Wednesday, August 31, 2016

July 17-30, 2016 Tour of the Black Hills and friends

Me and Pete at Bridal Veil Falls in Spearfish Canyon.  We spent that evening with Gene and Colleen Schneider in Sturgis


The next 2 weeks were spent in Dr's appointments, visiting friends, enjoying the Black Hills and spending time with our son, Pete.














































































































































































































































Awesome hike with Tracy Perdue and Heather Spencer

Sheridan Lake

part of the trail followed the shoreline

Brian Killion and Jeremy Walla at the Walla's annual summer party

Brian and Jackie Killion with their daughter, Morgan and fiance' Kyle (missing Devyn)

choir altos Mary Lee Waldman, Me, Marcia Dies, Kathy Schulte

touring the Hills in the convertible

me and Pete at the Alpine Inn in Hill City

Harney Peak (now Black Elk Peak) highest peak in US east of the Rockies

view across the road from Mt Rushmore.  You never see pictures of the surrounding terrain

panoramic to include Harney Peak and Mt Rushmore

tunnel on highway with view of Mt Rushmore

coffee girlfriends Marge Marken, Barb Auworder, Me ,Yvonne McCann

Richard and Tracy Perdue

Tami and John Peteres

July 15-16 Tour of South Dakota

Friday, July 15 SD road trip
Today, Bev and I headed west through SD.  Our first stop was in Faulkton, SD.  We had a nice lunch with our Aunt Julie Bower (our mother’s only living sibling out of 8).  She is now living in an apartment associated with the nursing home.  After lunch, we stopped at her house in Faulkton to see how everything was set up for a rummage sale to take place the next day.  Of course, Beverly and I each found something we couldn’t live without. 
Beverly Krause, Julie Bowar, Mary Roth

Our next stop was Pierre, SD at our brother’s home, Don and Linda’s.  Beverly was leaving for a Scandinavian vacation the next day with them.  They went on a group tour of Denmark, Sweden and Norway.  When she decided to join them on this tour, I asked to borrow her car (the convertible I sold her when we moved onto the boat).  And since she said yes, I made arrangements in Rapid City over the next two weeks for routine doctor appointments. 

I left for Rapid City and made it there in time to have dinner with a friend that was only in Rapid City for that night.  Dianne Nelson Lookabaugh was the first friend I ever had.  We lived across the street from each other until I was about 4.  But I stayed connected with her & her family for the rest of our lives.  I enjoyed meeting her husband, Tom. 

Then off to my home away from home in Rapid City, Tracy and Richard Perdue’s. 

Saturday July 16 River Liffey Boys
Tracy and I drove to Angostura Reservoir about an hour south of Rapid City today.  That was where I learned to sail.  We visited some friends in the campground that we met through sailing, Denny and Debbie Stuck and Dik and Geri Dahlquist, also Debbie’s daughter, Jen and Tom.  We cruised the lake in Stuck’s power boat and watched the local sailing club’s race.  It was fun to see several boats that I knew in the race.
Back-Denny Stuck, Tom M Front Mary, Tracy Perdue, Debbie Stuck
sailboat race on Angostura Reservoir

After boating, Tracy and I headed to Keystone, SD.  Our son’s band, the River Liffey Boys, were playing at Halley’s General Store that night.  Tami Petersen and Lorraine Himrich from Custer, SD, joined us that night.  Halley’s is an old second hand store in the old part of town, not the tourist area.  They have made part of the main floor of this old 2 story building into a bar.  Fun night with my girlfriends, followers of the band, and the locals.
one of the posters with "Iffey Liver Boys"
Mary, Tami Petersen, Tracy Perdue, Lorraine Himrich
dogs are even welcome


Sunday, August 28, 2016

July 7-14, 2016 Aberdeen, SD and family reunion

Thursday, July 7
Dave and I headed to Aberdeen, SD after Alice made us a great breakfast.  We made it to my sister’s by 5:30, Janice and Jim Moore.  Our great niece and nephew, Claire and Garrett Crawford, surprised us there and spent the night.  They LOVE their uncle Dave.  OK, their aunt Mary is fun, too, but not like Dave.

Janice cleaning us up before the reunion

Now do you see why they love their uncle Dave?
Friday July 8
We all went to the R & R Pheasant Lodge for our family reunion.  Garrett and Claire rode with us, and we planned a play to perform for everyone at the reunion.  Since we started the idea the night before, we raided Janice’s costume closet before leaving Aberdeen. 

