f l a m i n g e a u x: 2025

finally plans are set!

I know I said may-be back in May ... well, all things happen in good time. Joyce's daycare situation changes in August, so I'm going to go be a grand-baby-sitter for part of my sabbatical from work! that's right, two super things in one month! my sabbatical starts mid-month, so I can rest and gather strength LOL, then the last week of the month we fly northeast to see our kid, kid-in-law, and GRAND kid :-D I haven't been able to stop smiling.

they took him on his first rally, and Nan'Ana decided he needed a helmet ... so she made him one!

I noticed a singing opportunity publicized on FB, a chance to sing barbershop with an all-female choir! the ladies were all so welcoming from the beginning. they tested me and decided I'd make a great bass ... our Bass Section color is purple! meant to be!!

The garden is being blitzed by heat but a few of the plants seem to love it.

the second weekend of the month was another Support Group lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, where I enjoyed the company as well as the Mole Chicken Enchilada.

after a couple of rehearsals with the barbershop ladies I realized that the volume of fragrances in our group was going to be a problem. they were "of a certain age" and there would be no getting them to stop using them, even though that was a group rule. sigh!

I resumed getting my hair styling at the local styling school, now that my chemo curls had calmed. my newest stylist is named Anabel and we hit it off like gangbusters!

went to see a couple shows the third weekend of the month. first I went to see my P&P director in Tarzan Jr. the next afternoon I went to see the hilarious Young Frankenstein. both of these productions were at local theaters within a few miles of home. not sure why, but that evening I broke out in hives, and had to convince my GP to prescribe over the phone a prednisone prescription ... she did. that's the benefit of having the same medical corporation for decades.

before our trip, we had dinner with Stephany & Jim at a local seafood restaurant, and caught up on all our health issues. of course I shared my Grandma's Brag Book with them so they could see the cuteness of Finn.

Sabbatical Trip

Craig used the last of his miles to book us in first class. we flew out early enough that we would land in SoDak just before dinner. it was a gorgeous day as we flew over the American River and surrounding crops. we had a delicious breakfast and splurged on Baileys & Coffee.

we had a little over an hour layover in Denver, then landed in RapCity and picked up the rental car. Craig liked the sound of the restaurant I went to before, so we visited the DD&D ramen spot and got the appetizer of sweet chili peanut cucumbers and scallions; Craig had the bison ramen bowl and I had the Oku Bun. just as delicious as last time.

we drove to the town of Keystone and checked in at the charming antique hotel Roosevelt Inn. Mount Rushmore is only two miles away, so a perfect location!

Day 1

our hotel is named after the first Roosevelt. they had a cardboard cutout for selfie poses. besides the quote on the elevator doors, there were many more of his quotes scattered around the halls. across from the front porch is an adventure park where you can ride a zip line.

we spent the day with Joyce, first having brunch with her, Finn and her in-laws Ryan and Londa. Finn fell asleep in my arms within the first hour of meeting him <3 then we went back to the house so Joyce could work and I got to babysit! we took a bunch of pictures so Stephany had a "namesake" photo. in reading up on activities, we saw that there was an illumination ceremony at Mount Rushmore, so we went to dinner at the park, then stayed for the evening event.

Craig and I each took a pick of this roadside side-view of George.

you could see the fools gold sparkling from the roadway!

first there was a presentation by a Ranger; then they showed a movie which ended with ...

... Illumination!

at the end of the evening they invited all serving, having served, and families of lost military service people to come on stage for the receiving of the flag. there were over 30 people on stage that evening. it was incredibly moving!

day 2

Joyce said she didn't need us Tuesday, so we spent the day sight-seeing.

I loved that they had this movie reference outside the park. I've seen both of these movies many times!

Craig had never been here, so he was seeing this for the first time! he brought his DSLR and long lens to take some really close-up pictures.

yup ... this close up!

neither of us had the legs - or knees - to take the longer trail back to the beginning.

