Happy Trails Cabins

What we are doing now.

2011-11-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

We still are fortunate to get some late fall guests. We even had the good fortune to have an old friend visit us last week. It was fun to catch up on 24 years of absence. He is currently living in Germany so now we have a fun connection in Europe.

The vacation home rental ordinance draft is finished. We had a public meeting last week where it was officially presented to the public. Our first public hearing is December 12 in front of the County Planning Commission. Of course we are nervous. It has been a long 6 months and we are getting tired. To any past guests that have been reading this, any comments to the county are welcome. The following are 2 links to send any comments. Hopefully we will get the ordinance passed. If it is passed as currently written, we will need to apply for a conditional use permit and a variance. I personally feel that input from guests is fine as they have a vested interest in keeping their home away from home available to them for the future.
plz@co.pennington.sd.us
commissioners@co.pennington.sd.us

This has actually been very stressful. It has shown us who we can depend on, who our true friends are. It has been fun to debate with people and find out the points of dissent. Education is always important and I sure have been learning a lot about county government, ordinances, development covenants, etc.. Actually we know way more than we ever wanted.

Fall

2011-09-20T07:06:00.000-07:00

The leaves are starting to change and we have had a few light frosts. The sumac is beautiful and is usually the first to change, poisen ivy is a pretty red right now too.

Finally the garden is winding down. The final tally, not including those eaten, was 25 gallons of raspberries. I will get a squash count in a few weeks. Want to keep those guys on the vine a bit longer. I was impressed that 21 edemame plants produced a large ice cream bucket (5 quarts) of beans. They are nicely blanched and safely in the freezer. Between jelly and pickles I am running out of pint jars and smaller. Luckily I just have applesauce and a small batch of jalepeno jelly left to make. We still have the beets, carrots, onions, squash, parsnips in the ground. We'll let them sweeten up a bit more then spend a day in the garden cleaning it up and putting it to sleep fort he winter. To stay true to form we should wait until the ground starts to freeze and we get a snow. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.

Tally is out of town for a few days and of course I have high hopes of getting a lot of things done. Reality is a bit different than the high hopes. He has been gone 4 days and I have barely touched the house projects I have planned to get done during his absense.

Weekends are still full of guests with weekdays a bit sparse. As long as the weather holds, people will still come. It is a great time of year to visit the hills.

Raspberry update

2011-08-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

We are up to 20 gallons and still counting. They are still ripening and more to come. One doesn't even need to bend over to pick ( great for backs). The jelly is all made for next year, I just keep making more. The leaves are drying and soon they will be turning. This year in addition to tilling I think we will put in some fertilizer. Nothing better than a sun warmed raspberry freshly picked.

The season is winding down. We have a few more long weeks and we will be getting the more last minute rentals.

The ordinance committee is going to go through the first rough draft at the next meeting.

Finally

2011-08-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

Finally updating our post.

First order of business.... the raspberries are doing great. They are as tall as I am and this year they are extremely fat and juicy. We have had to call in the recruits to help pick. Not counting what has been eaten, we have picked 15 gallons and still counting. The jam is all made for next years guests, if I ever forget to put a jar in a cabin please come over and ask for one. It is our special treat for guests. The bees are close to the berry patch and I am hoping that is why they are so successful.

The ordinance is now in the drafting stage. The draft puts everything on the table and the next order of business is to go through it and add and cut as the committee recommends. It has been fun yet exasperating to be a part of the process but it will also be nice to be done and have a working ordinance for the county to enforce. I also personally think it has been a conflict for our committee of 7 to have a mother and son appointed. I feel they have the same interest and are actually one person when it comes to a vote. They have already shown that they do not think independantly. Maybe some of you out there can comment on that.

The chickens are molting but still laying. Production is down when they molt and they look ugly. They have had to stay within the fence this summer. I know there are a lot of guests that enjoyed them wandering around, you can still visit them and throw any food into their pen, remember, they eat almost anything.

