Sasquatch!

Big Foot, Yeti, Wendigo, Skunk Ape, Yowie, Almas..... These are just a few of the names sasquatch are known as across the world. Some say they are mythical creatures that wander the large expanses of forest in Pacific Northwest. The Yowie is said to be an ape like hominid that wanders the outback of Australia and the Skunk Ape is said to be a scary, huge creature with a horrible stench that resides in the swamplands of Florida. Thousands have searched high and low trying to secure factual evidence that they do indeed exist. What is a little known fact is that there have been reported sightings right here in the Black Hills and we have the long awaited photographic evidence! I am not sure exactly which species we captured this image of but based on the lingering stench we think it must be a Skunk Ape that migrated north from Florida for the summer,

We put up several trail cameras throughout the property to see what kind of creatures are roaming the area. So far we have gotten pictures of deer, turkey, squirrels, birds, a badger, coyote, antelope and even a bob cat but never in a million years would I have guessed that we would capture this rare image. Luckily we had set our cameras to take night shots as these elusive creatures are known to be mainly nocturnal and very hard to photograph. As a matter of fact, as far as I know it is the first sighting in South Dakota!  Well, where is the picture you ask? You will have to wait until the end of this post to find out.....

In the meantime we had more visitors this week! With the departure of Bob and Deanne we had just hours to prepare for our next guests. Dino and Lisa had made the trek from Fergus Falls Minnesota to spend a few days with us. We also received a message that fellow fulltime RV’er and friend Richard was going to be in the area for a few days so he too joined us filling the J Bar B to capacity.

Or rig to the left, Dino and Lisa in the center with Richard's rig in the back

We had 4 days of visiting intermixed with work and adventures such as the hike mentioned in our last post. Since Dino and Lisa do not have solar, we were the ever accommodating hosts and moved our rig so they could plug in. We moved our rig onto our house pad and were happy to find that it will indeed fit into the area we had marked out for the garage. Richard found a somewhat level spot along the west fence line.

We got out to dinner at the Hitchrail in Pringle with the entire group as well as the Jordans.

The gang out for dinner!

And checked another brewery off our Black Hills Brewery Tour. We now have 4 down and 6 to go. The Highway 79 Brewery is located about 5 miles outside of Hot Springs and boasts that they have 31 taps (18 were active). They also have a pretty extensive food menu so you could plan a meal with your visit. With the bank thermometer in town reading 104, we were more interested in the beer! 

Barb, Lisa and I each got a flight while Dino opted for a pint of the Lemon Squeezie. Since it was so hot we pretty much tried their lighter, more refreshing varieties. My favorite was the Blood Orange Cider and the Highway 79 Beachball. 

Working on another goal, Barb talked Dino and Lisa into a bike ride along the Mickelson trail. Barb’s long term goal is to bike the entire 109 miles of the trail from Deadwood to Edgemont. Certainly not all in one day and preferably in a manner that is all downhill. So I dropped them off at the White Elephant Trailhead a few miles north of Pringle and they biked the 12 or so miles home. They returned an hour and a half later, Barb and Dino were whooped while Lisa looked like she was ready to go another 12 miles. 

Ready to bike the Michelson!

Barb and Lisa headed down the trail

Meanwhile Richard and I spent several hours working on the plumbing on our build site. It was nice to have some help getting a good chunk of it done. We would have gotten more done but the 3+”’s of rain we received the past few days really put a damper on the progress.

Richard and I doing some plumbing!

I know many of you are wondering if I got my spotting scope last weekend for Father's Day. I ran to the mailbox each day and anxiously watched for the UPS truck all week to see if it would be delivered and finally a package came but it was way too small to be a spotting scope. I could not imagine what she bought me! Barb promptly took the camera from my hands and said "oh cool, my new camera is here". It was then I came to realize that it must be "opposite year" as Barb ordered me a new camera for Mother's Day and she ordered herself  one for Father's Day. She got herself a SonyHX80. It is small and compact which is the key criteria she was looking for. So the wait continues for the spotting scope. Perhaps a Go Fund Me page is in order?????

 Kevin drove back out with 4 friends to try and get his concrete pad in. The plan was to do the final grade, get the foam laid and put in the in-floor heat then pour ½ of the pad the first day and then pour the second ½ the next day. Everything was going great, we were on schedule for a 2:00 pour Tuesday afternoon when it started raining and we were done for the day. The rain continued for two days while they were here but we managed to dodge the storms and get everything in and were just waiting for the rain to stop long enough to get the pour in.

Foam down, in-floor heat down, ready for concrete!

They had to stay an extra day but it finally stopped raining Thursday morning and the four trucks started rolling in about 10:00. 2 1/2 fast and furious hours later the concrete was down and the final  touches were being up on.

Truck #3 pour while truck #4 is waiting in the background

All done!

Thursday night we went out with Phil and Rudee who had a couple extra passes for a play at the Black Hills Playhouse located in Custer State Park, The play was called "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and was hilarious! We ran into Vicki and Harry there as well who were taking advantage of the free passes as a perk from their job as well.

The stage before the show

Last but certainly not least, Dino must have taken offense to my last post detailing our Sunday Gulch hike and posted his own alternative version of the facts on his view of the hike and his visit here. I think the heat must have gotten to him as he certainly seems delusional…. You be the judge…..

Well, here it is. We check our trail cameras once a week to see what is on them and imagine our surprise when we found the first verified picture of a mating pair of Skunk Apes in South Dakota, I am just glad we did not catch them in the act!

The female even has Mickey Mouse on her shirt, evidence they are from Florida