Thursday, July 30, 2015

July 16-28, 2015 South Dakota visit

Thursday 7-16Our friend, Rod Schneller, stopped by for breakfast and to visit.  He was on his way through MN today.  Then we left for SD.  Stopped in Sioux Falls (3 hour drive).  Dave dropped me off at one of my grade school friend’s house, Sheryl Gerdes Bedard.  Then he drove on to Miller, SD.  Sheryl and I picked up Lori Landgrebe Schneller, another friend since grade school, and we all rode to Miller together (3 hour drive).  In Miller, we joined Joe and Gail Wieland Zeller and Kathy Donlin Harvey for dinner at the Turtle Creek Saloon.  After dinner we all went over to Joe’s mother’s house, soon to be Joe and Gail’s house.  Dave and I spent the night there.  Dorothy is in a nursing home in Miller.  Joe, Dave and I stayed up the latest visiting.  It was a great day with family and friends. I have been friends with these “girls” ranging from 46-53 years.
Mary, Dave and Rod outside of Alice's appartment

Mary, Lori, Gail, Kathy, Sheryl

Friday 7-17
I had a nice visit with my 99 year old Aunt Dorothy in the nursing home this morning.   She said she remembered me.  Then Dave and I drove to Rapid City, SD (5 hour drive).  We arrived in time for me to have an appointment with a dermatologist.  We went to the home of Cheryl Ulmer to spend the night.  3 other friends of ours joined us for dinner. 2 of the 3 have also moved out of Rapid City.  So it was nice for us to re connect.
Cheryl, Debbie, Mary
Saturday 7-18
Cheryl and I joined 3 other girlfriends for a bicycle ride on the Michelson Trail in the Black Hills.  I had sold my mountain bike to one of these friends, so she brought it for me to ride.  They found shoes and socks, helmet and gloves for me to use.  It was Cheryl, Tami Petersen, Tracy Perdue, Heather Spencer, Cheryl and me. 
Then we moved to the Perdue home for the rest of our stay in Rapid City.  We had a dinner party and celebrated Dave’s 60th birthday early.  Dave told me a while back that he wanted cherry pie for his birthday.  So the Perdue’s wanted a cherry pie cook off.  There ended up being 2 pies.  Everyone had a small piece of each pie to determine the winner.  Then we found out that one was made with a frozen crust and canned pie filling and one was bought at a local restaurant known for their pies.  They each had different good qualities and there were no complaints. 
Heather, Cheryl, Tami, Mary, Tracy
cherry pie birthday with Richard, Dave and John and Lonny

Sunday 7-19
I had a call from a girlfriend to join her for coffee this morning while she was on her bike ride.  So I got dressed for church and met Barb at the City Square down town Rapid City to sit outside and enjoy coffee and a visit. 
Then I went to church at the Cathedral, sat with MaryLee Waldman and visited with a few people after church.
We picked up Pete in the afternoon and went for a drive in the Hills.  We ended up having dinner at the Sugar Shack, known for their great burgers. 
Pactola Reservoir
Monday 7-20
We met with our realtor for our office building that is for sale.  Then Dave and I each had our teeth cleaned at my old office.  Always nice to see everyone there. 
That evening, I met several girlfriends at the Vertex, a bar on the rooftop of the Alex Johnson Hotel.  It was a beautiful night to sit outside and visit with each other.  4 of the women are known as the “coffee girls”.  We met for coffee on Friday mornings for many years.  Then 4 others joined us.
back Heather, Tami, Mary, Marge, Nancy, front Tracy, Connie, Yvonne, Barb
Tuesday 7-21
Dave had a dental implant placed this morning.  After the dental appointment, he had an eye appointment to get new glasses after his cataract surgery.  I spent the rest of the afternoon getting him soft foods to eat and getting his prescriptions filled.
At 4:00, I met with my choir girlfriends for margaritas and dinner downtown.  After dinner, I picked up Dave and we went to an open house for another friend’s 60th birthday. 
MaryLee, Melissa, Marcia, Kathy, Mary
Wednesday 7-22
Dave and I went to see Paulette Kirby.  She is a nurse practitioner and has been my primary care professional for several years.  I had a yearly exam, but both Dave and I had a Hepatitis A vaccine.  The second one will have to be in 6-12 months.  So we’ll have to follow up on that.  We had these over 10 years ago because of the traveling we do.  And it has to be renewed after 10 years.  It may prevent us from getting Hep A from water or a food source. 
Pete had the day off, so we picked him up and went to the Pita Pit for lunch.  There we met my sister Beverly that just arrived from Oklahoma.  She went to Perdue’s to unpack and we ran some errands with Pete.  Then we went to see a matinee movie, the Minions.  After the movie, we met Beverly, Pete’s friend, April, and our friend Cheryl at Paddy O’Neil’s.  We sat at their outside tables on the street and visited while having dinner or appetizers.
After dinner, Bev, Cheryl and I went to the concert by the municipal band at Memorial park.  Bev visited with several band members after the concert because she used to play in the New Horizons Band with several of them before she left Rapid City. 

