The Rest of the Story

Well, the rest of the story of the new mattress and painting...

I slept on the new mattress for a few nights and it wasn't great. I ended up getting a mattress topper and going to see Dr. Jerry for my back. The mattress is okay now, but I could probably have just gotten a topper and had Jerry work on my back.

The painting - Dumb, Dumb, Dumb I know better. I had about a fifth of a gallon of paint left and the quart I had bought. So I decided I would paint as much of the closet as I could. It probably needed it and it wouldn't hurt to do it. So, I opened the gallon and started on the biggest wall. There wasn't quite enough paint to finish it. I opened the quart - not quite the same color. I know from experience that this happens and that you should pour the two together and mix them. Well, it's a closet and nobody will see it much and there will be things in there. So I went ahead and finished the wall just a little lighter color. There was paint left; so I decided to paint another wall but just under the shelves not above them. I got two walls painted that way. The next morning I woke up and looked right into the closet. Oh, No! It was extremely obvious that above and below the shelves was a different color. I would never be happy with that. I went to Leoti, took my paint chip and said please match this as close as possible. After all it is a separate room. They did a great job of matching! I took everything out of the closet and painted and repainted. That took almost a whole gallon. Altogether I used three gallons of paint. Since I had everthing out of the closet, I went through all of my clothes and made a pile for the Thrift Shoppe - quite a few things. Now I have a clean and refreshed room even though that is not what I intended to do when I thought I needed a new mattress.

It Came!

A few weeks ago, I woke up with a backache. That occurred 3 or 4 times. I thought "I'm going to have to go see Jerry." (or maybe the chiropractor in Leoti) It was so bad I decided to sleep on the sofa. Next morning my back was fine. Thought - You need a new mattress! So I went and got our old one from the basement in the south house to try again. One side was soso. The other side was AWFUL. OK - I need a new mattress. Tuesday I called the store in Scott City - "How soon can you deliver a mattress?" "This afternoon - no, wait, Friday would be better because we are going to Leoti then" "Ok, I'll be over to pick one out." Halfway to Scott City, I thought that I might as well paint the bedroom before getting a new mattress. Gwen would probably help me get the mattress and box springs out to the garage; then there would just be the frame and headboard to move. I had been thinking I needed to repaint the bedroom for about four years, but I needed to sand, stain and seal the window sills and that should be done first. But ok, I'll paint. Since I was in Scott City I bought paint there. (No need to drive to Leoti 24 miles away when I was in Scott.) Gwen helped me with the mattress and boxsprings and with emptying a dresser (with a heavy mirror) of drawers and moving it away from the wall. Later I was moving other things out of the room to be ready to paint in the morning. Well, I looked at the window sills - I have sandpaper; so I started sanding. I washed the walls (Joann does this - I never do) The water was really dirty! The next day I painted. A gallon of paint JUST BARELY was enough for one coat. Of course, a second coat was needed. The next day I went to Leoti to finally go to the treasurer's office to change the title for my new (to me) vehicle. I looked at the papers that had come (finally after 25 days) with the transfer title - I had to have the Highway Patrol check the VIN number since the vehicle had come from out of state. Well, the sheriff could do it; so I went to Leoti and got that done. Then over to Scott City for more paint - couldn't get that brand in Leoti. When I got to the lumberyard, the lady that waited on me was a student of mine when I taught 6th grade at Shallow Water 39 years ago! She said the walls must have really soaked up the paint. She asked me how long it had been since the room had been painted - 16 years. Thursday I painted the room a second time, put stain on the windowsills and some other places that needed it and put on a coat of polyurethane. Then I put some furniture back. Today I washed curtains and the new mattress came. I have a really clean room. I had maybe a fifth of a gallon of paint left and a quart I had bought the first time just in case there wasn't quite enought of the first gallon for a second coat. Now I am trying to encourage myself to paint as much of the closet as I can - at least one wall. I'm sure most of you did not know that buying a new mattress entailed that much work.

