I decided to spend one more night in the Black Hills. First I joined my coffee girlfriends at 6:30am at Black Hills Bagels. We shared a lot of laughs and a few tears when I had to leave. I had a late and long lunch with my friend, Cheryl, and played cribbage in Piedmont, halfway between Rapid City and Sturgis.
My sister, Janice, has a sister-in-law that lives in Sturgis, Toni. And her sister, Julie and Ron were also there for BHSU homecoming. So the 4 of us visited a few bars in Sturgis for an Oktoberfest celebration. Then we went to Spearfish for dinner and to hear Pete’s band one last time before I head east. The River Liffey Boys were playing at Flannagan’s. It is a small house that was converted to an Irish Pub. I was the DD to drive the 20 miles back to Sturgis. Not sure when I’ll get to hear Pete sing again. So it was tearful good-bye.
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| Pete at his job at Rushmore Shadows |
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| Pete at his gig at Flanagan's |
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| Ron and Julie Meeker and Toni Moore |
Saturday morning, I drove to Aberdeen in time for church with my sisters, Janice and Beverly (who had arrived from Oklahoma that afternoon). We were joined by my niece, Heidi, her husband, Glen Crawford, and their children, Garrett and Claire. After church, we went to the Crawford’s for dinner and margaritas. We actually planned a slumber party since it takes about 30 minutes to get back to Janice’s. Garrett and Claire are in 3rd and 1st grade, and they are learning to play cribbage! They had to go to bed before the game was over. But the first thing Claire wanted to know in the morning was who won the game.
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| Me, Heidi, Janice and Bev in our "selfie" |
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| Janice and Claire with a 20 point hand |
On Sunday, we had breakfast, and played more games. It was a beautiful day, so the kids took turns giving the Aunts rides on their 4 wheeler. We also played a little basketball, actually HORSE, so there wasn’t much running involved :)
That evening, we met the Crawford’s at their church bazaar. The kids had worked at the “fishing pond”. We had a wonderful beef dinner with pie. Their grandma, Marie Crawford, joined us for dinner.
On Monday we had lunch with Nancy Sundstrom from Groton, SD. Nancy and I went to dental assisting school together 40 years ago. We were also room mates for part of the year. Mid afternoon, Janice, Bev and I went to visit Marie Crawford’s mother, Grandma Dosch, who is 101. Just last year she moved from her house to an independent living apartment that is attached to a nursing home. It’s not even assisted living. She looks great. Our visit included dessert and coffee and some of grandma Dosch’s orange flavored home made “hooch” called orange dream sickle. Then we went to Marie’s for bratwursts and beer and all the fixings. Another fun day!
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| Janice, Me, Bev |
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| Nancy Sundstrom and Me |
Tuesday, we had a lazy day which included a pedicure and nice home cooked beef roast.
Wednesday, we took a tour of North East South Dakota. First we drove to Faulkton, SD. We visited our aunt Julie Bowar, our mother’s sister. Her daughter, Jeanette, from Chicago, was staying with her for a week. And her daughter-in-law, Cheryl, who lives on their family farm and is married to Larry, also came to visit.
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| Julie, Jeanette and Cheryl |
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Next we went to Cresbard to visit a friend of mine, Judy Oliver. Judy is the mother of 2 dear friends of mine, Tracy Perdue and Tami Petersen. We have spent a lot of time together over the last 20 years. Judy has been a state fiddle champion, and today was the first time I had ever heard her play. We also toured their home with many paintings that were created by Judy and Dan Sheldon. These two people are very talented!
We went to Northville, SD for dinner. We met Janice and Jim’s motorcycle club there along with our niece Heidi, Glen, Claire, Garrett and Grandma Marie. Another fun day!
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