South Dakota

Our family vacation continued after Little Rock, Branson, Wisconsin, Minnesota with a wonderful few days at Rapid City, South Dakota. Beautiful country! Rolling hills--all green--of course, rivers, creeks, lakes, and so many, many family fun activities.

As you probably know from history, South Dakota is know for being Indian country! Indeed it is. We encountered our first Indian at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. Amy & Sarah were a little shocked but relaxed a little until seeing buffalo cross the road--not quite an every day experience. We actually had to wait for part of the herd to slooooowly cross the road. There were hundreds of them near Custer State Park.

Mt. Rushmore was one of our favorites! It was not only magnificent during the day as you gazed at the beauty of the monuments, but awesome in the evening lit up in the night sky. Everyone ought to see it. Their evening program was patriotic expressing tribute to the four faithful men of our country's past. Every American can be thankful for our freedom and what these brave men stood for in our nation's past.

The Circle R Dinner Show was our next favorite activity. We enjoyed an exciting horse back ride during the afternoon and then a shoot-out and cowboy dinner show with the most delicious beef and chicken you've ever had served on a tin plate. Old cowboy songs filled the evening with guitar, bass, and that good old country singing (and yes, they did catch the Biscuit Bandit).

A huge maze entertained the kids for quite some time one afternoon--they're goal was to find their way to all four corner posts before returning to their starting post--a true challenge it was!

Bear Country USA was one of those "I can't believe it" places where bears roamed the hills and you drove your car right past them. I think we counted 50 bears! All easily seen from our vehicle. The most precious sight was at the end where there were 14 baby bears playing together--it looked like a scene from a fairy tale. Sarah was convinced she now NEEDS a pet bear to add to her collection.

We continued on our journey through Wyoming where we visited Thermopolis and enjoyed an evening swim in the natural hot spring fed pool. They had two large pools, one extremely hot for the brave, and one moderately hot for people like me. A buffalo at the local park was also a fun climbing adventure before we moved on our trip.

Grandma & Grandpa's Farm

The highlight of our road trip east is always a trip to Grandma & Grandpa Dean's farm in Minnesota and this summer that was no exception. We all enjoyed baling hay on the farm and going on an old fashioned hay ride down the road! It was so much fun!


Our trip began with a drive through Branson, Missouri, after leaving Arkansas. A '57 Heaven Museum was unbelievable with everything from the year 1957. You've got to see it! Pretty awesome as it was all in perfect condition. Amy's highlight was the $1 jewelry store. . . or was it finding a Krispy Kream donut store for breakfast! Both were pretty exciting.


We enjoyed the new windmills we found everywhere when finally arriving in southern Minnesota. The weather was cool and so refreshing after being in the south. We spend a couple days in Wisconsin visiting cousins Lance and Marcia--pretty entertaining people--at Cindy & Dan's before returning to Minnesota for a family picnic and catch up with all of Sylvia's brothers and sisters. You'll all be happy to know that Carmon does have the "Dexter" cream can now and is treasuring every minute with it.


The 4th of July was spent going to a parade in Austin (one of our family's favorite traditions) and hitting a city celebration at the park and "free" ice cream cones at a local church. The fireworks that evening in Grand Meadow were awesome! A true spectacular view of our country's independence that we celebrate.

Farmer Timmy loved every minute on Grandpa's farm. The girls loved it as well and got a game of croquet going most every day. We celebrated Grandma's 77th birthday with family and put together beautiful glider chairs for Grandma and Grandpa to enjoy the summer together in.

No visit to Grandma & Grandpa's farm is complete without a wiener roast and picnic outside. The weather was plesant, the pop delicious and the marshmallow a golden brown. The evening ended with Amy winning her new card game 500!

Cowboy Tim, Cowgirl Amy, and Tractor driver Sarah could live months on the farm if given a chance. But for now, it's just wonderful memories of time spent with Grandma and Grandpa in Minnesota.

Grand Canyon & Arkansas

Family vacation at the Collins home is not a real vacation without a road trip east. This summer (09) Bob yielded to popular demand and planned a road trip to Little Rock Arkansas. Despite leaving our eldest son, Andrew, at home it was another great family adventure.

We started with a drive to the Grand Canyon and arrived after dark. Setting up camp in the black of night is always a challenge but it allowed us to rise early the next morning and enjoy some breathtaking view of the Grand Canyon. We've often heard that the Grand Canyon is one of the most visited National Parks and we now understand why. The awesomeness of it is unbelievable. Only a great God could create such wonder! We were amazed at the depth and attribute it's making to the worldwide flood of the Bible.

We not only had the opportunity to walk along the edge for some distance absorbed in it's view, but then we traveled by bus to see more breath-taking views of the Colorado River below and the beautiful redrock below. It definitely is a view everyone should take in at some point in their lives.

We had a slight slow down when passing through Hollbrook, Arizona, and finding a putrid odor to the town. To our amazement, the odor was our own van--oil burning on the engine and when we saw smoke bellowing out of our van, we took to the shoulder and had an emergency exit. God was gracious in having us break down just a short mile out of a town that had a KOA campround and restaurants within walking distance. We spent the night in hurricane winds and rain and with the van back running the next morning, heading on to our destination of Little Rock, Arkansas.

We arrived Sunday night at the Scheideman's and enjoyed a wonderful welcome from our friends. We had the opportunity during our week visit to hike up Pinnacle Mountain and enjoy a beautiful view of the Arkansas River and the Little Rock area--it was gorgeous! We also enjoy a stroll over the world's longest pedistrian bridge, Big Dam Bridge, viewing a beautiful summer sunset.

A visit to downtown Little Rock included a ride on the city trolley car pointing out city sites and viewing the Peabody ducks as they splashed into their hotel pond. Along with trips to swim meets, swimming pools, a water park, and church activities, we most enjoyed visiting with our friends and catching up on each other's lives from the past year.

We will try not to mention the heat--but yes it was hot in Little Rock. High 90's and then add the humidity--fun at the water park and swimming pool was enjoyed by all.

The children all enjoyed a week of playtime with their best friend from years past. Practical jokes were the hit of the week with the boys silly-stringing the girls at breakfast to the girls stringing the boys bedroom to look like a spider web. Orange milk was disguised to be orange juice, sour spray to wake up others at night. The fun never ended!

The guys played some pool in the game room and Bob showed off his skills from many years at the fire station. We ladies just enjoyed chatting with Kelly's new friends and a lunch out together.

Our week ended with a trip to Kelly's parents in Bellevista and a weekend on the lake. Amy enjoyed taking a try at water skiing and Sarah and Cade enjoyed kyaking. The beauty and green of Arkansas is awesome--a creation of our maker we'll all enjoy in the new earth.

There's nothing better than a comfortable chair and a visit with old friends. The Scheideman's are doing well and enjoying their new life in Little Rock and were wonderful hosts for our family visiting the new town.