Happy 4th of July!

I showed my independence today by staying off of the roads and doing laundry instead.  :)
Red Rock RV Park and Campground had their own holiday parade this afternoon.
If you like four wheelers, this is the place to be.  There are plenty of back roads and paths to investigate.
The left two pictures are Gordon and Karen, the park owners.  And last but not least, was Newt, the park webmaster, on his segway.

It’s been a pretty calm day, all in all.
About the only real excitement has been watching Emma stand guard duty.  She feels it’s her job to make sure no ground squirrels enter our campsite boundaries.  These little rodents keep the foxes and coyotes well fed in the neighborhood.  :)

Last night there was a fireworks display at the ranch with the rodeo about a mile from here.
I’m thinking that you can guess that I haven’t gotten to the section in the camera instruction booklet that talks about night pictures.   :)

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

A mixed bag of tricks

Holy cow, did we ever have batch of thunderstorms roll through overnight!  It didn’t make for a very good night’s sleep, but I did sleep in until 7:00 this morning.  I’ve also noticed that this rig doesn’t rock and roll as much as my old one.  That’s a good thing.  :)

I’d like to welcome Susan to the list of folks who read my blog.  Normally, I personally thank them on their respective blog sites, but Susan doesn’t appear to have one.  So, I hope you find my posts interesting.  :)

After the rain stopped, blue skies prevailed, so Emma and I spent the morning outside.  I decided to finally tackle a chore that I’ve been putting off for way too long.  In my old rig, I had one of those thirty gallon tote bins that I used as a sort of end table.  It was a catch all for all sorts of things.  I really don’t have a place for it in this rig, and it’s been sitting at the foot of my bed for the last five weeks, which really hinders my making the bed each morning.  It’s hard to get around.  So today I went through it’s contents and eliminated about twenty pounds of unneeded stuff.  I really whittled it down, and was able to store the remaining few items in it and put it in one of the basement compartments.  It’s amazing how good I felt about finally getting something done that I’ve been procrastinating about.  Sometimes, you just have to make yourself do something.  :)

The wifi connection in the park was out today which really interfered with my morning blog reading.  :)  I think it was because the park office was getting a new roof, but who knows.  I was able to catch up online this afternoon.  Along about 4:00, I decided that Emma and I should take a late afternoon ride in Yellowstone, thinking that maybe there wouldn’t be so many people so late in the day.  Ha!  That sure wasn’t the case. 
I was hoping to see a variety of wildlife in the late afternoon.  Thwarted again!  There wasn’t much around, and most of it was quite a distance away.  These cow elk were on the other side of the Madison River…
as well as this family of Canada geese.
This was the best I could do for today.  I sure would like to photograph a bear, or a wolf, or a moose, but I’m thinking I won’t get much of a chance to do that now that the very busy season at the park has arrived.  :(  And you won’t find me getting out of the car to climb up a hill to see a bear.  I’m just a bit smarter than that.  :)

The 4th of July is almost upon us, and I think I’ll sit tight in the campground for weekend.  The roads may not be very safe.  While I was in Yellowstone this evening, there were two emergencies.  One was a single car accident.  What a mess that car was!  I think the other one was even more serious.  There were all sorts of emergency vehicles along the side of the road, and a stretcher waiting for someone to be brought out of the woods.  Ugh!  I hope someone didn’t have a horrible encounter with a grizzly.

I think I’ll be okay to take a side trip away from Yellowstone tomorrow, but after that I’ll be a homebody for a few days.  I’m told I will be able to see the fireworks at the rodeo on Saturday night right from my rig.  I love fireworks, so I’m looking forward to that!

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

Happy 4th of July!

What a very busy couple of days it has been! On Thursday, I started out by dropping Emma off at the kennel and then met my son, Andy, and his family for lunch. Later, we went to his house in Kasson, where the wedding will take place. I spent the afternoon visiting and getting in some great time with my two grandsons, Joseph and Seth. At two and three years old, they are talkative bundles of energy!

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The plan for the evening, was for a rehearsal out on the lawn and then we thought we were all going over to the home of the bride's parents for a dinner. The rehearsal was to begin at 5:00, but the only people to arrive at that time were the groom and groomsmen. As 6:00 neared, I began to wonder where the bride was. Then, her entire family arrived carrying food containers and told Kelly, Andy's wife, to put the lasagna in the oven and cook it! Eventually, Crystal arrived, but not before Kelly and I scrambled around her kitchen rearranging things to accommodate all the cooking she found herself doing. After taking a head count, I cornered Dan and told him to send the groomsmen to the local grocery store to get some plastic eating utensils, cups, and beverages for the twenty some people that had arrived. I knew Andy and Kelly didn't have enough plates, silverware, etc., to accommodate this crowd.

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By 7:30, the rehearsal had still not begun, and the food wasn't yet ready. I decided to head back to my rig at Rice Lake, because I really prefer not to drive after dark. I tip my hat to Kelly for gracefully handling this sudden turn in events.

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The festivities on Friday began with a photo session (that lasted several hours) at the Mantorville Park. Hundreds of photos were taken by a professional photographer, but I'll only include two, that were taken by not so professional, me.

The happy bride and groom...Crystal and Daniel, and their dog, Buddy. Later, at the ceremony, I would accompany Buddy down the aisle as he was the ring bearer!

I seldom have all three of my "kids" together at the same time, so I had to take this photo. That's my youngest, Andy, on the left; Daniel in the middle; and Robyn on the right. As you can see, grandchild #4 will be here before too long.

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After some brief showers just before the time for the wedding, the ceremony went off without a hitch. I'm thrilled to report that now, all three of my children are happily married. The reception was held at a hall a few blocks away, next to the motel where many of the guests stayed the night. I enjoyed the evening visiting with many old :) friends and my older :) sister and brother-in-law. For our dance together, Dan and I did the Beer Barrel Polka! That got the crowd clapping and having a good time. I received quite a few comments about that choice.

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Once again, I headed back to Rice Lake just before darkness enveloped. I must also say, that the food served at the reception was the best chicken dinner I've ever had at a wedding.

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As much as Emma can be a pain in the neck, I must say that it has been rather odd not having her here the last two days. I've enjoyed sleeping in until 7:00 both mornings, but I do miss her company. I was supposed to pick her up today at noon at the kennel, but the kennel owner called to say that she had to make a fast trip to Iowa today because of a serious illness in her family. She is hoping to return by 8:00 this evening and will give me a call when she gets back. I hope it is before dark...

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This afternoon, my friend, Lois and her new husband are coming out to the park for a cook-out. Lois was, and still is, the school social worker for the alternative school programs I ran in Rochester. Lois is such a positive person, that I know we will really enjoy getting together today.

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Don't forget to fly your flag proudly today.........and be safe.

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Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy