A Different Day

Well I’m in my new location I’ll be writing from over the next few months – Savannah, GA.

Savannah is about a 4.5 hour drive from the house. Not worth flying since I’d have to fly to Atlanta or Charlotte and connect. So I opted to drive this week.

It was strange not to feel rushed to get to the airport. I woke up, went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned, went home and packed my bag then drove south. I didn't have to take off my jacket and shoes, x-ray the bag, pull out my zip-lock back of liquids or any of that. I was able to hang my clothes in the car so I won't have to iron in the morning. So to say today is a "Different Day" certainly describes it.

I did have to be here for a phone call in the late afternoon, but the worst case would be I’d pull off on the side of the road to take the call. The skies were foggy all the way from Myrtle Beach to Savannah. In Charleston I could not see the top of the bridge until I was on it. And when I got to Savannah I couldn’t see the top of the bridge even while I was on it.

Just north of Charleston the basket weavers were selling the baskets on the side of the road. It's amazing how many stands there are and even more how much they charge for them.

Savannah is a really beautiful southern city that reminds me a lot of a small New Orleans. The Live Oak trees and Spanish moss everywhere. There are beautiful city squares and the riverfront. I look forward to getting to explore some here.

I’m sure I’ll have to go eat at Paula Deans sometime. I know she loves cooking rich foods. I’ll have to look and see if she has deep fried butter (no it’s not real, but she does love butter).

What I can do with a few hours and a bus pass in San Francisco

I had a whirlwind day today. I worked from my motel from 4AM - NOON. Then I took off with my BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) ticket and went on into San Francisco. You'd be amazed what I can swing off with a few hours, a bus pass and some determination.

BART is a different transit system than the Municipal Transportation (MUNI). I bought a one day Passport for unlimited rides on the cable cars, buses and MUNI trains. Let me tell you if you are going to get around that's the best way to do it.

I took the cable car from Powell to Hyde.
When you get to the top of the hill you see the most beautiful view of the Downtown skyline.
The cable car takes you to the top of Lombard Street which is the crookedest street in the world. I walked down to take the picture from the bottom up. I noticed there was a house For Sale on this street wonder if Stefan would be intrested? The Coit Tower on top of Telegraph Hill is beautiful. I didn't make it over there to see the art but I did get a great picture from the hill top. At the end of the line is Fishermans Warf. The view to Alkatraz today was really good.San Francisco is known for the Sourdough Bread. I saw this place that made all these different animals out of the bread so I had to take a picture. Then I had Clam Chowder for Lunch. It was really YUMMY.I rode the cable cars to China Town and saw this sign. Lucky for me it was written in English on the other side.I took the train over to the Castro District which is the Gay Area. I got to see the Harvey Milk Memorial and the famous Castro Theater sign.

I saw more than I have uploaded and took about 30 pictures. I got to see our Corporate Office where my paychecks come from.

So that was what I did in a few hours in San Francisco. I rarely get a chance to get out and about when I'm on the road. But as you can see when I do I can cover a lot of ground.

What I See on the Road

Well today I am flying from Wilmington, NC to Oakland, CA. My route takes me through Charlotte and Phoenix so it's going to be a long day. It started at 2:30 AM when I woke up before the alarm to get started. The Wilmington airport is 60+ miles north and to catch the early flight that means leaving the house at 4-4:30 AM. Good thing I was not on the absolute first flight that leaves at 5:30 AM. ICK.

I have also decided I was meant to be born farther south than I am now. It was 39 degrees this morning when I got to the airport. I know that doesn't sound all that cold but to me it might as well have been 15 degrees. I'm sure glad I don't have to live in an area where I'd have to use a snow blower or plow all winter.

I am sitting in the Charlotte airport on a two hour lay-over. Every year they put up two Christmas trees made of live Poinsettias. I thought I'd share a picture with everyone since you may not travel this route to see the tree.

I hope to write a bit more this week. I've had a major block on writing the past few months. When I'm working it's "nose down and give it 150%" and when I'm off I am truly OFF and have no desire to write. I guess this is what writers block is all about. It's not that nothing has happend, its more that I'm too lazy to write about it or document it with photographs.

I hope to get out this week in the San Francisco area and see something other than the inside of a conference room or inside of a motel room. Wish me luck! Maybe I can reach that goal this week.