Traveling

I have been on some very good trips for about the last two weeks. First I went to the state track meet at Wichita to watch Paige run and watch some of the other members of the high school track team as well. Paige did well. It was definitely hot there! I stayed at Jerry and Jennifer's.
Two days after that my sister Jeanne came and we went to a first cousin reunion on my mother's side at the Marion County Lake. We had never had a reunion, and everyone came except one. (We are not a large family.) The one cousin's husband had had heart surgery the week before and couldn't travel. She was the one who had the idea and planned it.
Two days after that my sister and I traveled to Poland. Her son was getting married there.
He had gone to a university in Warsaw and earned two master's degrees. While there he met a young lady. We had good flights and our luggage was always there when we were. We flew from Wichita to Chicago then straight to Warsaw on the Polish airline LOT. That flight was 8 1/2 hours. We were met at the airport by Jason and Alex and then drove about an hour to Alex's parents home where we stayed. Her parents are geneticists and live across the street from the company's research facility. There are four apartments in the building they live in, but no one lives in three of the apartments. So wedding guest relatives stayed in them. Alex's parents both speak English. Her father better than her mother. He meets people from different countries in his work. In fact a man who lives about 50 miles from me had been there to buy tritacale from his company. We arrived on Thursday afternoon. Poland is seven hours ahead of us timewise. On Friday the father had arranged a guided tour of Warsaw for my sister and me and his brother's family from Canada. We toured a castle, saw a statue of Chopin, went to the site of the Jewish Ghetto when the Nazis were in control there with a monument to the Jews, went to Old Town and a museum commeroating the Jewish Ghetto uprising in '43 (I think that was the year.) The Germans bombed and flattened the ghetto; then when the Russians came in after the Germans, they flattened most of the rest of Warsaw. Warsaw was rebuilt using as much as they could from the rubble. Old Town had had a wall around it and they rebuilt part of the wall. Our guide had been a toddler at this time and she and her mother lived in Warsaw. One of the men we met had been in the resistance movement when the Communists controlled the country. He had been picked up twice and questioned by police. He and his wife fled to France in 1988. The Polish people were very glad to get their country back when the Communists were ousted in 1989. The hospitality was great, the weather was beautiful, the wedding was great and they all had a really good time at the feast and dance afterward. When we got to the place of the celebration, the tables were set with dishes, silverware, salads, plates of meat, bread, fruit, cake and drinks of all kinds. Before too long waitresses came, took the dirty plates and silverware, gave us clean ones then brought more food. Before too long they came again and took our dirty plates and silverware, gave us clean ones and brought more food. They probably did this at least five more times before Jeanne and I left at 2:30 a.m. The wedding party got home about 4:00. They had brought more food after we left. The next morning we were back at the same place and had a meal with many of the guests from the night before. We again had food and food.
Some of Alex's relatives did not come because there was flooding in the southern part of the country. They had been told to move their belongings to the second floor in their homes and were concerned they would be told to evacuate. Some family members stayed home to watch things and several came. There was also flooding in Warsaw as a river runs through it. The family and guests were all very friendly to us. We stayed near those who spoke English and quite a bit of translating had to be done.
On Monday, Jason, Jeanne, Alex's brother and I rode the train to Warsaw. The brother was going back to work and the rest of us did some sightseeing and shopping. We were fed as well when at Alex's parents as when at the wedding. They were very gracious hosts.
Tuesday we flew to Chicago. We were going west so had daylight the whole way as opposed to darkness part of the way on the trip over. We were able to see snow covered mountains in Iceland and Greenland and some of Hudson Bay on this flight. It was a 9 1/2 hour flight. We spent the night in Chicago and flew to Wichita Wednesday morning . That flight was less than two hours and seemed short. Jennifer and boys picked us up at the airport. After a nap at Jennifer's, I drove on home. The dogs were glad to see me. I was glad I went to each of the events I attended.

Still Here

I decided that you all might like to know what I have been doing the past few months.

