Feb 2012

Had a great Birthday.

Went to Cody on the Senior bus, then in the evening we went to dinner at the ElkHorn with the Fendts, Griffins, and Rankines. Good dinner, good conversation, and just plain fun. Even had cake and ice cream.

Got lots of well wishes. Didn't see my shadow all day. However I have a sneaking suspicion winter isn't over yet.

Friday, the 10th, the Mtse Senior bus went to the Ten Sleep Senior Center for lunch. That was fun. It started snowing very lightly while we were eating, but some fellow had just come from Worland and said it wasn't snowing there. Thought we would run out of it then. Didn't happen. It was snowing more there than in TenSleep. In fact we got snowed on all the way back to Mtse, but it was very light and not blowing or anything nasty like that. Roads were wet, but not freezing. Later, after we got home, we did get quite a bit more snow. Figured we timed that trip right.

Anyway I had called Alice Beckley to let her know we were coming there and hoped she could have lunch with us. She did and even paid for me and Gma. Had a good visit with her and she introduced us to Myrna Bader. Baders used to work on Gooseberry and she remembered us, but her folks left there when she was 7 years old. Think they went to Ten Sleep then. Anyway I used to play with her when we were little. I remember that, but can't remember just where we played. Don't remember them coming to our house. Probably we played at card parties and the picnics.

Alice said she and her husband will be over for my 3/4 Century party. She couldn't believe I was 75. I should still be just a little kid. Alice was in my sister's class and they were 4 years older.

Virginia Foreman wasn't at lunch, so didn't see her. Alice had a dental appointment the day before so she didn't call her either. Maybe we will get to TenSleep again before party time.

The Museum found the story Elmer wrote about the old sheepherders around Mtse. They said they'd make a copy of it for me. I'm supposed to make them a copy of his story about the Sodbusters. Better get that done.

Then I visited with Clara Mae about the places on Gooseberry and she didn't remember them the same as I do, so we decided we have to take a trip there with my Mom. Something to shoot for this summer.

history lessons

We had a good time on Thanksgiving. I got quite a bit of Mtse history while we visited. Some I had heard parts of at some time or other, but now the pieces fit.

Gpa bought Iron Creek from Bert Avery because he and Bert got along real good. Bert didn't want to leave his land to his kids as they would just fight over it so he sold all 2200 acres to Gpa for $5 per acre. Now I want to get Porters to take us back up in Iron Creek so I can see what I remember about the place. Not sure how far all those acres go. There used to be a couple of springs in the creek, but not sure where they were. One was along the fence line, but not sure just exactly where. There used to be three cabins up there. One was down when we went there as kids, but the chicken coop was still there. We lived in one and Gpa tore the other one down some time later. I remember that, but also remember it being there a long time. There was a garage under the hill a way from the house we lived in. I think all that stuff was torn down after they built this house.

There was a road that went through there and came out at Renner's somewhere. Don't know it its the one they call "Rooster Creek" road or if that's a different one. If its not the same one its close.

This flat area on the top of the hill was called Millenthaler Flat, which I remember hearing. Didn't know that Millenthalers had a house down along the road somewhere between where our house is now and the check station. Gpa sold that house right after he bought this place. He had no use for it so he got rid of it. The guy that bought it moved it to town and its the house that Scott Crosby has now. However it has been built onto a few times. Apparently some logs from a cabin in Grass Creek were used for part of it. I hadn't heard that story before.

People moved houses from place to place a lot years ago. When Marathon moved their people out of Grass Creek a lot of those houses were moved into Meeteetse and are still used. Mary Ann Farmer's was one of them. And Jean Mendenhall had one, but I think it got destroyed in the flood in the 60s. The one she lives in now isn't one of the Grass Creek ones.

The house that Emily lives in is the oldest house in Mtse. and it faces directly north and south. There are only a few houses in Mtse that are directly situated north and south. Most are at an angle.

Labor Day celebration used to be just one day. Lots of celebrating. When they had dances in the hall on the hill people had to walk down town to the bars to get a drink and were sobered up by they time they walked back up the hill. The rodeo grounds were on the other side of the road from where it is now. There were no bleachers, people sat in the back of their pickups or sat on the fences. The contestants were locals, no professionals. The stock came from locals so wasn't contracted out like now.