Flexible if nothing else

Well our Thanksgiving plans changed at the last minute this year. For years this was the big holiday spent with the neighbors that bring the family down from Erie. They were not able to make it this year for a variety of reasons so we went to a friends house in Greensboro, NC.

It was a very nice Thanksgiving with a small group of people. It takes about 4 hours to drive from Myrtle Beach to Greensboro and we have made this trip many times.

This time we left the cat (Pez) at home for a few days. I figured she would have a party while we were gone and just really enjoy herself. She travels OK but it's not one of her favorite things to do. And since the friend we were seeing has two other cats we just felt it would be less tramatic for all of us to leave Pez at home.

Sheeot had a tough time.. She had to share her pillow with a Monster Black Cat named Titus. It's hard not to share when the cat is bigger than you are and has sharp claws.

When we got home Pez was really happy to see us again. I think she might have been a little stressed being on her own but now I know she can do it.

I'm off to San Francisco this week. Then Texas the week after. Then I have a new account in Savannah, GA.

I'm exicted about the Savannah account. It will be nice since it's driving distance and I can just hop in the car and not have to hassle through airport security and connections. I hope to take the dog and cat down to Savannah with me sometime and stay over a weekend after work. They have both been there before. I just want to stay and tour sometime.

Nature TV

This little squirrel was out preparing for his own Thanksgiving feast this week. He stopped in the tree outside my bedroom and made fun of me and the cat. Pez was not amuzed.

I’ve always been told…

I’ve always been told that if you have nothing nice to say; don’t say anything. So I’m going to my little corner and shut up and try to fly under the radar today.

Happy Hump Day everyone…
Oh and it's raining again. Maybe I should go back to bed.

What I Woke Up To

Well all... I'm still alive. Just been super busy working from home office and to be quite honest been too lazy to write. I just wanted you all to know I'm still out here kickkin' and causing trouble.

Here is what I got to see this morning when I looked out my bedroom window. I now it's just water and trees, but it makes you glad you woke up.

Do I Have to Do All The Work Around Here?

If you ever wonder what I do for a living this picture should sum it up. This week was the go-live for the Inventory project at the hospital. Take a guess which person in this picture is me.


One Clue - I'm wearing a paper hat! Just like I did when I worked in fast foods. I guess my career has come full circle now.

Daytrip to Shreveport

Thursday night I decided that the weather was too bad to drive to Arkansas to see mom. It was a good call considering how much rain and bad weather we had. There were 4-5 tornados in the Shreveport area which I would have had to drive through.

Shreveport is about half way from where I’m working and where mom lives. So I met her and my aunt there in Shreveport and we drove around looking at the damage and then through some neighborhoods just to see the nice houses in the area.

A church steeple was blown off and fell on a car that night. It was a white Lexus from what I heard. My aunt tells me he woke up in the hospital and wasn’t sure what happened. The steeple is said to weigh 2 tons.


We went downtown Shreveport and went to a botanical garden and art museum.

The statue below is at the River Walk in Downtown Shreveport.After we messed around downtown a while we tried to get to the Rose Gardens in time to walk around. We didn’t make it but I did get a few pictures at the front of the gardens. Maybe next year I’ll get to see it.

Soaked in Texas

Well this week I have been in Lufkin getting ready for a go-live over the weekend. Since we needed to be back on Sunday morning I decided to stay out here over the weekend instead of flying back to South Carolina on Friday and back here on Saturday.

I thought this is a great time to run up to mom’s about 4.5 hours north of here and spend the night. Tonight would have been the night to go but we are getting torrential rains here so I called mom and told her I didn’t think it was a good idea for me to drive in the dark in heavy rains.

It turned out that my decision was the right one. Mom called me back and a tree is down over the power line down the road from her and she has no power. So I couldn’t have worked home office from there. They have had flooding there and we have had flooding here.

On the way back from dinner I drove through water that was up past the floor boards on the side of the car. I would never do this normally but I was on the major highway here and I couldn’t do anything but proceed. I am looking out my window now and I see they have that road closed and routing traffic around the flooded area.

I am staying at the Courtyard that just opened this month. I have been waiting for this place to open so I could move back into the Marriott Chain. They have had a tough night here. The parking lot is flooded out in front and there is a full sized pickup with water up to the doors. I am parked on the end of the building up-hill from the water.

