Month: August 2023

Back in Iowa for a short while

The FMCA rally was great fun as usual. The chapter I am an officer in had three big events that kept me busy. I was also a Governing Board delegate for a chapter that couldn’t attend, so I spent a lot of time at activities but only got to one seminar! The seminar I went to was the meeting of the Quilts for Kids group, am I formal and unofficial group that donates quilts and crochet/knit blankets for kids in the communities the convention is held in. I donated another one of my scrappy tumbler quilts, the one I finished at Lake Havasu in June. I will try to have two done next time.

I also taught a class in sewing Microwave Bowl Cozies. It was so much fun! I only had 5 students, but the 2 hour window let three students complete two cozies, one student get 1 3/4 done, and another one got one done (she was double dipping in another class at the same time!). Since I didn’t ask them if I could post their pictures, I covered their faces here.

Bowl Cozy students and results

I am still trying to decide whether to do a class next convention or not. Hard to think of something interesting but not too hard so they can get it finished or mostly finished in class.

As the convention was winding down, Kevin and I both were looking at getting home, so we decided to by-pass the Black Hills this time and head back to Iowa on Sunday after the convention. We spent the first night at the Kennebec, South Dakota KOA. Monday night we spent at our first Elks Lodge in Sioux City, Iowa. Kevin joined the Elks while we were in Gillette. We have a bunch of friends who belong and stay at their lodges while traveling. It worked out fine, and it was certainly convenient. We left the motorhome at a local campground for the next few days until we get it cleaned out and re-organized. We will only be home for a week and a half until we have to head to Alabama for a bunch of work on the motorhome. Sigh. It will be such a pain to empty everything and then put it all back for that short of time, but we will need the items.

So not much until Alabama!

In Gillette Wyoming at the FMCA Convention

Not much to post because we have been attending a rally of the Diesel RV Club (I am VP of Membership). The rally was fun and informative as usual. It was held at the same campground as the FMCA convention, so we are basically set up with full hookups for over 2 weeks. Very unusual for us. It feels odd to use as much water as I want without any conservation LOL!

I did get a bit of sewing done though. These are 130 4” Drunkard’s Path blocks. I really need only 120, but on a scrappy version it never hurts to have a few extra to get a better color balance. It will eventually be 10 blocks x 12 blocks (40”x48”) before borders, but I haven’t decided on the border size yet. I am going to wait until I get home to lay it out so I can manage the layout better.

From a fat quarter bundle

Since Kevin is volunteering with the parking crew for the convention, I am now at loose ends! I have made everything I brought with me [note to self:bring more next time!], so I went to a small quilt shop in town, Blue Bike Quilt Studio, to see what I could find. They had this kitted up for a lap sized quilt, 59”x79”, a nice size. I have a strong preference for modern quilts, so I like this one.

Here are the fabrics. It included the background fabric (cream) and the fat quarters shown. It even included binding. I arranged them in the color pairs I intend on using.

The fabric kit

Happily for me, the quilt is made with 2.25” strips, and I just happen to have a 2.25” strip cutter with me! I wouldn’t have bought it if I couldn’t cut it with my Accuquilt cutter. It looks like I will only need 4-5 strips of each fabric, so I will have quite a bit left over. Just what I need – more scraps! I will wait until tomorrow to cut the strips, making sure I like the color arrangement.

I also packaged up all the kits for the microwave bowl cozy class I am doing at the convention. I have a max of 12-15 students (I have forgotten which!), but I made 20 kits so people can hopefully find one they like.) I need to make one while taking photographs as I go to finish up the instructions, but I can do that Monday or Tuesday.

Might not be more posts until the convention is over and we are settled in the Black Hills, about a week from now.

Various parts of Bighorns then Lake DeSmet

We got tired of no internet in Tie Flume Campground, so we headed to Lake DeSmet, a county park 8 miles north of Buffalo. There is one section that has electricity, but it is crowded and closed in, so we opted to dry camp in a lovely pull through site right next to the lake. This is the view from my front door.

We just decided to take the pickup and RZR to some more trails in the northern Boghorns. I will just post lots of pictures with a few comments. Hope nobody is tired of scenery yet, because this area is FULL of it! I am being very lazy about the texts.

