Friendship!

As I thought about our past year I went into iPhoto and selected photos that would briefly, I thought, recap our year, but when I finished they numbered 35 choices! No one would read my blog with that many pictures, so how could I reduce it down to a manageable number?  As much as we love all the sights we get to see in our workamping travels, what sticks in our minds the most is the people we've met and the friends we've made in each place. I believe this posting may be mostly just for me and for Keith, a tribute to the friends God has given, though I hope my readers will enjoy it, too.The past year has had some new challenges for us, as Mr. Keith was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer in the blood and bone marrow. We've dealt with that and the corresponding treatments for over a year now. In the photo above he was just recovering from 2 procedures to mend compression fractures in his back. A fellow Strasburg KOA co-worker had invited us to join her family for Christmas, 2011. We'll never forget the kindness we were shown.

 Here are Jeff and Tracy, and one of their daughters, owners of the Denver East/Strasburg KOA where we were employed for the winter and spring. We will be forever grateful for their kindness and understanding as they worked around our crazy schedule of doctor and hospital visits. We didn't know Keith's trouble was cancer at that time, but later, as Jeff had been through a siege of cancer himself, they were great shoulders to cry on and had lots of really helpful advice. We will hold them and our time there in our hearts forever!

 This is a good photo of another Tracie and her husband Geoff — the ones who invited us for Christmas, and who, before we left Strasburg, took us to a fabulous Mexican restaurant, the Casa Bonita, in Denver. They are  wonderful folks, she a school bus driver and he an electrician. This photo was taken the day we pulled out of Strasburg, headed for Cheyenne.

 As soon as we arrived in Cheyenne Wyoming to work at the KOA there, Keith got his official diagnosis and began receiving chemotherapy. As we'd expected he started to lose his hair in big gobs so he got a buzz cut. Still looks pretty good! We were fortunate to find excellent doctors in this cowboy town, a place we enjoyed immensely for its beauty and its western flavor. In between treatments we were able to see much of the area. We could live there!

 I was disappointed to miss my 50 year high school reunion in Mossyrock Washington. Much to my delight, my childhood friend, classmate and neighbor, and her husband, came to Laramie to visit their son, and asked us to meet them there. That was truly a highlight of our summer. Thanks, Mari and George! Long-time friends are the best!

 When we worked in Rapid City South Dakota at Bear Country USA the summers of 2005, 2006 and 2008 we made many friends. This is Liz, who worked in the drive-through wildlife park snack bar and with whom we had a special relationship. When she heard about Keith's illness she drove down to Cheyenne from Rapid City, a 5 hour trip, and spent the day with us. Many hugs ensued! Some wonderful friends we may never see again because of distance, but they will always be there in our most happy memories.

 You never know, when you meet people, who you will "click" with. Here is Dale, a 5th wheel drivin', motorcycle ridin' railroad inspector who stayed the summer at the Cheyenne KOA. Dale would come into the office and chat with us often. We liked him so much! He was especially good to us, too, because he did some serious repairs on our 5th wheel, expertly, and at no charge. Here we are at the Coldstone Creamery pigging out!

We had the pleasure of meeting and working with John and Sue for a short time at the Denver East KOA, and to our surprise and joy they ended up coming to the Cheyenne KOA to work, a little after we got there. They are wonderful folks, extremely conscientious and good at their work, and great fun to be with. We had several dinners out with them at various local restaurants! It was with sadness we watched them pull away, heading for Florida. We hope we will cross paths (roads) with them again.

 And here are the owners of the Cheyenne KOA, Dave, Mary Jo, and Jim, only missing Rhonda who was recuperating from surgery. Once again, we were treated so well and with compassion by them as we worked around Keith's chemo sessions. And here is a curious thing — Jim and Rhonda regularly donate blood plasma as a way to help those in medical need, and that's exactly where multiple myeloma begins, in the plasma. We thought that was a strange coincidence. God has been so good to us in every way, and especially by putting us in just the right jobs and with just the right people.