To add to the frustration the fire alarm was going off in my co-workers room when he got home from work. So he reported it and we just decided to go to dinner. When we came back the entire fire alarm system was going off. They could not bypass the system until 45 minutes had passed. So about 5 minutes after we got back they got the alarms shut off. But then the elevators don’t work because they are in fire mode. I finally got tired of sitting in the lobby and hiked my butt up the four flights of stairs to my room.

So I guess I’ll have a nice day working from the motel tomorrow and have a day of rest in the motel on Saturday. Might as well make the best out of this right?

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

I’ve written notes with this title before. Yesterday was one of those days where I hit all those forms of transportation. It was more like Automobiles, Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

This week’s destination is a place where I really wish I had a few extra days (San Francisco Bay Area). We are in a little town named Walnut Creek just northeast of Oakland. I am traveling with a co-worker that I am lucky enough to travel with quite a bit. It’s a good thing he is a great traveling companion.

Yesterday Ed missed his connection in Charlotte and his flight was 3.5 hours later than planned. Of course he had rented the car and he just knew I’d be stranded at the airport. I had scoped out our destination and knew that BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) had a train that left the airport and dropped me within two blocks of the Marriott where we are staying.

So I proceeded to head out on my little adventure. The BART train took me through San Francisco then under the bay to Oakland and then northeast to Walnut Creek. The train ride was a few minutes over an hour ride. The girl that sat in the seat next to me did not speak much English but was enough to know we were going to the same stop.

I always find it strange how things work out. Another guy that sat in the row in front us found out we were heading to his stop. This guy was about 20-21 and lives in the area. We struck up a conversation and I learned a lot about him on our trip. It’s funny how much people will tell you about their lives. His story was interesting enough to listen to.

His parents met in the Peace Corps; his father was from Costa Rica and his mother was from California. Neither spoke the same language when they first met but they still fell for each other. He spent most of his life growing up in Costa Rica. Then they moved him to the states to get a higher education. He is going to school to get a degree in Engineering. He and his friends are starting a Reggae Band. When he graduates he wants to join the Peace Corps and eventually he wants to sail around the world.

It’s so refreshing to listen to someone young who has all these lofty dreams. I don’t even know this kid and I so hope he can fulfill them. When we got off the train he helped the girl in the seat next to me with her suitcases. We had to navigate a long escalator and he made sure she got down with her bags and helped direct her to where she needed to go.

I was so glad that we found him on the train ride. It reminded me of my trip to Paris France in 1997. This girl was in a strange country; spoke broken English and this nice gentleman helped her get where she needed to go. I was so pleased to know that in a big city there are still young men that know how to be a gentleman.

I have lofty goals for the rest of this week… Tonight I have dinner plans with a friend I worked with in Charlotte over 10 years back. Then the next night I am hoping Ed will take the train with me into San Francisco and catch a cable car down to find some place to eat. He has never been to this area and I’d like to show him what little I know about the area.

I’ll try to get pictures this week. Tonight will not be the night since there is a huge storm blowing in today. They are projecting 2-4 inches of rain in the valleys and 5-7 inches in the hills. We are expecting winds in the 40-60 MPH range and in canyons gusts up to 70 MPH. You would know I’d be here when you have tropical force winds and rain. At least it’s only one day of bad weather.

Danger to Dogs - Xylitol / Sorbitol

In July 2007 our dog had a seizure that we could not explain. Of course it’s on a weekend evening and we rushed her off to the emergency animal hospital in Myrtle Beach. We thought maybe she had been poisoned. Her symptoms were sudden a few minutes earlier she had been playing like a puppy then later she could barely walk; was lethargic and yelping in pain from the slightest touch.

Just this weekend we have finally figured out what happened. I had heard on the news in Houston the other day that Sorbitol and Xylitol sweeteners are poisonous to dogs. I heard the blurb on the news and decided I needed to read up on this since I chew gum that is sweetened with these sweeteners.

I first read an article that was in USA Today back in 2007. Then I did more research and found the AVMA had posted a warning back in October 2006. Further research lead to a blog by a Veterinarian in Miami who had written an article about the dangers of Xylitol and dogs.