Our guests this year, as usual, are a treat to meet. One guest commented that he was glad they did the inner tubing as the last activity during their stay. If they had tubed sooner it is all they would have been doing.

Spring in Custer State Park/Mothers Day

2011-05-11T09:27:00.002-07:00

What a wonderful Mothers Day. We touristed in the Southern Hills. The family and extended family started by caravanning to Hot Springs. The first destination was the Mammoth Site. It was very cool. The amount of bones is amazing www.mammothsite.com.

We took our time and as we had 11 in our group we took up almost half of the tour group. It was fun to stay after and take it all in at a slower pace. It was such a nice warm day that we decided to take advantage of our proximity to Cascade Falls. The water was mild, the day was hot so the kids went in. We found a cray fish, enjoyed the sound of the creek, kids playing and the beautiful scenery.

Of course on such a warm day ice cream is necessary to cool us all off. The Dairy Queen was perfect and what a nice surprise to have free Sunday's for all mothers. Off we then went to Wind Cave Park. The Buffalo were serene nibbling on the grass and rolling in the dirt. I was hoping to see some new calves and we were not disappointed. They were so cute staying close to mama. Autumn was loving the Prairie Dogs. The only thing we did not see were elk. It was fun stopping in the Needles and climbing on the rocks. We made so many stops, that was what made it fun. We would all pile out of the cars like a fire drill. The final stop of the day was Sugar Shack for a big juicy burger. We were all tired and hungry.

Perfect day for a MOM.

County Ordinance and spring

2011-05-04T14:06:00.001-07:00

The work we have been doing for the past 5 months is paying off. We officially have a committee formed and blessed by the Pennington County Commissioners. The task of this committee is to formulate a vacation home rental ordinance to address the current overly prohibitive ordinance.
Government wheels turn slow, our first informal meeting - not to be confused with public meetings - is Monday, May 16 at 2:00 pm in the courthouse. All other meeting will be public and public input is welcome and encouraged.
It will be nice to have our Log Cabin and Boxcar Cabin compliant with county regulations. Keep tuned for the latest.
On another note. Spring is here!! Dandelions are in the yard and the chickens are happy. Six eggs from six chicks. The cat is getting fatter and the dog is happily following Tally to the burn pile as he gets pine needles cleaned up from the yards. I am almost finished with the Cottage spring cleaning. I have the kitchen floor, table and lower cabinets left. We finally got the microwave up on a shelf. It looks great and feels good to take care of our babies (cabins).
Our daughter took up golf this spring and is on the team at her school. She loves it and is actually improving. Time for me to get back to work.

April 27, 2011

2011-04-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

We started the deep spring cleaning today. The Cottage is first this year.
We are taking a rest from the kitchen remodel. The walls are painted, the floor is installed and the cabinets are ordered. Not much to do except enjoy it. We are loving the dining room.
We had rain off and on all day. Guess April showers bring May flowers. The Pasque flowers are coming on strong in the woods and the crocus in our garden are showing their colors.

On another note, the Pennington County Commissioners have started the ball rolling on our ordinance amendment. The committee has been formed and will be officially designated at their next meeting. We need to address vacation home rentals in this county in a proactive manner. The extremely limiting current ordinance just begs to be ignored and it is. We could not believe how many vacation home rentals within Pennington County are registered with the state of South Dakota. It will be interesting to see the direction this goes at the first meeting.

March 29, 2011 still cold

2011-03-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

We had gentle snow all day yesterday but nothing on the ground. Thank goodness the ice is melting and green grass is finally showing though, there is still snow where the ground is shaded. Squirrels are chasing each other in the trees and hiding nuts, rabbits are gathering and the sounds of birds are everywhere.

Tally is sanding the drywall and I should be texturing tomorrow or even this afternoon. The ordinance amendment we are working on is progressing. These things take a lot of time but are all worth it in the end. Short post.

March- is Spring coming to Happy Trails?

2011-03-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

The days are longer and with the addition of more snow it actually feels like spring. Water is running off the roofs and the ice bergs are slowly receding. It seems so slow this year. I know it will be soon that we are turning on water in cabins and beginning the deep spring cleaning. I love when the cabins are freshly deep cleaned. It is so satisfying. I love our job.