In January we had quite a few foggy mornings and days. About the middle of the month, I was heading to town to substitue. It was REALLY foggy. I WAS driving slower than usual. I say tail lights ahead of me. Next I realized the lights were not moving. I REALLY put on the brakes but did not get stopped until I hit the bumper of a feed truck turning off the road. The bumper was high enough that it did not hit my bumper; so the air bag did not go off. I was not hurt and neither was the feed truck - not even a scratch on the feed truck. (Feed truck bumpers are steel not plastic.) My Trail Blazer needed a new hood and engine among other things. It was not totaled. After seven weeks of driving two different cars and pick-up (that also had a problem and left me stranded on the highway), I got the Trail Blazer back. There is still a small part back ordered.

I spent about three days with Aubrey, Luke and Jackson while Jerry and Jennifer were in Mexico. That was fun. I also got to shop and have lunch with a friend who had moved there from Leoti a few years ago. After that I went on a Walk to Emmaus - a church retreat.

Next I went on a mission trip to a children's home in Mexico sponsored by our church. Our youth pastor had planned it as a trip for teens, but only two teens signed up to go; so it was opened up to anyone who wanted to go. There were ten of us - four over sixty (older teens).
The youth pastor had prayed and told God it was His trip and whoever He wanted to go should go. There was also a group from Texas there who we did not know was going to be there until we got to the border. They had planned a Bible School for the children at the home and from the village across the road. No one from the Texas group spoke Spanish. We had two interpretors with us! Two couple who operate the home but don't live in the houses with the children live in fifth wheel trailers on site. They wanted their trailers hooked up to the gas line for the shop and kitchen building next to where they are parked. A man with our group works for the gas company in Leoti. He knew just how to do it! One of the houses for children was empty and they wanted some of the rooms repainted. I thought - I can do that. Then they said they wanted the kitchen cabinets strippped to be repainted but they wanted that done by someone who had don stripping before. Guess what - myself and another lady with us had stripped furniture before! Isn't God amazing? One day they wanted someone to accompany two of the men to town about thirty miles away I and another lady went along to do that. Where do you suppose we went in a town in Mexico with a population of at least a million? Wal-Mart and then to Sam's Club. The men had gone to Home Depot to get parts. All of our group thought it was a really worth while trip and would go again.

During the winter I went to most of Jason and Paige's basketball games. Now I am going to most of the high school track meets. Paige runs the 3200, 1600, 4 X 400 and sometimes the 800.

Jennifer and I went to Winfield to Margie Harmon's funeral. We were glad we went.

I am still making Teddy Bears, teaching the 3rd-5th grade Sunday School class and am now mowing yards. The weeds and grass are growing like crazy. The young couple who lived in the south house moved to Texas. Within a week another couple and their two little girls moved in. I am glad to have someone living there. With all of my busyness I do miss Bob greatly. Keeping busy helps. It is good to have Gwen and Jason, Paige and Lane close. I don't know what I would do without Jason and the hired man Russell. It's also great that Jennifer and Jerry and family are within easy driving distance.

The 2010 wheat crop is nearly all planted, (some is up)-fall harvest is nearly here-maybe tomorrow and it's time to wean calves. Have you ever thought how much farming and ranching is a yearly repeat of the year before? Like Mike and Dana we've had abundant fall rains and cool weather. Warm dry weather would hasten fall harvest and let us get that done before winter (we hope). Green grass the last of September is very unusual for our ranching area but the cows and calves are doing great. We got all the calves vaccinated a couple weeks ago so I hope to wean this week depending on how corn harvest begins. It'll be noisy for awhile with a couple hundred bawling babies. Milo looks good and is mature and actually a good freeze would help that happen rapidly. The feedlot rehab project is finished (at least this stage) and looks good. We are looking into an airless paint sprayer to paint nearly 7500' of pipe fence. If any of you are bored with what you're doing , come on out.
Ann has 2 weeks of subbing ahead of her for a young lady taking cancer treatments. Ann looks forward to subbing but is always glad to be home.
I had a 6 month check-up with the neurologist in Hays Thursday. She didn't up my medication but is threatening a MRI if my mini-seizures don't cease on the new medicine. They are much less frequent than before and as a rule I believe I feel better.
Paige is having an awesome cross-country season and set a new school record yesterday with her time. Jo-do you remember our jesting about staying with you and Dick for state cross-country? May just happen!! At this pace, she should qualify for state and I would expect her to medal if her times continue to improve. No pressure, huh?
Blogging has kind of faded with the popularity of Facebook but it's good to keep somewhat updated on happenings. Bob

