chili verde

Today I finally tried one of those recipes I printed off the internet a while ago. Maybe a few years ago? After I made it & ate it I wondered why it took me so long. Anyway, I made chili verde (green chili). I'd been leafing through a pile of recipes & came across this one. I needed to make a trip to Super Saver anyway. I did notice that the young woman checking me out rung up the tomatillos as Brussel sprouts though. I'm glad I caught it as she owed me two dollars & change. I followed this recipe except I did not remove the seeds & ribs on my two small jalapenos & I did not add any other chilis. The heat was just right too. Served it with rice. It was delicious!

St. Stephen's update

Last week when I visited Dad we drove out to check on the work being done on St. Stephen's church. Dad had reported that they were going to fix what needed fixing & keep the church going. Right now they are putting on a new roof. From our street view it looked like some work being done inside also.

Sturgis

This was Don's third year going to Sturgis. My first. Maybe Terry's twelfth. I decided I wanted to go to photograph the interesting people I knew I'd find there. But I didn't do that. Often what I think will happen when I want to photograph something doesn't turn out the way I'd imagined. There was still plenty to photograph & there were lots of interesting people there, I partly lost my nerve to approach people for a photo. Photography often takes courage. Sometimes it's there for me & sometimes not. I did have fun on this trip, but attending the motorcycle rally is not something I will feel compelled to repeat. We spent time drinking beer . . .





This band was back again this year. Dirty Word. Don really liked them so we listened to them two nights in a row. The second night I needed ear plugs though. Just too loud for me.



Don remembered this waitress from last year:









Main street only allows motorcycles once the rally gets going.







We really left before the rally got started but twice a day they photograph the crowds from above & then sell the photos. They fit a lot of people into the screen so they probably sell a lot of prints. They had a sample of an old photo on the side of a building. It was nearly life sized. Don had fun with it . . .





It was a good trip. The camping was fun to do again. And I'm glad I finally got to see the Black Hills. Hope you enjoyed the trip too.

Happy Birthday, Nancy!

I got the day off from work today so took the opportunity to visit Dad & see Nancy too. She had the day off work for her birthday. So a small group of us joined up at Dick's Place for lunch. I couldn't recall a recent photo of Nancy & Dad together so I got them together for a shot.

Mt. Rushmore

I am the last one in our family to finally see Mt. Rushmore. Austin & Daniel saw it when they were in Boy Scouts. Don saw it as a six or seven year old. We stood on the viewing deck & he told me that the first time he looked at Mt. Rushmore he couldn't even see it. Finally in third grade his teacher realized he needed glasses. That was a new story for me.









So of course we had to see Crazy Horse too. A work in progress. And I don't think they are in a hurry to finish it either when thousands come every year just to watch their progress.















Finally we drove through Custer State Park. Don said you can't drive through this park & come home & say you didn't see any buffalo. So we drove the "scenic route" just to find these buffalo. Then on our way out of the park we almost ran into one walking down the middle of the road. I was relieved though that Don found buffalo.

road work

We spent a lot of time on the road with our Sturgis trip. The landscape was at times breathtaking & other times tedious. But I couldn't resist taking a few photos of the view through my windshield.







These photos I took while riding on the back of Don's motorcycle. My first attempts to take pictures while trying to hang on were nerve wracking but I finally got used to it. I took these over his shoulder while his brother, Terry, rode ahead of us through this canyon in the Black Hills.













Heading home . . .

camping clothespins