On to the construction project. I now have an insulated kitchen/dining area. The house became so cosy and nice. I realize there is a lot to do but just the fact of being warmer has made life wonderful. We have also been experiencing some great Black Hills inversions. Rapid City has been so cold and overcast while we in Silver City have been in the 40's with nice sunny days.

Now I have a cold

2011-02-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

I was complaining awhile back about the cold weather and now I have a cold. It is miserable.
Seems I am not getting anything truly accomplished these days. Luckily I was OK on Sunday and we went cross country skiing out our door. There is a fair amount of snow for Silver City.
On the good side, we are planning on getting our insulation installed next monday. We are so excited. There is a bit to get done before they get her on Monday but now with a deadline, we will be in a frenzy of activity. It will be nice to be warm.

random stump things

The chickens are well and producing. We get 5 eggs a day from 7 chickens. They are so friendly and this late in the winter they look fairly ugly.

Tally

Rita

walking on Pactola Lake

Beaver Dam

Nothing really going on and we have too much time to think.

Politics

2011-02-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

The first hurdle is done. We gave our presentation at the County Planning Commission and they voted for it to continue. We will now give our presentation to the County Commissioners on March 1. We need everyone to root for us. It was good to have one dissenter in the room so we can address his concerns in the next presentation. It is important to let people know that, as this is a conditional use, a potential vacation home rental has to address the neighbors concerns.
On a more fun note. I found 2 antlers on our hike Monday. One was found in the yard across the street, the other was from last year. You can tell the old ones as they look dry and have had mice or squirrels chewing on them.
We have been having such nice weather. The snow is melting and then freezing so the ice remains.

cold, cold, cold

2011-02-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

Wow, is it cold here in Silver City. We are so grateful that seasons change and we can rest assured that it will get warmer someday. The Black Hills were beautiful with the frost heavy in the trees. All the green pine trees were white, and white on one side in some areas.
I have been working a lot in Rapid City. The Black Hills Stock Show is going on. I had fun yesterday evening working the camera for the dog trials. It was fun to see the collies working the sheep. We had a Border Collie and she was so smart. Of course our current dog Gus is pretty smart too but he is still young. Makes me want to get a few sheep for Gus to try and work with.
Wiring is getting done in the kitchen. We need to incorporate rewiring the old parts of the house while wiring the kitchen. Luckily I have patience as everything takes longer than expected.
I have been diligently working on our ordinance amendment. We are planning on handing it to the P & Z office on friday. The Planning Commission meeting presentation is set for Feb. 14. It is actually fun finding facts and material to include in the power point presentation.
In the meantime summer vacation reservations are starting to come in and things are looking well for our cabin rentals.

Happy Trails Weather

2011-01-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful day 48 degrees F. in Silver City. We took a break from Happy Trails and did a 2 hour hike. If you know us you will figure out that we just start out into the woods and look for a peak to climb. It was a steep climb heading south west. Gus (the dog) was in heaven, you could see his smile as walked with us. We found some old mountain lion tracks, we always seem to find tracks in the snow in winter no matter where we hike.
The beams are in place and supported where Tally took out a wall in our house. After that was set we took off on our hike. We needed to get outside and get a break from the construction project.
The woods had a warm moist smell, reminding us of spring. The snow was wet and a bit slippery.

winter

2011-01-12T12:45:00.000-08:00

I have tried twice to add a new posting. Each time I have written quite a bit only to be called away to help Tally. Both times I have not been able to recover my musings. I will try to keep this short and post it before having to help.

It is so cold outside. We are doing a bit of remodeling in our house - the house that always comes last. I will hopefully have a dream kitchen. It is hard to get desk work done with Tally calling me to help with construction so often. I willingly run to help as the sooner it gets done the sooner I can be using it.

