Too-Rapid Time in Rapid

Our time in Rapid City, SD, with dear friends Rick and Linda Lorentz, passed all too rapidly.  

We enjoyed the peace and quiet of their beautiful, shady deck, where we spent happy hours and couple of memorable breakfasts, not to mention many pleasant hours of just hangin' out.  

The dogs got to stretch their legs in the grassy backyard, and had a couple of good runs in nearby Robbinsdale Park.

We have visited Rapid before, and are familiar with most of its attractions, (Bear Country and and Reptile Gardens are two of our favorites.), so we didn’t do much sight-seeing.  Rick and John kept us well-fed with treats from the Pit Boss smoker and Blackstone grill, and Linda made one of her specialties, strawberry-rhubarb pie!  We also raided her garden for some fresh rhubarb and made a batch of rhubarb muffins that may spend some time on my hips and thighs.  But it was worth the pounds!  

Linda and I had some girl time shopping and messing about.  I even tried out a foldable Eunora E-bike.  I was happy to learn that it is a brand carried by E-Bike Central in nearby Waco.  I'll be doing a little more shopping there when we get home.

Our one excursion outside of town was to the Black Hills’ Powder House restaurant to meet friends Bernie and Rhonda who live in Custer.  After stuffing ourselves, Rick drove us through Keystone and into Hill city, where we topped off our culinary extravaganza with cones from Dairy Twist.  

We seem never to take an extended RV trip without a visit to a local vet along the way.  This time, we checked in with Cody at Dakota Hills Veterinary Clinic in Rapid City. In spite of all our pre-trip precautions, Cody came up with a good case of round worms.  The excellent vets had him (and the rest of our dogs) dosed and back ingot shape with only a day's notice.  After learning that the practice offers OFA imaging services, I decided to have Meg's OFAA scans done there instead of waiting until we got back to Texas.  I am thrilled to report that she passed with flying colors.

It’s now a beautiful, sunshiny Monday, and we are back at Broken Arrow Horse Camp in Custer for a few days before heading home.  We came by way of Hermosa, and through Custer State Park.  At mid-day, there weren’t many critters out and about, but we did see this bison resting beside the road, oblivious to the traffic passing just a few feet away.  

The dogs sensed that they were headed into familiar territory.  Cody was on full alert all th way through the park.  I guess he was anticipating seeing some of the park’s “fluffy cows.”  

More to come as we revisit some of our favorite spots in these amazing Black Hills.   

Scotts Bluff National Monument

Scotts Bluff National Monument is located alongside the North Platte Riverin western Nebraska, just outside the towns of Scotts Bluff and Gering. and along the Old Oregon Trail  and later California Trail.  Its sandstone cliffs tower some 800 feet above the valley floor, giving the visitor amazing views in all directions.  It was also an important milestone for emigrants traveling west during the 1800s.  

John and I arrived early for a quick tour of the visitor center, including a nice, short video and a number of original watercolors by Artist William Henry Jackson (1843-1942) depicting wagon trains, Native Americans and other scenes from the 1860s.  

The visitor center is open from 8-5, and the road to the summit opens at 9.  The road passes through three short tunnels (large enough for a car to pass through, but RVs and trucks are prohibited)... 

...and winds around the bluff to view points and trails at the summit.  We were early enough to take a couple of short hikes to take in the views in all directions, and to enjoy the wildflowers that eked out an existence along the trail.  

In addition to the wildflowers, we were amazed at these striking lichens growing on the rocks.  

And, there was this very tough tree growing beside the path.  Its roots extended for several yards along the walkway on both sides.

And speaking of paths...the trail we were walking at the summit zig-zags down the slope and across the valley to the visitors center.  (You can see it in the image below.)  We didn't follow it all the way, because then we would have had to climb back up to our car!  Maybe next trip...or maybe not.

If you have a chance, don’t miss this gem of northwestern Nebraska.  

Pony Express Commorative Re-Ride

Last Tuesday saw us up end away early, bound for our next sop at Robideaux RV Park in Gering (next door to Scotts Bluff), Nebraska.  The trip was unremarkable, except for our discovery that the charge line connecting our Chevy Equinox to the fifth wheel was not adequately charging the car’s battery. That’s a huge disappointment, because it means that we have to stop every couple of hours and let the car run for 20 minutes or so to keep the battery charged. 

The drive was beautiful, though, this part of the country is green and lush, with rolling hills in all directions.

Robideaux RV Park is one of our favorite stops.  The park is exceptional.  The grass is lush and green, and every site is level concrete with a concrete patio and picnic table.  And that’s not the best part.  There is a lovely several-acre playground and park where dogs can run and run and run!  It’s a treat to have a nice place for the m to exercise, and park personnel are friendly and helpful.  

About a mile or so from the park is Scotts Bluff National Historical Site.  We had tried to visit the site the first time we stayhed here, but I caught a bug of some sort and wasn’t up to a visit.  This time, though, we planned to stay an extra day to explore the attraction.   So, on Thursday after doing the obligatory laundry and shopping, we stopped by to see what we could expect.

