South Dakota December 2003
Posted by Brad and Deanna | Posted in Travel | Posted on 19-12-2003
Tags: Christmas, South Dakota
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The extreme road trip . . .This trip was long and it included Brad, Deanna, Lane, and Cheryl. It all started about 3 AM on the 20th. We stuffed the jeep full of bags and people and raced to Denver. We only slowed down on the way and never really stopped. But we made it in time for dinner and had a nice time with Freddy and Chris.
We left the next morning around 11 AM (yea, like always a little later than planned, but you will see a pattern in our trips like that). This leg of the journey we did not have a deadline to meet. So we cruised along and stopped for breaks every now and then. It started to snow so we changed our route a bit. We drove through the Black Hills and saw some very light snow. This was a twisty, scenic road that was pretty slow. Once we made it to Rapid, we had our normal stop at Arby’s (you may notice this is another regular item in our trips). We made it to Uncle Steve’s farm a little after 10 PM on the 21st. Not bad for just over 1500 miles.
We were hoping for some snow to play around in when we got there, but there was nothing. It was actually the same temperature outside as it was in Tucson on a couple of the days we were gone. Very nice weather for South Dakota, but we wanted snow. Luckily we were staying with Steve and Deb so there was never a dull moment.
Sammy was still at home when we were there while Aaron and Ashley arrived within the next couple of days. One of the days we went out on the four wheelers to goof around. This was Deanna’s first time on one and what do you know, as soon as she gets brave enough to drive she gets it stuck! Luckily Brad used his super powers (nobody was looking) to lift the four wheeler over his head and moved Deanna to safety.
One day Deanna got this great idea. She planned to scare Steve just as he was walking up the stairs. As we are writing this we realize that that is not the safest thing to do. What if she would have actually succeeded and he fell back down he stairs? Hmmm… Well, luckily she didn’t. Just as Steve reaches the top of the stairs Deanna jumps out and yells (really, she thinks she yelled) “BOO!” Steve just walks on by. He had no idea she was even there. He didn’t even hear a peep. The next time she tries to scare him she will probably need a 2×4 so she can smack him and then “yell” at the top of her lungs. At least that way he would at least see her.
Other days we just followed Steve around and watched him do a million farm related chores. There sure is a lot required to keep a farm running. We made some trips to the next door neighbors. Gary gave Brad a couple of deer antlers to make pens.
Christmas Eve was nice. We went to church in town and came home to clean up around the tree.
On Christmas day, Deanna got a new pair of panties from Santa. The Pfeifer household has a “tradition” of passing out silly little skimpy underwear and didn’t want Deanna to feel left out. We ate . . . and ate . . . and ate some GREAT cooking. Brad ate a whole ten pounds of cookies before and after dinner.
Grandma Agnes was there too. It was nice for Deanna to meet her and listen to her chuckle.
We actually left a day early since the weatherman said a storm was coming in. We never saw the storm, but it was better to be safe than sorry. On the way home we stopped in Denver, at Chris and Freddy’s again. The next day we stopped at Roy and Donna’s to hang out with the kids and check out Roy’s CNC Plasma cutting setup. He makes some really cool metal artwork. We went out to dinner later that night with most of the rest of the gang. Fern, Allen, Tiffany, Zach, Marcy, Steve and Roy all met us at the Outback Steakhouse. That night we stayed at Roy’s house.
We hit the road around 6 AM the next day and drove straight home. Not too fast and not too slow. We stopped and ate a time or two along the way. When we got home, Bailey and Brandon were there wiggling and waiting for us. They missed us as much as we missed them.
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