Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 19

All God's Creatures - Dakota Vacation blog post #5

I’dbeen blogging about our vacation to the Dakotas in chronological order, but Ithought I needed to veer off the tracks for this one. We saw such a long listof wildlife on this trip that I couldn’t wait any longer to share them all.

Atour first stop at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the group of people next tous at this overlook kept talking about the lone buffalo they saw. I took apicture of the area where they described him as standing, but I never did seehim.

Untillater, when I cropped the picture on my laptop. We saw lots more buffalo overthe next couple of days, so I’ll bore you with more pictures of them later. 

Thefirst wildlife we saw, though, was actually earlier in the day. We were soexcited to see pronghorn antelope out in a field. Little did we know we wouldsee dozens more.

Samewith prairie dogs.

We saw a fair number of mule deer too.

At first I thought this was a white-tailed deer because her coloring was like the ones we have back home and the mule deer we’d seen were so grey. But look at those ears.

Here is the white-tailed deer we saw. Don’t know why I couldn’t get her in focus. Probably coz my camera didn’t care because I’ve taken hundreds of pictures of these deer in my own backyard.

A rabbit. We have a half-tame rabbit in my yard at home too. 

A stupid turkey. Again, like, I never see them at home. But I’m counting everyone here.

Canadian geese. About the last place I’d expect to see a pair of them. 

Fish in a stream. I’m thinking brook trout.

A turtle. Again, not that I was looking for one.

And here are my most prized finds. Fourth most exciting sighting – feral horses in Theodore Roosevelt Park.

In third place, a somewhat mangy (and radio-collared) bighorn sheep along the side of the road.

Sweet number two is this tiny mule deer fawn. We’d just seen a doe running away from the road and didn’t think too much of it. Then we drove past something brown in the ditch. I told Hubby to slowly back up and there was the precious little baby. 

Number one best find. Driving on a dirt road in Custer State Park, a vehicle was stopped ahead of us, definitely looking at something. So, just like the first picture of the buffalo, I started snapping pictures of I didn’t know what. I did capture them, but it was too blurry when zoomed in.

We finally asked the people what they were looking at. And once they told us what we were looking for and where, I was able to zoom in my camera and capture the beauties.

 Never thought we’d see any elk. We also saw a muskrat the first day and a pheasant on another day. Oh, and Hubby reminded me that we saw vultures circling one day. But I'm not going to count the robins and other common birds we saw. 

That makes – what? – 16 different species? Not bad, not bad at all. 

Another Prayer Walk

Asyou go on your way, may God go with you. May He go before you to show you theway; May He go behind you to encourage you; Beside you to be your friend; Aboveyou to watch over you; And within you to give you peace. In the name of the Father,the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

 Anotherprayer walk at the Chapel in the Hills in Rapid City, SD. 

 

Some Enchanted Highway – Dakota Vacation blog post #4

 Drivingwest on I-94, a little over an hour past Bismarck, North Dakota, you’ll seethis a group of geese flying over the grassland. These aren’t any geese,however, they set the Guinness World Record for largest scrap metal sculpture.  And they are only the beginning, if you take exit 74 south, through Gladstone and all the way to Regent, this is what you’ll discover. 

Deer Crossing 

Tin Family 

Teddy Roosevelt Rides Again 

Pheasants on the Prairie 

Sir Albert slaying the dragon, just outside the doors of the Enchanted Castle 

Fisherman's Dream 
One of my favorites on the highway, but very busy 

Grasshoppers
This one was my favorite. Easy to touch and interact with and full of photo oppurtunities

Fromthe Enchanted Highway website: Local artist Gary Greff conceived of theproject and began building it in 1989, and continues to maintain thesculptures. He took inspiration from local wildlife and historical figures,including Theodore Roosevelt. Greff’s intention was to revive his hometown ofRegent, after decades of population and economy decline.

Two Roadside Behemoths – Dakota Vacation Blog post #3

          The second day of our road trip to the Dakotas, we wanted to get an early start. We had four hundred miles to cover that day and a whole long list of things I wanted to see.

          But stopping at 7:30 in the morning tosee the World’s Largest Buffalo Monument, means you’re gonna have the rising sunin the way. 

