Sunday, June 17, 2018

Thankful...

I am thankful for many people in my life.  One of them is Christina, my friend from Denmark.  We became friends when she was a foreign exchange student and have remained good friends for 30 years.  She has come to visit me four times and my husband and I were her guests in Denmark.  This year she came out with her sister and we went on an adventure to Las Vegas.


We didn't just stay in Las Vegas we rented a car and went to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon.  We wanted to see everything we could while on our trip.  
 The Hoover Dam was on our agenda.  We almost crashed while driving over the dam.  We had seen the movie "Fools Rush In," so we made a wish and threw coins over the edge while crossing the dam.  Then we realized there was actually a walking path on the other side. We are very hopeful we didn't hit any tourists.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

 There is a running joke in my family about what cows are more content, South Dakota cows or Wyoming cows.  I am here to tell you Arizona cows are not content.  I have no idea what those poor creatures eat.  We never saw them eating, just trying to stay in the shade on a 117 degree day.
 The Grand Canyon was certainly Grand.  In many places you could not see to the bottom.   Pictures will never do it justice.  



 We also visited the Joshua Tree National Forest.  We were astounded at the harshness of the land around us.  The temperatures were well above 100 degrees and the only water source we saw was the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  It has to be a difficult place to live.  Luckily there was water at the hotel pool.

We enjoyed the trip to the desert and Las Vegas, but I was happy to be back in familiar territory when we returned to Deadwood. We traded in dry desert for lush forest.   I did make a promise to myself that I would never complain about how dry it is in the hills.   The average rainfall in Las Vegas is 4.17 inches a year.  According to Google our average rainfall is 28.4 a year.  I'll take that any day.  We still had several days of their visit left and it was my turn to play tour guide.   I took them down Spearfish Canyon and then to Devil's Tower.  In all of Christina's visits she had yet to see the tower.  It seems like there is always somewhere new to take guests when they visit.  The next two photos are from Spearfish Canyon and Devil's Tower needs no introduction.  It was the perfect day for a trip as it was a nice comfortable 85 degrees.



Mornings at our cabin were spent on the porch and we enjoyed an evening of pool.  We also toured Deadwood and on the way to the airport we squeezed in a trip to Mount Rushmore.  I don't have any photos of that because I was driving.  We saw it for a few minutes, before a rainy fog covered the faces from sight.  

I am forever grateful that fate sent Christina to our hometown when she came to America.  It has forged a friendship that has lasted years and extended to her family and mine.   It was a great visit and life is grand.  Do you have a friendship that has lasted a long time?

8 comments:

  1. What a great reunion and road trip. No, I don't have friends from my youth. I do have some from adulthood that have lasted that long.

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  2. Wow, just wow! What a fantastic trip! I was at the Grand Canyon when I was in the 5th grade, and I remember it, but would love to go again and take our kids! You have lots of beauty in your area too...so much to see...so little time!
    And maybe, just maybe, someone on that walking path found your coins and felt like it was their lucky day! :)

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  3. What and exciting friend to share with. I love your pictures and enjoy visiting many places I had seen before.Those AZ cows get real wild sometimes, frantic on the range. LOLWorking with a community garden that is huge as a strawboss.Planted another 50 tomatoes and lots of flowers all donated.

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  4. What a fabulous trip and tour around the Black Hills. You are blessed to have such a friendship.

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  5. What a wonderful trip! I loved seeing what is in your neck of the woods. That waterfall and the green mountains are so nice. You got to experience more of our kind of weather here with us we receive about 5 inches of rain in a year. We will hit those temps this week too. I cracked up about the cows. Yes, poor things just spend time trying to stay cool. Its so nice you have a friend like that. Your cabin looks so nice and homey. I love the lights on the porch. Thank you so much for sharing.

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  6. So glad you had a nice visit. Also, you made me look - our average rainfall is 27.1" and snowfall 68.1".

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  7. I have a college friend who lives in a cabin on top of a mountain... 😘

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Sit on my porch and let's chat. Due to the amount of spam I am closing my comments to Anonymous users. Sorry.