As it is the beginning of the year I am starting to get summer reservation requests. It is fun to take a clean calendar and start filling in the blanks. I only request a few dates to ourselves. I always make it a point to tell guests that arrive on the 4th of July that they may be letting themselves into their cabin. The parade in Belle Fourche is irresistible and a yearly event for us and our extended family.

The fire trucks and the water fights on a hot 4th of July.

Happy Trails is pretty much buttoned down for the winter. We have some guests arriving next week.

It is always different in the winter as everyone tends to stay more indoors, the Black Hills are beautiful in the snow.

April 22, 2010

2010-04-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

April showers bring May flowers and we are definitely into the April showers. The Soffit is 90% done, 2 trim boards and some caulking will finish it off. We used all our split firewood so we have taken a bit of time to split and stack some to start it drying for next winter.
The crocus are wonderfully abundant. They are so fun to spot in the woods and the clusters have so many blooms. We got our bee hive on Monday and have the location picked out. It is definitely out of the way so don't worry about bees. We will get bees in 2 weeks.
Tally is biding his time to get onto his spring projects, it takes so long for the ground to dry out enough for him to finish the landscaping at the Boxcar Cabin. In the meantime I have decided to utilize him for a jump start on the deep spring cleaning.
I bought tomato plants and will have to baby them in the house for 4 weeks when the final danger of frost is over. I knew it was a bad idea but I could not resist. When things start to turn green outside it is hard to not want to start gardening. Unfortunately I must wait.
Cabin days are filling up nicely. It is nice to hear guests tell their cabin search story. One woman recently told me she is returning to the Black Hills and, after staying in cabins near the highway last year, extensively researched cabins for something quiet and away from highway noise. She chose us. What a treat.

spring is in the air

2010-03-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

Can't believe I haven't written since February. The glaciers are finally almost gone and there is a hint of green in the grass. No sign of buds in the trees. There is a symphony of sound from the birds. The ground is still frozen and the heaving has begun. I am so anxious to start the garden.
We decided to try our hand at bees this spring. We will locate them in a quiet out of the way spot and in future years we hope to have honey for our guests.
Nothing much has been happening on the cabins except for rentals. It has been nice to get the occasional winter guest. The ground is too wet and muddy around the Boxcar Cabin to do any work on the exterior.
We took advantage of the time and cold weather last week to relocate my laundry area so we can work on the small room and bathroom in our house, we can work on our place in the summer when the cabins are rented. We will now take a break on that and finish the soffit of the garage. Tally is feeling a bit overwhelmed by the projects left for us to do but we plug away on them and have a feeling of accomplishment when something gets finished.

2/6/09

2010-02-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

Wonderful snow we have. We had guests leave the Log Cabin this morning. They were thrilled to finally be staying in the Black Hills and have it snow.

Tally and I x-country skied this morning for a few hours. We follow our hiking trails. For novices we don't do too bad. It is harder to ski down a hill than hike it. I fell twice before I played it safe and side stepped down. Tally just took off his skis and walked. I think we are improving in this Silver City winter wonderland.

We have not been doing anything on the cabins lately. We have been working our second job almost every day at the Civic Center in Rapid City. The Black Hills Stock Show is going on, both of us have been doing camera work and spotlight work for the rodeo. It is a good change of pace for us. Tally has also been doing some finish trim work for his sister. Family obligations are infringing on Happy Trails projects. Luckily he has one window left and then we can evaluate priorities for Happy Trails.

The chickens are happy and laying eggs. Please do not buy eggs for your visit here. I have plenty for guests. They are fun to watch out my desk window.

Cold and Snowy

2009-10-12T08:57:00.001-07:00

Mother Nature always manages to take control. We have had record lows and snow. Needless to say it has stopped Tally's digging as we have been diverted to getting the garden harvested and taking care of neighbors frozen pipes. We still have guests coming in and are secure in the knowledge that at least our cabins will keep our guests cozy and pipes will not freeze. It is supposed to warm up this week, during one of the warm days we will drain the cabins to get ready for the winter that has already arrived. We still have guests coming in so we will leave the Log Cabin open. Our winter rental policy is a 2 night minimum and we pick the cabin. We pick the cabin based on which one was just used and still warm and which one is easiest to open and re-drain. Typically we use the Log Cabin, Boxcar Cabin and Cottage the most. With the foundation still in the works, the Boxcar Cabin will be out of the mix for a bit longer.