           Though he was built in Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1959, he only received his name – Dakota Thunder – in 2010.  

        And what huge bison would be standing out in the middle of nowhere without having a museum within sight.   

Which was of course closed due to the early morning.   
       And the frontier village. There was one of these in probably 75% of the towns we drove past on the freeway. 
Down Interstate 94 from Jamestown some 130 miles is New Salem.   And Salem Sue, the largest statue of a Holstein cow in the world.
The brochure we picked up told the story of how she came to be.
          But the thing that bugged this Dairy State native is that I didn’t see a single Holstein in the entire state of North Dakota. All I saw were herds of beef cattle.
  

         So, as amazing as Salem Sue was, Ileft her hillside shaking my head in confusion. 

          Here’s the facts about these twobehemoths.  

 

DakotaThunder – 60 tons         Salem Sue – 6 tons

                    26feet tall                       38 feet tall

                    Builtin 1959                   Built in 1974

                    Madeof concrete             Made of fiberglass

God hears our prayers

 
And just as it looks like this bunny hears your voice . . .  . . . God hears your voice raised in prayer.  These pictures (even the bunny!) were all taken along the prayer walk at the Chapel in the Hills in Rapid City, South Dakota, where we went to the Saturday night service two weeks ago. 
God is good. He hears our every prayer. 

Blowing Along the Freeway - Dakota Vacation Blog Post 2

        Maybe everyone has this goal on vacation – to take a picture of each “Welcometo our state” sign as they pass into the next state. I was shooting for that,except that we were on a two-lane state highway when we passed into Minnesota.So, all I got was the “Welcome to Taylor Falls” sign.

        Shortly after that, we had our first live wildlife sighting. We had lost count of how many lifeless white-tail deer we had seen on the side of the road. It was pretty remarkable, and not to jump forward, but we didn’t see any road kill after we got through Wisconsin and Minnesota.

        Anyway, we did see a muskrat trucking along the side of the road, but he was moving fast, and I didn’t get a picture. You’ll have to believe me. Besides keeping track of those “Welcome” signs, we kept track of all the wildlife we saw.  

        But back on the road that first day of vacation.  

        We were impressed by the unexpected beauty along the freeway in North Dakota. We had anticipated it to be flat, brown, and barren, like South Dakota, but it was a pleasant surprise. Those pictures will be coming to my blog another day.   

        As we crossed through the state, the truly remarkable thing was the relentless wind. It started blowing mid-afternoon, and at times, it kicked up mini dust storms.  

        Then suddenly, we’d have twenty or so drops of rain, like the wind was blowing precipitation right out of non-rain clouds.

        The only scary incident was when a gust of wind caught a semi we were passing. It blew momentarily into our lane, but Hubby was able to avoid a collision.

        When we arrived at our hotel in Jamestown, we realized just how bad the wind was as we made our way from the car to the lobby door. Had either of us been wearing our superhero capes, we would have been blown to Oz.
 

what happens when you cram too much into 16 days

 TodayI was going to start posting pictures and stories from our vacation to the Dakotaslast week, but then I wrote a blurb on Facebook about how stressful the lasttwo weeks have been. Many people took that as my life completely falling apart.In reality, it was just overbooked. Here is what a spreadsheet might look like:

 

          Monday, June 3, 9:00 – low stress –phone preop visit for Hubby’s knee replacement on June 17. Oh, except that theydidn’t call until around 10:30 for this phone appointment

          Monday, June 3, 4:00 – low stress –Hubby’s physical therapy appt so he knows what to expect following surgery

          Tuesday, June 4, 9:30 – low stress –Hubby’s radiology appt for a CT of his leg prior to surgery

          Tuesday, June 4, 12:30 – slightly morestress – Hubby took the car to the dealer for an oil change and tire rotation,and of course they found other things to replace and it took longer thanexpected

          Tuesday, June 4, 4:00 – low stress –Hubby had to be back in town for his preop appt with his primary care provider

          Tuesday, June 4, all day – higher stress,because I make everything more stressful than need be – I cleaned house allday, washed clothes, and packed

          Wednesday, June 5, 7:00 am – medium stress– We wanted to leave for our drive to North Dakota, but were half an hour lategetting going due to some family drama, but where would we be without family

          Wednesday, June 5 through Thursday,June 13 – up and down stress – sometimes I wonder why anyone even takesvacations. Sure, you have a good time in the long run, but there’s the packingand traveling and getting lost, running into sketchy weather and road construction,unpacking, etc. Overall, though, yes, we had a very good time, and I will shareall about that in the coming weeks.