One final note:

 Forty years ago I met my best forever friends in Vancouver Washington. Other than my husband and my children, they are God's richest blessings to me and to us. Their faithfulness and loyalty to us, and care for us, is beyond compare. Since we've come to Lost Lake RV Resort near Olympia to work we've gotten to see them frequently as they live only an hour away. Can't get enough! We were thrilled to be included in their family Thanksgiving celebration with their children and grandchildren, whom we know as well. After all, they and we are family forever!

Cheyenne to Casper WY

 It's a mixed bag of sadness and excitement to be leaving the Cheyenne KOA. Sadness, because we enjoyed working here; excitement, because we love getting out on the road heading for a new place! We love the journey between jobs. It's our vacation!

 Our KOA employers, owners Dave and Mary Jo, and Jim, our manager. Rhonda, Jim's wife, is missing because she just had some surgery and was sleeping when we left. We will never forget these wonderful people!

 I know, I know! I shouldn't take pictures while I'm driving! Here we are headed up I-25 towards Casper. It's a short drive, 190 miles. Remember, it's our vacation!

  The Casper KOA is really in the town of Bar Nunn, on the outskirts of Casper. We happened to be here on the last day the park is open for this year. We had a nice, big spot with plenty of room for our rig, truck and car, plus a spot to put up our kitty tent. The cats were happy to get out of the car, and after their snack to be put outside in their tent to enjoy the new smells.

 We tried to visit the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center but found it closed on a Sunday. Since the building is up on a hill we got this pretty view of the city of Casper. It is green and full of trees, in contrast to the prairie around it. The mountains in the distance are the northernmost stretch of the Medicine Bows. The Platte River runs through the town. Casper is noted in Oregon Trail history as the place where the trails split into three, the Oregon Trail, The Mormon Trail and the California Trail. The names of the Trails are self-explanatory. The Oregon Trail ended in Fort Vancouver WA and Oregon City OR; the Mormon Trail ended in Utah, and the California Trail split into several different destinations in California.

 We next tried the Fort Casper Museum and were happy to find that it was open. The Fort is a reconstruction, but that happened in 1936, so the log buildings are looking quite old. The original Fort was built in 1859. The one fact that stands out in my mind is that the Fort was named in honor of Lt. Caspar Collins who was killed in an Indian battle. They wanted to name it Fort Collins, but there was already a Fort named for Caspar's father in Colorado! So they settled for the Lt.'s first name.

 This is a reconstruction of a small section of the toll bridge that crossed the Platte River at Casper. The trading post there served as a stage stop, a Pony Express relay station, and a telegraph office. After the Sand Creek masacre in 1864 the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe gathered at this bridge and fought the battle in which Lt. Caspar Collins was killed. The entire Fort was later dismantled and moved to Fort Fetterman near what later became Douglas WY. By the way, I found it interesting that even though Caspar Collin's name is spelled with an 'a' in the second syllable, the town founders changed the spelling to a 'e'.

In 1847 Brigham Young built and operated a ferry across the North Platte River near the site of present-day Fort Caspar Museum. It's difficult to believe that this little raft carried wagon after wagon across the river! However, it couldn't have been too risky. We have found that in all the places we've seen the Platte River it has been very placid, smooth, and not very deep. It's the principle river the Oregon Trail pioneers followed across the prairie. Well, tomorrow will bring us to Hardin MT where we'll once again tour the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where Custer lost his life. I'll be posting about that!

Bye-bye!

 One of the most wonderful things about workamping is that we get to meet and work with tremendous people. One of the saddest things about workamping is that we have to invariably say good-bye to them when the season is over. This was one of those sad days. We looked over and saw that John and Sue already had their 5th wheel slides in and were about to hook up the truck, so we high-tailed it over there to say one last good-bye.

 We had the privilege of working with John and Sue at two different KOAs, the Denver East/Strasburg KOA and the Cheyenne KOA. They are headed back to their home state, Florida, for a couple of weeks, and then they'll take up their fall job working for Amazon in Kentucky.

 To John and Sue:

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Bye-bye! We'll miss you!

Almost to Nebraska

 Mr. Keith had a hankerin' for a short drive today, so we packed up the camera, the iPad and various other necessities and headed east towards the Nebraska border. The sign said it was 35 miles to Pine Bluffs, almost on the border of Wyoming and Nebraska. I'm always intrigued by water towers so when we saw this one about 2 miles off the I-80 freeway we decided to see what was in the town of Burns. Wow! Did we get a surprise!