I am also spending time getting the garden produce canned and safely stored.

Our winter job has also started. We do stagework at our local civic center. The hockey season began so we are working many friday and saturdays. Tally is working a video camera again and I am still doing instant replays. It is fun and helps supplement our cabin rental income.

The chickens like the paint job on their coop and are doing well. One of them is in love with Tally's little excavator. She visits him all the time when he is digging, I think it is the long arm of the digger that she likes. Unfortunately she also likes to lay her eggs under the cabin. I don't know what she will do when we get it done.

stumps and painting

2009-09-18T19:45:00.002-07:00

We are done with the busy season. The guests come in smaller numbers this time of year and we are done with the 4-5 cabin cleanings in a day. When we reach this time of year we are so thankful for all the friends that returned and new friends we made.

Now we turn our attention to projects that need to get done before winter. Tally has started digging around the Boxcar Cabin to prepare for the installation of a footing and foundation. We spent the past 3 days digging around a stump and pulling it out. Ponderosa pine trees have deep and numerous roots. Needless to say it is out and sitting in the driveway of the cabin. Now Tally can continue digging the trench.

During this stump project I helped a friend with a metal roofing job. I am not sure how skilled of a laborer I was but I worked 2.5 days. I sure was sore after 8 hours on a roof. Today I put in some painting time. The weather is perfect for painting and staining. As cabins sit empty I try and get a few small projects done. The garden can sit for a bit longer. The frost we had last week put an end to beans, cucumbers, etc, but the beets, onions, carrots and potatoes can sit in the ground almost until it freezes. It is nice to take a break from canning.

The end of summer is official as tomorrow I will put the inner tubes away. The fall colors are sure popping out on the Silver City Road, very pretty.

8/27/09

2009-08-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

As our night sky is so dark we are staying up to watch mars tonight.

We have been busy keeping up with the raspberries. We picked 2 ice cream buckets of raspberries this morning and I jelled 4 batches today. As the raspberry went better than the chokecherry I am making more raspberry for next year. Hope everyone has been enjoying the jelly.

No big ventures lately for Happy Trails. Tally is still digging and will probably be digging for awhile, I think he is having way too much fun so I get him to help clean a cabin once in a while. The season is winding down. Labor day will be the last big hurrah though as we are open all year we do have quite a few guests coming in September. There is more time between guests so the cabin cleaning is not as hectic. It is hectic in our kitchen as I jell and can the garden produce. Sometimes it is a relief for the garden to be done. I have put out the notice that we can't grow tomatoes at our elevation so a few of our reliable guests have brought me enough tomatoes from their gardens to make salsa and still have a lot of tomato sandwiches and BLT's. We have been in heaven.

8/19/09

2009-08-19T08:30:00.001-07:00

We made it through our own Primal Quest. Silver City came through with great support of all the racers. No matter what time of day or night we had someone cheering and feeding each team. With our background in ultra distance cycling and racing at high levels Tally & I really enjoyed seeing the athletes. It really brought back some great memories, the downside is that we did have to take breaks and clean cabins and get laundry done as guests were still coming in and we do have a business to run.

Though the weather has not been cooperating the die hard guests have been inner tubing. I may have to have some wet suits available for the adults, I don't think the kids feel the cold. For future guests... pack the wet suit. People have still been catching fish and the flowers are totally wonderful.

Tally is busy digging around the Boxcar Cabin in preparation for installing a foundation. We will start the hard part after Labor Day. Can't believe the summer is almost over.

8/16/09

2009-08-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

The raspberries are ripe! Time to pick and make jelly. Many guests got a sampling of the fruits of our garden. Hope they were all enjoyed. I did notice the chokecherry jelly was not as well received as the raspberry. More raspberry for 2010.

