motorhome and are happy to report that all went well and everything worked. Traveling by MH was so much better than by car. We were able to stop at rest stops, crank up the generator and fix lunch instead of having to eat fast food or root through a packed car looking for all the things one needs to fix lunch. We met a lot of interesting people along the way at various campgrounds as we traveled east and then back west. We also saw some really nice and rather large motorhomes including one 40 footer that had a conversion van rigged for camping in tow. We assume this was used to camp in places where they could not get the 40 footer. As we crossed the Midwest we could see evidence of the recent heavy rains, rivers were high and fields along the highway resembled lakes.

We learned several interesting things as we traveled halfway across the country and back. The first is that the states with the highest gas taxes have the worst roads and we also discovered that Ohio and Maryland have the worst drivers. The lowest priced gas we found was in Virginia, $1.83 per gallon. The highest we paid was $2.08 per gallon and with an overall average of about nine miles per gallon and a 55 gallon gas tank we did keep an eye out for “cheap” gas. It also became clear to us that we do not miss the congestion and traffic that abounds in the Washington and Baltimore area. We also discovered that many motorhomes and large campers with South Dakota plates are really not from South Dakota. South Dakota has no personal property tax on vehicles and no inspection. All you need to register a vehicle is an address, a PO Box or campground address is acceptable, and proof of insurance. Once registered you are also eligible to vote by absentee ballot so it has become a state of convenience for people who live full time in their RVs. South Dakota took in around 15 million dollars last year on registrations of this type. If the trend continues the population here could soon reach the point that would give us another representative in Washington.

The wedding was absolutely wonderful. We are thrilled to have Lori as a family member. The only drawback to the day was heavy rain and I don’t think anyone really noticed it once the wedding started. The wedding was at London Town and was planned to be outside. Plan B was to use the tent that had been set up for the sit down dinner in case of rain, but there was another large tent that had been set up the day before when the governor was there for a ground breaking and because of the heavy rain on Friday night they could not take it down as planned so plan C was put into action and the chairs were moved into this tent for the ceremony. Lori and Neil made a stunning couple and it was obvious to all that they love each other deeply. Lori’s wedding dress was stunning, one of the classiest I’ve ever seen. I think its beauty came from its simplicity, no frills or lacy distractions. Neil looked equally handsome. The ceremony was followed by dinner and then music and dancing which was enjoyed by all.

On Friday, the day before the wedding, following the rehearsal, we had a dinner and discovered that the best crab cakes in Annapolis are found at an Irish Pub. The dinner was attended by the wedding party and we all really enjoyed our time together. The majority of the people at the wedding were family related to Neil and Lori in one way or another. Kathy’s sisters, Mary and husband Mike from Texas and their son Jon and his friend Melanie along with Nancy from California and her son Dan, his wife Becky, daughter Jordan and son Kieran all flew in for the event. My brother and his wife came from Virginia Beach and Torey and Leigh and Leigh’s friend Chip were also there. Lori has many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews from all over who attended. Many of these we have met before so it was fun to spend time with them and catch up on events. Of course, there were friends of Neil and Lori’s there also. It was fun to meet and talk with them. We have really enjoyed our encounters with these young people. They seem to be more adult and responsible than we were at their age while still being able to play and enjoy themselves.

Sunday morning following the wedding Lori’s aunts along with a family friend hosted a brunch for all the wedding guests. It was another great opportunity for fellowship with family and friends.

Lori and Neil left on Sunday for 12 days in Italy and have now returned to settle in to work, school and the process of packing and moving to their new house.

While we were in Annapolis we had dinner with friends from my old work and it was good to see all of them and really nice that Torey and Leigh could join us that night. The only problem was that the time together was far too short. I did get time one day to go by work and visit with some of the staff members that I worked closely with for years and catch up on tales of their children and engagements.

Most of our stay in Annapolis was spent at the KOA and my brother was on the campsite next to us so we had a chance to spend some time with them. Also our friends Marge and Paul and Trish along with their daughter Julie came by to visit. On the day we left we had time to visit with John and Kathy who live in Annapolis. We also got a chance to see Torey and Leigh’s condo. They have done a great job of decorating it and it is really spacious, in a nice area and has beautiful grounds around it. Torey took Kathy and me into DC to see the WWII Memorial and we made a side trip to Chinatown to buy several pounds of loose tea. We did spend part of a day with Lori and Neil in Baltimore and they took us by the house they are buying. It is in the city and looked great from the outside. We have seen pictures of the inside and with the exposed brick, nice yard and plenty of light should be great for them. As with all trips there is never enough time to see everyone you want to see or do all you would like to do.

Leigh, who works at the National Cathedral, got an up close look at the workings of a state funeral and at all the dignitaries who attended. She did appear in several of the live TV shots and Torey also appeared as she watched the procession from the Capitol to the Cathedral as it passed her office on DuPont Circle.

Our trip home started with a visit to Shenandoah for a night and for a visit to Mill Creek Pottery near there from which over the last few years we have bought a collection of china. We added a few more bowls, plates and two casserole dishes to our collection. As we cooked dinner that night, a bear wandered through the adjoining campsite. We moved dinner inside per a request from the campground hosts. From Shenandoah we headed north to spend a few days in Buffalo with Aunt Marge and from there we headed home. The closer we got to South Dakota, the more we realized we were ready to be home. We did stop off to see the Badlands on the way by and will definitely go back for an extended stay. Whiskey also seemed to sense that we were getting closer to home and began to act excited the day before we actually arrived home. She was good on the trip and seemed to like being a MH dog. She will get to travel with us again.

