Rest and Reset in Timber Lake-14

After a jam packed day enjoying The Days of 1910 celebration, we decided to stay a third night in South Dakota to rest before pushing on to Montana.

Christa has a habit of starting the day with coffee and breakfast on the deck and joining her was a highlight of my stay.

When breakfast was finished, Woodsen and the Biegler family took off from the front yard for a ride in the airplane. I happily stayed home with the kids who rode bikes in the garage and happily played with toy combines and tractors.

Shortly after arriving in Timber Lake I had noticed the purple flowers of the alfalfa plants and had wanted to make a flower crown with them. With the kids playing and Eska sleeping, this was my chance.

We love sharing the experience of flying, but it’s not always the most enjoyable since it involves flying low level in heat, which can make for a bumpy ride. On most of our long flights we’ve opted to climb up to cooler, smoother air, and sometimes we gain a tail wind as well. So while our flights have been cool and smooth, unfortunately flight seeing for our friends has ended with many unsettled stomachs.

Nonetheless, they were all smiles when they returned.

The final rodeo of the weekend was that evening so I assumed we would lay low till then. Not a chance, soon Bo was telling me to get my shoes on for a dirt bike ride. Well I’ve never ridden a dirt bike before, and did I mention that each of us only brought one pair of sandals on the trip?

They assured me they could find shoes, so despite loving the low key day, I took Christa and her daughter up on their offer to watch Eska, and headed out for my lesson on how to ride a dirt bike.

I stalled a bunch, had a whole lot of jerky starts, and got really good at kick starting since the auto start wasn’t working, but soon enough my whole family (minus Eska) was loaded on dirt bikes and heading into the fields towards Biegler Butte.

Right before heading up the butte we had the obstacle of riding through part of a corn field. That nearly took me out, but I made it through and then up the Butte! I’ve got to say, I think I could get into riding dirt bikes.

Once on top we found fossilized leaves in the rocks, then Melozi—who rarely wears her shoes, decided to go barefoot on top of the Butte. She discovered that cactus grows on the butte, and got to sit for a couple minutes pulling cactus thorns out of her feet. Maybe she learned her lesson? Probably not😆.

We made it home without incident and headed to the rodeo.

At the rodeo kids participated in the calf scramble where they tried to chase down calves and get the ribbon of their backside. The girls loved the opportunity to be inside the arena, and equally loved watching all the other events.

Melozi, my child that loves bulls so much her favorite blanket has a cow on it, was in heaven.

The rodeo wrapped up what turned out to be my favorite day in South Dakota.

Now, on to Montana.