Thursday 7-23
I had a hair appointment this morning with Morgan Killion, a family friend, at the Black Hills Beauty College.  No more color, only a hair cut.
Then we met Debbie Stuck for lunch at a new restaurant, Kol, that uses a coal fire to prepare their foods.  We had mixed reviews. 
That evening, we went to dinner at Harold and Julie Doerr’s.  Harold placed Dave’s implant on Tuesday.  We wanted to discus plans for them to visit us in the Bahamas and do some fishing while they are there.  Wonderful evening with lots of laughs.

Friday 7-24
I took Tracy and Richard to the airport at 4:40 am.  They were returning to their sailboat in Alaska for about 6 weeks.  They were gracious and let us stay in their home until we left on Monday even thought they wouldn’t be there.  In between our appointments and engagements, we spent time visiting with them and always enjoy their friendship and hospitality. 
After the airport, I met my coffee girlfriends at Black Hills Bagels at 6:30 am (after a nap in the car).  We have so much fun together catching up on each other’s lives.  But I was ready for a nap afterwards.
About 11:00, Beverly and I went to our cousin’s new home for a tour, Tom and Sharon Zeller’s.  It was also nice to visit with them.
About 4:00, Beverly, Dave and I went to Spearfish, SD.  We met my brother Don, his wife Linda, and two of their grand children, Garrett and Clare, at the city park and fish hatchery.  We had fun playing outdoors with them for a couple hours.  Then we had dinner at McDonalds and returned to the park until it rained.  They headed back to Lead, SD and we went to Flanagan’s in downtown Spearfish to hear our son Peter perform with the River Liffey Boys.   The Schneider’s from Sturgis joined us, too.   Another fun night.
Mary, Barb, Marge, Yvonne after Connie left

Dave, Claire and Garrett

monkey Claire and Dave
Claire and Garrett with Dave "helping"

grandpa Don
Pete and Mary

Saturday 7-25
Beverly and I went for a drive in the Hills in her convertible, that used to be mine.  Both of us had always wanted to do that.  We had lunch at the Alpine Inn, our favorite German restaurant in the Hills. 
That evening, Dave and I went to dinner at the home of some sailing friends and another couple joined us.  Dik and Geri Dahlquist had moved to a home outside of Rapid City.  It was so nice to see it and eat on their deck outside.  Scott and Marlene Dannanbring join us.  Another fun evening.

Sunday 7-26
Beverly and I went to church at the cathedral.  Then we and Dave met the Killions for lunch at Shooters restaurant.  They now live in Florida, but were back in SD visiting family, too.  We met Morgan’s boyfriend, Kyle.  And he passed the “Dave test” which means he has a sense of humor.  All of our nieces had to go through the “Dave test” with their boyfriends. 
Beverly, Dave and I met Pete and April at the Moonshine Gulch in Rockford that afternoon.  We have been there many times over the years with Pete.  On Sundays, they have a jam session with any musician that wants to join in.  This was the first place Pete played with other people after learning to play the guitar.  Steve Thorpe, a local music icon, was there then and today.  We thanked him for welcoming Pete to play many years ago.  There were also a few people there that we know through Ski for Light, where we have been volunteers for many years.  Another fun night.
Pete and the jam session

lazy audience


Dick Ashley, Georgette and Phillip

Mary, Betsy and Beverly

Pete and Steve Thorpe

Betsy, owner of the Moonshine and Steve Thorpe

Dave, Mary and Pete
Monday 7-27
Tracy’s mother and her significant other, Judy and Dan, arrived last night.  We had coffee with them before leaving for Aberdeen this morning.  Beverly and I left in her car, and Dave drove by himself.  Bev and I stopped in Faulkton, SD to visit our aunt Julie Bowar, our mother’s sister.  Nice to see her and find out about her family. 
We arrived in Bath, SD, near Aberdeen, at our sister’s home in time for happy hour and a great dinner of pork loin and lots of garden vegetables.  Besides Janice and Jim, our niece and her husband joined us, Heidi and Glen Crawford.  And Glen’s mother, Marie was there, too.  So it was a nice gathering and Dave made it there in time to eat with us.  Their children are in the Hills with Heidi’s parents.  That’s who we played with in Spearfish last Friday. 
The sisters ended up visiting until about midnight.  Can’t get too much sister time together.
sisters Mary, Janice and Beverly
Tuesday 7-28
We planned to leave for MN today to take Dave’s mom to a Twins baseball game in Minneapolis on Wednesday.  Janice and Jim were going to the same game.  So Dave left for MN and I stayed another day to ride to the game with them. 
I was able to get a massage, since my neck was bothering me.  Then I visited with another good friend, Nancy Anderson Sundstrom.  Then I returned to Janice’s for another awesome dinner of rib eye steaks and garden vegetables.  Bev left after dinner for Miller, SD.  And we went to bed about 10:00 after watching most of the Twins game.

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