The Big Event.....And so it Begins

Another busy week has passed us by. Everyday involved working a bit on the garage and a bit getting ready for The Big Event. On the garage front, we got the north (back) side all done and of the east side walls done where our enclosed trailer is going to be housed. We also got the first few panels of steel on the front done, until I ran out of J-Channel which brought that to a stop. 

So, we worked more on the inside putting OSB up on the walls. 

Trim around the garage doors and ridge cap on top of the roof rounded out the week. 

We got some new critters on the critter cam. 

Tanager and a Robin

Flicker

Two Robins and a Red Squirrel having a chat

This was out coolest capture of the week, a bobcat!

I got chastised again for not including dog pictures last week, so here is two of them. The first is pretty funny.... I'll give you one guess as to where the bunny rabbit is hiding...

Here is a picture of Dakota trying to act invisible as she knows she is not supposed to be on the couch! What is not invisible are the "fibers of love" she leaves behind. I am not exaggerating when I say Barb vacuums every day. Anyone who has owned a lab knows what I speak of. If you skip a day all of a sudden you have balls of fur scurrying around the house like they are trying to morph into another puppy.  

But all of that is not why you are still reading this post. You want to know what our big event is. Well, the day is here. Today eight travelers from far and wide are arriving here in South Dakota.  I do not even remember how it all started. Over a beer no doubt, someone must have said "You going to be around next fall? We were thinking of stopping by." or either Barb or I said, "Let's invite a few RV friends to the house next fall" Maybe one of the participants could shed some light on it as my memory is a little foggy. 

Next thing we knew 5 couples were going to converge on our South Dakota oasis in late September of 2025. Steve and Dianne from British Columbia, Dave and Leslie from Alberta, Dino and Lisa from Minnesota. Fulltime RV'ers Steve and Deb, and Harry and Vicki from wherever they happen to be at the moment were all coming to our house! You know how things go, a lot of great plans are made over a few cocktails never to be spoken of the next day. But this plan grew legs and momentum. Over the next few months Barb and I started planning, still not really thinking it was actually going to happen. What to do, what to eat, where to put people?!?! One of the couples (Steve and Dianne) had to back out, but the rest of the crew were making plans of their own, several even changing original plans and jumping through hoops to make it!

The six of us (couples, now 5) met years ago at separate times, but eventually all came together to become good friends. We met most of this crew in Quartzsite Arizona where we wintered in the desert for several years: Steve and Dianne (December of 2014), Harry and Vicki (January of 2016) and Dave and Leslie (January of 2018). Steve and Deb, we met in January of 2015 in Abbeville, Louisiana. A few short weeks later we met Dino and Lisa in Arcadia, Florida. 

You may recognize some of these "characters" from my tall tale; Harry the Dog Hater (and his lovely wife Vicki), Dino and Detective Oliveri (Also known as Onid and Asil in another tale), Chief Roche and his bubbly wife, Leslie and of course who can forget the Forensics Officer, Steve and his Dispatcher wife, Dianne. I think the only two who have not been subjected to my storytelling are Steve and Deb. That just might have to change soon!     

So when we were not working on the garage we were busy cleaning the house. Nothing like having a bunch of people over that makes you clean areas you have been ignoring for months! The garage has probably not been this clean since we moved in. Then as I was sitting on the couch, Barb goes upstairs. Next thing I know she appears in front of the upper-level window! She had opened the bedroom window up there, climbed out of the porch roof and started cleaning windows! 

The next day she asks me to bring in the big ladder and up she went!

Well, we are ready. People should start to arrive sometime after 12:00 today for which will no doubt be a week filled with fun, laughter and debauchery. Barb has a full menu planned as well: hikes, drives, events, games, bourbon, beer and cider tastings.  If I am able, I will give you a recap next weekend, that is if our livers survives......