Round About Missoula

 One week has passed since we arrived in Missoula and got our 5th wheel all set up and ready for the summer season. Mr. Keith and I have gone for a couple of drives, remembering where we liked to go when we were last here working at the KOA three years ago.

A favorite drive is up on the hill overlooking the city. This scene looks down on the University area, the reddish buildings to the right. As you can see, the hills are still snowy, and the trees are not quite filled out with their summer lushness. It is a beautiful sight!

Overlooking the valley is Lolo Peak, bright with its winter snow. We can see the peak out our living room window from our spot at the KOA.

Driving from the hill down towards the University of Montana we are always awed by the old city streets lined with trees. In another month each street will seem like a tunnel as the leaves come into their fullness, bending the branches into a canopy. Up ahead is one of many "round abouts", giving me the title for this blog post.

The Garden City is well known for the "M" up on the hill above the University of Montana campus. We actually climbed up there last time we were here! On most spring, summer and fall days hikers can be seen slogging up the zig zag trail. Some are plodding along, as we did, and others can be seen almost running up the gravel trail. I know one gal who does it every day just to stay in shape!

This "M" can be seen from quite a way off as one drives along I-90 heading east. As we approach the city and see the "M" we say, "Ah, at last, we're there!" It was fun to see that Bozeman also has an "M" on the hillside above town. It stands for the Montana State University. The trail up to that "M", however, is much steeper and more difficult to climb. We did not attempt that one last summer when we worked at the KOA there!

A quick shot of the entrance to the University. One day I will plan to get pictures of the stately and beautiful buildings on campus. We have many places to go and sights to see now that we are back in this lovely part of Montana!

Good-bye Cheyenne

After a hard day's work getting ready to go, condensing our possessions, securing the rig, putting stuff away, preparing to hook up BigTruk to our 5th wheel, this is what we saw over the campground tonight. It looks like an angel up there holding out his arms to the city and to the KOA!

Our time here has passed quickly. Mostly it was taken up with doctor and hospital visits, since Mr. Keith was diagnosed with multiple myeloma right after we arrived. He's had several rounds of chemo, lots of pills, some infusions, and all around great care from the doctor and the many nurses who have touched his life. We will have a leisurely trip home in our 5th wheel, visiting Casper, Hardin, Bozeman, Missoula, Spokane, and, finally, Wenatchee. After a couple of weeks to visit family and friends we'll go on to our new workamping job at Lost Lake RV Resort near Olympia, and Keith will have his stem cell transplant in Seattle.

We've had a great summer of work and play at the Cheyenne KOA, working with great people and meeting tons of happy campers. 

The highlights of our time here were that we got to see Oregon Trail history at Guernsey and at Fort Laramie, to the north. We enjoyed time in the city of Laramie to the west where we met up with my childhood friend and classmate. We took many drives around the Cheyenne area, and we toured the Capitol and some other historical places in town. And, of course, we sampled several of the local restaurants with co-workers and with friends. It was a wonderful place to spend our summer.

So... Cheyenne, it's been good. You've treated us well and given us delightful memories. We will never forget you and your people.

 May God bless you, Cheyenne!

Friendship!

 I just recently, sadly, missed my 50 year high school reunion in Mossyrock, Washington. We were just too far away, working at our job at the KOA, and getting Mr. Keith's chemo treatments. Imagine my joy when my friend Mari, former neighbor and classmate from our school days emailed me to say she and hubby were coming to Laramie to visit their son and family, and could we come there and meet them for lunch and visiting! I was overjoyed! We arrived early in Laramie last Sunday morning, so had time to tour around the town. It's a lovely city — the University of Wyoming is there. We also found the Ivinson Mansion, built in 1892. It is now the Laramie Plains Museum.

We'd heard about the Wyoming Territorial Prison so we located that. The prison was built in the 1870s and was the only prison to actually incarcerate Butch Cassidy. We will definitely plan another trip to Laramie so that we can go inside both of these historical buildings, and maybe we'll find even more to investigate!

