We Survived!

I tentatively slide the curtain back two inches and peeked out the window. "Are they still there?", Barb asked? "They're both still there! Do they not know what Saturday is departure day means?", I replied. 

What started out as a well-meaning gathering of a few friends ending in what some might define as squatting requiring law enforcement intervention. Luckily, it did not come to that, but we thought it might! Let me start at the beginning....

The first to arrive were Harry and Vicki (and Buster) fresh off a work camping stint in the Oregon wilderness. Being the first and the elder statesman of the group, they got the premiere spot with full hookup. 

Shortly after that Dino and Lisa arrived. Due to Dino's alleged mobility issues, he got the handicapped spot right next to the house. 

Next up was Steve and Debbie, fresh in from California, got the spot in front of Harry and Vicki. 

We all met up in the gazebo where we caught up and waited for our last attendees, Dave and Leslie all the way from the Edmonton area of Alberta. They are currently between rigs and will be spending the week in our camper in the garage. 

Dave and Leslie arrived about 7pm and finally, after a year of planning, the gang was all here! (except for Steve and Dianne (insert sad face))

The week was a whirlwind of laughter, activities and food, oh God, the food. We should have weighed ourselves before and after. Actually, two people did and they gained 5 and 6 pounds respectively.  We had burgers and potato salad one night, a 20-hour smoked pulled pork another. Steaks yet another, taco Thursday and we went out for ribs another night. 

Dice games were played every night with Dino and Leslie winning Shake-a-day once each. 

Shake-a-day was followed each day by several games of Shut The Box where the winner got to choose the shot for the loser. I do not think Harry will be forgetting that 120 proof Evan Williams any time soon. 

We document the high and low record scores on the back of our box. Dino made the back when he recorded our first ever "0" on our box! Vicki also made the back with the 2nd highest losing score resulting in a shot of some tasty beverage. 

We also had a bracketed cornhole tournament with random partners. Lisa and I, Dino and Barb, Steve and Vicki, Harry and Debbie, and Dave and Leslie. 

The loser from each game had to spin The Wheel of Death which determines which shot they had to take. 

Dino and Barb then had to square off for the ultimate championship, which (drumroll....) Barb won! What did she win you ask? The Golden (black actually) Shepards Hook! Long story, it goes back several years when we were all in Arizona and Harry, wanting to shed some weight from his rig, asked the group, "Anyone want a Shepard's hook?". Much to Dave's dismay Leslie said she wanted it, which they carried around for years never using it. 

As you might have guessed, there was a lot of drinking going on. We had bourbon tastings every night. I think over the course of the week we tested 30+ different bourbons. There were also beer and cider tastings and a night where the girls made various "layered" drinks.

Then there was the Brewery Tour; Cohort, Prairie Dog, Lost Cabin, Mount Rushmore breweries. 

But it was not all eating and drinking (just mostly), we did get out on a couple of hikes and adventures. We hiked the Sylvan Lake trail in Custer State Park. That is everyone but TOCG (The Old Cripple Guy) who sat at a picnic table scaring anyone who walked by him. Come to think of it, Harry turned around halfway around the lake too, so I am sure he scared a few people as well. 

When we came back we saw that these two unsuspecting girls had sat down at Dino's picnic table. They will probably never know how close they were to the terror they would have subjected themselves to had they actually conversed with him!

On another day, Dave, Leslie and Debbie hiked Hells Canyon. The rest of us opted for an "Easy" one-mile loop in Wind Cave National Park. I put quotes around the word Easy as that is what I told the group it was. Apparently, my definition of "Easy" is not the same as some others as about halfway through the hike I received a message from Dino (who was about 3/4 of a mile behind me) on my phone with this definition... Along our way he came across a sign indicating that the hike was not quite as easy as I laid it out to be. 