Lots of big bluffs. See our trail in the middle?
I finally got a decent picture of a mule deer! We saw lots but they took off quickly.
And we saw cowboys! See the two dots to the right?
One trip along FSR 178 got us up to snow line.
We went well above this larger snow pile
Sheepherder’s trailer and two horses 
Three layers of switch backs along US 14
A sharp turn 20 mph
Cliffs in Tensleep canyon


Fish hatchery house

Cabin along old US 14
Toilets in a dispersed area along old US14! Uncommon site.
A window in the cliffs
Our last moose pair

It also rained on us hard one day – over an inch! We generally just relaxed, read, and I sewed some. I finished the little rag doll I was working on except for her hair. The kit supplied yellow yarn for the hair, but I am going to find some brown since the granddaughter that gets it has brown hair. I sure won’t do that doll again! Such skinny little arms and legs to turn and stuff! I didn’t get a picture before I put it up in the cabinet – sorry.

We left DeSmet today to head to Gillette. We have a Diesel RV Club rally starting Sunday, and as an officer I have to be there early. It is a bit of an adjustment to get used to traffic and people parked a few feet away. We are getting some laundry done though, something sorely needed. It might be a while until I post again due to the rallies.

 

First days in the northern Bighorns

Monday we drove the truck with the RZR in the bed up US 14 into the northern Bighorns. We took the RZR to check out some boondock sites and campgrounds. Beautiful country. And moose about 1 mile from the campground.

US 14 in the distance
There were 3 moose, but one hid
Nice big bull

We were surprised to find a no-reservation site big enough for us in Tie Flume campground, and we grabbed it. We left the RZR in the campground, and went back to Peter D’s in Sheridan to pack up. The drive up the mountain in the motorhome was made much easier by Kevin driving the truck separately! The road has long grades and sharp turns, and it was sooooo much easier without the truck in tow! We didn’t get into the campground until about 4:00, and then we discovered the sky was too obstructed for Starlink! I am a FMCA chapter officer, and I had computer work to do. I was quite disappointed, thinking we would have to move in a couple of days. Luckily someone moved out of a better non-reservable site on Tuesday so we moved. Service is still a bit spotty due to obstructions (trees), but acceptable.

Classic NFS campsite

We did take the RZR on a short ride up Black Mountain Rad next to the campground. we finally saw some deer that weren’t running away as we passed.

There are two in the picture

Black Mountai  Road ends at US 14 were turned around. Sadly we saw this guy where the road ends.

Felt sorry for this driver on US 14

Tuesday we just laid around, sitting outside a bunch, reading mostly.

Wednesday we took another RZR trip to Park Reservoir. It was overcast with occasional light rain, so we put the windows in the RZR before we left. Good thing since we definitely got rained on! The ATVers and side by side occupants without windows looked jealous. We don’t have a windshield wiper though, so Kevin had to get out occasionally and wipe the windshield.

I had wondered about the name of our campground, Tie Flume, and we discovered there was a wooden flume that took logs from here to Dayton, many miles away. We couldn’t find any flume ruins, but we did find this cool splash dam ruin.

Signage
Sluice is still visble
Amazing shape

We passed a lot of ponds along the way. This was my favorite with the lilies.


There was a ranger station along the way too. Interesting buildings. This is a sample. Obviously still used.

A bit of smoke was coming from the chimney

Lots of just beautiful country though the overcast made pictures hard. There is still snow in a few places.

Views to die for (zoom in for snow)

The reservoir looked cold, but there were a few people fishing and boating.

There were some interesting old buildings near the lake. I think they were private cabins, though they were right on the main road. Other cabins had their own entrances and were off the road some. Look at the cold house especially.

And we saw more moose! I just caught a glimpse of this cow moose and calf, so we turned around to get pictures.

Thursday we just relaxed some around the campground. I cut out a rag doll from a kit I bought at an historic site somewhere I can’t remember! Shouldn’t be hard to sew, and I intend on giving it to my youngest granddaughter, 4 years old.

Today (Friday) we took a big circular trip in the truck down US14A, coming back on US 14. The views were interesting due to the clouds. We also got rained on a lot so only this one picture.

And only 1/2 mile from the campground we saw this big bull.

Not sure about tomorrow since it is supposed to rain quite a bit.