Reflecting Back on 2005 Part 2

Now on to part 2: I look back at this now and it seems so unreal, but it was all real. I gave my Mom a copy of this whole story and she was suppose to write her version of the story, but she never did. She passed away July 7, 2014. 

Reflecting Back on 2005
Part 2
by JdyJdyJdy

By now it is Sunday July 10th. Granny had arrived late in the afternoon and it was time to get her tent all set up.



Then we figured it would be good just to kick back and  relax!


She found a nice shady spot. Rocky was hanging out with Granny's dog Myatuk(white fang). Jon said, " Hey Granny, come look, I think its going to storm, the clouds are looking weird."


That was one side,
this was the other



It was not very long after that the wind picked up. The sky got increasingly darker and darker and clouds were just crazy! It started to rain and the WIND! OMG...I had to grab Granny's cat, who was still in his carrier, get 3 dogs and Jonathan all to the bathrooms. We made it in there just before the torrential  downpour, lightening and wind like crazy! Jonathan said, " Mom? Do you think this bathroom will hold up?" I said, " Well it is better than the tent!" Then we realized, Were is Granny?

Well she was trying to secure her tent! LMAO It is not easy to do with winds speeds gusting up over 50 mph! So she finally gave up and got in her car. She drove over by the bathroom. Her dog was in her car. She was soaked!

Well the storm ended and we got camp put back together. The tents actually did stay up! It was however a good thing we had taken out all the blankets and sleeping bags. The inside of the tent was kind of wet. We got towels and dried everything off and proceeded to get ready for bed. WELL!!!!! The storm happened to be just in a lull or the eye or whatever! LMAO... snuck right up on us! No time to get to the bathroom this time. So there we sit in the middle of the tent with Granny's cat and one dog. The other dogs were in the Jeep. Granny was in her car again. Mind you my mother had not sleep in like 30 some hours by now!

Even though the tent stayed up it sure was scary being in there. The sides would suck in and touch us. The dog was shaking to death and the cat was meowing. Then as quick as the storm hit it was over for good now.

My Mom asked, "So has it stormed like this since you been here?" I laughed and said, "No! That's your welcome to camping Storm!" We found some dry wood we had put under the picnic table and made a fire. Had some coffee and went to bed.

The next couple of days it was HOT! I mean HOT! 100 degrees in the shade. Mom started complaining about the heat. She took a nap and got up and said, " I got it! We are going to New Mexico! I had a dream about the house we will get and everything!"

 Now you need to know my Mom a bit to know this isn't how things are gonna work out!  I said, " I have no money left!" She said, " Well I got money and we are getting out of here." Now that I look back I must have had sun brain to go for her PLAN!

However, we leave the next day for New Mexico. I had had a lot of hits on my resume and only from New Mexico so we figured I would have a better chance at a job there. Ya go figure! lol Anyway the shortest way would have been straight down I-25...but NOOOO we had to take HWY 71 through CO. talk about the middle of nowhere land! We drove and drove and drove...it was getting really late and we had no clue where to camp etc.

We ended up stopping at a gas station and mind you there is a campground right there! Well now is when Granny starts to wig out and realizes this is going to cost some cash! We sit in the cars outside the gas station for hell, hours! it seemed. She did not want to pay 15 dollars to camp. However we had passed two FREE campgrounds right before that, but she said it was too windy and they did not have drinking water. WHO CARES?? Its FREE! We are homeless! Good grief!

She goes in the gas station and talks them down to 10 dollars to camp, well by now its friggin pitch dark! Almost midnight and then she decides she wants to go back to the FREE place! ( Lake Henry) Oh I forgot to mention that my tail light was out and of course in nowheresville nothing is open. Sooooo after all that we get ready to go back to the FREE place. Oh great! A semi now almost rolls over on the only road out of that gas station...so of course there are cops and we cant go by them with a tail light out. Well don't despair we found a bumpy gravel back road to get back to the FREE place. I left my lights on and sat up my tent in the pitch black night! The ground is hard as rock and bugs city! I go to help Granny with her tent, well now she is pouting. I said come on lets get your tent set up. She said, " No, I am gonna sleep in the car!" OMG! What the hell ever!

