Crop Dusters

Does anybody know what's actually in crop dust? We'd really like to know since we're currently living in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa where crop dusters abound!

When left Wyoming early on a Sunday morning and headed for higher elevations, arriving in Denver, Colorado that afternoon. We landed at a place called Cherry Creek State Park. This park has everything! Scores of hiking and biking trails, a model airplane field, horseback riding, an outdoor gun range, swimming at the beach, boating and fishing. The fish in the lake include walleye, bass, crappie, pike, carp, catfish, and the ever elusive, trout!!! I really wanted to get a fishing license for that place, because unlike a guy I know who wants to return the fly fishing gear to his brother, I'm not ready to give up on catching that trout quite yet. Besides that, the park's brochure says that state record walleye have been caught in that reservoir. Wouldn't have minded catching one or two of those either, but we ended up finding other things to do instead. .

Colorado has a number of scenic byways to explore. I'd like the opportunity to experience all of them, but the time we spent there just wasn't enough We did visit Mt Evans however, which was a little less than an hours drive from our campground. If you ever plan to go there, arrive early enough in the day so you don't have to drive the mountain roads home in the dark! The roads are very narrow, curvy, and there are no guardrails guarding against the sheer drop-offs. And for some reason, the people on the side of the road with the drop-offs, like to travel in the other lane! It can be a little scary at times, but the trip is well worth it, with plenty of gorgeous mountain views, mountain lakes and streams, plant-life and wildlife. There was a restaurant at the top of this mountain at one time, but they had a propane explosion and never rebuilt. They did leave the ruins there however, which at times are dotted with scraggly looking mountain goats.

In Colorado Springs, we had a great time visiting with family we hadn't seen in years. It was great to see them and their families and catch up on everything that's been going on with them. Soon after that Andy passed away, so that put a bit of a damper on the rest of the stay, but we did see some other beautiful sights and celebrated our anniversary in Golden Colorado at a restaurant called GRAPPA, which is what our granddaughters call Trevor, so of course we had to eat there.

Our son Michael is graduating from Purdue University with a PhD in physics, which is why we're currently living in the aforementioned cornfield in Amana, Iowa. We're heading toward Indiana for the graduation ceremony and Iowa was about half way there. We have family here also, so it worked out nice for a wonderful visit with them too. The campground we're in is nice. It's clean, with spacious sites, and it's flat. Did I mention it was flat? I have to tell you, it's been a nice break staying here in Iowa. As you can imagine, there's not a lot to do in the cornfield, outside of trying to decide if it's a cow you're hearing or a donkey. It's afforded me the time to catch up on some things I've needed to catch up on. I'm really looking forward to seeing my son and watching him get the diploma he's worked so hard for over the last 10 years. Then it's off to....(I'll let you know)

One last thing, this is for our friend, Kevin Mossman. Kevin, forget about the RV bus of your dreams. We found it for you! We just need to know how much you want us to bid on this puppy when it goes up for auction!

We miss you all! Take care.
Love,
Trevor and Roni

Broken Hearts

With broken hearts, we need to tell you that our wonderful, loving, loyal, dog Andy, passed away on Saturday morning. He had suddenly become very ill on the Wednesday before we left Sturgis. We had to leave him in the animal hospital overnight and I was sure I'd never see Andy alive again. I asked the Lord to allow Andy to live so that he wouldn't die alone in a cage. He was given IV fluids and antibiotics and we were allowed to pick him up the next day.

When we brought Andy into the hospital, he had no interest in the cat on the counter. We knew then, that Andy was in big trouble. When we picked him up the next day, he greeted us with enthusiasm, said hello to the cat, and seemed to be well on his way to recovery. We were told that Andy had a bacterial infection, his white blood cells being 3 times higher than the high normal. He was sent home with antibiotics that he was given daily. He seemed to get healthier and stronger everyday. On Friday, he seemed sluggish and didn't have an appetite. This wasn't unusual for Andy. He was 10 years old and was accustomed to sleeping all day and we thought maybe we pushed him too hard by taking him up in the mountains after being so ill. So we just let him rest on Friday.
Andy was in rough shape on Saturday morning. As we prepared to bring him to the vet, both of us were praying that the Lord would allow Andy die at home if he were going to die anyway. As I was busy getting ready to leave, I resorted to begging the Lord to take Andy before we had a chance to go anywhere. I didn't want him to die on the floor of the vet's office, on a cold table, or alone in a cage, and I told the Lord I didn't want to have to make the decision of whether to put him down, and asked the Lord to PLEASE, keep that decision out of our hands.

Andy passed away quietly and peacefully on his bed at home as Trevor was preparing the car for him. The Lord answered our prayers just minutes before we were about to leave. I will be eternally grateful to the Lord for His great kindness and mercy toward us and our dog. Though we grieve for the loss of our dear friend and companion, we are in awe at how good and merciful the Lord is to us. Our thankfulness and praise to Him seems so insignificant compared to His great goodness.

