Happy New Years!!! It is 2019, and I thought I would write a Blog Update!

Well, we have been in South Dakota for a couple of weeks. It has been interesting to say the least, but more on that later.

As we packed up the boys and got them moved in to their own apartment, the realization hit us that for the first time in our marriage it was going to be just Dianne and I and the Hounds. On one hand you are glad to see your kids do their own thing, but on the other it means not seeing them everyday. Compound that with the fact that travel nursing took us to South Dakota, leaves us about 9 hours to our closest child. We shall see where this exciting new chapter takes us.

Dianne’s work in gave her a pretty nice send off. Everyone met up at a local restaurant called the Ram. Fun was had by all. Dianne received numerous going away gifts and is going to be truly missed by the staff at Good Sam in Puyallup.

With the boys working retail, we had to do some finagling to get a night together. It worked out and we had some Christmas fun. We did finger foods and made ugly sweater sugar cookies. We had a little more time with them before we left. We helped them get moved in their new place. It was bitter sweet, leaving our youngest behind. He has been in our home for 21 years. We knew the day would come, but we did not imagine it would be this hard.

And so the road trip to South Dakota began. With Dianne in the Trailblazer with Morgana and Mahana following Monty and I in the GMC pulling the RV. Day 1 was fog, like hours and hours of fog. And not just fog, but fog and twisty mountain passes. And then there was the rain as well. We made it to snowy Spokane. Next day was travel across Idaho and into Montana. Other than a little snow, it was a pretty good drive. We arrived at our stop from the night and the wind and snow was intense.

Day three was extremely challenging. The wind was horrid. In the four years we have been doing this travel nursing, I have never been as challenged towing the travel trailer as I was this day. When we finally stopped in Wyoming I was ready to be out of the truck. The last day was sunny and cold. We had a little wind at times and I90 in Wyoming was snow covered in several places. But by early afternoon we were safely in Rapid Safety and setting up the house.

Dianne is doing well at the hospital here. A lot of the staff seems to be Travel Nurses. This assignment has her doing call. It has been awhile since she has done call. Her first call in on a Saturday she ended up being there all night, 12 hours! She slept good on Sunday.

We have had two snow events. The first was good snowfall, but nothing too bad. But this past weekend was a Blizzard. Several inches of snow with 40 to 60 mph winds. Been several years since I have experienced that. And then I had to drive Dianne to work, in the middle of it, at 0500 in the morning. No biggie. My daddy taught me well!!

Christmas was different for us this year. For the first time in our marriage we were alone. Just Dianne and myself with the Hounds. We enjoyed finger foods and Christmas movies on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day I spent working on skirting the RV. I was surprised to find how much of a difference skirting actually makes in controlling the climate in the RV. Overall, it was a really laid back and relaxing holiday. We did miss not being around family.

New Years Eve and Day was finger foods and BYU TV Relative Race binge watching. Great show. Very relaxing day. The afternoon was sunny and the temps got out of the single digits to the mid 20s so we took the dogs out to play in the snow. It was funny watching these short legged Basset Hounds running and romping through the high snow drifts. Their sweaters were covered in snow when it was all over.

We are enjoying the people here in South Dakota. The folks here are very friendly. Seen several cowboys here as well as lots of Native Americans. We are part of the Mount Rushmore Ward at church. The folks at church at super friendly. We are looking forward to seeing what the next 11 weeks holds for us here. Until next time, may 2019 be your year!!