I'm going to have to start keeping track of all this stuff. Its interesting stuff and not quite the same as what you find in the museum. This is all from people's memories and not documented entirely. That's what make it more interesting. It's accurate information as far as anyone remembers.

Hardin

Went back to Hdn to do usual monthly bill stuff. Which I did do.

Got a lot of house work done this trip. Vacuumed the whole house, walls, ceilings, floors, and basement. Even vacuumed cobwebs off the porch. Emptied the two garbage cans full of sticks and twigs and then filled them up again. Got the whole yard picked up. Watered, watered, watered. Really soaked up the whole yard and it looks a bit greener. Did my washing and dried it. Scanned Mtse Labor Day pics for the Museum. Shredded junk mail, read a few magazines and papers, emptied one plastic sack of misc stuff (most went in garbage). Did banking and bought some clothesline wire. Didn't get it up yet, though.

That was quite a bit for two days. Did dishes, watered plants, washed hair, swept floors, emptied garbage and it was time to head back to Mtse.

Next time I go I'll take truck so I can stand in it to reach the low hanging tree branches. Then they will fall right into the truck bed and I can take them to the dump.

Had to get back to Mtse as its party time here, Labor Day festivities.

Tuesday & Wednesday we might be going over Union Pass with Joe and Joy. Should be an interesting trip and we might have to stay overnight somewhere. Guess its 75 miles over the pass from Dubois to Pinedale and takes quite awhile as its a dirt road all the way, so can't go very fast.

Minnesota trip

What an awesome trip!!!

We went to see Bonnie via I-94 into North Dakota. Stopped at the Teddy Roosevelt Nat'l Park which is badlands. We didn't go down into the badlands, just looked over the overlook where there is a visitor center. There was a storm brewing which gave the scenery a really pretty hue. There were people way down in there. We watched some dingbats take their picture by a sign that warned of a dangerous overhang on the cliff. You could see where it was cut away. We moved right along before tragedy struck. Fortunately it didn't happen, but it could very easily have.

Then we went down the Enchanted Highway just out of Dickinson. It's a 30 mile stretch from the Interstate to Regent, ND. There are now 7 metal sculptures along the route. Gma and I went there several years ago and there were 6 sculptures. We heard about them building a new one with fish and I wanted to see if it was finished. It was and is really neat. These sculptures are all made of scrap metal. Each one has a pull out and signs that give all the dimensions and what kind of metal are in them. Didn't get lunch there as the little cafe was closed. There was a bar where we could have eaten, but we decided to go on. Ate in Bismarck at a Perkins where Dad, Eddy and I ate when we were caught in Bismarck in a snowstorm one time. It was the only place where we could get food as they were open 24 hours at the time. The workers were stuck there as nothing was moving. People couldn't get home and others couldn't get to work to relieve them. We had to slog through lots of snow to get there. We had stayed at a motel right off the highway and the Perkins was roughly a block away. I digress.

We stayed in Jamestown. Pat and I had a night cap in the motel bar. Next day we got rained on most of the day. If the highway had been 50 feet farther over to the west we wouldn't have gotten wet. It just rained on the highway and to the east. It would rain really hard, then let up some, at times even sunshine, then just pour down again. About the time we got to heavier traffic near the cities we were out of the rain. Thank goodness. Got checked in our hotel right across the street from the Mall of America.

Took the Bleys out to supper at the Bonfire. Really good steak and cooked properly. Got a good visit with the guys as they were leaving the next morning.

Sunday we girls walked the Mall. Went through the Sea Life display. Wow what a lot of stuff in there. Ate lunch at the Rain Forest and took lots of pics. Wandered all over, tasted cheese in the Wisconsin Cheese place. Shopped in Nordstoms third floor store. That's the affordable one and the girls all got some nice blouses on the sales racks. Wandered all through the playground area. Legoland is always fun. Then we got to have our pictures taken with Sponge Bob and his friends. That was fun. I wanted to do that for Ed. After all that we were super tired that evening. Pat and Jen soaked in the hot tub at the hotel pool. I sat on the edge and soaked my feet as they were really, really tired. Felt good. Pat and I had a nightcap in the hotel bar.

