Hi there folks,

Thanks for following our blog. It is nice to be able to use Smilebox to share our pictures, for as "they" say, a picture is worth a thousand words. We have been having an interesting trip and have met some interesting people along the way.

Our adventures started before we had even left Alberta. Our first stop on our way to Regina was at Cremona where we had planned on emptying our septic tank, to lighten our load. Well, even though Wayne was diligent in hooking up the hoses and making sure everything was fine, the worst happened. When he pulled the handle to open the tank, the hose blew off and there was s*** everywhere, including his crocs, socks, pant legs and gloves. He put his socks in the box of the truck and his crocs and gloves on the floor in the back seat. The one thing we didn't consider was what the effect would be when he put on the floor heater later in the evening and it heated up his pantlegs. WHEW.

Once we got to Regina, Wayne had to back the 5th wheel into his brother's driveway...which included an difficult angle around the garage. His brother had been out earlier and cut a lot of the branches that were low hung to make it easier for Wayne. Unfortunateluy, there were several sharp ends pointing in the wrong direction, which poked several holes in the roof. However, Wayne being familiar with roofs, was able to do the repairs himself.

When we left there and got on the road, things went quite well. We enjoyed the flat drive through North Dakota and were then rewarded with woody areas in South Dakota. We had not considered making reservations at Custer State Park in S. Dakota because it was close to the end of their camping season. However, the last w/e of their season entails their Buffalo Round-Up, the busiest w/e of the year for them. We were able to base ourselves at Fort WeLikIt near Custer and still enjoy what the park had to offer. We took in Mount Rushmore and then returned to our campground by the scenic Iron Mountain Road which was full of switchbacks and tunnels made through huge rocks, mostly with speed limits of 15 mph. The day after making this trip we decided to go into Custer to get some fuel and groceries. We pulled into the grocery store and went in to shop. Upon returning to the truck, Wayne went to back out, only to find out our steering was non existant! Our serpantine belt had just fallen off, meaning that we had no control over anything. Thank goodness it happened in the parking lot and not on the Iron Mountain Road!!!! Our Good Sam Emerg. Road Service was much appreciated that day!

The only other adventure that we have encountered was in Nebraska while driving to our campground on a secondary road. Out of the blue our truck and trailer were pushed into the opposite lane when we were hit by an invisible dirt devil...but it had to have been quite large. We just looked at each other and wondered what happened. Later when we were talking to the Park Warden we found out that he had sited the twister in the corn field near there and it had lifted the loose corn 50 feet above the ground!!

I truly believe that the Hand of God has been on us since leaving home. Thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes. I will try to make sure to put a written message in the blog for those of you that don't have high speed internet, so you can find out what we are doing too. You are welcome sis-in-law!!

Until next time...keep us close in your thoughts and prayers. We miss you all!