what comes around goes around!

40 years gatherings

40 years gatherings? August 19,1969 we were a newlywed couple embarking on our life together. Little did we know 40 years could pass so quickly and easily. Now all of a sudden we are senior citizens, grandparents of 5 (including 2 teenage girls) and still busy as can be. We've had a great 40 years together (actually we dated for 2 1/2 years before marrying. Dreams we had back then are distant memories and some are still dreams I guess. Jennifer and Gwen and their families are so special and fantastic it's hard to realize that we could be great-grandparents in a few more years. That does sound aged, doesn't it? It's great having daughters bringing their own children up to know God's ways.
We had a really neat weekend last week with bowling, minitature golf and a very special dinner at a nice place and then Sunday services and lunch together with a photo session later. Paige has some really nice photos on her Facebook. I haven't seen anybody else's yet.
Meanwhile, life must go on. August is nearly over and we had a great rain Tuesday night that will really help the milo and corn finish up.. I have been having some sickness with our calves on our cows from the really cool nights.. I've had to rope and doctor a few and spend time checking them closer. The grey horse (his name) does a really good job of holding the calves while I give the medicine. We're trying to wind up the feedlot rehab program for the summer and have a couple of pens of cattle to feed now as well. Wheat planting will be soon and we plan to try silage harvest Monday if it is not too muddy. Corn harvest and then milo harvest and fall field work and this and that.
I got to have another cancer taken from my right ear last week and another biopsy on the left ear. Guess too much sun for a little blonde headed boy. Now my ears don't match.
I don't have anything to really compare to but I can confidently say that my wife for the past 40 years can't be beat and we look forward to celebrating our 50th. Thanks for your love-Ann. Your're the best. Bob

Check out Paige's facebook for some neat family photos-Thanks Paige!!

Last Week

What an eventful week!! We left Sunday morning for our annual get together at Rainbow Lake west of Buena Vista, Co. with Dad and Lois, Dick and Jo and missed Larry and Galena due to Larry's eye surgery. Ann and Jo and Dick and I journeyed over Cottonwood Pass Monday Morning to do some fly fishing in Taylor Park. We were amazed at the top of Cottonwood to see Taylor Park covered with a fog bank and we were above the fogbank. (bottom picture).

Middle picture is myself posing as a flyfisherman. Dick and I enjoyed considerable success Monday after Dick was kind enough to share his wisdom of using nymphs on the bottom. I had done some good on top with small elk hair caddis' but Dick was doing much better. We caught enough 9-10" browns and brooks to make a meal and had lots of fun. The girls enjoyed time of fellowship and gossiping (?) on the river bank. Taylor Park was very busy with motorbikes, 4-wheelers and suv's going up and down the road. Lots of noise, fumes and dust. Still a beautiful place. Dad and Lois helped with the fish for supper by catching 3 out of Rainbow Lake while we were gone. By the way, Sunday nights score was Men 1, ladies 0. Monday night the ladies did better and we men made a real comeback but fell 2 points short on the last hand.