 This little prairie town boasts 301 people. The whole town was pristine, so neat and clean, no shabby buildings or junk lying around anywhere. We toured the whole town just to see if there was a breach in the perfection. There wasn't! It was unreal! This beautiful park is right between both sides of Main Street, which is only as long as what you see in the photo. There was no sign of litter or disrepair.

 This classic church, a Lutheran, was one of several churches in town. We wondered where the cars were, since it was close to 11:00 on a Sunday morning. Maybe they met earlier. None of the churches had cars in front. Hmm!

 Proceeding on our journey, always on a back road if possible, we saw this stucco house made to look like Indian teepees.

 Finally, we saw the town of Pine Bluffs coming up. It's easy to see where the name came from. A long line of pine tree covered bluffs rise up from the prairie right there. We found not much of interest in town except this old gas station that seemed to be a museum for old gas pumps. No room for Pete to give service there!

 The outside of this restaurant is nothing special to look at, but here's where we had lunch. It's along the freeway at an old truck stop with nothing much else there. What drew us was the sign, "Indian Restaurant, American Restaurant". We were hoping it meant native American type food, but it was India Indian food. We thought that was kind of odd, way out on the prairie. There were several Indians there having lunch. We had plain ol' American food, though the other looked really good.

Another water tower — this one at a truck stop just up the road east from the KOA. 

Sapp Bros. boasts one of the best steak restaurants in the area, T-Joe's. We've eaten there once and will again. We recommend it to any of our campers who ask where they can get a good meal. We had a great, 3 hour, 80 mile trip today. Looking forward to more!

Friends & Fun

 One of the happiest aspects of workamping is that we get to meet wonderful people! While we were working at the Denver East/Strasburg KOA we had the privilege of encouraging Tom and Leah to become workampers, and they began their journey at the Strasburg kampground. Two weeks into our new job at the Cheyenne KOA they came up for a 2 day visit. Our first stop in showing them around Cheyenne was the historic Depot, several times slated to be torn down and as many times rescued from destruction. It now houses a tourist center, a gift shop, a museum, and a restaurant. Cheyenne has these beautifully decorated cowboy boots all over town, several at the Depot. Here are Tom and Leah posing for us. This boot was displaying the names and dates of all the former governors of the state, artistically arranged.

 

 Once again we drove by the majestic Wyoming State Capitol without going inside. We'll do that eventually! I loved the view of the dome through the blooming tree. The Capitol is right downtown, easily seen from many viewpoints.

 "Oh! There's a billboard advertising a Sanford's Grub & Pub! I thought the only one was in Rapid City. Let's try it!" We did, and, sure enough, it was just like the one in Rapid City, which we frequented while working at Bear Country. This restaurant is jam packed with junk all over the walls. Junk of all kinds, old car parts, license plates, old pictures, tin cans, bicycles, you name it, it is on the walls. Our table was right beside this sign, "Garth Brooks Rd". The menu is huge and all the items have unusual names. I knew I should have copied some of them down, because as soon as we left I couldn't remember any of them. This darn "oldtimers" disease! Leah and Tom are from Mississippi and were delighted to find that sweet tea was on the menu. They said they hadn't had any good tea since they left MS, and it was very good here. We all had it except Mr. Keith who loves his Pepsi.They also had deep fried pickles, which is a southern delicacy. I had mine with peanut butter. That's a memorable taste!

 When Tom's dish came, a chicken fried steak, he was astonished, as we all were, at the size of the plate! It could have fed a family of 4! He doesn't know where to begin!

Well, dig in, Tom! He did, and he loved it. Needless to say, he took home over half of it. We all loved our meal. Mr. Keith had a big plate of deep fried mushrooms, and took home most of it. We had a great time with our friends, and were happy they took the time to come visit us. We're hoping for more visitors from our former home down in Strasburg Colorado, not far to come!

Day One in Cheyenne

 This is the setting for the Cheyenne KOA. We looked back as we set out to tour the town and could see our 'house'. It's the one just in the center with the fir tree sticking out above it. We decided to have a quick drive-through in downtown Cheyenne so we might see places to investigate in detail during our summer here.

