Visiting the Boys

"The Boys"

Due to crappy weather in our little town, we had an unexpected and extended stay in the Black Hills over the weekend.  So....when life gives us lemons..we make lemonade!

We have been traveling to the Black Hills for over 20 years, and with Patrick, we've been there every year of his eleven short years, BUT, we had never brought him up to Mt. Rushmore.  Bad parents...bad, bad parents. 

Actually, the day before we got married, almost 16 years ago, we rode our horses on a three-hour ride TO Mt. Rushmore. Does that make us nerdy? 

We have pictures.  I was riding my paint horse named "Nasty."  I still had a fun time! I'd show you the pictures, if I knew where they were...

Anyway, during our extended/unexpected weather related stay in the Hills, the Senator had the hair-brained idea to take a tour of the hills and stop to see "The Boys."  We drove higher and higher into the hills, took some "harelip" turns and then shouted...

"Look, Patrick, it's George!"

Hi George. How's the weather up there?

While the Senator napped in the car,

Patrick and I headed up to see the boys.

How Fun...A Mount Rushmore Wedding

This little wedding scenario brought back memories of when the Senator and I got married. It was just down the hill from Mt. Rushmore at Custer State Park. 

Sing it with Babs and me now...

"Mem-reeeees,

like the corners of my mind..."

I tried to tell Patrick all about it, but he was off and a runnin'.

He had found the binocs.

"Can't we get closer, Mom?"

"Now there's your sense of adventure, young boy.
Let's hit the trail!"

So closer we got.  We got so close we were looking straight up their nostrils!

Too bad it started to snow, and the visibility was a bit limited.

Too bad my camera battery got "exhausted."

But that did not stop the handy girl and the adventurous boy.

Some of the trails were closed, so we'll just have to go back again.

My advice:  Visit Mt. Rushmore on a snowy day in April.

You'll have the place to yourselves.

Good-bye, Abe.
(You'll always be my favorite...love your hair today)

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

Fort Falls

The Ambassador had his annual Bull Sale over the weekend in Valentine, Nebraska. 

The Senator went down a few days earlier to help him, while

Patrick and I held down the fort at home.

We met up with everybody in Valentine on Friday afternoon. 

We had to travel through the Sandhills of Southern SD/Northeren NE to get there. 

Here is just a quick shot of one of the roads on our travels:

Oh boy!  We traveled on about 20 miles of this stuff.
Sand. Sand. More Sand.
love it.

anywho... 

On Sunday, after the sale, the Senator and I had some business to take care of in Valentine, so I took Patrick and his buddy, Rye-Rye, about four miles out of town

to the

Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge

(please check out their web page for more photos and info)

We had been there a buh-guh-zillion times, so both boys knew the lay of the land.

I sent the boys down the trail with Subway sandwiches, a camera, and a cell phone.

Here are the pictures Patrick took on the trail:

Patrick informed me of all the places fossils were found
along that ridge, so I marked them for your info...

That's my boy!  Blazing his own trail!

Up on top of the ridge, beyond the falls,
the boys spotted a couple of the famous
Refuge Buffalo.



It was an exciting moment,
and a great way to end a day of hiking.

I'm so proud of those boys.

They have such a great sense of adventure.

Gee, I wonder where that may have come from ?

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the  handy girl

If time permits,

I'll post more about our weekend in Valentine.

Keep yourself posted now, heh?

RADIO

This past fine weekend brought
the Community Theatre Spring Production of
"RADIO"

Community members and students performed
a collection of early 20th century radio bits.
Why does my child insist on the "rabbit ears" thing?

Austin and Emory did a little pickin' and a grinnin"

Taylor was the "Colgate Star of the West" winner.
She beautifully performed "Danny Boy."
Patrick was proud to pose with her.

Here is the whole gang.
The Bits included:
Gunsmoke
The Bickersons
The Haunting Hour
and
Fibber McGee and Molly

A fun time was had by all...

especially me.

I didn't have to perform.
Thank you very much.

The Senator and I just giggled a lot

and watched from our not-so-comfy chairs in the audience.

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

A Fundraiser

Our little town is so lucky to have a Nursing Home.

Long ago, it was a hospital.

It's a wonderful place.

It employs lots of locals.

It's a home away from home for many folks.

There aren't many small-town Nursing Homes around any more.

Like I said, we are very lucky.

But,

"Houston. We have a problem."

In order to keep it open,

it needs to have a sprinkler system installed...

a very expensive sprinkler system.

Time is a runnin' out.

We need that sprinkler system!

So, let's have a fundraiser.

The very generous people in town planned

a prime rib dinner and auction. 

Here are just a few shots from the evening.

The Auditorium was packed with specially decorated tables.
Oh, and there is Star Basketball Player/Rodeo Club Member, Alex,
auctioning off a huge bag of cat food.
(Thanks for bringing all your buddies and helping out, Al!)

The Rodeo Trick Rider decorated this table in hues of purple and spring!
AND
Patty and Ella enjoyed a night out on the town.

The people in this town are so generous. 

The money is coming in slowly, but surely.

I am confident the Nursing Home can be saved.

There is hope.

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

Smellin' Spring

Just a few weeks ago,
THIS WAS THE DUKE!

Well, well,
JUST LOOK AT HIM NOW!
He's shed his winter coat and is ready to rumble!

