No Sleep

Many years ago when I moved into an apartment as a young adult I started sleeping with ear plugs being a very light sleeper. My Daddy used to say I could hear an ant crawl across the floor. The state park where we were camped Wednesday night must have sat right on the railroad track and we just didn't see the tracks when we parked. I swear the ground shook when the trains ran and then there was also the whistle. In reality the train track was over a half mile away. I slept better than Michael due to the ear plugs but he had a miserable night.

Thus our spot we chose for last night. When Michael checked us into the state park he accumulated literature about the area and located another little remote park. During our lunch break yesterday we drove out there--it is located about 10 miles from APQS headquarters. So, we were tucked into our quiet little spot--no trains, just a few cows across the road. When you live 22 miles from anything, you are used to the sound of owls, coyotes, wolves and elk, not the noise of traffic or trains.

Our maintenance classes have been great. APQS longarm quilting machines are made totally in the US--how many other companies can say that about their products?? Amy, the person in charge of maintenance for APQS is so knowledgeable about the machines it is said that you can put a phone up to your running machine and she can diagnosis your problem by sound only. We learned a tremendous amount and have more classes this morning.

Today in Montana the temperature is supposed to drop to 6 degrees with another eight inches of snow accumulating. This is early October, not January!

This nest looks like trouble!
Our quiet little spot for last night.

Education Day

I left Saylorville Lake this morning about 8:30 headed for the APQS Showroom in Des Moines. Dawn Cavanaugh is the Director of Education for the company and was teaching what she calls the advanced beginner class. I learned so much today and collected so many great ideas. There were five of us in the class and one of the women is the manager for the Las Vegas airport--what a job and she quilts on the side. Two of the women will be joining Michael and me in Carroll, Iowa at the factory tomorrow for the maintenance classes.

This quilt was pieced and quilted by Dawn and as you can see it won an award. It certainly deserved it!

After my poor brain had absorbed all it could, I thanked Dawn and headed for Carroll, Iowa, a drive of about 90 miles. Michael and Emmi had gone over earlier today with the motor home and found us a great spot on another lake--Swan Lake State Park. One little dog was sure glad to see me when I got there!

The countryside here is beautiful, fall colors, miles and miles of cornfields--I tried to take photos today, now remember I am driving and this is the best I got. The steeple is on one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen--very old, small white church.

We went into town to the local Mexican restaurant for dinner--not so great--but I didn't have to cook!

Off for more school tomorrow.

Windy and Cool

More rain during the night and today we had a little sun and a lot of wind and clouds. It is very windy!

This is our spot with a view of the lake. The fall colors are really starting to show here, I guess we won't have fall colors now in Montana with all that snow, the leaves will just fall off. In the town of Big Timber 22 miles from our house Nat, Mike's Dad only got a sprinkling of snow and we probably got over a foot at our house--go figure!
Emmi and I decided to take a walk this morning. Michael decided to exercise the fact that it was his birthday and do nothing! There is a walking path from this park all the way, over 20 miles into Des Moines. It was sunny when we walked and just nice--we met another couple out walking a 3 month old Irish Setter that had so much energy. Molly and Emmi enjoyed their time playing together while we visited. The couple left the corporate world 10 years ago and now does wedding photography for a living.

Isn't this the cutest??

After lunch we decided to try and find the APQS showroom where I am taking the quilting class tomorrow. And of course we also had to find the local Costco where we grabbed a quick lunch. Tomorrow I am taking the class and Michael is going to move the motor home over to Carroll, Iowa, about 70 miles, where we are taking the maintenance classes at the APQS factory. I will follow after I am finished with classes.

Tonight I am going to grill steaks for Michael's birthday dinner. Michael liked his new Makita cordless power screwdriver and impact wrench he got for his birthday.

Happy Birthday Michael

Fifteen years ago this month I married a person who totally changed this girl's life! Even my family shook their heads with wonder--here was a cowboy rancher from Montana and here was a former farm girl gone city-fied who hardly knew one end of a cow from another. Michael was the best thing that ever happened to me. I learned which end of the cow was up, how to ride a horse (sort of), how to be confident running huge farm equipment and just generally had a wonderful time.

Today is Michael's birthday and I wanted to wish him a wonderful birthday. He is the best and I wouldn't trade him for all the gold in the world!

Happy Birthday, sweetheart, I love you.

Snow on the East Boulder

One of the photos sent to us by our friends Jeff and Nancy--their home is about 1 mile from ours--looks like winter doesn't it??

We Are In Iowa

Rain woke us up about 7am or maybe it was Emmi howling that woke us up! On the way our dash defroster/heater fan had stopped working so Michael took it apart his morning without success. We left SD about 10am headed to Iowa.

We drove through field after field of corn--it is planted on every available square inch of ground. Traffic was heavier and we didn't chose the best road, either, two lane with very rough surfacing, lots of construction but we made it to our destination, Saylorville Lake State Park outside Des Moines about 3pm.

Corn fields and old barns.

Saylorville Lake State Park
Sailboat on Saylorville Lake.

Emmi learning to walk on a leash!

Emmi and me.

We all took a walk and then when we got back Michael took the fan motor apart and fixed it this time--is there anything he can't do??? And some one in this family (the mechanic) has a birthday tomorrow.

Rain falling on the roof as I type this--it is following us but at least we are not at home, friends Geoff and Nancy sent us photos of our snowstorm--looked like at least a foot of snow on the ground if not more!

Across South Dakota

It was slow going this morning. Michael got up about 4am and took Emmi outside--she was howling. The two of them then came back to bed and wonder of wonders we all went back to sleep not waking up until close to 7am. So we didn't leave the park until after 9. Oh, well.

We decided to leave the interstate and travel the back roads today and it was wonderful. We passed sunflower and corn fields, up and down the hills--it was a beautiful drive. Emmi was such a good girl, too. No potty accidents.

In a small SD town we paid $2.49 for fuel, the lowest we have paid in a long time, we are getting about 6.5 miles to the gallon.

About 6pm we arrived at a beautiful state park, Lewis and Clark State Recreational Area on Lewis and Clark Lake outside of Yankton, SD. Miles of walking trails which Emmi and I took advantage of while Michael got the setup done.

When's lunch Mom???

Not the greatest picture of the sunflowers taken out the window of the RV. When Sept. 11 happened, I was working and traveling--I happened to be in Fargo, ND. As no planes were flying, I decided to take my rental car and drive home, I remember driving through miles and miles of sunflower fields.

We will have a short 250 mile drive tomorrow to a COE park on Saylorville Lake outside Des Moines, Iowa.