Still Alive

 Ruth and I just wanted to let all of you blog followers know that we are still alive.  We have been busy working and just doing our thing.   We have been getting allot of camping gear lined up, we are heading to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park over Memorial Day weekend.  I will be taking Thursday and Friday off, so we will have a nice long weekend.  

We are looking forward to June as well, both Ruth's and my parents will be visiting us in June, so it will be nice to visit with them.  

We have also been doing allot of driving around an exploring the surrounding area.  Yesterday we headed to the national park, and we have also checked out some of the badlands that are about 5 miles from here.  Here are a few pictures we have taken of the area just east of town.  

 

The badlands are amazing here in North Dakota.  Very cool area to live in, we have yet to even scratch the surface of areas to check out.  

Housing Prospects!

While out geocaching today with Eric, Ruth and I did run across a few possible affordable places to live.  Up here housing is so expensive, so we have really been trying hard to find an affordable, but nice place for us to lay our heads.

Here are a few places we found today.

This is option one.  This one rents for $1,200/month.  It is small, but it looks very cozy.  The price is okay, and the best part is the great view of a Halliburton Frac site right out the back picture window.  It is about 5 miles north of town with a great southern exposure.  Utilities are not existent, but we could probably tap into that light tower in the backyard. 

This is option two, it is much more spacious, but does come with a hefty price tag of $2,000/month.  It does have more than one room, and also has electricity and a fireplace.    The view is not as great as the frac site, but it does have a great view of a large cattle farm, and when the wind is right, you might even be able to smell the countryside.   This one as well is about 5 miles north of town.  Some work would be needed to remove the graffiti off of the walls, but hey, it would be worth it.  

Please weigh in with which option you think we should go with...it really is a super hard decision. 

Random pictures from the last few weeks

It has been a crazy last few weeks, with me going home to visit, coming back, going back again to grab Ruth etc etc etc.  Its been fun, exciting, and tiring all at the same time.  I thought I would just post some pictures of things that have happened around here lately.

Ruth:  I am very happy to be up here with Kevin.  I am very excited to start a new adventure, and a new chapter in our lives together.  Although I am saddened to leave all of my friends and family behind, I am also happy that they are there to support us in our new life. 

 This was the view Friday morning....Ruth took a few nice pics.

 The view out the bathroom window

 This is a blurry view of Minneapolis at night.  This was taken  on my way back to Williston after my trip home.

 Ruth and my Dad making sure the grill was all ready for the trip from Ripon to Williston.

 This is the cheesecake Ruth made for us a few days after she moved in...mmmmmm.

 I swear the RSC yard was built over a swamp.  Our pavement is tore up beyond being usable...we tried sneaking this one out the back door through the grass..you can see how that turned out.  The backhoe pulled it right out.

 Ruth and I did a little Geocaching yesterday...here is Ruth with one of the signed logs.

Ruth and I are die-hard Brewers fans.  

GO BREWERS!!!!!

This picture was just taken.  The game was rained out yesterday, so now Ruth is all ready for the double header today!  

Another Post From Wisconsin

Currently I am sitting here in Ripon...again, so soon, you ask?  I am actually here to pick up my lovely bride, so I can take her back to North Dakota with me.  I will soon be a full time/permanent employee in Williston.  I am so happy that I will have her with me, but we are also both saddened about permanently moving away from our friends and family. 

Right now we are just grabbing the things that we both must have, but are leaving most of our things behind.  Right now we will be living in the provided housing, which is such a blessing.  Once we find our own place(if possible) we will come back and grab all of our things such as furniture and larger items. 

We are really looking forward to this great opportunity, and chance for new and exciting adventures.   

We will now both post to this blog, about our lives out west.  I will get Ruth to makes posts as well

Once again, we love care packages, and we love sending them too.

We will keep in touch as always, please use the chat box, and comments section to chat it up. 

Next time.....from North Dakota.

A Post From Wisconsin

I thought I would make a quick post with some pictures that have been taken while I have been home for the weekend.

I have been doing a whole lot of nothing.  Basically I have been eating at all of the places I miss, such as, Kristinas, Kingston House, Haases Supper Club, Roadhouse, Pastimes, etc etc etc.  I have gone skeet shooting, we have had a cookout, we have gone geocaching, and we have relaxed and done nothing.  It has been a great time so far, and I cannot believe I head back tomorrow already.

Here are a few pictures taken while here, not much, but a little something to look at.

 

This was the view from one of our favorite caches of today.  We went out and found all 17 caches we looked for.  We like 100% find days.  It was a perfect day for caching.

 Sunday morning a bunch of friends and family went with me to the Berlin Conservation Club, skeet shooting was the game of the day.  The weather was a little chilly, but we all had a great time, and we all shot pretty well.  I wish I could have stayed all day, but they were only open till noon, and we had to head back for the cookout.

 Some of the motley crew that was shooting Sunday.

 This is my adorable niece riding the rocking horse out in the shop.  We had about 30 friends and family members show up for a little food off the grill, and a few more beers.  It sure was nice of everybody to stop bye to say hi, I really enjoyed seeing all of you, what a turnout!

For all of you non believers back in North Dakota, no, I was not kidding.  Pickled mushrooms really do exist, and we really do put them in our drinks.  This was taken at Haases...I said...."I'll take a 7&7 with mushrooms"  bartender says "coming right up"  What a relief...in No Dak, when you order a drink w/mushrooms they look at you like you are stoned....good to be back in reality.

Tonight it is off to Pastimes for all you can eat wings, and 7&7's with mushrooms!  Tomorrow is lay low day before my flight back into my home away from home.  It has been fun, and I already look forward to coming back next time.

Snow, Snow, Snow

Well, my flight is supposed to leave at 6:30 Thursday morning.  Not sure, but I think the 18" of snow we are getting through tomorrow evening might have something to say about that.  I was hoping to head out to Minot right after work tomorrow to get a head-start, but I bet the roads will be closed.

Here are a few pictures out our front door....sucks, oh well, not much that can be done.

We will see what happens.

Check out the blog over the weekend, I will post pictures of what I am up to back in Wisconsin.

Still Living

I am still around, still living the dream out here!  Not much has been going on.  Lots of work, a little drinking, a little bit of fun mixed in.

I will definitely be doing a little geocaching this weekend, this weather is way too nice not to give it a try.

I will be flying home next week,  Thursday morning through Tuesday afternoon.  I am really looking forward to seeing Ruth and the rest of my family again.  I have a full weekend planned out, should be a blast.  Got some skeet shooting planned, caching, cookouts, relaxation and whatever else sounds good.  Can't wait!