Monday we went to Bonnie's and went to Stillwater, MN in her convertible. They have some steep stairs there to climb up a hill and get an overview of the city and the river. It's on the St Croix River. I told them if we were going to climb stairs we'd better do it first thing or we wouldn't get it done. We did and its a good thing. Was quite a climb, but absolutely gorgeous view. I met a lady on the way down that runs the stairs for her exercise, but she can't do them without resting halfway up. She can run laps on the flat and not break a sweat, but she can't do the stairs without a break and a water. She is 40 yrs old. After the stairs we took a break in a cute little restaurant, then wandered the town, stores, river. Ate at The Rafters. Interesting place.

When we got back we had margaritas and cheese and crackers at Bonnies. That was our nightcap even though it was early.

Tuesday we walked two zoos, the Minnesota Zoo and the Como Zoo. Minnesota is bigger and has more animals, the Como has different animals, but not as many as the other one. We went to the Dolphin Show in the Minnesota Zoo. We ate at Dooley's (I think) in Eagan between zoos. Had margaritas and crackers with cheese again at Bonnie's for our early nightcap. Said our goodbyes then as we were heading home early the next morning via I-90 this time.

Wednesday we stopped in Mitchell to check out the Corn Palace. Ate across the street from it. They have fixed it up quite nicely now. Its been years since I was there and there wasn't much then.

We stayed in Chamberlain that night. Next day we toured Wall Drug just for fun. That place has done some improving too. Decided to ride the Jackalope because I never have. We always went with kids before and the kids rode stuff. Figured this might be the only time I had such an opportune moment for such foolishness. Lots of other adult people had the same idea.

We had lunch in Gillette. Got caught in a fierce hail storm at Wyola. We had to pull over there as there was zero visibility for driving. Pat planned to take cover under the underpass, but it was full of pickups and bikes. We parked on the off ramp until it blew over. Didn't take long as the wind was really blowing it and the hail wasn't very big.

Friday, the 12th, I headed back to Meeteetse as the relatives were all there. Tom, Aileen, and Jenifer were all in Mtse before I left, but Jenifer had to go back to AZ the same day I left for Hdn. Tom and Aileen stayed the rest of the week and Aileen left on Wednesday, the 10th. John and Mary Jo came Thursday, the 11th, the Ed came on Friday, the 12th. Friday afternoon we had a salmon cookout at the Oasis. Joe and Joy came over for that. A fun day. Saturday, the 13th the guys all took the Kirwin tour and enjoyed themselves. Gma and I met MJ for lunch at the Outlaw. Then that night we took them all out for supper at the ElkHorn. They all left on Sunday, the 14th.

Tuesday, the 16th, Gma and I went to Anchor Dam. We had gone last year and couldn't get to the Dam because the road was closed after Labor Day. This time we did take the road around the reservoir to the picnic area. Its really quite a nice area, and the dooby house is very clean with cemented parking right by it. We talked to a cowboy who was gathering cattle there. Actually got to see the dam this time. We couldn't see it from the hill we were on last year as its around the corner of another hill. Coming back from the picnic spot it was very visible and is quite big. There was water in it this time.

This weekend the Meeteetse Trail Regulators are in town. We met two of the women Wednesday after coffee. Friday night, the 19th, is the Taste of Meeteetse so will see them then. Sat is the shootout at the rifle range so will go out to see some of that too.

Saturday the 27th I plan to go on the tour to the Medicine Lodge petroglyphs at Hyattville. Then the month is over.

Pat's 30th class reunion & YNP

I got to go to Pat's 30 year class reunion last weekend. She went with me to my 30th 26 years ago. It was fun and they were all a good, jolly bunch. I took lots of pics for her and gave them all to her. Friday night was the "Meet and Greet" get together. Just visiting and they provided some snack goodies. You had to bring your own drink. I visited quite a bit with Tim Wagner (husband of one in the class). He's my heater man. One girl lives in Red Lodge, so I visited with her a bit about Bob Moran. Bob was one of my Library colleagues, who has since retired. Saw one of Bonnie's classmates there as she works at Mojoes where the get together was held. Then later another of Bonnie's classmates came with her husband who was in Pat's class. We stayed until 11:00ish.

Saturday night was the dinner at the Elk's Club, or Golf Course (not sure what they are calling it now). There were a few new ones that night. Cocktail hour was from 6 to 7 then the dinner (prime rib) at 7:00. Was good prime rib and they even got mine rare like it should be done. I was impressed. Had two drinks there with the meal, then switched to 7-up as I was the designated driver, after all.

