Karen's Birthday - March 2019

No, we're not taking a flight home from here.  We decided to get through SLC so we didn't have to worry about traffic in the morning.  We'll just have an easy drive from the west side of SLC over to Nevada and then home. Left Murdo this morning on a clear, frosty day with the crescent moon rising over the prairie.  We could have continued driving south on 83 to I-80, but instead opted to drive over to Rapid City and then take diagonal route from there over to I-25 to Caspar and then southwest to Rawlins, WY. Pretty drive and not much traffic with less interstate driving.  Drove through the south portion of the Black Hills.  My understanding is that they were called the Black Hills because of the trees which make the hills appear black and it was quite a contrast to the prairie which the original travelers had been travelling through.  All rolling prairie and beautiful countryside.  You can almost see forever!  Between Caspar and Rawlins, we pa...

You can talk about a huge cosmopolitan city, but then you ain't talking about Murdo, SD.  Left Fargo this afternoon after having lunch with Ken, Melanie, and Michelle (Karen showed up at the Cajun Cafe during our meal).  Saturday night we all went over to Karen's for "shoopnoodles" (you can look up the correct spelling).  Fun evening.  Melissa, Melanie, and Vi were at three separate frying pans making them.  One was plain, one was with sauerkraut, and the other was with cream.  Great meal and one which we really enjoy every time we come back to North Dakota.  Another fun evening with good food, conversation and wine.  After dinner, it was fun listening to the "girls" taking about events which had transpired during their growing up years.  I'm sure Karen was surprised at some of the events which she didn't know about :-).  The Virginia/Purdue game was on in the background - another close one which Virginia eventually won.  NOTE:...

Our first full day in Christine came out beautiful and sunny with blue skies; however, a little chilly!  We spent the day relaxing and enjoying Ken and Melanie's company.  As strange as it may seem, it was just fun watching the birds feeding outside their sun room.  They say they spend more time in their sun room than they do in the rest of the house.  It's a great addition and very sunny.  Not only were there sparrows, blue jays, and red-headed woodpeckers at the feeders, but also ring necked pheasants out in the corn fields.  Ken said they had some wild turkeys around, but we didn't see any.  Took one picture of their home (affectionately referred to as Knudsen's River Ranch).  It's from the back since I couldn't tramp through the snow in front. In the evening, we went downtown to a local pub where the "girls" had reserved a room for Karen's 75th birthday party.  Everyone (24 - including children, grandchildren, and us) were in the ...

After leaving Billings, it wasn't difficult following directions to Fargo.  Leave Billings on I-90, merge unto I-94, go to Fargo.  Pretty much a straight line!  We continued to follow the Yellowstone River valley through cattle country in Montana - rugged countryside difficult to farm except for hay to feed the cattle. Judging from the young calves we saw, it was a very good calving season. Stopped in the big city (?) of Forsyth, MT for breakfast which pretty much consisted of shopping at the local IGA (Wegman's it wasn't) for bananas and yogurt.  When we hit Glendive, MT, we left the Yellowstone (which continued north to meet up with the Missouri River).  From there it was a relatively short drive to the North Dakota border.  I-94 and the railroad pretty much run side by side all the way thru North Dakota..  Along the way, you could see all the small towns (some of which no longer exist) marked by grain elevators.  I think I read somewhere that...

Here we are in beautiful downtown Billings - really downtown - at the Best Western Clock Tower.  Had dinner this evening at the Montana Brewing Company only about two blocks from the hotel.  Great being downtown and seeing all the things going on.  When we left the Rainbow in West Wendover this morning, a group was outside waiting for a bus.  They were the people from Fargo who were heading to the airport to catch their plane.  Talked to several of the guys and told them that we were driving to Fargo.  They said good luck and that they would be home by noon!  Should have asked if there was anyone from the Christine/Ft Abercrombie area, but didn't think of it in time. Drove across the Great Salt Lake on I-80 and took I-215 north to I-15 past Ogden (site of Hill AFB).  We were going to take I-15 all the way north to I-90, but decided to cut over on US 20 at Idaho Falls.  Our route took us up to Yellowstone National Park.  It's a beauti...

Great trip across the state of Nevada.  The roofers arrived this morning and were busy working on the roof when we left around noon.  Figured they didn't need us to make sure they did a good job, so we headed out on the road.  Made a detour to Fallon NAS to pick up a prescription and then took US 95 north to intersect I-80.  Not much decision-making when you travel on I-80 - it's the ideal road for automated driving capability.  Speed limit varies from 75 to 80 mph. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful drive through the valleys and over the mountains along the way.  I know I have written before about the route I-80 takes through Nevada.  Started as the Indian trail which followed the Humboldt River, then the wagon trains followed the same route, then came the railroads, and Rte 40 which was overcome by I-80.  It doesn't take a straight line across the state, but rather follows the path of least resistance as did the Humboldt River.  The Humboldt ...