After dinner, the Reunion Players performed “The Pirates of the Mermaid Sea”.  Dave narrated the entire play, so we didn’t have to learn lines.  But we could interject lines at any time.  Garrett, Janice and I were pirates.  The three of us started the play fishing off of our ship (a balcony in the lodge).  Garrett caught a sea monster, my sister Beverly.  She drug him down into the sea (down the open stairway).  Then Claire, the mermaid princess, saved him and gave him magic powers to breathe underwater.  Janice and I became part of the mermaid family and we all loved having the Garrett the pirate with us.  But he missed his home and wanted to go back to the land.  The mermaid princess was so upset that she threw herself onto the rocks to die (the stairway).  But the pirate prince saved her.  He started a sea water spa store so she could live with him in the the spa (she was behind a bar in the lodge with her arms up over the bar like the sides of a hot tub).  Janice and I became customers looking at the spas.  Then up out of the spa came the sea monster to attack the mermaid princess.  This is where Dave was supposed to announce “to be continued at the next family reunion”.  But Bev knocked 2 coffee cups off the bar and they shattered on the floor.  After the shock by everyone, he made his announcement.   I guess we “ended with a bang”.  We think it went over pretty good.  Everyone was very gracious with their applause. 
Shortly after the play, our son, Pete arrived from Rapid City.  He gave us a mini concert with his guitar and singing.  Great evening!
Beverly, Garrett, Claire
Mary, Janice and the Sea Monster, Beverly
my generation of first cousin Shaefers present
Saturday, July 9
Today, some of the family went to the farm of our cousins, Ken and Pam Schaefer.  They live on the farm of my grandparents, in the house where my mother grew up.  They have made their home and yard into a museum with antiques.  Pete and I took a side trip to the town of Polo to visit the cemetery.  He was able to see the graves of my grandparents and great grandparents.  He seemed to appreciate it more now than when he was 6 years old.
my siblings at my grandparent's house
Don, Janice, Beverly, Jerry in front and Me in back
Mary and son, Pete
Dave, Claire, Janice, Pete
Sunday, July 10
Pete had to go back to Rapid City and we were heading back to Aberdeen, SD.  So we spent the morning visiting after everyone else left before we went our separate ways.  Back in Aberdeen, we had a great ribeye steak dinner, my usual in Aberdeen.  But we missed our BBQ chef, Jim.  He went to Montana on his motorcycle with our nephew Glen Crawford.  So we will have a “sister’s week” in Aberdeen. 

Monday July 11-14 Aberdeen
We had a great week together in Aberdeen.  Dave went back to MN to see his family again before heading back to the boat in GA. 
My friend, Nancy Sundstrom, from Groton, SD stopped at Janice’s to visit in the afternoon.  We’ve been friends since 1974.
We looked through Janice’s baby photo album to share some baby pictures with our niece.  Katie Zeller Murphy had a baby girl in February.  We thought we could see some resemblances. 
We spent more time with our niece, Heidi and her children, Garrett and Claire. (Remember her husband Glen was in Montana with Jim.)
We enjoyed our “chick flicks”, playing triominoes, and visiting over adult beverages.  Great week together!
Dean, Debbie, Dave-siblings

Mary, Beverly, Janice-sister week

Garrett, Heidi and Claire Crawford



aunt Heidi with Memphis

Me and my dad -ok, you have to look close, but I see the resemblance
had to add, just cause it's cute-Don, Jerry, Janice, Beverly, before I was born



July 4-6, 2016 Minnesota visit

July 4,
Happy Independence Day!
Rocky, the owner of the boatyard, gave us a ride to the airport in Jacksonville, FL this morning.  He had business in Jacksonville to do anyway.
We met Dave’s niece, Dena, at the airport in Minneapolis.  2 of her 3 children joined us to go to Cumberland, WI for the week, Juliana and Malachi.  We made it to Cumberland by about 9:30 and all stayed at Grandma Alice’s, their great grandma.

July 5-6
We spent a couple days in Cumberland, WI with family.  Julianna and I took a road trip to Wyoming, MN to see my friend, Stephanie Larson Stec. Juliana is 14 and into succulent plants.  So we went to Stephanie’s house to see her green house and their baby pigs and bunnies.
On the way home, we picked up some plants and pots for Julianna.  She really has a green thumb 


Alice liked her hat from Cumberland, GA

the guys watching a "tough guy movie"

Julianna in Stephanie's greenhouse

Julianna is in heaven

cute baby rabbits

Julianna's new plants