For Mommy & Daddy

The grandkids are staying at our house for a week or so while their parents are R & Ring in Mexico with some friends. The G'Kids arrived Thursday morning. I had appropriate groceries on hand and the house ready for them...meaning the bedroom was set up, the toys out, and the living room rearranged to  a toy room. They napped well on Thursday. They ate well. They went to bed like good little troopers. But by the end of Thursday I thought...This will be a LONG 10 days.

Friday: Ms. Willa wakes up at 5:53 AM. (Typical, sort of.) She leaves her brother sleeping, but not her G'Parents!  She gets set up in the living room/toy room with some puzzles, crayons & coloring book, and the TV. She is quiet and content until morning.

Friday goes much better. I am not sure if I am more organized or if the kids establish a routine or what, but Friday is better. So much better I am able to grab the camera and take some photos in the morning.

The babies and all their 'equipment' were moved to the dining room area.

Too many toys in that space. The farm was moved downstairs.

So Sesame Street was the center of shared playtime.

Ms. Willa is an organizer.

She sings to herself. She has conversations with the people.

She tolerated her brother in the same play area

playing with the same toys.

Mr. Marek LOVES the little people.

Just the right size for his fingers and hands.

What?

OK!

The people are in chairs, couches and loungers

in the house.

He got the tent camper without creating a fuss.

She continues to sing and talk.

She left the area and he moved in!

Ha ha ha! I got everything!

Then it was lunch time.

Marek was so tired he could hardly stay awake.

But he ALWAYS has a dirty diaper after eating.

I was holding out for the dirty diaper before he went down for a nap.

He was holding out, too!

Take my picture G'Ma!

I am SO tired!

OK. I got a second wind!

No messy diaper, yet.

G'Pa read them a story while we waited for some action.

Finally, things moved along and it was nap time!

Ms. Willa LOVES story time...anytime.

I got to thinking about yesterday...

Ms. Willa has stayed at our house three times without her brother or her parents. She has not had to share us with anyone else when she has been here. Thursday was an adjustment. She had to share the toys that she claimed as hers. (Actually they are toys her aunt and daddy had when they were little.) She had to share the play space with her brother. In the past, she has had the whole room...the whole house...as her play space. AND to top it off, she had to share US with her brother. Once she realized he was there to stay, she adjusted and all went smoother. At least that is my take on Thursday. Looking at how well they played on Friday, we will all survive just fine. If they continue to sleep all night, take naps and eat, all will be well! 

So, have a good time Mommy and Daddy! We LOVE you!

Thanks Kids, for letting us take care of your children while you recharge your batteries!

Tree Hugger?

Those of you who know us, know that we are a bit fanatical, obsessed? possessed? about geocaching right now. I don't think this obsession will last, but for now it is a 'sport' we enjoy doing together. I try not to bore you with too many of our geocaching adventures, but quite honestly, it is about the ONLY adventures we have had this summer. 

Well, we had another of those adventures on Tuesday. The cache was titled Inner Kid. We knew what to expect; there was enough information in the description. But whether or not we would attempt the cache was up in the air...literally.

I gave him a 'leg up' and up he went.

The tree was perfect.

Lots of foot rests & holds and 

branches for pulling and supporting.

THERE it is!

A green tube hanging from the limb.

Nope! Can't reach it.

OK. Got to get to the next limb.

Feet resting on a dead limb.

Body supported on another dead branch.

YIKES!

AHHA!

Got it!

I did it!

Now get DOWN you foolish, foolish man!

(He did. Safely.)

Autumn in The Hills

It seems the leaves were turning colors

 before our eyes this past week

 as we drove around the Black Hills. 

Rockerville

I remember a stop in Rockerville, SD in May 1968. My senior class and our chaperones spent a little time walking along the boardwalk, shopping for trinkets, maybe buying an ice cream cone. A stagecoach with attached horses stood in the street waiting for tourists to purchase a ride. None of us did, but I have a photo in an album of the stage coach and horses.