The only sad part about being home was our grass, although one of our neighbors cut it once while we were gone, was about 18 inches tall in the front and 24 or so in the back. The cats seemed happy to see us when we arrived, but after a few hours of staying close they reverted back to their old life. They seemed to have done fine with our cat sitter and she claims to have really enjoyed the time she spent with them at the house each day. She has said that she would be glad to watch over them the next time we want to get away.

We have now been in South Dakota for over a year and love it here just as much if not more than we first arrived. We have, for the most part, stopped referring to Annapolis as home and when we meet people and they ask where we are from our first response has become South Dakota. Living here is a far cry from the way we lived in Maryland in many ways. We are both more relaxed, of course this may have to do with not working and not having to fight the traffic like we did in Maryland. It also has to do with the pace and quality of life here. Things that used to seem real important don’t seem to be that important anymore. We have made friends with some really great people here and do not find residents here to be stand-offish or leery of “outsiders” or “easterners.” We have also adjusted to the shopping here and when we are out of something we just work around it until the next trip to the store. The only drawback we have found to being here is that we miss the frequent contact with the kids that we had when we all lived near each other.

We have enjoyed sharing of our adventure with all of you and will continue to do so as we enter our second year here. We will be sending out a letter about every two weeks instead of weekly as we journey through year two.

Ross and Kathy

Dakota, The Weather and other Thoughts

July 4, 2004

Letter 1 – Second Year

HAPPY 4^th OF JULY TO ALL OF YOU

As you know, we have survived our first year in South Dakota and our adventure continues as we move into our second year. We have adjusted to small, very small, town living and all that goes with that lifestyle. I have to say that we do not miss the things offered by living in a large urban area. Our nearest mall is about 45 miles away, the closest movie theater 17 miles away and shopping can sometimes be a challenge. The upside of this is that we have discovered that there is not a lot really need to rush out and buy. Although to some of you the lack of shopping may seem like a real hassle, but how many of you can walk to a beaver pond with in 20 minutes of your house, have deer to watch in your back yard, can allow kids as young as five to go to the neighborhood park alone, have clear blue skies almost every day, know your neighbors and on and on. Kathy and I had talked for years about living among the mountains, streams and nature and now that we do we don’t even think about going back. We have found our dream and can now live in it.

We have finally gotten some rain. We only had an inch in June. The problem with the rain we got the other day was that all two inches of it came in about 30 minutes and people were worried about mud slides in the area the fire burned in 2002, but there were no major problems other than lots of water running down our steep streets and flowing over the sidewalks. We have had several periods of gentle rain since than and have had around two and a half inches for July. We have had a few days in the 70s and one in the mid 80s, but as I write this it is about 55 degrees and will be in the 40s overnight. Just a typical summer, if you can call it that, in the Black Hills.

A friend of ours that Kathy used to work with in DC has a place in Hill City, about 40 miles south of us, and invited us to join him for last night’s fireworks show at Mount Rushmore. He had a parking pass and VIP seating so of course we said yes. We met him and a friend in Hill City and then rode with them to Mount Rushmore. We arrived several hours before the fireworks and enjoyed a picnic dinner and musical entertainment by Abby Road, a Beetles Tribute Band, and the U.S. Air Force Heartland Band. There were also a fair number of patriotic speeches by various people. There were two flyovers by F16s from the SDNG and two by a B1B from Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City. The last B1B flyover came from behind and flew directly over the faces of Rushmore and as they crossed over they lit the afterburners, what a picture as they moved away on twin trails of fire. The fireworks show was the best I’ve ever seen and the back drop of the faces on Mount Rushmore certainly enhanced the show. It was a 28-minute show and many of the shots were multiples, as many as ten or so at once. The only drawback was a small fire that was started in some scrub trees under Lincoln. The trees grew above the rock pile after the monument was built and there was no danger of the fire spreading.

As I mentioned we had a parking pass for a lot very close to the monument and without that I’m not sure I would go. People were parked on the side of the entrance road as far as six miles from the monument and as we were driving out and saw all these people walking I could only imagine the whining from the many young children and from adults, too, I suppose. Many people arrived early in the morning to get close-in parking and a good view seat.

Today Lead had it’s 4^th of July parade and there will be fireworks over the open cut tonight. I walked downtown to see the parade and it was a good typical small town event, lots of fire equipment, old cars, a fife and drum marching band from Wyoming and plenty of politicians that are running for office. To see the fireworks tonight we only have to walk to the end of our street, about a three block distance. We did that last year and since our street dead ends over the cut we have a great view of the show. Of course all this depends on the light rain we are experiencing moving out of the area. The forecast

Calls for it to be over and if it’s not there is always tomorrow night.

I have found a part-time job. I’m working for one of our neighbors who owns the local BP/convenience/liquor store. I will be working about 20 hours a week. This is really a change for me; I haven’t worked since we moved here. I’m not in charge of anyone, no work to take home and no challenge, I really like it and get to meet and talk with lots of interesting people.

We are planning a trip to Grand Teton National Park, one of our favorites, in late July. While we are there Neil and two friends will be doing some climbing so our paths will cross for a few days. We are looking forward to our second trip as “Motor Home People” although there was a real temptation to take the car and tent and be “Tent People” again. Of course, then sanity returned and we decided not to sink that low on the social scale.

Ross and Kathy