Dino was definitely not singing, he was not even talking, but there was a lot of grumbling. Thankfully most of us were so far ahead of him that we did not have to listen to him. Lisa took on for the team and stayed back with the geriatrics in case they needed assistance like stepping over a 2" rock or maybe changing Harry's diaper.  Notice the medical boot on Dino's right leg. He had more comfort and support than the rest of us, so he had no reason to complain. 

But the 10 of us did make it to Mount Rushmore when we jumped in two vehicles and drove 45 minutes to the memorial. We had not been there in years and now wonder why we do not go more often. 

We then drove Iron Mountain Road on the way back. What a awesome drive!

Our last and biggest adventure of the week was the group attending the 60th annual Custer State Park Buffalo Round Up. The event itself is pretty cool, the hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic and the crowds, not so much. 

We joined Merrell, Vicki and Dan on this adventure. They have been coming for years and have the event nailed down. After getting there, we set up tables, chairs and had bloody Mary's. Mimosas and screwdrivers. 

When it was getting close to the round up time we jumped on the shuttle and went to the viewing area. An hour later the buffalo crested the hill and made their way to the corral area!

Steve had an unobstructed view and took a couple of very good videos.....

Most evenings were spent out in the gazebo for happy hour. Dan and Bonnie joined us one evening.

 Dino was as happy as a 10-year-old on Christmas day while playing with his remote-controlled beer cooler so he did not have to get up to get another beer

Buster and Zoey ran and ran and ran. I bet he has not played like that in years. Their playing kept the deer and turkey away, but when they weren't the deer were plentiful. You can see a few over Harry's shoulder in the picture below....

One night, Lisa, a stylist in a previous life, gave me a much-needed haircut. Little did I know what I was in for. Would you let this woman stand behind you with a sharp object? Maybe I was just tired of entertaining all week and wanted to end it all. But she did a good job. When she was done Dino came over to "brush" the loose hair off my back.....with his chest!

Debbie left on Thursday morning. She was flying back to California to attend her daughter's graduation from nursing school and a baby shower for her son. That left poor Steve all alone. Dino must have felt sorry for him as they soon started hanging out like they were long lost high school buddies; staying up til the wee hours of the morning making a ruckus. One morning I walked out to Steve's camper and found this....Apparently, Dino was teaching him how to consume mass quantities of beer!

Not sure what that sewer hose into the bucket it all about, maybe that's how they do it out Cal-e-forn-a way.

Dave and Leslie pulled out Friday morning, while Harry and Vicki pulled out Saturday morning (like everyone was supposed to).

Steve and Dino quickly moved their campers to where Vicki and Harry were. They obviously wanted to be closer together. They both backed up so their backdoors were just feet from each other. 

Then they started to refer to each other as "backdoor buddies".  Now, some might raise an eyebrow to that term, but I knew it was just because of the position of their campers. Until.......

Until he started wearing these kneepads everywhere. I am not sure what that was all about! They were inseparable, everywhere Steve was Dino was right there with him. Except when Dino was resting, he was probably dreaming about Steve.....

Sunday morning Lisa had finally had enough and said, "We are leaving." "Do we have to?", Dino responded. So, they started packing up. A couple hours later they came back in to say goodbye and Dino got one last hug from Steve. 

And they were off..... or were they??? Dino came back in...."Our truck won't start". I am pretty sure he left the lights on last night on purpose to drain the battery. I jumped out of my chair, got in our truck and jumped Dino's truck before he could come up with another excuse. 

Then they were off!

Our last visitor left about 3:30pm when Debbie called Steve and told him he needed to leave. So off to the to the airport to pick up Debbie before they headed back to California.

As Steve pulled out of the drive, Barb and I headed back inside and collapsed on the couch. Exhausted, but happy it went so well. We are going to do absolutely nothing for the next day or so. We just hope that Steve and Dino are really gone and not simply parked over the hill where we cannot see them!

If you want to read Dino's version of the week, which I am sure will be filled with fabrications and lies, you can do so here.