The symptoms Sheeot had were exact to what has been described in all my reading. It was quick to come on and it was very serious. After reading all this I realize that she is lucky to be alive. I feel bad that I didn’t know about this sooner.

I would have thought with us giving the exact descriptions of this to the Vet they would have at least been prompted to ask us if we had Altoids or Sugar Free products where the dog could get them. This information had been published less than a year prior in the JAVMA which I would hope the veterinarian would have read (I guess not).

All the articles I have read indicate that Dogs bodies don’t process Xylitol like we humans. The dog can develop a sudden drop in blood sugar, loss of coordination, become lethargic and have seizures. The effect is rapid and can come on in as little as half an hour or start up to 12 hours later. The JAVMA states that you need to act swiftly and get your dog to the Veterinarian.

Many of the articles tell you to call the Animal Poison Control Center. There is a $60 cost for support and you are told to pay it because they will assist the Veterinarian once you get there. As of this weekend I have programmed the Animal Poison Control Center number - 888-426-4435 into my cell phone. I have also posted it at the house.

Please spread the word to your family and friends of the dangers of sugar free products to dogs. Don’t assume they are informed – trust me I had no idea until recently. I can't even say your Veterinarian will catch it quickly enough. Ours never figured it out.

Looking back I’m sure our dog picked up an Altoid or some gum I may have dropped near my recliner. She’s not above helping herself to things out of the trash can.

So this is my Public Service Blog.

Listed below are the links just in case you can't get the links above to work.

USA Today - http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-03-18-xylitol-sweetener_N.htm
AVMA - http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/oct06/061001b.asp
Animal Poison Control Center - http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/
888-426-4435
Dolittler Blog - http://www.dolittler.com/2006/10/27/pet.vet.dog.cat.vs101.10.27.06.html

Medical Advances

Tonight I got to attend the ribbon cutting at the hospital I am working at in Lufkin, TX. I had been through the building during construction and even toured it earlier in the day. I got the behind the scenes tour up to the helipad on top of the building.

The new tower is amazing and the CEO said it cost 47 million to construct the state of the art Cardiovascular and Stroke Center. Later this month they will start moving departments across a floor at a time.

I got the biggest kick out of the robot in the Emergency Room. It had a screen on the top as the head and the guy running it was in Kansas City and controlling this robot in Texas. It showed his picture and your own picture. He could adjust the picture to pick up groups or zoom in on individuals. What an amazing tool to have a robot that can navigate halls and go room to room with a doctor anywhere there is an internet connection. This was the “Wow Factor” for me.

The bed in the Intensive Care Unit was pretty slick too. It has so many tricks it can do to make the nurses and patients lives better. The bed speaks 25 languages. So if the patient does not speak English they have common care plans loaded and they select what they want from the patient and the language and the bed translates to the patient. Not only does the bed speak 25 languages… It plays music; weighs the patient; rolls the patient side to side and can convert to a chair. It can pound the back (I think she said percussion) to help patients with pneumonia. Let me tell you this thing was quite the improvement over my bed at home.

They have built a Heart Room and a Cath Lab. And one room can convert from a Cath Lab to a Cardiovascular Room so the patient does not need to be moved. The rooms were 900 square feet. They are the largest Cath Labs in the world at the moment. I’m sure someone will build a larger one at some point.

Oh and they were handing out brains at the entrance tonight. They were the little squeeze balls in the shape of a brain. So now I have a spare brain to boot.

So this is what a day in the life can be for me. It was a pretty cool day in general.

Memories of a Dear Friend - Ruby

It has been a long time since I’ve really had something I wanted to write about. Today after looking at pictures of Jackie’s Hot Air Balloon adventure it started me reminiscing about when mom and I took our Hot Air Balloon ride.

The first person I knew that took a Hot Air Balloon Ride was a retired lady who volunteered with me when I worked at the Oklahoma Blood Institute. Her name was Ruby. She went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Albuquerque. She had such wonderful pictures and I was so surprised that she had taken a ride in one of these balloons. I thought what a gutsy woman she was.

Ruby had been widowed quite a few years before I met her and she didn’t have any children. She is one of the people I can say really touched my life over the years. She passed away 15 years ago and I still think of her fondly to this day. She touched so many lives.

