Yesterday we found cherry trees on the property. Jacob said to pick all that we wanted. We did so and Donna and Brenda pitted the cherries and Donna made a superb cobbler. We eat so much processed foods that it is great to eat something so fresh.
We enjoyed the cobbler so much that Ted and I went back to pick another container full. I thought that they were pretty sweet, but it appears that I was alone in that thought. Everybody thought that they were tart. I was eating them off of the tree. They were so ripe that some were pitted as you picked them. They should have been picked 3 or 4 days ago.
Jake has a 16 bed lodge. There is a company called Tour America that picks up young foreigners either in San Francisco and takes them to New York by van, or the reverse trip. They sleep in tents most times, but when they pass through SD they stay at Badlands Ranch & Resort.
While Ted and I were picking cherries, Donna came to take pictures of us working. During that time 3 of the girls from the lodge came to see what we were doing. They were from South Korea. They were very friendly and giggly. They thought that the cherries were tart, too. Donna asked them if they would like to taste the cobbler that she had made with ice cream and they agreed. Then they toured both of our coaches. They were very appreciative, especially of the ice cream.
During our trail ride we came upon a high bluff overlooking more of Jake's property. The White River runs through the lower part and it is very scenic.
The kids from the lodge had driven up there and we wanted to see the sunset from up there. We were told that the view is really spectacular at sunset. Unfortunately we were too late for the sunset. We did get a chance to visit with the kids and their very young driver. They were interesting to talk to. I took some photos, but some were taken late in the day and are very grainy.
Earlier in the day, we went back into the park and took those short walks we had been planning to do. I took some pictures.
Today was a travel day. We will miss Jake and the Ranch. It was a wonderful week. We will be hard pressed to top that time, in that location.
We are now in Custer, SD. A very nice campground. We are close to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We have our week just about planned.
It is much cooler here. Low 70's daytime 40's at night.
We played Pegs & Jokers on the picnic table and had to come in because we were chilled.
I wish we could send some of this cool weather to our friends and families in Texas.
Internet connection is still too slow to upload pictures.
Ta ta for now
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Touring the Badlands and horseback riding
We have been trying to go horseback riding in the morning since Sat. It has rained every morning really hard so that we were unable to go.
Jacob, the owner of the CG, has 18 horses and offers trail rides several times a day for a fee.
The wrangler that he had, quit and there were no rides offered until Sat. Greg, an old friend of Jacob, and his granddaughter showed up Friday night. Greg has been Jacob's on & off wrangler for many years.
Greg is a 57y/o rodeo rider. He was thrown off of his horse and proceeded to break his right leg in 3 places. Hip, knee and ankle. He now has had a right artificial hip for about 2 weeks. He is slowed, but insists on leading the rides by horseback until his granddaughter learns the horses and the trail.
Donna has a 2 y/o total hip and she tried to get on a horse but she was not comfortable for the 1 or 2 minutes she was in the saddle, so she decided not to ride.
This morning the weather was really nice here and so we got to go.
Greg lead out with Ted, then me, Brenda and another family following. We were in a single file arrangement.
We had been on the trail about 20 minutes, when a deer shot out across the pasture spooking Greg's horse, who in turn spooked my horse, who jumped sideways. The saddle was not as tight as it could have been, so when Matthew jumped and jerked sideways, I was thrown sideways dislodging the saddle and throwing me to the ground.
I landed unceremoniously, my left elbow was between the ground and my left ribcage. I haven't had the wind knocked out of me since I was a kid, but this landing surely did this time. My left ribs are sore, but I don't think anything is broken.
I'm glad it was me and not Brenda.
Yesterday, we decided to ride around the Badlands National Park to the west. This area is so beautiful. We took the cameras and the binoculars and went out.
We drove along the roads with many turn outs and we saw many animals. We were glad we brought the binoculars, as we saw some movement in the distance and looked with our glasses. There were 2 bison about 2 or 3 miles away and we got to watch them move toward us.
Then we moved on to Robert's Prairie dog Village. The little buggers had holes in their burrows just a few yards from the road.
They have plague, so we were warned to stay in our vehicle, as well as our pets if we had any with us. We got some really good pictures.
We stopped just before we left the park, and saw several female mountain goats with their young. A ranger came by and we were told that there were 60+ kids. They were too far away for good pictures, but we got to watch them with the binoculars.
There has been so much rain here that everything is green. It is supposed to be hot and dry with very little green vegetation. This has been a good year for the fauna in the park.
We decided to go into Wall again to eat lunch. The restaurants in Wall drugs were self serve and very confusing. We decided to try another place that was across the street. Ted and I had a lunch buffet, and the ladies had something from the menu. All of the food was very tasty and filling, so we didn't have any supper.
We got back to the park late in the afternoon. With all of the rain, Ted's truck got very muddy on our sojourn, so we washed it in one of the empty sites. Jacob is very accommodating to our needs.
We have been doing different things around the park such as unplugging a sink in a cabin, helping park some of the RV's and just visiting with new arrivals that Jacob has offered to have us stay 3 days at no cost. We have reservations in Custer on Wed., so we declined. We are intending to ask for free laundry, as we both need to have some clean clothes before we leave.
We played Mexican Train until the bugs tried to carry us away. We played until 10:00pm.
Donna won again.
Saturday evening we went into Interior for church. I have shown the church in previous posts. There were 17 of us incluing the priest. 3 were parishioners and the rest visitors.
With our travels, we get to see many and varied churches, but this is probably the smallest that we have ever been in. I can't imagine how this parish is financially supported, especially in the winter when tourism is at its lowest.
I will post more pictures when the wifi connection is better.
Ta ta for now
Jacob, the owner of the CG, has 18 horses and offers trail rides several times a day for a fee.
The wrangler that he had, quit and there were no rides offered until Sat. Greg, an old friend of Jacob, and his granddaughter showed up Friday night. Greg has been Jacob's on & off wrangler for many years.
Greg is a 57y/o rodeo rider. He was thrown off of his horse and proceeded to break his right leg in 3 places. Hip, knee and ankle. He now has had a right artificial hip for about 2 weeks. He is slowed, but insists on leading the rides by horseback until his granddaughter learns the horses and the trail.
Donna has a 2 y/o total hip and she tried to get on a horse but she was not comfortable for the 1 or 2 minutes she was in the saddle, so she decided not to ride.
This morning the weather was really nice here and so we got to go.
Greg lead out with Ted, then me, Brenda and another family following. We were in a single file arrangement.
We had been on the trail about 20 minutes, when a deer shot out across the pasture spooking Greg's horse, who in turn spooked my horse, who jumped sideways. The saddle was not as tight as it could have been, so when Matthew jumped and jerked sideways, I was thrown sideways dislodging the saddle and throwing me to the ground.
I landed unceremoniously, my left elbow was between the ground and my left ribcage. I haven't had the wind knocked out of me since I was a kid, but this landing surely did this time. My left ribs are sore, but I don't think anything is broken.
I'm glad it was me and not Brenda.
Yesterday, we decided to ride around the Badlands National Park to the west. This area is so beautiful. We took the cameras and the binoculars and went out.
We drove along the roads with many turn outs and we saw many animals. We were glad we brought the binoculars, as we saw some movement in the distance and looked with our glasses. There were 2 bison about 2 or 3 miles away and we got to watch them move toward us.
Then we moved on to Robert's Prairie dog Village. The little buggers had holes in their burrows just a few yards from the road.
They have plague, so we were warned to stay in our vehicle, as well as our pets if we had any with us. We got some really good pictures.We stopped just before we left the park, and saw several female mountain goats with their young. A ranger came by and we were told that there were 60+ kids. They were too far away for good pictures, but we got to watch them with the binoculars.
There has been so much rain here that everything is green. It is supposed to be hot and dry with very little green vegetation. This has been a good year for the fauna in the park.We decided to go into Wall again to eat lunch. The restaurants in Wall drugs were self serve and very confusing. We decided to try another place that was across the street. Ted and I had a lunch buffet, and the ladies had something from the menu. All of the food was very tasty and filling, so we didn't have any supper.
We got back to the park late in the afternoon. With all of the rain, Ted's truck got very muddy on our sojourn, so we washed it in one of the empty sites. Jacob is very accommodating to our needs.
We have been doing different things around the park such as unplugging a sink in a cabin, helping park some of the RV's and just visiting with new arrivals that Jacob has offered to have us stay 3 days at no cost. We have reservations in Custer on Wed., so we declined. We are intending to ask for free laundry, as we both need to have some clean clothes before we leave.
We played Mexican Train until the bugs tried to carry us away. We played until 10:00pm.
Donna won again.
Saturday evening we went into Interior for church. I have shown the church in previous posts. There were 17 of us incluing the priest. 3 were parishioners and the rest visitors.
With our travels, we get to see many and varied churches, but this is probably the smallest that we have ever been in. I can't imagine how this parish is financially supported, especially in the winter when tourism is at its lowest.
I will post more pictures when the wifi connection is better.
Ta ta for now
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