Have you ever heard of Reride?  We had not, but when we approached the visitor center we noticed a number of cars and lots of people standing around…not what one would expect at 4:30 on a Thursday afternoon.  We pulled in and inquired…What’s going on?  We quickly learned that we were just in time to witness the reenactment of an important part of the Nation’s history.

But let me explain.  Beginning in 1860 and continuing for about 18 months, mail was carried back and forth between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California by the Pony Express.  Our history books include tales of the riders and the challenges they overcame to keep the mail moving on schedule, and many a western movie featured exploits of these riders.  

Beginning in 1960, according to the volunteer who was briefing us, the National Pony Express Association has sponsored annual Re-Ride, a commemorative retracing of the pony express route over a 10-day period.  Covering 1,966 miles across eight states, the riders travel 24 hours a day until the mail is delivered to its destination.  Letters are carried in a leather mochila placed over the horse’s saddle and over 750 riders participate each year.  Each rider travels 10 miles at an average pace of 11 mph. Each year, the Re-Ride travels in a different direction.  This year, the riders went from west to east.  We were told that on the original Pony Express route, each rider traveled 100 miles, changing horses each 10 miles.  The commetorative Re-Ride differs in that each horse and rider travel only 10 miles

We were so fortunate to arrive at the Scotts Bluff Station location at Mitchell Pass not only on the day the rider was to come through, but within an hour of the expected arrival.  As we waited, several horse trailers arrived, and the pony designated for the next leg of the journey was unloaded.  

Within a short time, a beautiful palomino and his rider arrived.  The exchange didn’t carry the drama we see in the movies, but in short order the mochila was transferred to the waiting horse and the rider mounted and cantered away.  I believe her destination was the Chimney Rock Station location.  We were so blessed to be able to witness this reenactment of such an important piece of our nation’s history.   

UhOh Ranch Spring Sheep Dog Trial

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to Terri and Brian, load up and drive a short hour to Mindy Bower and Kevin Hall’s beautiful UhOh Ranch for their fantastic four-day Spring Sheep Dog Trial.  The four Open classes had about 48 dogs each, while the Nursery classes averaged about 18 and the Open Ranch about 24.  That's a lot of dogs, and handlers.  A few people were local, or were staying elsewhere, but we had quite a congenial crew parked along the road and tucked away in various nooks and crannies around the ranch.

Coordinating the classes running simultaneously on two fields took a lot of hard work.  Thanks to Terry Murray and Mike Lupow, who, along with Mindy and Kevin and countless volunteers, put it all together.  I’m grateful, too, to our judges, Bridget Strang, Susan Squires, Dave Imas, Mike Lupow, Connie Brannen, Maci McGraw, Brent Phelps, Laura Esterman, Terri Nicolau and Vickey Russell.  They did an outstanding job, under ever-changing conditions, and I am honored to be able to run my dogs under them.  

The courses, especially for the four Open runs we watched (two of them from the hillside above), were great fun.  They also gave everyone a lesson in watching their sheep.  As you will see from some of the following photos, it was almost impossible to see the dogs…and sometimes only the sheeps' backs were in view.  And, speaking of the sheep, furnished again this year by J.D. Schmidt, they were strong, healthy yearling ewes.  They were a challenge, but very uniform and gave the dogs an opportunity to do good work if they were on their toes. 

Here are some of the photos I took during the trial.  There will be more as I sift and sort, so stay tuned and come back for another visit soon.   

I pulled a few images off videos John and Charly took of my dogs' runs.  The quality isn't special, but I'm so glad to have a record.  The first two are of one of Dutch's open runs.  His first was pretty much a disaster, but we got numbers.  He improved with each of his next two runs, getting a better score each time.  I was especially pleased with his Open 4 run.  We completed our shed and pen, and he scored a 71.  

The range ewes and difficult courses were a challenge for Bo.  We retired twice when his sheep escaped to the exhaust pen, but we ran out of time before finishing Open 4.  He never quit, though.  His sheep were difficult, and in the high grass he had trouble keeping track of them, but he stayed with it, and I'm so proud of the effort he gave me.  He may be a little dog, but he has a very big heart.  

Meg had her challenges with the range ewes as well.  She had four runs, and the first one she did well until her sheep challenged her at the drive-away panels.  She wasn't able to move them, and we retired.  Her second run was better; it took her a bit of time, but she finally was able to move her sheep.  It wasn't pretty, but we got them to the chute and timed out.  Her third and fourth runs were better, and she placed fourth in both with scores of 55 and 50.  We have work to do, but we're beginning to work together better as a team.  

There were lots more good memories, including dinner in Kiowa at the Mexican restaurant/bar, and the adventure we had helping put the sheep loading chute back together after strong, gusty winds blew it over.  I can't wait for the next one.