Before heading down the road with Duke, to catch up with the Senator,
I hung a few clothes on the line.
Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE my clothesline?
LOVE.



On the way back from my clothesline,
I passed my favorite chair.
The Kindle and I will get a lot of use out of him this spring.
He may look lonely now, but just wait,
he'll get plenty of sittin' time.

 

"We're Back in the Saddle Again"
I finally caught up with the Senator and these guys.
They were fluffy and happy to be up from the river,
which is where they hung out all winter.



Just heading out for an afternoon snack



Ah, yes, the Duke was happy to be smellin' spring again!

from the range, peace,
kathleen
the handy girl

Fans in the Stands!

The Lady Kougars made it all the way to 6th place at STATE.

We rattled our pom-poms and hollered our heads off.

Here are some shots from the weekend...



The Boys in the Stands





Warming up on the big floor





A Crowd of Faces





Girl Power!  We can do it ALL!





Coach, Stats, and Fans





Coach Mom and Daughter





Shaley, Shelby, and Mikayla
Mikayla?  Is that you sportin' the mooostachio?
Hello? Mikayla? That You?





a brother-in-law and  an Aunt Tayta
(a very excited Aunt Tayta, I might add)





our dedicated local newspaper photographer,
a player's boy-fer-end
and a thumbs-up, #1 fan!



People tell me they saw me hootin' and a hollerin' on TV.  That could be the reason I didn't take a lot of pictures.  There were oh so many photos I missed cuz I was so busy hootin'.  At least this gives you a glimpse of some of the fun. 

Wish you all could have been there.....

Hopefully, we'll see you all next year at STATE!

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

A Badlands Birthday

"It's my birthday and I can do

whatever I want to do."

That's our Brown family philosophy.

So, I made my birthday last three days!

(Shhhh!  Don't tell the Senator I did that.

He's traveling in Brazil with the Ambassador and the Judge.)

It started Friday night with a small gathering of friends and children,

after the Kougar Boys BB team lost in the District finals. :(

The kids went crazy running around the house,

while the adults sipped a beverage in the kitchen. 

We analyzed the game. 

Saturday morning, my actual b-day,
brought thoughts of funnel cakes.

Yes, funnel cakes.

You know, State Fair.  Funnel Cakes, Ya.

So I made them.

And Patrick and I ate one.

Well, maybe just a little bit more than one. 

But, it was my birthday, and I could do whatever I wanted to do. . .

So what if I did have three of them?

Who's asking?  Who's counting?

Funnel Cakes.  My Birthday Cake.

Patrick and I decided to take a drive down the "low road," to see if we could spot some wildlife.  We bundled up and tootled down the road in the pick-up.  We stopped to check on ours horses, but didn't see them from the road, so we continued tootling down the road.  

We hadn't gone too far and we encountered this nice group of deer.

Great!  Things were looking good for our Wildlife Drive!



Unfortunately, we went a bit further down the road and encountered this:

I am not kidding you.  This is a road.
This is our Wildlife Loop Road.
Dang.  We turned around.

We decided to head to Belvidere to have a burger with my postmaster, bar owner, candy-making friend.  Her son had just won first place in the District wrestling meet. 

Another cause for celebration.

On Sunday, which I might remind you, was Day Three of the birthday gig, I was ready for another try at the Wildlife Loop.  This time we skirted the "low road" and went in from a different angle.  Unfortunately the clouds hung low and dark, but it was a still a great day to be in the Badlands. 

Hang on to your hats. Fasten your seat belts. Hold on for the ride. 

"The Window"
Do you see it in the upper right corner?

Patrick shot this pix of a big 'ol porcupine languishing in a tree.

They are so easy to spot in the winter.
They stick out like a sore thumb in the bare trees.

It wasn't long before we spotted this little guy,
 trotting along the ridge.

Over hill and dale we went. 

And then, BINGO, look what we spotted.
Big Horn Sheep.

It made my whole day, my whole weekend, to spot these guys.
...the best birthday present so far!
(Well, besides the Kindle.  I'll tell you about that later.)

Another porcupine. 
He really did not want his picture taken!
I trampled through knee-deep snow to get this pose.

Here's one last shot of the snow-covered Badlands.



What a great Wildlife ride we had!



But wait, just after leaving the park, we spotted a whole bunch of deer!

As if the porcupines and Big Horn sheep weren't enough!

Oh, and we did see one skunk.

It was dead

 on the side of the road.

Patrick didn't want to stop to take a picture of it.

Where is his sense of adventure?

Here are the deer we spotted. . .

I think we counted a couple dozen all together.  Nice.

Our Wildlife drive ended in Wall. 
They have a Dairy Queen.
We went there AFTER going to "open gym."
We did.
I know you think we just went to the Dairy Queen. 
I am telling you the truth. 
WE WENT TO OPEN GYM.
Seriously.
Patrick played buckets.
I rode the recumbent bike, while reading my Kindle.

I had to work off those funnel cakes.
Well, that ONE funnel cake I ate.
For my birthday.
After all, it was my birthday(s) and I could do whatever I wanted!

I hope you enjoyed the drive.

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

P.S. I posted black and white photos because my camera

was not cooperating, AND I thought it looked kind of retro.

What do you think?