I had never seen an actor on my previous trip here, so it was cool to hear him talking about Lincoln's qualifications for being on the mountain face.

then we were off to the Crazy Horse Memorial

they had recently installed a giant crane for moving heavy loads, including a new robotic drilling machine, which is making the carving go so much faster!

the last three fingers have been finished on this hand since my last trip here!

the obligatory selfie taken by our fabulous bus driver

this is one of the original sculptor's grandsons zooming by our bus in his atv. I think the bus driver said his name is Alex.

the famous work horse original drilling machine

we both took a pic of the fighting stallions

we had lunch at the Purple Pie Place where Craig tried their delicious chicken pot pie, and I tried their pulled port sandwich. then we were off to the Wild Life Loop. the ranger at the gate told us where the buffalo were supposed to be, between certain mile markers that day.

this trip I stopped at the local market and got TWO bags of apples to share with these greedy highway-beasts! I threw mine out my window to get them to move away from the car, but on Craig's side, they were practically sticking their heads inside the car!

this was the lone bison we saw on the whole loop.

on our way once out of the Loop and near a hunting and fishing lodge we saw this herd

sorry, no more apples!

then we went over to Hill City to the Railroad Museum there

they invite children from local schools to use the obsolete ledger paper to create artwork, and give them prizes!

we spent several minutes watching the miniature train villages

it was a really long day where we saw SO much. we went back to Keystone and had pizza and beer at the Ranger Danger pizza joint. then we rested up for our next day with Finn!

Day 3

we left early enough in the morning that a low-hanging cloud was covering Crazy Horse. I stopped in Custer to Joyce's favorite blueberry muffins to take to the kids. we had lunch at the restaurant in town, and got Joyce her favorite meal to go.

but before we got there, we had to wait for this herd to meander across our path!

a little further along, these guys were off road and on Craig's side of the car

we spent the day babysitting again, and when Tim came home, he made us his famous Missouri Elk Stew, with elk he had shot and butchered himself! it was delicious, and I asked him for his recipe. now if I can just get bison or elk at home .... we drove home late in the evening, and even though it was nearly dark, the road crew still had the one way traffic control going on.

Day 4

Joyce's manager threw a couple meetings on her calendar for Thursday, so I happily volunteered to babysit again. Craig stayed at the hotel to rest up, catch up on his work, and check out the local activities around our hotel. I stopped to get the "welcome to" signs along the way.

in the afternoon, Joyce and Tim were taking the little guy to his "interview" for day care, so I fed and napped him, then I got to dress him up in his jeans, shirt and suspenders, socks and shoes, so he looked ready for his first meeting!

I went back to the hotel, took a quick shower, grabbed my rain poncho and umbrella, and we both headed back to Rushmore to have a leisurely dinner enjoying their bison burgers and local brews. we staked out our spot in the amphitheater for the Illumination ceremony again. we were rained on for about 5 minutes, but I was prepared, and we both were nicely covered under my poncho, including Craig's camera.

K9 sweep of the area ... yup, we're good.

a panorama of our surroundings

the Ranger speaks

I had to change these effects to black and white!

Day 5

we had another day for sightseeing, and knew we wanted to go to Sturgis and Deadwood. we strolled thru the motorcycle museum. several of the bikes are new since my last trip. I can only imagine what their inventory warehouse must look like if they rotate through different displays all the time!

Craig's biker friends always told him about this place, though he never went to Sturgis with them. finally he could at least see the exterior. the week we were in town they were having a Mustangs rally, so every fourth car on the road seemed to be Ford's fabulous pony cars!

then we were off to downtown Deadwood

we had been told we needed to find the bar where Wild Bill Hickok was shot, as the chair he was sitting in was there as a memorial. our first thought was Wild Bill's Bar, but we were wrong. but that bartender was so delightful and informative after he told us where we really needed to see the chair, that probably wasn't even the real chair .... well that's a long story ... we decided we had to come back and have his famous bloody mary after we had lunch. then we went in search of the bar and chair.

this is the bar

and "the chair"

Mustang Sally's where we had lunch

I had to get pictures of the local modes of transportation!

as we were driving out of town, back to the hotel for a quick shower - the humidity was fierce - we saw this band of mountain sheep just grazing by the roadway!

we drove from Keystone back into Custer, through what I had to call a monsoon! that's why it was so humid. the rain was coming down so hard I could barely see the roadway to drive. but we were going to the Buglin' Bison to see the kids and Finn one last time before we fly home. Craig's beer glass says "elkaholic" on it ... too funny! I got to hold Finn for quite some time before we all had to head back to our homes. I'm going to miss that little guy!!

heading home

one last picture in the breakfast area - we had great breakfasts every day at our hotel! then a photo at the RapCity airport, the Denver airport, and finally, the seat video and back on the ground. I wish I could get used to only flying first class!