Way back when before I started traveling for a living I started saving key chains from places I’d been. Then people would bring them back to me from the vacations I doubted I’d ever get to take on my own. Ruby probably brought me the most key chains of anyone. She was always on some adventure to Europe or in the United States. I still have a strand of key chains from all around the world she picked up for me all those years ago.

I have been lucky to find a job I truly enjoy that allows me to see places I never dreamed I’d see. Ruby would be so happy for me if she were here. I never thought I’d go to Europe or for that matter take a Hot Air Balloon ride. I remember her writing me a note when she was in Ireland she was describing how there were so many shades of green she couldn't do it justice in her note. It was a place that I know she dearly loved visiting.

Jackie – thanks for you post and the beautiful pictures. You brought back some very fond memories of a lady I have not thought about for a while. It was nice to think about her again.

Well it's officially FALL now...

I got home today and found my Spider Lilly's in bloom. I used to love these when I was a kid. Mom brought me these bulbs a few years back and I missed them blooming last year because I was out of town. I caught them this year!

A new destination this week

This week I have a different place to visit. I am about 4.5 hours south of the house. My morning started off early waking up around 5AM (not because I had to but because the animals felt it was time to get up).

My boss lives about an hour north of me in Wilmington, NC. He picked me up at the house around 8:30 AM and we got to drive south through all the Costal South Carolina cities (Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, Charleston & Beaufort). We then crossed into Georgia to our destination Savannah, GA.

Savannah is a really interesting historical city. I have been here several times touring and it’s just a charming Southern City. If you are looking for a small city with the true Southern feel this is the city for you. The riverfront is loaded with shopping and dining options. The banks are very steep so you better be in shape or find the public elevator to take you back to the street level.

I got me meet a co-worker I’ve worked with for over a year and never met face to face. She was the last person on my team that I had not met face to face. It’s so nice to know what your co-workers look like.

We left the motel on Abercorn Street and drove down to Bay Street though the nice squares in downtown. We had dinner at a very nice restaurant on the river and back home at a decent hour. So I’m able to let everyone know I’m still alive out here.

I have a lot of blogs to catch up on. I’ve not only taken a break from writing but from reading too. Amazing what a busy schedule does…

It was a good weekend at home. We are working on replacing my wood sidewalk and the steps at the house. We spent time with my neighbors that were down from Erie (mainly eating meals and just shooting the breeze). We had a very nice meal at an Italian Restaurant named Pomodero’s.

A different route this week – Charlotte

For years (about 8) I flew USAirways as my primary airlin. Since the hub airport for them in this area is Charlotte I connected there weekly for years. I changed airlines when they were having so many issues with the merger between USAir and America West. After a while I just got tired of the issues and switched over to Delta. I started to switch back about 2 years back then as soon as I did they started charging extra for everything from cokes to pillows. I was waiting on them to charge for seatbelts and trips to the bathroom. So I again just decided to stick with Delta.

This week the prices of the airline tickets forced me to take USAirways through Charlotte on my way to Houston. They have stopped charging for drinks but they have not reinstated other things like the 500 mile minimum credit for a flight. They still charge for checked bags so more people try to overstuff the overheads. They have about one of the best on-time ratings of the major carriers. It’s still not enough to make me come back to the airline though. It takes a long time to build a status on an airline and I just don’t feel the need to go through that again.

I did enjoy flying through Charlotte because I haven’t done that in a long time. It’s one of the favorite places I have ever lived. It made me a little home sick just seeing the skyline when we were landing. I worked for about 4 years in Uptown and watched them tear down a building and start building a new skyscraper.

Charlotte calls it “Uptown” instead of “Downtown” because it sounds more positive to be called UP. The uptown area looked like it was 2 weeks old when I moved there and to this day it looks like a brand new city.

Of all the places I’ve lived I would say Charlotte is the top of the list to this day. I had a job I loved, a city I was proud to call home. It’s funny as much as I enjoyed it there that I have not been back in over 7 years other than to fly through the airport. I guess I need to schedule a vacation to go there sometime. Maybe I need to go to the Southern Living Home Show or something fun like that.