Tuesday, Dick and I went back to Taylor River and did not do well at all so went on over to Spring Creek below Mosca Lake. That creek and area holds many memories of family camping trips when our children were little and Mom was still with us. The fishing was slow-I think I caught 1 10" brown on a dry fly-couldn't get nymphs to work at all. Dick caught a couple. We drove above the Lake a short distance then returned to "our spot" on the Taylor River. Struck out completely so I grabbed a short nap on the river bank while Dick worked hard. We left and drove back over Cottonwood in late evening. Saw a very nice muley buck as well as several doe. We found out the it had been raining and hailing off and on at Rainbow all day. Dick and I enjoyed absolutely beautiful weather on the west side. Score Tuesday evening,men 1, ladies 0. 2 out of 3 made for a successful romp by the men!

a side benefit at Rainbow was the hummingbird show at the feeders. I actually had hummingbirds light on my finger and in my hand at their haste to get to the feeders. I think Jo has pictures to prove it, also.

First picture is of our visitors for the Wichita County Fair and Carnival Wednesday through Sunday morning. We had a great time with Ronney, Karen, Chase and Rylee. How fast they are growing. Of course, our grandkids and girls were around also. The Leoti Fair is a special event.

Needless to say, last week was not a productive week on the ranch. We are rebuilding some feedlot pens, moving manure and doing some fieldwork and spraying. Rain during the middle of the week helped keep some of the pressure of fieldwork away but this week needs to be more productive. I will let Ann add some thoughts to this same blog. Thanks for you being our family.

One final note on the fair, our church float handed out 2000 packs of chewing gum with the theme of "Don't let Satan gum up your life-stick with Jesus" Our prayers are that at least one individual will take that message to heart! Bob

Joann and I had a great time talking Monday - several hours. Bob & Dick came back and asked us what we talked about all that time. We looked at each other and came up with one or two things. We just talked. We hadn't seen each other for a while. Ladies, you know how that goes. We enjoyed the mountains, the river and sitting (for a while).

The fog bank above Tayor Park was beautiful. When we got down to the lake, it wasn't foggy as I expected - the clouds were above us then. The hummingbirds were entertaining. While walking around Rainbow Lake, Joann and I saw a beaver lodge but no beavers. It was a relaxing few days.

We really enjoyed having the Slugas visit us. They are interested in doing whatever is suggested. Gwen, Paige and Lane came out Friday afternoon. Lane, Chase and Riley had no trouble entertaining themselves. Joann, Dick and Dad came out also. We women visited. Ronney did some electrical checking for us - thank you. Dad & Lois were co-Grand Marshals at the parade - what an honor for them. They and another couple got to ride in a Cindrella looking white carriage with a white horse pulling it. Ann

New Experience

Our two dogs had a new experience last night. Bob went out the door this morning and was back about 20 seconds later calling me to come right out. I wondered what Hoover had torn up this time. Hurrying outside I saw Hoover. She had met a porcupine! Bob said he had never seen porcupines around here. She had about 15 quills in her nose and mouth. Bob tried pulling some out with pliers. One came out and one or two broke off. You could tell it hurt. Then we looked for Nessa. She had quills in her nose and mouth also. I thought the quills might have barbs on the end. Calling the vet, I found that one just pulls the quills out - no barbs - but the vet puts the dog out. He said if they break off and part stays in it could become infected. I took both dogs to the vet. They put the dogs out, pulled out the quills, then gave another shot to wake the dogs up so I could take them home right away. The dogs were alert and ready to go when they came out the door from the vet's. We hoped the dogs would be smart enough to stay away from porcupines from now on, but the vet said he gets dogs back a third and fourth time with quills. We hope they stay away from porcupines from now on. I really, really felt sorry for Nessa and Hoover.

More Harvest pics

Just more pictures from harvest. We daily Thank God for our family!

No comment needed.

More of the crew-just realized we didn't have one of Jennifer. Lane is being his goofy self somewhere. Have a neat one of him and Jack in the combine tire.