According to Wikipedia: 
It was a tourist town in the 1950s and 1960s, because of its key location on US Highway 16 between Rapid City and Mount Rushmore National Memorial, with a variety of tourist attractions, including a "Mellerdrammer" (Mellodrama) live theatre, a "Ghosttown" of various buildings with tourist shops and small amusements, "It's a Small World" Museum (featuring an 1880 Tiny Town model and other miniature collections), a motel, campgrounds and RV parks. However, in the conversion of US Highway 16 to four-lanes in the mid-1960s, the original townsite was placed literally between the two separate roadways, as there was no way to widen the original highway through the town without completely destroying it. Despite the construction of at least three exits into the town from both directions, the town virtually died because travelers on their way to and from Mount Rushmore never saw the town when whizzing past at 55 mph. Every business closed, and many remain abandoned to this day, although the "Gaslight Saloon" remains a local restaurant and attraction.

Since reconnecting with a cousin of Hubbys while at Hart Ranch the last few years, the four of us often drove the few miles to Rockerville to eat at the Gaslight Saloon & Restaurant. The food was good and the service was good and we were always seated right away. 

We heard from friends on Monday evening about a fire in Rockerville. On Tuesday we drove through Rockerville to find a geocache. Indeed, there was a fire.

Several firefighters and a truck were there monitoring the 

smoldering remains of The Gaslight Saloon & Restaurant,

the ONLY remaining business in the Ghost Town.

Originally established as a mining camp, it was named for the "rockers" which were used to separate placer gold from stream gravel. - Wikipedia

Very ghost-like

Rockerville was a booming mining camp in the 1870’s. The town consisted of 100 buildings and 800 -1000 citzens in 1880. The camp’s name came from the cradle-like wooden rocker used to collect gold flakes found in the gravels and soil. The Black Hills Placer Mining Company built a 17 mile wooden flume to direct water from Spring Creek to this dry gulch in 1878. It cost close to $300,000 and leaked so badly that manure was used daily to help seal the leaks. When the placer mines played out the miners moved on and the flume was abandoned. Rockerville was probably a tourist attraction longer than it was known for it’s gold rush.

In 1968 the stagecoach & horses were in front of 

this now abandoned building.

Even though there wasn't much left to the community,

it is sad the one prosperous business is now gone.

People without jobs.

Locals without a hangout.

No more meals at The Gaslight Restaurant & Saloon.

~Ghost Town~

Hot Springs

We visited the community of Hot Springs on the same day we visited Cold Springs last month. We had been to Hot Springs years ago, a couple of times in fact, but I don't ever remember seeing the parts of town we visited on this trip. Population is around 3700 and has a mean temperature of 48.6, making it one of the warmest places in the Black Hills.

White settlers named the town Minnekahta in 1879, but later changed the name to Hot Springs because of the natural warm waters flowing from the many springs. Entrepreneur Fred Evans "built Evans Plunge over a group of small springs and one giant thermal spout of warm mineral water." The plan was to turn the whole town into a health spa. Water temperature is 87º in Evans Plunge.

Evans Plunge built in 1890

A more recent photo of Evans Plunge

When the railroad began unloading passengers at the Hot Springs Train depot in 1891, the town's future was secure.

Train depot today

Train depot in 1908

Geocaching took us to another springs location along the Fall River

The 1920 Gazebo

Flowing water

Why Kidney Springs was given its name

No, I did not drink the water

Waterfall farther along the walking path

Hot Springs has over 35 sandstone buildings, some of them along 

the main street and several of them on the National Historic Landmark.

Evans Hotel built in 1893

Today it is the Red Rock River Resort Hotel & Spa.

It is located across from the train depot.

Fall County Jail

In 1974 a sinkhole of mammoth bones was discovered

when earth moving equipment exposed South Dakota's

greatest fossil treasure.

Today it is the world's largest Columbian mammoth exhibit 

and a world-renown research center.

As of now, the Mammoth Site has found 61 Mammoths

(58 Columbian Mammoths and 3 wooly mammoths)

along with 85 other species of animals, plants, and 

several unidentified insects.

Hot Springs is the "Gateway to the Southern Black Hills". Other nearby attractions include Wind Cave, Custer State Park, Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, fishing and golfing.