South Dakota Vacation - Day 3

Today we went to the Crazy Horse Monument in the morning. My uncle told me that they lived in a house about 200 yards off the road at the entrace to the monument and told me to look for an old house on the right. If he is right this is the house my grandmother raised her five boys at. She was widowed when she was pregnant with her last child (the one who told me where the house was located at).
We left Custer heading west to Newcastle Wyoming. We went north from there to Lead South Dakota where the gold mines were.

This was one of the sights we saw driving our short stretch in Wyoming. This was just a mountain in someones field, no special markings. I thought it was pretty with the white on the top and the red dirt with the green trees at the foot of the hill.

When we got to Lead we had lunch at a Pub on Main Street. In Lead the streets are almost straight up and down. And I had to parallel park to boot. It took me a few seconds to remember which way to turn the wheels when you are parking facing down hill. I turned them to the right toward the curb. I guess I was right because when I was sitting with mom on the deck eating lunch I scoped out all the other cars and they followed my lead.

The clock below was right next to the pub we ate at.

The buildings below are part of the old gold mine "Homestake" in Lead. The gold mine was active for 125 years closing in 2002.

The open pit gold mine in the picture below is one of the mines in the area. This hole was huge. I had an uncle that worked in these mines in the 70's.

I'm not sure what this contraption was for but it was up on the side of the hill above the open pit mine.
This is one of the trains used in the mine to pull the rock out of the mine.
We finally made it to Deadwood which is now the area for gambling. I thought this hotel was a good picture. We made it home in time for a nice nap.

We wanted to go see the lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore. You can see we made it. I have never really taken pictures after dark so this is one of the first of my attempts.

One of the rangers gave a 30 minute talk about the monument and what each of these men did for our country. It was very informative and it was quite amazing how much she taught me that I should have already known.

At the end they brought down the service men and women. They took volunteers from that group to take the flag down and fold it. Then each of them stated what branch of the armed forces they were in and their name. It was a very nice end to the day.

South Dakota Vacation - Day 2

There are just some days you can't summarize everything. Today is one of those days for me. It was so full from the beginning to the end. I am going to summarize the best I can what we did; where we went and what we saw today.

To start off we took the road out of Custer heading to Mount Rushmore. On the way you could see the Crazy Horse Monument from the road. We have not been down to the monument yet but we plan to do that on our trip. Here is the picture I got with my nice zoom lens. It's almost as good as being at the park.
One of the big things I wanted to do was to go see Mount Rushmore. And as you can see we could not have picked a better day to go. Mom read that the best time to take photos is in the morning. The lighting was perfect. In the gift shop they had a man who had actually worked on the monument for 3 years. He was 18-21 during his 3 years working on the monument. He is 88 years old and was in good health. It was really neat to get to talk to him. The monument was being built from 1928-1941.

On the road down from the monument there is a place you can take a profile picture of George Washington. I didn't remember that as a child when I was here but I'm so glad I stopped to take the picture. After we left Mount Rushmore we went to a town named "Hill City" to have lunch. Mom had a Buffalo Burger and I had a BBQ Pork sandwich. I was a bit buffalo'ed out since the night before I had a Buffalo Sirloin and for lunch I had a Buffalo Burger. Least to say they serve a lot of buffalo here.

After lunch we were heading to Custer State Park and the Needles highway. This was the second thing I really wanted to see up here. So I guess today was my day to pick and choose. As you enter the park there is a lake "Lake Sylvan" and it's so beautiful.

The reason it's called the needles highway is the rocks and this one in particular is called the Needles Eye. We continued to drive through the needles highway and I have so many pictures you are not seeing but here is one we had someone take of me and mom.This area is called the Cathedral. Not sure why but it was a sight to see as we drove around the twisting roads.

I wanted to see the Bison in the wild. I was corrected that they are not called Buffalo but they are North American Bison. So from here on out I'll refer to them as Bison. This one was out in the wild just walking around. We couldn't help it we saw the prarie dogs and we had to stop and feed them some of the peanuts from yesterday. The ones in the park here were not as tame as the ones yesterday but he figured out we were pretty cool and took the peanut and made his feast on it.

I'm not really sure what these animals were they looked like a different type of deer than what we have in the south. They were all over the place.

We finally ran into a South Dakota Traffic Jam with a bunch of donkeys. One car made the mistake of rolling down the windows and feeding one. Nex thing they knew they had donkeys with heads all the way in the car from both sides eating. I'm glad I was not in that car, I'm not big on donkey slobber in my car.