Top photo is Luke driving the combine. He did well and allowed me to nap to catch up a little at times. On Wednesday, he was with me from 9:00Am until 11:00 pm. durability? Next year is already on his mind. We enjoyed all of them and had fun at the evening meal in the field. More later. Bob

This past week

We had great visitors this past week. Jennifer and kids came for a harvest visit. Gwen and Lane came out to see them when they got here. Before the Bernings got here, Gwen helped me go through books and get rid of a bunch. The boys went to ride in the combine with Bob. Gwen, Jennifer and Aubrey helped me clean out the garage from having kittens in there. It was pretty yucky in places. While we were at it we cleaned pretty good - more than I had thought we would do. Tuesday evening we went in to watch Lane's baseball game (after supper in the field)
Luke spent a whole day in the combine with Bob. Lane got to come out again. He and Jackson had a great time together. Jennifer, Gwen and Aubrey helped with odd jobs. Thursday Luke, Jackson, Lane and Aubrey got to go swimming. We had supper in the field each evening with very few flies. The Bernings left Friday morning. The kids are sure growing and fun to have around and helpful too. Paige was working in the field for her other Grandpa; so we didn't see her.
Bob has the wheat all cut now. Things really went smoothly this year - no breakdowns. We were pleased with the harvest.
I have some good pictures of the combine and of a sunset, but figuring out how to get the pictures on a blog is worse then Greek to me; so you'll have to look at Jennifer's blog for pictures. Ann

P.S.

Notice the new quartz countertops. Don't they look great in Ann's Kitchen? Of course, she makes them look great-but we were both pleased with how well they turned out. Now she's talking re-doing my bathroom and shower. It won't be quartz but Manstone.

On another note, more rain this weekend and harvest will be getting going later this week. It's always an anxious time,waiting to get started-wheat looks good,pastures are unbelieveable for late June. We had the opportunity to host Dad and Lois at Charlie's last night for Father's Day and enjoyed the time together. Rainbow Lake and the fair will soon be here!!

This is Lake McDonald in the Park. we stayed in a cabin on the shore. Isn't it clear and like a calendar picture.

This of course, is one of several falls in the Park.

Just a re-run. Amazing how calm the water could be.

This was in the Medicine Bow mountains of southern Wyoming on Monday,our first day. Elevation wasn't all that high-8000' something-but lots of snow. It was blowing and drifting as we crossed the pass. Winters would be long.

This is for Jennifer. She wanted to see bears. Two yearlings crossed the road on the East side of Glacier when we were still in the Blackfoot reservation. Ann was 2/3 car sick but the bears got her attention. This one crossed the road and then came back for a morsel. I was tempted to toss him an oreo but was selfish and didn't want to share.

This is a view of a glacier in Glacier National Park. There is a lot of seasonal snow yet. Seeing this in August would let you see the glacier in the saddle. They say glaciers will be gone by 2030 because of global warming. Personally, I have no desire to return to the Ice Ages.

Ann's comments: We really had a great trip and got to see a lot of absolutely beautiful scenery. It is amazing what God created. My favorite picture is the one of the lake. The water was clear and a beautiful color. The pictures we chose to put on the blog all show trees, but we also drove alongside Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Dinosaur National Monument and Craters of the Moon National Monument. The Flaming Gorge area was awesome. I am awe struck just looking at some of the huge rock formations and the different colors in them. We were going to bypass Craters of the Moon but decided to see it at the last minute. We were glad we went. We both like to look at the country. It snowed quite a bit as we were going through the top of the Medicine Bow Mountains. We were just behind some hail another place in Wyoming and did get rained on some. It was definitely not hot during our trip.

We saw quite a lot of wildlife also. Many, many antelope and a few babies, the two bears, a few deer ( while we were out of the vehicle looking at the river in Glacier, a deer came out of the woods, looked at me, mosied into the river, swam across, got out looked at Bob and wandered off into the woods.), 3 elk, about 4 bald eagle nests - 2 with eagles in them, some mountain goats, geese, pelicans, some big brown bird similar to cranes with a big red thing on the top of their beak and Scottish Highlander cattle. We also saw several sheepherder wagons. I saw a couple of men on horses herding a flock of sheep. I think the men were Basque herders. We saw another flock of sheep that a man had been checking on. He was walking back to his pickup and had a couple of dogs with him. The flock of sheep were a ways away. The sheep had two guard dogs with them that stay with them all the time. The dogs were busty chasing away some large birds that they must have thought were too close to the sheep. It was interesting to see them work.