It was great having Andy share this experience of the great adventure with us. He got to visit family members he loves, swim in lakes, check out prairie dogs, donkeys, and buffalo, take in the breathtaking views from the mountains, drink from mountain streams and lakes, and visit with the mountain goats.
We've taken a couple of day trips without him now, and have really felt the pain of being without him. Our beloved dog will surely be missed. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Love, Trevor and Roni

Cheyenne Wyoming

We spent last weekend in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at a campground called AB Camping and RV Park. It's a nice little place, clean and well taken care of, and they offer a great little barbecue nightly. We were pretty spoiled by the last campground we were in, so this one felt a little crowded (let's just say they know how to make the most profitable use of their space). But it was fine. We spent very little time there, because we arrived late Friday night and since we had to check out early Sunday morning, Saturday was the only day we really had for exploring. But the sights in Wyoming! Wow!

We stopped in the downtown area first where there were many shops where you can buy all the cowboy gear you want, by the sounds of it. We weren't in the market for cowboy gear, so we skipped the shops and headed further toward the center of downtown where the Wyoming State Capital Building is located. The architecture of the building is renaissance revival. Not that I know anything about architecture, I just really liked the building, so I looked it up.

Our next stop was the Vedauwoo Recreation Area which is part of the Medicine Bow National Forrest. The rock formations in this area are amazing! There's camping available here that is pretty primitive, but it'd be fun to camp there and make use of the many trails they have all through the area. I know there was much more to see there, but we were in a hurry to get to Medicine Bow Peak.

As we drove up to Medicine Bow Pass we were treated to the breathtaking beauty of snow-capped peaks, mountain lakes and streams, spring flowers in bloom, and the chill of fresh mountain air. It was jacket weather up there, where the weather turned from sunny, to cloudy, to storming with a mix of rain and ice, then back to sunny again, several times while we were up there. We were really hoping to see some wildlife in the meadows up there, but surprisingly, we didn't see any, unless you count the mosquitoes. Ouch! They bite hard! It felt like being bit by the gnats up in the boundary waters, in Minnesota. If you've ever been bitten by those things, you'll know what I'm talking about. Those things make you bleed.

If we could, we would spend weeks up in this mountain area. The lakes are so beautiful, amongst the backdrop of snowy mountains, and they were so clear, so cold, and so full of trout! People were catching them there, but not us, only of course, because we didn't want to pay for a fishing license for just one day.

Trevor got me with a snowball, but I missed him, and got Andy, who seemed to be a little offended. It's been awhile since Andy's walked on snow. He seemed to not know what to make of it a first.

We reluctantly left the mountain that day, but as we did, a beautiful rainbow ushered us out. The rainbow is symbol of a particular promise God made to us. It made me think of one of His other promises in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” He has surely given me the desires of my heart, more than I could have ever imagined.

I hope these pictures give you just a little taste of God's magnificent creation.

Love, Trevor and Roni

Moving Day

Today is moving day and we both have such mixed emotions about moving on. We're excited to continue on our new adventure, but we were taken by surprise when we found that after only four short weeks, we'd become so fond of the people here at Rush-No-More RV Park and Campground in Sturgis, South Dakota.

The campground itself is great and we highly recommend it if you're ever in the area. You can camp out in an RV, a tent, or rent one of their many cabins. The landscape surrounding the campground is beautiful and you're treated to daily wildlife visits of turkey, deer, and occasionally other forms of wildlife, but I never once saw the dreaded rattlesnake mentioned in a previous post here and am so glad about that!!!

The campground has many nice amenities that you can read about online at www.rushnomore.com, but let me tell you about the people who work here. Have you ever heard of work campers? Work campers live rent free at the RV park and in exchange they work (at least here) 3 six hour days a week, answering phones, running the camp store, mowing lawns, weed whacking, cleaning restrooms and laundry rooms, working very hard to make the campground a clean and comfortable place to stay.

Most of them, like us, have decided to sell everything and travel the country in an RV, so we immediately have that one thing in common. But everyone is from such a different background and it has been so much fun getting to know these work camping couples. They are all friendly, lovable people, each with their own, great sense of humor. It's so much fun to hang out with them. All of them are way more experienced with this RV thing than we are, and were willing share valuable technical information on Rving with us, along with the great and not so great places they've stayed across the country. It's difficult to leave these wonderful people and we will surely miss them when we leave.


We had such a great time exploring this area filled with pine covered canyons, trout-filled creeks (not that we ever did catch that trout!), rolling hills filled with roaming cattle, beautiful golf courses, hiking and biking paths, history museums, and many area attractions including Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park, The Badlands National Park, and Devils Tower, just to name a few. If you ever come out here, bring a motorcycle if you can, to tour Spearfish and Vanocker Canyons with. You will not be disappointed!

Well, time to start locking down the rig and getting ready for take-off . I'll let you know where we end up next. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these pictures of what seems like a too short visit here.

Love,
Roni and Trevor