We made it through Sturgis rally week. It was very busy for the town. Our daughter and cousin with the neighbor girls sell lemonade, brownies, hot dogs and chips to the motorcyclists. They do well and it is a great way for them to learn about business and customer relations.

This weekend the Black Hills are hosting the Primal Quest Race www.ecoprimalquest.com. It is 600 miles of racing throughout the Black Hills and Badlands. Silver City VFD is a check point of the race and it has been fun to see the racers go through.

More later.

July 17, 2009

2009-07-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

Things are going well. The weather is finally warm enough for guests to go tubing down Rapid Creek and the evenings are still cool enough for a nice fire in the fire pit. The mosquito population seems to be lessening - I think we had a bumper crop this year.

Last weekend we had our Silver City VFD annual fundraiser. We have a pie and ice cream social in conjunction with a volksmarch. This year we added an artist paint out. Check out silvercitysd.com for an update of the event with pictures.

We have had some great rains and a bit of hail. The flowers are going strong and everything is so green. The rains caused a bit of problems at our house - the roof leaked but we spent the last 2 days re-roofing and it is watertight again. The first thing we did when we bought the place 15 years ago was roof and we've gone full circle replacing roofs.

The mountain biking has been good, as has been the fishing.

June review

2009-06-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

Can't believe June is almost over. We have had some fun guests and lots of children. The s'more's have been good and we have had a bumper crop of mosquitoes. Don't let that deter you from being outside as the evenings have been wonderfully cool.

It is finally warm enough to get the inner tubes out, the attrition rate is quite high and there is lots of patching to do. I need more if anyone has an outlet for tubes. Creekville is fully built by the local kids and inhabited almost every day.

Our current guest is having great luck on the creek for fishing. The water is still running good. We had .83" of rain last Friday, keeps Rapid Creek running and the grass green.

Our garden is doing well. There are a few weak spots but the moisture is good and things are growing rapidly. The main feature is the raspberries and there are lots of blooms.

The chickens are all moved to the new coop and everyone has settled in well. We put new nest boxes up yesterday. By this time next year we hope to have enough eggs for guests. Right now 3 chickens barely keep us in eggs.

Time to go to work.

5/29/09 summer is starting.... are we ready?

2009-05-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

We are finally getting summer weather and it is beautiful. The wild Iris are blooming and the Pasques are done. Autumn has the hammock out and the chicks are getting big. We put them outside today in a pen. They are 3 weeks old and getting their feathers.

We are winding down on the spring cleaning. Tally is shampooing the Bullion Cabin, the last cabin to spring clean. It sure feels good to be almost done.

It has been awhile since my last blog. During this time we spring cleaned 5 cabins, planted our garden, went on a few bike rides and watched a musical performance of the choir at the middle school. I also painted the outside of the Boxcar Cabin then decided we did not like the color. We have picked another color and my sister in law repainted yesterday. It looks great. I will post a picture ASAP.

We have been hosts to a lot of fishermen lately and they are having great luck in Rapid Creek. SD Game Fish and Parks is in full swing stocking the creeks. Pactola Reservoir is full and Rapid Creek is running good. Maybe I will go fishing this week. We can get fishing licenses online through SD GF&P don't even have to leave the house.

The big event this week was the moving of the future chicken coop. The 4 x 10 old outhouse was moved to it's new spot. Tally actually loaded it onto the back of our trailer, don't ask me how he did it, I was hiding in the garden. When it was on the trailer he drove down past the garden to show it off to me. It was quite funny.

When carpets are all shampooed Tally will work on the coop.

Mothers Day

2009-05-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day. We had a great week. The Signature Cabin is totally spring cleaned and the Tree Cabin is half done. Monday Tally hopes to finish the east siding, the north siding is totally finished on the Boxcar Cabin. I will try to get pictures up ASAP. Tally almost got the siding done friday but every time he got going it would start to rain. Tally would bring the tools out, cut and put up a few boards, the rain would start, tools would be put away, Tally would come inside. As soon as he would come inside the sun would shine. Out he would go to start the cycle again. After lunch he finally just helped me clean a cabin. We even had a snow squall. Snow in May??

