We've arrived . . . .

We're finally in the Black Hills for the summer, but we've needed to cover quite a bit of ground since we've last updated our readers.  We'll try to hit the high points of the last several weeks . . . . .
We left Mesa on May 1st, heading for Liberty Hill, TX, and hoping to arrive before the birth of our newest granddaughter, which was expected to be Monday the 4th.  Good weather and favorable prevailing winds enabled us to make the journey to the Hill Country in two days, and we were able to be at the hospital on Monday morning when granddaughter Gillian Mae made her entrance.  She weighed in at 7 lbs, 11 oz, and was 20 inches in height.  Mother and daughter came though the event with flying colors.

       
          

While we were there, we were also able to celebrate our grandson Tristam's 12th birthday.  We had the party just after their soccer game -- you can see both Tristam and his sister Kaila in their red uniform shirts. 











 
 






We were also able to get in some grandparent time with our granddaughter Chloe who was only weeks old when we last saw her in October.



We also had the opportunity to see our friends Al and Claire in Bastrop - - and we spent a wonderful afternoon at their place along with our friends Mary Sue, Dave, and Linda.  Claire was anxious to show off her new motorcycle, and we made tentative plans to have them visit us in the Black Hills later this summer.



Grandpa and Garrett also made some time to trim some tree branches so that the motorhome would fit down the driveway -- and to take some time to work to get his legs in shape for cycling . . . . . .


All too soon, our time in Texas had to be brought to a close, and we needed to say good-bye to our sons and their families (until this fall) and head north to our summer job at Custer State Park.
  
 
We left the Austin area on Friday the 8th after our too-short stay, and put the pedal to the metal to get to South Dakota by Monday morning.  After overnight stops in Amarillo and then at Cherry Creek State Park in Denver (with Mandy's sister Penny and her husband Rex, who are camp hosts there), we arrived in Custer, SD late Sunday afternoon.
Since leaving Mesa, we'd compressed our travel in to 5 "road days" and had covered a total of 2280 miles -- which averages out to 456 miles per day -- way too much, but unfortunately necessary given the circumstances we found ourselves in.  Fortunately, we had no mechanical issues or adverse weather (although it was pretty ugly between Denver and Cheyenne on Sunday), and the Phaeton was very comfortable for those long road days.
We are now set up for the summer at Wheels West RV Park just outside of the west entrance to Custer State Park.  We are in the middle of our week-long orientation and training sessions for our summer seasonal positions as Entrance Gate Attendants at the park.  We've been very impressed so far by the Black Hills and the surrounding area, and the park staff we'll be working with, and are looking forward to exploring further this summer.
                  
As soon as we get more settled in here, we'll be posting additional pictures and detail of this wonderful area - one of the great perks of our job is that all employees get VIP passes to virtually all of the attractions in the area (and there are plenty!), so we'll be publishing more info on the Black Hills than you'll probably want to see.