          Friday, June 14, 11:00 – low stress – finalcall to Hubby’s surgeon to get a time for Monday’s surgery. The rest of the daymostly spent washing clothes.

          Saturday, June 15 – low stress – more washingclothes and some house cleaning, while Hubby visited a friend and his aunt

          Sunday, June 16 – should have been nostress, but what would I do with no stress – I surprised Hubby by inviting thekids over for dinner for Fathers Day, but there was still stuff to do to get ready for hissurgery

          Monday, June 17 – massive stress – Youknow the saying: any surgery can be routine, unless you’re the one beingoperated on, then it’s a major surgery. Right?

          So Hubby got his knee replaced and itall sounded like it would be simple and everything did turn out all right, butit still turned out to be one of the longest days of my life

          Tuesday, June 18 – more stress – Let’sjust say it was another one of the longest days of my life. No matter what theytell you, knee replacement surgery is not for sissies and the patient’s spousebetter not be a sissy either. And I wouldn’t recommend going on a nine-dayvacation just before surgery.

Butwe are moving on and each day things will go smoother. And now you just can’twait to hear about that trip, right? I’m anxious to relive it myself.

The Challenge

I have the strength toface all conditions by the power that Christ gives me. (Philippians 4:13, GoodNews Translation)

I shared the same verse last Sunday, but today, Ithought I’d explain why it popped up on my radar last week.

We were on vacation in the Dakotas for several days (Inever post when I am gone coz it feels like announcing to the world, “Come robme; I’m not home"). On our second day on the road, we drove through the southernloop of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. There were many places to pull overto take in the scenic views and even a few trails going off into thewilderness.

At one such pull-off, a short trail led up to a bluff.Sixteen months ago, I would have charged up it without giving it a thought. Butfor the last nearly year and a half, I have walked gingerly wherever I went andeven resorted to using a cane when I was not sure of myself.

It really wasn’t that much of a slope, and the trailwasn’t even that narrow. But I still hesitated.

“Is this a smart move for me to take? There’s nothingto grab onto if I lose my balance or get a sharp pain in my back. I wouldn’thave the strength to help myself. I’m all alone out here.”

But there was the voice in my head—the other voice,the one that only encourages me: “Jesus will walk beside you up that hill andgive you the strength and confidence you need.”

When I got back to the car, feeling triumphant, Iasked Hubby if he wondered what had happened to me. I didn’t think he could seeme, but he assured me he had watched my every move.

Just like Jesus watched my every move, too.

Dakota Vacation Selfies - Blog Post 1

A week ago, Wednesday, June 5, we pulledout of the driveway for our nine-day vacation to the Dakotas and back. Thefirst picture shows that it was rainy that morning, but the forecast promisedimproved weather.

We just got home yesterday afternoon, so I am still processing the pictures and the memories. Today, I thought I'd post, in no particular order, all the awful selfies we took.

We don't seem to smile much, do we? 


Here's the final picture of the trip. The poor car almost got eaten up by bugs on the 2,300-mile drive. In addition to washing clothes today, I need to wash our faithful mode of transportation.  



 

No Challenge Too Great

I can do all thingsthrough Christ who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)

I was doing something this past week which wouldn’thave been a big deal sixteen months ago. But as you know, since April 1 of lastyear, I have been defeated and broken in more ways than one.

But there I was that day last week, wondering if I wasup to the physical challenge that I put in front of me, when the above versecame into my head. I knew this verse, I’d heard it many times and in manyplaces. So where was it over the past sixteen months? I don’t know. Butsuddenly there it was and there I was meeting what should have been a minortask, had I been as physically fit as I had been in the past.

God is good and it is only through the strength ofJesus Christ that I have made it this far.

More next week about this teeny challenge. For today,I look at that picture above, and think, was that really me? Talk about achallenge, climbing and hiking miles through Hell’s Gate in Kenya, seven yearsago. I couldn’t do that now. Or could I?