Next morning I take down the tent. Had about 5 hours sleep I guess. Not sure if Granny slept at all. There was some weird giant birds running around out there and they kinda freaked her out I guess. lol

So the journey continues, we make it the bottom of CO. and now we are getting up higher in elevation and my car is really screwing up. Second gear is just not there anymore. I was shifting it manually, but now its not working. I stopped at a parts store to get a new bulb for my tail light. Luckily there was a mechanic in there and he came to look at my car. We looked pitiful by this point. No showers, its was hot etc. They thought it might be bad plugs, so they gave me the tools to get the plug out! ha well ya I got one out and took it in ...nothing wrong with the plugs...soooo I couldn't get the plug back in now! lol Thankfully the mechanic guy came back and he got the plug in. He said you can drive the car without second gear, but sooner or later they will all go out and that car is not worth fixing!

Question is now, should we go on or go back?? Go back where? We are HOMELESS.  Well Granny is the leader in this pack and she says we are going on! So off we go to New Mexico. The roads are getting steeper and steeper now and we have not even reached Raton Pass! If you have been here you know that Raton Pass is some scary ass shit in a car! lol Its not bad going up, but going down.....weeeeeeeee...it scared the hell out of my MOM! Awww but we made it!

In Raton we stopped at the visitor center to get information on campgrounds. Anyone who has ever been to New Mexico knows that road signs are not real prevalent! It took forever to find Sugarite Canyon State park campgrounds. Finally we find it! Its getting later in the day now ...of course! We find a spot and guess what?? Ummm Granny says, "Oh this just won't work!" WHAT?? oh hell....anyway they have another campground up on the hill! Ya okay we need more hills at this point!

We go to that campground and yes it is way better! Really neat actually. They gave us the horse campsite because of all the dogs. Granny had once again talked them into 10 dollars a night instead of 20. We get set up.



I said, " Hey look at this, they have a place to put your firewood in case it rains!" Granny says, "Well that is really neat! I hope it doesn't rain though." We got some supper cooked and pretty much fell fast asleep that night.

Next day, Granny was teaching Jonathan how to play cards.



It was just a beautiful day! The ranger then stopped by to inform us that bears were in the campground last night and to make sure we put our food up. I said, "Up in the car or tree??" He laughed and said no in that metal box right there." I said, " Oh I thought that was for the wood!" ( haha we were clueless! )


Notice we had food on top of that box!

Then Granny has a really strange look on her face. She said, "Bears? I heard something last night by my tent and Myatuk was acting strange. Then I smelled something really bad right by my head. There was a bear by my tent!!"

After that bit of news Jonathan said he wanted to go on the trails. So here we go with dogs on leashes and up the trail...


The farther we get up the trail, the more I noticed Jonathan slowing down. Then Candy tried to go off trail and had her tail standing at attention! Jon screamed, " Candy sees a BEAR! I am getting the hell off this trail!" He drops Candy's lead and hauls ass back to camp! I stand there debating whether to go on up to the top and see the view or go back...

Well shit by this time I am getting scared too! So I just went back to camp! After all Candy was acting weirder than normal. Rocky and Sam wanted to go, but Candy was like NO WE ARE GOING BACK TO CAMP WITH MY BOY! She made a sound of some kind, scared the hell out of me and then Sam and Rocky beat ass and pulled me the rest of the way back to camp! So no trail hiking there.

When we got back to camp Jon comforted Candy. She seemed really freaked out and needed 
some loving.


Time to break for part 3...guess this is way longer than I thought! 

Reflecting Back On 2005

Reflecting Back on 2005
by JdyJdyJdy

It's now been 11 years ago today that this adventure started. I've come along way since being homeless in 2005. I hope to travel these roads again with new eyes and gain a new perspective. This was a great learning experience. There are 8 parts to this story. Today I am sharing Part One. 

Part One

The year 2005! Wow what a year it was...

January:  I worked as a cook in a hospital/nursing home...The hours where good and the people were nice. This is were I worked.

