Thursday, June 12, 2014

Spring has Sprung in North Dakota


What a difference a month makes in North Dakota's landscape. In each of the 3 double photos below, the upper photo was taken on our first trip to Audubon Lake on 6th May, and the lower photo was taken just over a month later on 9th June - except for the final photo where the lower photo of that duo was taken today, 12 June. At the moment everywhere is beautiful and green, and the trees are all 'leafed out'. Unlike the snow-burnt grass of May, it is now rich and green, everywhere you look.
View en route to Audubon - north of Bismark

View approaching Audubon from the south
In the top photo of this last lot, I have put a red oval shape around the campsite that we are now in (location of lower photo).The bare tree (stick) you can see to the left of the red oval is the tree to the left of the lower photo.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Post Holy Land

While Murray was away in the Holy Land some girlfriends regularly dropped in to visit and see that I was okay. In the previous blog I covered Jan's visit. Amanda picked me up and we had a nice dinner in town. Avalyn called in several times and we had coffee and some nice meals out. Memorial Day is commemorated by families placing flowers on deceased families graves and I accompanied Avalyn out to her home town of Baldwin where her parents and siblings are buried. After that we called in and visited her sister in law Gail. On another occasion Irene and Avalyn both came and had dinner in my RV. Irene picked up a hot chicken and some salad, as well as a naughty (but most enjoyable) dairy queen dessert each. A nice girls' catch up.
Avalyn at Baldwin Cemetery
Avalyn and Irene
Selection of photos of Murray's visit to the Holy Land
 Murray thoroughly enjoyed his 3 weeks in the Holy Land and was so impressed with what he saw over there. Mass will never be the same for him now, as he visited many of the places that are mentioned in the gospel. He got back to the campground just before midnight on a Saturday night, and by 6 pm Sunday night, we were celebrating his return with Wes, Avalyn and Irene. Margaritas are great over here - you almost need 2 hands to lift them! 


I really enjoy sweet potato fries or gems, but at this restaurant they offer a loaded sweet potato which has caramel and marshmallow on top. It sounded disgusting, but the locals and the staff say they are delicious, so I gave it a try. Sure made the sweet potato a LOT sweeter but not worth the extra calories.
As we left the restaurant I noticed Wes's boots for the first time. They are made of genuine snakeskin (python), and apparently are very soft and comfortable as well as durable. I asked him to pull his jeans up so I could get a photo. Very spiffy. I think Murray would get a few strange looks if he bought a pair and wore them back at home. Then again, he already gets strange looks…ha ha. You can't see it in the full photo of Wes below, but he also always wears a great cowboy belt, and usually has a white cowboy hat on his head. He is a true North Dakota local!

Wes with his python snakeskin boots
We are now back up at Audubon Lake for a few days before heading to South Dakota and onto Cheyenne to meet up with Bev and Ross: Aussie's who own a house in San Antonio. Clint from the ranch rang and asked if we would be around to help with the branding again this year, but unfortunately we won't be able to make it. Hopefully we'll get to see them at the Minot fair when we return in mid July.