We met the family outside the Catholic Church, then went to lunch with Mari and George at a local restaurant, where Mr. Keith had his usual shrimp, and I had my favorite, a buffalo burger. Most of all, we enjoyed catching up with our friends! We had last seen them in 2007 when we were workamping at an RV resort near Olympia, Washington. After lunch we were invited to go out to the "ranch", where we met the grandchildren (there are 7 in all), as well as lots of rabbits, goats, chickens, horses, and even a friendly dog and a shy cat. Here is a photo of the youngest grandson, Jeremiah, who proudly acted as our tour guide. These goats are for milk, which the family consumes, and I believe also markets. John, Mari's son, is an extension agent with the University.

I did snap one photo of our friends, Mari and George. I wish I had gotten more! What a wonderful day we had with them! They are truly a  special couple, full of love and kindness and memories! We will try to see them again when we make our fall trip back to Washington. Our visit was truly the best day we've had all summer! Thanks, Mari and George!

Happy Anniversary!

Where to go, what to do for our 17th anniversary. Well, first of all, we spent 4 hours on our day off continuing to paint the KOA building. Whew! Was it ever hot! We got a lot done, rested, took showers, then headed over to The Depot to have dinner. This building was constructed in the 1860s and is beautifully restored to its former glory, though it is not used as a train station now. It houses a restaurant, brewery, museum and gift shop. There is still a multiple track, very busy train yard right outside the back of The Depot. We saw a couple of trains arrive as we ate our dinner.

This is the former lobby where travelers awaited their trains.

The outside plaza is lovely, with flowerpots, sculptures, bricked walkways, and the famous 6 foot high cowboy boots seen in several places in Cheyenne. I love this horse, made out of all kinds of metal shapes and pieces. The large pink building behind it is the original Wrangler Store, there since 1892.

These enormous flower pots adorn the front of The Depot and were all around the plaza.

Here I am sitting on a boot at the entrance to The Depot. This one features a list of all the Wyoming Governors along with some fancy artwork. The Depot is right at the center of the old town. The street that runs parallel is Lincolnway, which is old highway 80, and looking straight north from The Depot is Capitol Avenue ending with an awesome view of the State Capitol, its dome shining in the sun.

This photo has nothing to do with our anniversary dinner, but we pass by it every time we go into or come from town. We always think about Jody Foster and the movie "Contact", and wonder if Cheyenne is looking for aliens, too!

A Few Last Shots

The KOA in Strasburg is turning green! We're beginning to see some grass, and some budding trees, mostly elms and cottonwoods.

  I love this beautiful tree, right outside the store. Not sure what it is. Crabapple? Flowering plum? It has a wonderful fragrance!

Friends and parents, all helping little John with his Easter eggs on the KOA playground.

And here's another shot of the prairie turning green, a relief from the winter browns. That may be a wheat field coming up, with last summer's crop for contrast.

Silly Things

 Today I was in the mood to make a blog post! Didn't really have any recent trips to write about, so I thought of some silly things. Since we've been fulltiming and workamping I seem to have collected some teddy bears and other  "bearaphenalia". I don't remember having teddy bears as a child, though I probably did, but working at Bear Country USA in Rapid City gave me a love for the critters. Here are my bears sitting on my bed cover which also has bears on it. The first one on the left is Annie Bear, to remind me that one of the cinnamon black bears at Bear Country is named after me! I got to bottle feed the real little Annie. Included in this collection is a Pooh Bear, center, my son's first teddy bear. He's a little ragged. The others I've picked up here and there.

 My newest bear! I'm taking an online course in creativity from my cousin, a published author, and one of our recent chapter assignments encouraged us to find a "totem" to remind us of our artistic inclinations. I couldn't think of a thing, till we were instructed to empty out the prizes in one of the games in the entertainment center at our KOA. Digging through the stuffed animals I was surprised to find this small red bear with my initial on the front and KOA on the back. The red color goes perfectly with my red and black bedroom. What a find! I asked to buy it, but the owner said I could have it. So...here she sits on my computer to inspire me!

 On a totally different subject — driving home from Denver the other day Mr. Keith spotted this odd looking domed church and had to have a photo of it. He did a little zigzagging through traffic trying to find the entrance to the church, a feat he's pretty good at when he sees something out of the ordinary!

We found the sign telling what kind of church it is, and, not to be disrespectful, at first I thought it said "Dagnabit"! The language must be Ethiopian. That's one thing about Denver and the surrounding cities. We've seen about every kind of ethnic peoples and languages, stores, businesses, churches, schools, signs. We enjoy the education we're getting!