At last we found what I remember my dad showing me all those year ago. The field with all the Bison in it. There were over 500 in the herd in the picture below. The guard said there are 1200 more but they were not sure where they were in the park today. There were Bison Chips all over the place. You had to watch your step

Once we left the State park we had about a 10 mile drive on a dirt road before we got out on the blacktop heading to my uncles house. I took pictures of all the hay yesterday and we saw a bunch of haystacks in the fields today. I have not seen that in years and thought I'd share it with everyone.

We finally made it to my Aunt and Uncles house in Buffalo Gap. The town is very small and all the roads are dirt. I saw my uncle last when my grandmother passed way in 1995. I had not seen my aunt since the winter of 1987 (22 years back). Least to say it was really good to visit with them again. My aunt's mom lives with them and remembers seeing me when I was a little kid back in the early 70's when we visited them in Elgin, IL.

My uncle shared pictures with me he had of my dad when he was a baby and little boy. He had a sheet of photo paper with my Grandma and Grandpa and the military pictures of all the boys. My grandfather had two sons from a prior marriage both of which served in WWII. Then my dad was the first for my grandma and he served in WWII and Korea. Then her other four sons served in Korea.

My uncle told us a lot of the family history. Some I knew and a lot I didn't know about. He told me my Grandfather had been gassed in World War 1. He was originally from Freemont, Nebraska and the reason they ended up in Custer was because they had a hospital there and the altitude. They sent the military boys who had been gassed to these areas. He also told me about one of my relatives that lead Brigham Young to Utah.

Our history seems to be between South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and back to South Dakota. I really thought I was the first of the Dowty's to be the Okie... But he told me I wasn't. Darn, can't I be the first at something?

We left my uncles house with a wooden shoe that my Great Uncle Gillis wore when he came over from Holland. He was married to my Grandmother's Sister and they never had any children. He maintained the Custer Cemetary for years.

I also left with some pictures I will cherish from my dad's childhood.

So that is my day in a nutshell. I know today's blog was long but it was such a full day I couldn't shorten it much more.

Greetings from the other South State - South Dakota

Well this is it... Live from the other South State! South Dakota. At last a trip for pleasure instead of work. Today we left Rapid City and toured the Badlands National Park area about 50 miles East of Rapid City, SD. The fields on the drive were loaded with hay and rolling hills. Here is a picture of the fields with hay as far as you could see.
South Dakota is famous for Wall Drug. When my dad was in the military he saw signs in Japan of how many miles it was to Wall Drug in South Dakota. They had road signs all the way from Rapid City and I found this offer of Free Ice Water just too funny not to take a picture of.

Of course when we got to Wall Drug sure enough there was the Free Ice Water. I guess if you advertise you have to make the effort to deliver right?

Wall is a small town on I-90 just north of the Badlands and just East of Rapid City. The town is really small and pretty much all there is to do is eat and shop at the drug store. Mom was brave enough to ride the Jackalope. Note there is not a picture of me doing this. I know what get's posted on the internet.

Anyone who knows me knows the terror I have when it comes to snakes. So you know I was not too thrilled to see this sign. Of course it was far too hot for the snakes to be out, we didn't see a one. I guess this is one way to keep people on the path (NOT).

I got off the path and saw this beautiful picture. I wanted to know what he was looking at so I had to get closer.

When I did I realized what this fella must have been thinking... How the heck am I gonna get down there? And why are they hanging on the side of the cliff like that? Is there room for three?

Once we got through the bulk of the Badlands which I consider "South Dakota's Grand Canyon" we started seeing the prarie dogs. They were so cute and I bought some unsalted peanuts to feed them. This one even posed for me. As you can tell he's had a few peanuts in his days, look at that pot belly.

Just before checking into our room we ran across the cemetary that is one of the reasons we came. My dad's family is from Custer SD and we wanted to see my grandparents graves. My real grandfather passed away when my dad was about 8 years old. We found his gravesite quicker than we thought considering I have not been here in 14 years and mom in about 17 years.

Not sure what the plans for tomorrow hold. Sometime this week we will see Mt. Rushmore; Crazy Horse and then who knows what from there. Keep an eye out and I'll try to post more pictures if I have time.