They had a DJ who was the son of one of the classmates, so we had background music and a slide show of activities of the day before. After dinner there was dancing and some karaoke. One fellow worked real hard to make sure everyone was dancing and having a good time. They even got me on the dance floor a couple of times. The pictures didn't turn out too bad in the dim light with strobes blinking. It was fun to watch. I'm glad I was able to go. One fellow even said I should come back for their 50th. Hmmmm.

Saw the same two of Bonnie's classmates that night and one of Ed's classmates. None of Mary's. Went home about midnight that night.

Since the main purpose of my time in Hardin was to pay bills and do manual labor, I did get that done too. Raked up and dumped 5 garbage cans of sticks and twigs. The neighbor kid mowed the grass except for part of the back yard. Don't know if he ran out of gas, or didn't know where the property line was, or just flat didn't finish. But I did do that strip too. Was kinda stiff and sore for a couple of days as I'm really out of shape for manual labor. Was doing it in 84 degree heat too. Should have sweated off a couple of pounds. Went to the Library one day and took pics of the quilt show. That was a cool break.

Back to Meeteetse on Sunday. Monday Gma and I went through Yellowstone, did the lower loop and out the south entrance. Had our picnic lunch at the south entrance. Then over Togwotee to Dubois. Shortly after Crowheart we were detoured toward Lander as there was water over the road near Diversion Dam. Went to Ft. Washakie, north to Ethete and then back to Highway 26 at Kinnear. It was raining by then, just a nice rain, but not enough to wash the dust off my car. Did get some of the bird doo-doo off the top though.

It was a nice scenic drive and a pleasant day, not too hot, some cloud cover. Didn't get home until 7:30. Saw lots of buffalo, but only one buffalo jamb and a ranger was clearing that one. Lots of wildflowers and a possible "wolf" sighting. It was way over in some dead timber and was a four legged critter with a long tail, but was probably a coyote. Didn't look big enough to be a wolf, but then we were quite a way from it. By the time I got the binoculars out it was gone. There were a couple of other places where people were stopped, but we never could see anything and by the time we found a place to pull over whatever had been out there was gone. So is goes!

5 Generations - CA trip

Its been awhile since I posted anything and lots has been happening. May just went through like a roller coaster. Celebrated Gma's 103rd B'Day at Lucille's with champagne coffee break. There were 52 people for that affair. Then the Limings took us out to lunch at the Cowboy for Mother's Day / B'day dinner. Went back to Blgs for final nose check up and it was doing really good. The docs were very pleased with its progress. Me too! Gma and I made several trips to Cody to get ready for our BIG trip, Gma's hair cut, toe nail clipping, last minute shopping. Attended Ginnie's 91st B'Day party, a museum program on black footed ferrets with a live one for show and tell, Church breakfast for Confirmants, had a couple of visits from the fox, and paid Hdn bills at the first of the month.

Memorial Day we went to Worland in a snow storm, turned to rain. Rained all the time we were there, but we got coffee and apple bread at Bains. Also got to visit Randi and Audie with little Maddy. She is so cute and quite a show off. Was just spitting snow in Worland when we left right after putting out the flowers. Thought we'd better get back before we got too much snow in the Mtse hills. The closer we got to Mtse the clearer the weather. Was rather nice when we got home.

Back to Hdn to pay June bills. Then get back in time to pack for our trip. We left on Monday, 6th which gave us time to go to the Church breakfast on Sun, 5th.

The trip was great and weather was good. We did get into some sort of foggy/dust cloud. There were a few rain drops which just made mud with the wipers, even when I used the window spray. Was very windy too. This was in Utah around Provo. After we got out of that the wind was horrendous. At one construction area it was blowing the road cones over. These were the big cones, Some guy was desperately trying to pick them up and direct traffic around them. Was like doing barrel racing or slalom skiing. Stayed in Cedar City first night. Next day the temp at Baker was only 77. That was the highest across the desert. When we got over the hill to the ocean side temp got up to 84.

Ed got to come for pics and showed up Tuesday night after he got off work. Wednesday we all went to San Diego for the pics. Did very well getting together. Paynes came too. Andrew couldn't make it. He had to work until 5 and then came out and found he had a flat tire. Pictures went very well and then we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was a 45 minute wait for a table for 14. They don't take reservations there. We didn't all arrive at the same time, so the little people really only had to wait about 15 minutes which wasn't so bad. Food was really good though and we all had a good visit.