January was just a regular month.
Jon and Candy in the snow.


Me and Jonathan


February: Here is where things really started turning around. I woke up one day after work and could not move my neck! I figured I just slept wrong and went to work anyway. Next day it was worse...I went to the DR. before work. They took X-rays and immediately set me up an appointment with a neurologist. The Dr. said the X-rays looked Nasty! Yes he really said that! lol
So I go to get an MRI...then to the Neurologist.  Aww well he said, " I don't want to scare you , but your neck is so bad, that if you happen to fall down or something you could risk being paralyzed from the neck down. WOW...I just sat there and stared! Surgery was planned for 4 days from then...I had to have a cervical fusion of vertebra's 5-6-7...Dang that sucked! I was in the hospital for 2 days and one night...off work for 3 months and had to wear a neck brace. So that pretty much takes care of Feb, March.

April: My older Son decided to move from IL. to SD to live with me and Jonathan. It was sooo great having him there. Even though there were NOTEs! lol (He knows what that means) funny now when we look back at it!



Jonathan loved having his brother home. :)

May: Well I was feeling much better in May. So I tried to get my old job back in the laundry dept(I had worked there before the kitchen) at the hospital/ nursing home...Nope! They were afraid I would get hurt and the DR. had said not to go back to kitchen work. He said to find a nice office job. At that point I still was not allowed to lift to much...I was in a small town and no one wanted to hire ME! They had all seen me around town with a Neck brace on...I guess that means you have the plague or something...ha

Jon graduated from Kindergarten! :)


Looks so Happy! lmao...More like big friggin deal I just wanna go out and play! After all he had a trampoline at home.

So Jon spent his days playing on his trampoline...



June: I paid my rent on June 2nd. Then on June 3rd I got an evict notice from my landlord....OH GREAT!!! He decided he did not want to rent anymore! Now what?? A week after that, my son's father quit his job...so no more child support! I still did not have a job and there was nothing! absolutely nothing available to rent...anywhere! No one wanted us to stay with them because of the dogs.  I wasn't going to get rid of my DOGS! They are part of my family. ;)

Then thoughts of no more walks on the prairie entered my mind
.

No more prairie weeds as flower presents from Jonathan,


No more long walks with the dogs and Jon.


We So loved those walks...there is more to see on the prairie than you would think. :)
Everything was just leading to the fact that South Dakota was just not working out! 



We came back from the store one day to see this on our porch! Just another sign it was time to go.

Then I received a check from the school district for gas from driving my son to school. I decided I would just have to camp out for awhile. So I researched camp grounds, cost of living and calculated how far the money I had would go.

July: This was it! Had to move...I put all I could in a storage unit, loaded my 1976 Jeep Wagoneer with a bunch of stuff! I painted, "A Wing and Prayer" on the back of it with fingernail polish! 


Did I mention that second gear was out?




163,000 miles or 263,000...no one really knows!



It was scary at first, but I also remembered this picture I had taken just a few days before we 
left. I had seen the face in the clouds
.

To me it was a sign God was watching over us. The storm before this picture was over 70 mph winds, tornadoes in the area, hail etc...We were in a trailer on the prairie! Trees were knocked over and everything, yet the trailer actually stayed put. It gave me enough faith to go out on a wing and prayer! 

That and lots of people were praying for us. :)

Jonathan and the dogs loaded up no problem. After all they figured it was just a giant vacation! The first stop was at Chadron State park in NE. I knew right away I was on the right path. We went to set up and someone had left a campsite with a fire already burning! :) Another storm was approaching so it was nice to have something to cook on.



I know it looks sunny, but there was a storm coming! :)


Rocky wanted to stay in the Jeep when the storm started. However Candy would not have that! She wanted Rocky with us. Candy about had a doggie heart attack! She hates storms to begin with and I tell you what, her eyes about popped out of her head when it thundered and we were only in tent! (So that night the dogs slept on the camp mattress with me and Jon!) Sammy didn't care for it much either. Jon and I were laughing! The storm was short lived and we slept all night. The tent even stayed up!

The next day we headed for Lake Minatare in NE.

