A Rainy Day

Here it is Friday morning already. Gina and I are waking up to a cool 39 degrees and clear skies. We up early this morning since we driving up to Rapid City today to pick up a few things that we need.

Yesterday was a different story. We woke up to rain and it rained all day. Well kind of, it did finally stop around two o'clock and the skies began to clear up. It was one of those nasty wet days that you just stay inside. While inside Gina cleaned up our home while I just surfed the internet. We are in a little different spot this time at Mom & Pop's place this time. The view is still great and we're thankful they let us park here.

Our New Parking Spot here

Mom & Pop's had some Foretravel friends coming over for happy hour. Even though the weather cleared up it was still chilly outside. We all sat inside the barn enjoying some wonderful conversation. Before long it was time for Barry and Cynthia to head back home. They have been fulltiming for over fifteen years and are still having a blast out here traveling this great country.

Barry & Cynthia

After they left Gina and I went home and Gina cooked some homemade chili for dinner. It tasted great as all her food does and it hit the spot perfect. We set up in bed for awhile watching TV until we fell asleep. The day started out not so great. However, we still enjoyed a wonderful day together.


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

A Happy Reunion with Mom & Pop's

Good morning to everyone. Gina and I are waking up this morning in Custer, South Dakota to a cool 50 degrees and rain. We left Mike & Janna’s house around eleven o’clock Tuesday. We were on the road driving toward Mom & Pop’s place in Custer. We needed to make a quick stop at Wal-mart in Billings. We were then back on the road. Today's drive was only 445 miles and we thought we could make it before dark. However, around eight o'clock we called Mom & Pop's to let them know that we would be stopping somewhere for the night. They recommended a roadside park just a few miles ahead of us to stop at. A few minutes later we found the park and stopped for the night. We called Mom & Pop’s to let them know we had found the park.

We were only about 30 miles from Custer. However, the deer were out and I had already dodged a few of them. Besides the deer, there was another reason we stopped. We still had the worse part of the drive to go. There is a ten mile stretch of very curvy road with no shoulders just east of Custer through the Jewel Cave National Monument. Gina and I just thought it was better to stop and rest and continue on in the day light when it was safer.

Neither one of us slept very well and by five o’clock we were both awake. We enjoyed a cup of coffee together while we were waiting for the sun to rise. We were back on the road at 6:30 and after a very short drive we pulled into Mom & Pop’s place at 7:10. Before I could even stop the truck we saw Mom and Pop running outside to greet us.

Mom & Pop's with special etched wine glasses by Gina

We enjoyed a happy reunion filled with hugs after which we followed them inside their new motorhome. We spent about two hours getting caught up with all of our stories for the last month. I finally decided to get our home parked since it was still sitting at the end of their driveway.

Our friends, Mark & Dale are here and before long they came outside to greet us too. They are off today with some other friends of ours, John & Michael, to ride the 1880 train through the Black Hills.

The weather was beautiful and we just spent the day relaxing and visiting with Mom & Pop’s. Around 3:30 Mark & Dale arrived back and we all decided to start our social hour a little early. Around five o’clock I grilled buffalo burgers and Louisiana pork sausage for dinner while Gina prepared some bake beans and Dale prepared the condiments for the burgers. It might have been a simple meal but it sure tasted great. After dinner we said goodnight and went home. We enjoyed a very relaxing and wonderful day with Mom & Pop’s. I’m not sure what today will bring because the weather looks quite nasty outside. Stay tuned as I’m sure there will be an adventure just ahead.


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

A Bear Watching Day

I woke up Monday morning and decided that since I had taken three days off from posting a blog I should post this morning. I had so many pictures to go through but I finally posted an entry. While I was taking Angel and Zoey out for their morning ritual I noticed a black bear coming down the hill from us. I was so excited that I forgot about them and ran inside and grabbed the camera. Gina knew the way I was running that it was a BEAR. We had seen this bear early Sunday morning, but wasn't able to capture him on our camera. Now this morning was different. We watched this big guy for over thirty minutes. He didn’t have a care in the world, other than eating chokecherries. We followed him for a little ways and finally he realized he was being watched. He decided it was time to lay low and hide from us. It was so fascinating to watch him eat. In some of the pictures you can see his arms stretched out pulling the branches down so he could strip the berries off of them. We hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we enjoyed observing him. If you want to see more pictures of this bear, just click this link: online photo album.

Our first view of this guy walking across the field
Mike said he is about 280 to 300 lbs and over six feet tall


He's stripping the berries off the branch


The only shot of his teeth (at this point we're 300 feet away)


Isn't he cute??


He's checking us out (those shrubs are over three feet tall)


He's more concerned about eating than us


Here he is again checking us out.

From there we drove up to Mike & Janna’s cabin only to find that they were not there. We found Mike supervising Janna on how to fix their fence up in the pasture. Of course, Gina got on to him for trying to do things with his hands. Mike is definitely feeling better but his hands are no way near healed yet. With each day they seem to be getting better, which is a good thing.

Gina took this as we were following Mike & Janna, even Emmi is smiling


What you think about this red sunflower?


Gina couldn't resist this flower either

Around lunchtime I drove the four-wheeler back up to our home to grab an egg for Janna. As I was going down their driveway the bear from this morning was still out there eating away. I hurried back up to Mike and Janna’s and told them. We all got in the truck and rode down the driveway to see if he was still there. Sure enough he was still there eating away. Mike said it is really rare to see bears out in the middle of the day eating. Well, Gina and I are just glad he decided not to be normal today. We all watched him for a little while and then drove back up to their cabin and enjoyed a leftover lunch. Gina and I decided to ride the four-wheeler back to our home for a little while and would you believe that bear was still out there eating. He didn’t even pay any attention to us. We watched him some more until he moved behind some trees out of our view. We finally made it home and we couldn't stop talking about this bear. As John from John & Brenda adventures said, “most pictures of bears are taken of their butt because they are trying to get away from people”. This was definitely not the case today.

We just couldn't get enough of this fellow


He was just beautiful


Couldn't leave out this Mule Deer relaxing

After our excitement and we saw that Mike & Janna’s guest had left we drove back up to their cabin. Mike and I walked out to their motorhome and with Mike’s help I removed the icemaker. Janna didn’t want it because she said it just took up too much space. Well it’s not there anymore Janna. We relaxed for a little while just talking and enjoying the beautiful day. Finally, around six o’clock Gina and I boiled shrimp, potatoes and corn on the cob, Louisiana style. Janna made homemade bread and cocktail sauce to go with it. We couldn’t have thought of a better way to end a great day than with a good ole Louisiana shrimp boil. Can you say yummy? It was so good that Gina had baked a pie earlier and we couldn’t even eat any of it because we were fuller than a dog tick. (If you know what I mean) After we made it back home we sat back, relaxed and watched the movie “Notebook”.

What an amazing sight we were able to see today. It sure was the highlight of our day and one we’ll cherish for a long time. Thank you Mike & Janna for such an amazing day and allowing us to stay here on your land. We will forever be grateful.


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.

Taking a Drive Up the Beartooth Highway

Here it is Monday morning already. Time seems to be flying by. On Thursday last week Lonn, Mike’s son took us out to hear Elks bugling. I didn’t show you the pictures so here they are.

Silhouette of a nice size bull Elk


A bull Elk with a few cows


A small herd of Elk that we heard bugling


I just liked this picture


This pond and two cabins made for a nice picture


This was the view from the cabins


Gina snapped this sunset as we were heading back down

Friday and Saturday I helped Mike and Gina was learning about quilting from Janna. Both days were quiet and relaxing for us. This past week has been emotional for us and we needed this quiet time. Thank you Mike and Janna.

Sunday morning we rode up to Mike & Janna’s cabin. Janna asked us if we wanted to take a drive today up the Beartooth Highway. We both said we’d love to. So we went back home and they picked us up a few minutes later and off we went. Our first stop was at the Grizzly Bar & Cafe located in Roscoe, Montana. It’s been around for a long time and is favorite stopping point for people driving the Beartooth highway. We had lunch and then we continued on up the Beartooth highway. We were on our way to climbing almost 5,400 feet to reach Beartooth pass which is at 10, 947 feet. The day was beautiful and the views were just magnificent. For an unplanned day, we enjoyed a great lunch with very dear friends and could not have planned a more perfect day. Thank you Mike and Janna for driving us through one of the prettiest drives in America. Here are a few pictures we took along the Beartooth Highway.

Mike, Janna, & myself outside of the Grizzly Bar & Cafe


A beautiful valley, You're looking down about 4500 feet
(notice the gold color, fall has arrived)


One of many lakes nestled in along the highway


That point is know as Beartooth Peak


That is snow and another little lake


The scenery was beautiful


Another smaller valley, none the less still beautiful

Gina and I have been blessed with such good friends while traveling and thank Our Heavenly Father for each of them everyday. We are extremely blessed. Our time here in Montana is coming to an end. The one item that has been and I guess will always be hard for us is telling our friends “we’ll see y’all down the road”. We don’t really every say goodbye since it will always be our intent to see them again. We’ll start making our preparations to drive east to the Black Hills of South Dakota to see Mom & Pop’s. We have missed them, as we know they have missed us too.


Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.