You never know where you'll end up!

 Well, I see I left everyone hanging again!  I am sure you all lost a lot of sleep over our whereabouts, but you should expect this from me by now :-)......

We had planned to leave our boat in New Bern, N.C. where we knew it was a quick 10 minute ride to the airport.  What we didn't know and found out from Nelson Gainey, while we were anchored waiting for the winds to die down, was that the marina we had reservations at required that the boat be moved out into the river if a hurricane was coming.  Well that would be pretty darned inconvenient not to mention impossible since we would be in Michigan!!  The search began for a marina where we would not have to move the boat.  We found River Dunes. in Oriental, N.C.  They had a slip for us, and we felt comfortable enough to leave our "home" unattended here. Unfortunately it is 45 minutes from the airport!!
Thanks to some wonderful friends the stress of completely changing plans for our trip to Michigan and the logistics which became a nightmare between Plan A and Plan C were alleviated.

Sincere thanks don't seem to be enough ....to Nelson Gainey from S/V Last Boat who drove us to the airport and into Oriental for some shopping and dinner, and GeorgeAnn and Walter from M/V Miss GG, picked us up on our return. Boaters are surely the most giving and helpful people you will find anywhere!
When we arrived in Michigan our friend Denny Craig not only picked us up and returned us to the airport but let us use his car for the three weeks we were there!
We are so BLESSED to have these people to call friends....
Gary stayed in Petoskey to help his sisters take care of dad's house and all that goes with it and after a week I flew to Denver for a planned visit with daughter Dorian.  Wow what a time!  ....doing Yoga, hiking, visiting Denver's beautiful parks and a visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens which was showcasing a Chihuly exhibit. If you want to learn more about Dale Chihuly and his Blown glass sculptures  visit :    Dhttp://www.chihuly.com/learn
It was in a word extraordinary!!  I get chills just looking at the pictures again. Where did I go wrong??  Oh, to have even a glimmer of that kind on talent!

Chihuly Reflection amid the water lilies.

Glass Ferns in lily pond

Then to top this, Dorian, Todd and I took a 3 day trip to South Dakota.  She was talking to her friend Keri who said it wasn't very far to Mt. Rushmore and they decided "let's go"!   So off we went on a seven hour scenic drive through southern Wyoming and western South Dakota, was it worth it?  Oh yeah.  Three long days in the car but SO worth it!

A South Dakota "saw mill"

Abandoned Farm

On the  Black Hills National Forest Scenic Drive

Part of  'Needles' Road scenic Drive' 

                                      Lake Sylvan in Custer State Park which seemed to be in the            
                         middle of the Black Hills National Forest w.e hiked all around the lake it was                                                               beautiful a lake surrounded by rock and forest

                                                       Dorian and Todd at Lake Sylvan

This is a tunnel for cars!!!  A tour bus even goes through with an inch to spare on each side
according to lady at the welcome center!





We also went to Badlands National Park about an hour north of Rapid City, S.D.  It was like a 'mini' grand canyon at least to me who has never even seen the Grand Canyon!!  I loved it but I ooh and aah over the mountains every time I hit Denver so it is no surprise that the mountains and topography of this barren area would be of interest to me althouth it was a cloudy morning and it wasn't as beautiful as it would have been in the sun.





My Yogi daughter in nature

And her lazy mom enjoying the peace and beauty

Guess, you know who wasn't taking the warning!!!

                            

                          and there WERE rattlesnakes....although we were on a raised walkway when we                                          heard this one, you can see him if you look at the brown grass

We also saw these Mountain Goats in the middle of a camping area right off the road!  Go figure, we looked everywhere in the mountains and ended up seeing them next to a bunch of RV's!

                               A couple of Buffalo we spotted on our drive through the National Forest

Our last stop was Mt. Rushmore....now I can say "been there"......would like to go again when I get my RV  :-)   

                                            WHAT AN AWESOME TRIP IT WAS!!!

with one of our very best friends....Denny

When I flew back into Michigan Gary picked me up and we headed back to Denny's in Algonac for our last day.  I saw my brother, sister, sister in law and nieces and lots of friends that we only see every couple of years.  It was one of those fill you up trips.