Yesterday we took a break from cabins and went to a branding. It was fun to take a step back in time as they branded pretty much the old fashioned way. It was such a smoothly run operation and a joy to watch. There was every generation represented and all had their part.

I did pick out the color for the Boxcar cabin, it is a shade of red. If I get ahead on the cleaning this week I will start the painting, we are painting the grey part and keep the green trim.

It gets quite hectic this time of year but when the dust settles (dust??? what dust) it all seems to get done.

To top off the week we picked up our chickens on friday. They are so cute. Guess when the siding is done and cabins are cleaned we better get the chicken coop done. There won't be any eggs for guests until late July or so. We will keep you informed on the egg production.

4/30/09

2009-04-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, the days are flowing by. The days have been warm and fairly productive. We brought home a trailer load of siding and I have been staining. Tally put a few up and we are on our way to getting things done.

I have been thatching our yard. Seems I can't put long hours into it at a time but bit by bit it is getting done. The chickens are running around eating the grass and bugs behind me as I rake. Gus, the dog, sits quietly and guards me and the chickens. It really is pretty to quietly rake and listen to the birds, frogs and the wind in the trees. The raking motion of the thatcher also gets me in shape for the fire season. Lots of digging when you build a fire line.

Yesterday we worked at the Civic Center. We had different hours so Tally rode his bicycle home. It was a grueling 2-3/4 hours with a headwind. As he hasn't really been riding much it was good for him to do a long ride. He was exhausted after the ride and very stiff today.

Give me some sunny days and I will get the spring laundry done. I am starting with the Signature Cabin as that is the next one rented.

Oops, here it is Thursday evening 9:00 PM and it is currently snowing!!!

The Pasque flowers (Crocus) are blooming, they will be pretty in the snow.

soffit finished and siding started

2009-04-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

4/23/09

Time is of the essence as we took advantage of good weather and got the soffit and facia done.

We pulled off the masonite siding and discovered the historical red shingle siding.

Now we have the shingles off and the exterior prepped for new siding. The sawmill isn't done making the boards. We are to get a spat of rainy weather so I hope we can go pick them up and I can start staining while the weather is poor. Of course there is always yard work if it isn't raining too hard and Tally and I can spend some very productive days inside getting a start on the deep spring cleaning.

Silver City is starting to come alive with spring. The crocus are blooming in the woods and in our garden. All the draws are running with water. There is more water than we have seen in 14 years. We did a 14 mile mountain bike ride (had to take time off sometime), it was beautiful with running water along each road.

The resident gobbler is his usual noisy self chasing all the hens in town. He is pretty full of himself and tends to gobble until mid summer, can't leave any hens out of his harem. There is a pair of geese in the pond across the road, we are hopping they have a nest and stick around.

cabin progress and good weather

2009-04-14T20:33:00.000-07:00

Beautiful day today, I believe it was in the 70's. Can't believe we had 8" of snow last weekend - April 4. We took advantage of it and skied the Nugget/Stewart loop, 4 hours and 7.5 miles later we made it home.

With the Easter holiday and dinner at the parents behind us it is back to the grindstone. Lots of progress was made yesterday and today. Board staining is ahead of boards getting put up. Tally has the gables done on both sides and only has a bit of soffit left.

Tally pulled some of the masonite siding off and now I believe we are committed to re-siding the cabin. It adds a few more weeks onto getting things done but it will look so much better.

Reservations are on track. I am caught up on desk work and able to get outside stuff done and help Tally. I think I am helpful anyway.

We are open all year but do drain the cabins if there is a gap between guests. It is officially time to get the cabins up and running and thoroughly cleaned.

