From the Badlands to the Center of the Nation

 So here we are in Belle Fourche at the Tri-State Museum. The first thing I see is a life size cardboard cut out of John Wayne!!! Paula you should have taken 10 pictures of me so maybe I could have put one here!!! We had fun with John anyway:)

 The Cowboys my favorite movie. This is a very nice museum lots of rodeo history, military, sheep, buffalo sewing and a lot more. It's worth the price to get in FREE you don't find that everyday.

 Right outside it is the Center of the Nation monument it is a compass rose shaped  monument that measures 21 feet across and is constructed of SD granite. The actual center of the nation (50 states) is about 20 miles north of Belle Fourche.

 The actual center of the nation. I said lets go and the guys said no there's nothing there but a flag and a pile of rocks!!

 Next stop was at Aladdin Wy where we ate at Cindy B's cafe good food! Then we went next door to the Aladdin General Store. It is one of  5 mercantiles left in WY.

 They did have a little of everything in there about all we bought was some candy:) It looked much better on the outside cute red building with white trim but the inside.....

Lots of antlers

 The final stop of the tour Devil's Tower.

 We took the kids there years ago it was summer so we walked around the base of it. It was snowy so we didn't walk it this time.

 Sara and Parker's purses a small one for Parker

and a bigger one for Sara.

 Here's the cute lining fabric they wanted me to use.

Until next time.............JMF

Summer Trips

 We went on a couple of bus trips this summer. The first one was the Central Electric 3 day trip to ND. Our first stop was Oahe Dam we toured it then on to ND.

 We learned all about how we get our electricity from water power to coal.

 This is a 8 million dollar blueprint of the Dak Gasification plant.

 The trucks and loader used in the open coal mine.

 Pretty impressive

 On our way home we stopped at the church in Hoven Sd. A lady told us a short history of it and how the members restored the inside. They didn't have to do it all, but they did a beautiful job of keeping everything like it was originally.

 You don't make the red or the blue glass anymore at least not like this glass.

 It's worth the stop if you ever get that way. It is the Catholic church.

 In Aug we went back to ND and to MN Our first stop was here at the Chateau on the Prairie for a great tour and lunch.

 Lots of quilts.

 The owners brother made the chandeliers out of the wheels from a wheel rake.

 The banisters were made from the teeth of the wheel rakes.

 One of the stops was at a sugar beet farmer. He had a farm that every guy on the bus would have loved to have. Clean and all the yard from the road to every building was cemented.

 Sugar beet harvest.

 The sugar beet plant where it is made into sugar. We also toured the BobCat plant, Case IH plant, a Potato packing plant and visited a potato farm.

 Then we went to the Twin Cities. This is the Cathedral in Saint Paul. We did get to stop and go inside it is beautiful but the pictures didn't turn out to good.

 us:)

 The view from the Mill City Museum, we also went to Ikea it was a fun store.

We went to the Sea Life  Aquarium at the Mall of America I think the guys were all happy that was all we did there no shopping!!!.............more later............JMF

Road trip to Buller Gardens....................

 We made it! Sue and I talked about going to her friends garden all summer.

 It was worth the wait... Linda has 7 gardens plus!! Most of them were all cleaned up for the season even tho, very impressive.

 It takes a few tools:)

 I bought a couple of watermelon they are yellow inside but taste like the red ones. Very good!!

 onions

 colored corn

 red onions

 My fave squash:)

 The little striped ones are baby doll and I will be eating one in a couple of hours for the first time.....Can't wait.

 I forgot the name of the orange ones, but brought some of them home too.

 mini corn

 Gourds of all shapes and sizes.

 Asparagus gone to seed more for next spring!

 This garden had cabbage,  herbs, ground cherries, dill and more. Oh yes and all the rage now kale.

 Potatoes please...2 boxes came home with me.

 parsley

We had a fun visit with Linda and are enjoying the fruits of her labor:) See you next year.......JMF