We are sure glad we took the trip and would like to go back. I don't think I would like to be a semi driver and spend all my time in a driving or riding though. It's a good thing there are all diifferent kinds of people.

to

we're back!!

Last week I said that we were planning a trip without a destination and so we did. It was really a great time together to just go without a real plan and to see where we went and were God led us that day. We started out Monday morning and drove to Colo.Springs for Ann to look and order new quartz countertops. Garmin was great as the place was a hole-in-the wall in an industrial area but she took us right there. Of course, that took at least 2-3 hours but one of the men and I got to talking fly fishing so it wasn't all that bad. The countertops will actually be put into place the end of this week. Then we headed north up I-25 and then headed towards Rawlins and Ann drove for awhile and she decided to take this state highway through the Medicine Bow mountains. It started snowing and blowing and the road had snow piled up higher than the trailblazer on the shoulders. Anyhow we ended up in Saratoga, Wy. for the night. It was a pleasant place and we enjoyed one of the best steak dinners we've had in quite awhile. (steak dinners are sure expensive-wonder where the beef that we raise goes-it doesn't bring that much when it leaves our place). Tuesday we headed north from Rock Springs and turned west-southwest toward Idaho Falls,Id. After getting a warning ticket in Wy. I had to pay a little more attention to the road as it followed the Snake River(a big river by our standards). We then headed north through Hailey (spent the night there-ate Mexican-didn't compare to Charlies)and the next morning drove through Ketchum (next to Sun Valley)-serious money-really serious money. One of the highlights of the trip came that morning as we crossed a divide and came to the headwaters of the Salmon River with a fantastic view of the Sawtooth range to the west and no people. Anyhow Ann called ahead and got us reservations in Glacier Park for that night so we had a destination to reach that day. up through western Montana along the west side of the Flathead Lake and fantastic fertile farmground and orchards. Very pretty-barns were painted,no junk cars in the yard, fences kept up. saw a couple of cow elk in a farmers wheat field. The cabins we stayed in were on Lake McDonald-lakes there were crystal clear-and we drove out of the Park to eat at a high volume place (not great). Next day we drove in as far as we could on the going to the sun road (14 miles) and marveled at the turquoise rivers-seriously they are a shade of blue you never see in Colorado-and then drove about 150 miles around the south end of the Park to the east side and in as far as we could go and hiked to some falls on the upper Milk River. Drove out and up another road to view some glaciers. It was hard to discern which were glaciers and just seasonal snow as there was a lot of snow on yet. They consider their season to start June 15 in the Park and normally the Going to the Sun road would have been open. Saw Rocky Mountain goats on a mountain side 1/2 mile above us and 2 yearling black bear cubs outside the park on the Blackfoot reservation. Homes were pretty junky and unkept on the east side. Then we drove east to Shelby,Mt for the night. I had thought I wanted to drive across northern Montana but changed my mind after seeing Shelby. We headed south the next day and drove down the west side of Yellowstone and the Tetons through the Madison River valley. Awesome-thats where Dick and I are going flyfishing next summer and maybe we'll let Ann and Jo come along. Spent the night in Pinedale,Wy and had another good expensive steak dinner by a lake. Next morning Ann woke up and said she was ready to to home-I agreed and so we headed south to Rock springs. Somewhere she got the idea to go by Dinasour National Monument in NE Co. so we drove to Vernal,Utah and then headed east. The Monument and Green River canyons and were nice to see but there wasn't much to do unless you drove way into the monument so we spent about 1/2 hour at a visitors center and headed east across northern Co.(new country for me) I remember coming south through some of NW Co in the '60's with the camper on the '59 Ford. Maybelle, Craig and east on 40 to Steamboat(very crowded-road and sidewalks) down to Silverthorne and I-70 then east through Denver and home. Made it about 12:15 am after 813 miles and 15 hours-a long day. We drove 3240 miles with no trouble except I hit an antelope in SW Wyoming Saturday morning with minor damage except to the antelope. Ann has pictures we will try to share and she may add her thoughts. It did rain most of the week while we were gone which will really help finish the wheat. Harvest is several days away and it's about time to turn out bulls and get ready for harvest. I know this is lengthy but I felt the need to update you while it is fresh in my mind. Bob