Thursday Gma and I slept in and Mary, Libby, & Charlie came to see where we were. We were at breakfast in the hotel by then, so they joined us. That evening we went to Gracie's pre-school graduation ceremony. She had a short piece to say and her class sang some songs. She did very well. She got a certificate for "imagination" Ed had to work Thurs so he left super early and we didn't get to see him again.

Friday we left and Mary came by herself to have breakfast with us at the hotel. Weather was great again. Saw a bad semi truck accident near Barstow. Don't know what happened, but there was part of a Fed-Ex trailer across the median and into the far left lane of the east bound lane. Accident happened on the West bound side. Traffic just had to merge from 4 lanes into 3 on our side. Tractors were cleaning up the median which was really smashed. That was our excitement for the day. Was 91 at Baker this time and finally got up to 98 in the Virgin Gorge. After we got over the hill out of St. George it started cooling down again. Still not bad for desert temps. Stayed at Nephi. Going through Provo we had to wait for some police directed traffic stops as there was some sort of Marathon Race going on. They started at that dam in Provo Canyon. Got home Saturday about 4:45pm. Had a tail wind in Utah this time. Saw some rain clouds, but they were never where we were. Just missed them at Thermop. Nice drive.

Stitches out !! YAY!!!

Got an appt to have my stitches taken out Apr 14th in Cody. That was a Thursday and they set it up at 10:15 a.m. so I could go on the Senior bus. Had a few things to pick up at WalMart so had time for that before the appt. John gave me his number so I could call when I was done and he'd come back and pick me up. Figured it would take about 45 minutes. We got to WalMart at 9:30 and I whipped down the aisles and got everything I needed in 15 minutes. John was done at same time so off we went to the clinic.

I got right in and the nurse gently took of the humongous bandage and hmmd about what I had on there. I explained it was a "drum" to keep the graft from collapsing and the Blgs docs said the nurses in Cody could take the stitches out. She called in another nurse and they both decided they weren't sure how to go about removing it. They had never seen one like that before. So she called the Blgs office and Wentzel was gone until May 2nd. Dr. Peters was also gone until May 2nd. I didn't know him, but he's in that same Blgs office. Then she called Dr Williams and he was out of his office but she left a message. Dr. Williams is the dermatologist that comes to Cody periodically from Billings. Didn't know him either. Anyway she said I might have to go home until they heard from Dr. Willams about how to go about this. I really didn't want to do that, because I had had that bandage on long enough and it wasn't going to stay put forever. Besides I was on the bus and wouldn't just be able to come back that same day. Hmmmm. They decided I definitely could not leave that on there until May 2nd. I told them Dr. Lund was the one that sewed it on and he was Dr. Wentzel's helper. So they tried Wentzel's office again for Lund and got him. YAY!!!! The nurse had a cell phone and Dr. Lund talked her through the procedure. Told her exactly which knot to look for and to cut. She did and it all came right off. She was impressed and said it was the easiest "bolster" she'd had to do. The stuffing up my nostril had a stitch around it as well, but by cutting the first knot it just came right out too. I could breathe!!!

Dr. Lund asked if she could e-mail him pictures from her phone and she could. I asked if she could e-mail them to me too. She did. After carefully and painstakingly taking out all the stitches she took the pics. Then she let me see in the mirror. Glad she did that or I would have thought I'd never be the same again after that bandage came off. She did put another rather large bandaid over the sore. I could change that one daily. Needed to clean it every day with peroxide and dry it, then put goopy salve on it until it quits scaling. It's an anti - bacterial salve.

This whole procedure took until 11:30. Just when I was going out of the nurse's room the receptionist came to tell me my ride was there. I hadn't called him yet. Figured they would be at lunch and I'd just wait for them to finish to come back and get me. But they all decided to wait for me. What a great bunch of people. John said he was afraid he'd be in the middle of lunch when I'd call, so they were really debating on how long to wait. Glad they did wait as I was starved.

After the first day I put on smaller bandaids, but they were still pretty big. Finally graduated to smaller ones mostly to keep from bumping it or itching it until it got some normal color back into it and really looks ever so much better. Took some time, but its looking good now, and feels better. I'm finally getting feeling back into the end of my nose. I can sort of blow it, but don't do it hard, just enough to loosen the stuff so I can wipe it out gently. I have sneezed a few times too, and it actually felt good to sneeze.

I go back to Billings for a check up on May 19th.