We chanced upon the park where the Frontier Days Rodeo is held yearly, and found the Botanical Gardens there as well. The grounds were not yet blooming, or even planted, but inside the greenhouse I was intrigued with this jade tree, a bonsai. I've had jades most of my life, and never saw such a healthy one with practically no room for roots! How do they do that?

A Bird of Paradise! How beautiful!

This is the majestic Wyoming State Capitol building. We photographed it from different angles and got pictures of some sculptures and statues outside. We will save an inside tour for another day. Can't wait!

In my advance reading about the town of Cheyenne I discovered that there are many sculptured cowboy boots in the downtown area. Here is one outside the old Railroad Depot. It's about 6 or 8 feet tall and there were several in the courtyard at the Depot. It looks like the Depot is used now mostly for a museum, gift shop, restaurant, etc. I'm not sure if it's still used for train business. There is a huge complex of tracks right below the street and I'm thinking there may be a newer building for passengers down there. We'll see! This is the first place we want to really visit and tour. Get ready for photos!

Right across the freeway from the KOA we found the Wyoming Hereford Ranch. I've read it's the oldest working cattle ranch in the U.S. We'll find out more about that later. We did see a herd of Herefords, red cattle with white faces. This is the lane leading up to the beautiful ranch house. This place is definitely on our list to tour later. I want to see this lane when all the trees are leafed out!

Bittersweet Good-byes!

 I say 'Bittersweet' because even though we are very excited about starting work and seeing new places in Cheyenne, we are so sad to be leaving our wonderful friends in Strasburg. Noel, who makes yummy pizzas at the KOA, wanted to take us to dinner. Her choice was Mt. Fuji, a Japanese hibachi restaurant in Aurora. Do you think she ate all that rice? No, she took most of it home! Noel is dear to our hearts and we will miss her. We held back tears, (mostly unsuccessfully) when we hugged and said good-bye to Toni, Leah and Tom, Lucky, Audrey, Jennah, Jean and Karen, Kathleen and Mary. So many unforgettable people!

 More amazing friends, Tracie and Geoff with Keith. Tracie made us, as a parting gift,  a lovely bed cover, red and black, with ladybugs, a favorite collectible of mine. Tracie is a school bus driver and works part-time at the KOA. Geoff is an electrician. What a great couple. Wish we could take them with us!

 No one ever worked for better folks than Jeff and Tracy! Yes, they have the same names as the couple in the above photo, just spelled differently. Here they are with their daughter. We love them, and will highly recommend the Denver East/Strasburg KOA to anyone, to camp or to work. Five stars to Jeff and Tracy!

12

 We're pulling out of the campground, just going across the street to a truck and auto repair shop to have our tires checked. I always pray before we set out, that God will be with all 16 of our wheels, 6 on the trailer, 6 on BigTruk, and 4 on the Focus. Oh, yes, the two wheels we have our hands on, too!

Our prayer was literally answered immediately! When the man at Hank's checked the truck he discovered that an inner dually was flat! The valve stem needed replacing. We wouldn't have known that or been able to fix it had we tried to put air in the tires ourselves. All the tires were low after sitting for 8 months. He did a great job fixing the problem and in the process he bragged on BigTruk and said we'd better never move up to a newer truck because we had the very best already. Good to know!

 We took back roads north, thanks to Tracie who had drawn us a map with all the turns and road names. We were able to completely avoid the freeways till we got to I-80 at Cheyenne. I liked the look of the sky here. I think it's near Greeley Colorado. Rain's a-brewing!

We were greeted with "Welcome Home" by our new employers at the Cheyenne KOA. They made us feel very happy to be there. Here we had another answered prayer. The weather had been good till just outside Cheyenne, then it began to pour what looked like sleet. That lasted for about 4 miles. I said, "Please let it stop so we can get set up without getting soaked," About 1/2 mile from the KOA the skies closed up and we did indeed have great weather for getting completely set up in our new spot (for the next 6 months), Space 11. We are on the outer edge of the park, with the tallest tree, and our front door opens to an empty prairie field where we will be able to have a clear view of the sunrises every day. What could be better? We will be taking lots of trips to the local and not so local attractions, giving me fodder for blogging!