Goings On 2

Time to update on our goings on for the past few days. Crops are planted, calves are branded,road ditches are mowed, yards are mowed and we are planning to make a trip to the dump tomorrow. Progress,Progress (with a capital "P").. Things are considerably less pressing than a couple of weeks ago. We've had some great spring rains and things are really green and lush. It's almost hard to believe that western Kansas can be so beautiful. I was riding pastures last week checking cows and there was actually water running out of hillsides in places. Yesterday we finished up branding with help from Jason and a friend Mike, and Russell. Gwen and Paige and Lane showed up later in the morning and we had a great lunch together courtesy of Ann and then Paige and I moved cows and calves back to where they needed to be and then we just pleasure rode for awhile. I showed her a couple of old dugout home sites on our place and tracks from the trail drives in the 1870's from Texas to Nebraska that still show up. Gwen mowed in the drizzle and took Lane to the creek and they picked some wildflowers for Ann.
Milo is coming up and the feedlot is completely empty. Life is great!!
We plan to attend a wedding in Hays Saturday and then think about leaving for the anniversary trip that Ann is planning. Still no definite destination though. What shall we do?
Harvest will start sometime around the 25th or sooner and wheat looks good. That will be here soon. I hope to replace some wooden feedlot fence with pipe and cable so we can have a project to work on for awhile.
Ann actually has been home mostly for awhile. She has a teacher inservice Thursday and Friday and is planning a kitchen remodel job(replacing countertops and maybe a shower(no-Bob doesn't do well at things like that). That's all folks and check in for an update on the trip destination. Bob

P.S.

I bought Ann a new Traegar smoker and grill for Mothers day and birthday. Guess what? Apparently the fan motor is defective as it keeps throwing breakers. We had planned to put a pork loin on to smoke and cook before we left for church. That's out the window now. We are disappointed in not being able to use it this weekend. Bob

Free kittens!! Any takers?

Ann now has 9 kittens in the garage. The first litter is about 10 days old and the other litter was born this afternoon. The mothers are two of the orphans she raised last spring after the mother disappeared. There is still one potential mother to bear fruit as well. Maybe she'll have 6!
I am amazed at how well the dogs have handled being moved out of their tire and straw beds. Nessa (my dog) gave me one of those-what's next,boss-looks awhile ago. She even shares her food (if she isn't looking). Hoover (Ann's lab) would like to mother them.
On another note,Paige did well at league track today with personal bests and new school records in both the 800 meter and the 1600 meter runs. Her goal was to set new league records but was off by about 3 seconds. A 7th grade boy from Leoti set a new league record in the 800 that had been good for 26 years-suppose the colleges will be taking note of him.
We had some more rain this week (not a lot) and several foggy and misty damp days. Corn is all in the ground but slowly coming up because of the cool weather. We have been busy shipping cattle and will load our last years calves Monday morning. The market isn't too great and we sold to a new buyer this year so I'm somewhat apprehensive about the return. We get a nice bonus for selling them as verified source cattle which means they can be sold to the Japanese market and hope that the quality premiums are there as well. The wheat looks great and everything is green. I heard on older fellow (older than me) say that's it's so green it hurts your eyes. It's great.
We are planning a 40th anniversary trip probably in early June. Any suggestions? I'm leaning to the Mogollon Rim country of Arizona that was told about in the Zane Grey novels. I think Ann would go about any where if she can get me to leave. Wheat is starting to head which means harvest around the 20th of June-be here soon, won't it? --Bob---