The weather was great we stayed here for a week. Here are some of the photos from this part of the journey.
The sunset view over the lake.




Candy climbing Trees...I missed the shot of her in the big tree...she was really climbing it! It was laid over just enough so she could get in it. She climbed clear to the top,up about 50 feet in the air! Jon was scared and made her come back down. lol
At least I got one shot of her on a tree.


Sammy D jumping trees!



Jonathan climbing on Trees.


Jon, Rocky, Candy and Sammy D all enjoying the cool water on a hot day. :)



Sammy D swimming out too far! Candy had a fit! She barked her ass off! She insisted that Sammy get back to shore immediately!! WOOF WOOF! NOW SAMMY NOW! WOOF WOOF! You'll drown! You are out way to far!


Oh my I laughed so hard...You see Candy is the Queen and all must obey her! ;)

It was just like a vacation at first. Learning how to cook every meal over a campfire was a chore! I got pretty good at it though. ;)

Jonathan collecting wood for the fire.


The first day he was all gun ho! He went to every abandoned camp site and got all the left over wood. He was grinning and having so much fun. Well the next day was a different story!
Right after he woke up the next morning, Jonathan looked at me,looked at the campfire, put his hands on his hips and said, " I tell you what! I am not working my ass off today getting firewood!" I laughed and told him he did not have too! He said, " That ain't fun it's work!" To funny! However he did end up getting more firewood. I think he was just tired and sore from doing to much the day before. Bless his little heart.



At this point Jonathan really did not understand we were "homeless" and that we had just the tent to live in. To him and the dogs it was fun just staying at the lake! Rocky was in doggie heaven! :) Rocky was at the lake. first sign of light everyday. Candy hung around the camp or stayed by her boy Jon. Sammy D stayed mostly by me, unless of course a rabbit came by.

Then day 7 came. I still had no job, but I did have a P.O. box and was going to get public assistance. In NE. they will help you out even if you are staying in a tent! 

 My mother had said something about coming out to camp with us. Then she could watch Jon and the dogs while I looked for work. Aww best laid plans of Mice and Men!
So Granny(that's what everyone calls my Mom) shows up! With her dog and cat! Yes CAT! lol


This is were I am going to end the first part, because whenever you get Granny involved in anything...well its gonna be long!

Part 2 coming soon...adventures in Bear Country and more to come...

Revision of my Blog

Hi all I hope you're having a fantastic day! I rearranged the blog today and added some great links for your photography! Just check in the right hand column and click the link to purchase the actions of your choosing. ( Actions I Recommend from Envato) 
I've been having a lot of fun with these actions. The model is Matika Dawn. 
Here are some sample images

Realistic Paint and Square Portraits action

Square Portrait Action

Water Color and Sketch Action

Covergirl (one of the 63 action set) then added Legendary Action and I added lighting bolt brushes

Modern Art Action

Stardust Action

Smooth and Silky(from the 63 actions) and Paradigm Action

All the actions have lots of layers to play with, so you can customize your work. Lots of fun! To check out the action and have  your own fun see links on the side of this blog.
Thanks and have a creative adventurous day!

Leia at Laguna Beach

Pacifica CA.

Pumpkin or Ball?

Playing Tourist (from 2011)

The weekend of May 7th and 8th my son Jon & I decided to go to the Motocross Races in Kimball. It was a beautiful weekend!

I drove down hwy 71 to get Kimball. The Wildcats Hills looked gorgeous!
It was a nice drive and after about 45 minutes we arrived at the Highpoint Motor Speedway, just a short drive south of Kimball on 71.

I took a lot of photos of the races. It was so fun! Motocross is a nice family orientated event. It was was great to see the families supporting the riders and cheering them on.


Here are a couple of my favorite photos from Day one at the Races.

Okay so getting back to playing tourist, we left the races late in the afternoon and headed off to find the highest point in Nebraska. We drove north on 71 until we got to interstate 80. We headed out west and the drove to the Bushnell,NE. exit. Then we turned south onto Road 17.
(If you decide to take this trip make sure you have a full gas tank, because there is no service anywhere close!)
 Ok now back to the trip: