Why Do You Blog?

This is a question that I think every bloggers ask themselves at least once a year if not more often. Why do I “waste” 2-3 hours every week or so putting myself through the stress of having to get a blog posted? I will tell you right now if that is your approach, blogging may not be for you. The answer to this question varies from blogger to blogger but we started blogging for two reasons; to maintain a personal diary of where we went and what we did and to keep our friends and family informed on what we are up to. It is a great way to maintain a historical record and pictures of our travels that we can refer to at a later date and there is no doubt that our friends and family await our posts with great anticipation (not) each week. I think for the most part this is working and why we continue to do it. I have thoughts that maybe someday our kids, grandkids and maybe great grandkids will read back long after we are gone and think “Wow, they were really cool”. By the way, in reality I think our kids are the last ones who read our blog. We will talk to them on the phone and they will ask questions that leave you with no doubt they have not been reading our posts.

There are definite pros and cons to blogging. The record of where we have been is great, we will often refer back to a post to remind ourselves about how blessed we are, what we did in a certain area or find a specific picture we are looking for. It can also be a curse as every once in a while I find myself stressing that I need to get a blog post out or do something “blogworthy”. Actually that can be a good thing as the fact that we blog has pushed us to do things we would not have normally done or push ourselves to “up” the adventure level a little. Something we have never regretted.

At some point you also ask yourself why do people read blogs and how can you get more readers. To answer this question I reflected on why we read them. When we first started reading blogs it was for the information gained from the writer. What to do in a certain location, sights, attractions and things to do when we travel to a new location. Blogs can be a great resource what to do in a certain area. What hikes are there? What are our “must see” attractions”? What are the best boondocking or campgrounds in the area? We have specific blogs we use for each of these topics. For example, we always look at Oh the Places They Go! whenever we want to know what the best hikes are in an area. These two always find the most incredible hikes in an area for their “lunch with a view”. Or we will look at Living The Dream or Down The Road if we want to know what breweries to hit in a certain area as these four always seem to have a beer in hand! Now that I think about it, this very well could be the reason some people read our blog!

The most thought provoking blog we read is Two Lanes of Freedom as it is well written and takes the reader on a journey as if you were actually there. I tend to avoid blogs that are political or negative, we get enough of that in real life and really don’t need to seek it out. But as time has progressed I find that we are reading other blogs to keep up with the day to day life of friends we have met on the road and live vicariously through them via their writing.

So what brought on this subject this week? Well, this week we might, just maybe hit 500,000 page views on our blog! A big deal…..to absolutely no one at all…… except a little ego boost for me. But it did make me think of why I put myself through this.

So what were this week’s blogworthy adventures? Well, our long awaited shed finally arrived! If you recall, we ordered this shed last September when Jim and Diana were visiting. It was originally to be delivered in late November so we could store our jeep and 4 wheeler in it when we traveled south for the winter. Well, November was delayed to December which was delayed until January. But then it got too cold and we had to head south and called and asked for them to wait until our return in April. Luckily our neighbor was nice enough to let us store the jeep and 4 wheeler in his shed for a few months. So when the weather warmed and we knew when we would be back in South Dakota Barb started calling asking for an early April delivery. Early April turned into late April when we finally got a call that it would be delivered and installed on April 25^th between noon and 5pm. Woohoo, we had a date!

Then we got a call on the 23^rd saying it would be delivered and installed the next day between 7am and noon. The next day we stayed home watching the driveway….8:00, 10:00, noon….then we got a phone call that they would not arrive to the next day. So we went about doing our thing and what pulls into the driveway at 5pm? Yup, our shed!

Call it 5 months late or a day early, it has finally arrived!

They worked until 8:00 when it got to dark but they got the frame up.

After laying it out they started putting it together

Three hours later the frame was up

The next day they worked 13 hours straight from 7am to 8pm with only an hour break but they got it done!

15 hours later, we have a shed!

Barb has not been out turkey hunting again. Since her last adventure the turkeys have been pretty much nonexistent. Maybe they got wise to her intentions and headed the other direction. The deer on the other hand have been everywhere! They are taking advantage of the lush green grass and have been around almost constantly. We counted 13 at one time Thursday night after coming home from dinner. They are getting really used to our presence just watching us from a safe distance as we would working around the yard. We thought that was pretty cool until we got a picture from the Jordan’s who had to “one up” our deer tales with a tale of their own.

Jim was outside working when a group of curious deer started getting closer and closer to him. Jim turned around to face them and eventually one walked right up and smelled his hand!

Jim Jordan, the Deer Whisperer!

But Barb has been “hunting” so to speak as she continues to get the prairie dog population under control. In fact she made quite the impression on the neighbors one day they will not soon forget. I was over at their place next door helping Doug put siding their cabin when we notice their young son looking over at our property with a look of horror on his face. That is when we noticed that Barb has taken this whole prairie dog thing to a new level when we saw her running through the prairie with a shovel over her head chasing, you guessed it, a prairie dog! I have to say, I was impressed with her skills, the prairie dog would weave left and she would go left, the prairie dog would dodge right and she was right on top of him. I know you are all wondering if she got it. I will leave out the details but will say, if you are near Barb when she has a shovel in her hand, don’t piss her off, her aim is very accurate!

Don't mess with Barb when she is carrying a shovel!

We have been continuing to explore the area restaurants taking our neighbors Doug and Lisa to Wooley’s in Hot Springs as a thank you for letting us use their shed. We also went to Mac’s in Custer and our Thursday night dinner with the gang was at Buglin Bull. This week Vicki and Harry, the Jordan’s were able to attend along with Rudee, Phil, Sue and Larry.

We got together with Vicki, Harry, Jim and Brenda once again as we hosted a happy hour at our place Saturday. It was a bit windy but the temps were up in the 60’s so we were able to enjoy a nice afternoon of burgers and beer. Vicki and Harry were able to bring their two dogs so everyone had a great time visiting and running around. Well, Daisy, Sadie and Buster had a good time, Dakota, not so much.....

We went to get doctor check ups the other day. We found a doctor in Hill City that was covered under our medical plan and bonus, it was the one that Phil and Rudee recommended! It had been a few years since I have been in and with the exception of my cholesterol he said I was an exceptional example of a human being.....well maybe I am stretching the truth a little.  Barb has had vertigo for since our Alaska trip 2016 so this doctor sent her to a physical therapist who had her do some movements with her head that he said would help. She returned home that day sicker and dizzier than she has ever been. She said the treatment was horrible and described how dizzy and nauseous she got as the therapist manipulated her head. Since that session did not work she was asked to return two days later. I drove her to this treatment in case she experienced the same results but when she walked out 45 minutes later she was all smiles and said she was cured! She is now able to lay on her left side for the first time in almost 2 years!

The biggest surprise of the week was when Kevin arrived from Wisconsin with his girlfriend Cheryl. It was great to finally meet her. We had heard a lot about her from Kevin but this is the first time we had the opportunity to meet face to face. We hung out for two days taking a drive through Custer State Park where we got some great wildlife pictures.

This is the first Mountain Goat we have seen since we have been here

Herd of elk hanging out on a hill side

They released the burros 4 days ago after they recovered from injuries sustained from the recent fire. 3 burros suffered fatal injuries while the remaining 6 were burned. After many weeks of rehabilitation they (along with 2 that were previously sold and donated back to the park) were back wandering and enjoying the green grass. 

You could tell a few of the burros were still recovering from their burns

While we were on this adventure we received a text from the Jordan's saying their rig were getting pounded with hail. For those of you who are familiar with this area, you know that hail is very common and evident in all the dented vehicles and steel buildings. Our building did not sustain any damage but I fear it is just a matter of time.  

We also went into Keystone where we went to dinner at Guadalajara Mexican restaurant. We were joined by Hill City friends Richard and Cheryl we had a great time over a great meal and great conversation.

But the biggest surprise of the weekend was when Kevin and Cheryl returned from walking his property. We never realized it but there are precious stones on his property but when they returned Cheryl had a new diamond on her left hand! Congrats guys!

Thanks to everyone who reads this and got us to 500,000! Our next goal is 100 followers, we are at 65 right now so we have a ways to go. Well, this pretty much wraps our first visit to South Dakota as we head 8 hours north to the Finken/Sobieck farm for the next month to visit and assist them with their spring planting activities!