Silver City Drama keeps work at a standstill

2009-04-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

So nothing ever happens in the quiet little communities. If you haven't been watching the news we seem to have a missing family. We do not know any more than the media but we do have an abundance of law enforcement hanging around. We have a great community hall in an open field and it is the command post for the search. Between media vehicles, search vehicles and law enforcement vehicles, Silver City Road is busy. Our phone is ringing off the hook with cabin owners, friends and relatives, not to mention our wonderful Silver City communication network calling to inquire how things are going.

We are well. Silver City is fine and the search continues, or not.

On another note. We had CPR and AED training Saturday and passed. That is great news for the fire department and future heart attack victims. Sunday we took the wildland firefighter physical test and passed that too. It was fun getting together with the other departments.

Last week, after the blizzard it was just to cold for outside work, Tally just couldn't get in the mood. No progress was made on the current project. After this last blizzard (March 30) we went cross country skiing again. There really is some great skiing when the snow cooperates.

snow, snow, snow

2009-03-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Just as we were drying out, thawing out, and getting a lot accomplished on the cabin this great blizzard hit. We really only measure about 8" of snow but it took 2 days to fall. The only thing we did for Happy Trails was organize my work room and get taxes started. Of course, living out here we did take advantage of the snow and cross country skied. We went about 4 miles total, up Nugget, it was great to glide down. We don't often get nice enough and deep enough snow for skiing.

We worked in Rapid friday, saturday and sunday so the warmest (70's) days of the week were spent inside. As this is still our slow season so it is nice to get a paycheck.

Guests are coming this weekend so the season is slowly getting in gear. Time to start turning on water, warming up cabins and deep cleaning.

3/16/09

2009-03-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

We had 6" of wet snow last week so did other stuff around the place. We worked our off-season job all day Monday, Tuesday and then Wednesday evening. We do stage work and worked High School Musical on Ice. Then Friday and Saturday evenings we worked hockey games. Only 2 more games left.

The snow was thick on the ground so we didn't work on the cabin. Saturday Tally finally got a chance to work on the soffit. He even had 2 helpers (not me). Sunday we did trail maintenance by clearing trees of Trail #40 up Rapid Creek. We did a 5 mile hike and had a great time.

Here it is Monday and what a fine day. Temps in the 60's and our friend Mark came out to help. It was such a productive day for Tally and I stained boards.

It is supposed to be nice through Thursday so we are focused.

Snow and Sickness

2009-03-09T20:43:00.001-07:00

Nothing whatsoever got done until yesterday, (Sunday). Last Wednesday and Thursday Tally was flat on his back sick, Friday and Saturday were recovery days. Of course we are a very close family so I got a bit of the ick Thursday and Friday, what fun. As luck would have it we had the warmest days of March the week we were sick.

Sunday we finally felt good and the weather was still holding up as dry but cold so Tally completed the gable end vertical siding. I, being my helpful self, split wood and watched the progress.

It is currently snowing so once again outside work is getting put on the back burner. We are more of the fair weather type of carpenters.

We currently have guests enjoying the snow.

Spring weather

2009-03-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Silver City has been having a great stretch of warm weather. It is in the 50's today. Tally has been very busy on the cabin.

Saturday we helped Johnson Siding with controlled structure burns. Sunday was Tally's birthday so we went on a 2 hour hike north of Silver City. It was a balmy day and worth being outside.

Despite these 2 days off, we got a lot done. We just need to know what kind of siding to change to if we change it. Any ideas?

Reservations are holding steady at Happy Trails. Some weekends are already full so anyone interested please get your dates to me.

2/26/09

2009-02-26T12:16:00.000-08:00

Another bit of snow came to Silver City, we got about 3 inches. It is cold again so outside work is at a standstill and we are busy at our desks getting paperwork done. I am almost ready to get taxes done.

Tally brought the newest addition to the Silver City VFD home yesterday. Johnson Siding VFD sold a tender to the SCVFD. It will provide us with more functional structure protection in forest fires. We will be helping with a controlled structure fire on Saturday. It will take a day from our Happy Trails work but we do need the practice.

2/24/09

2009-02-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

It is amazing what gets done when the weather is nice. Though we are officially in the glacial season here in Silver City, Tally is getting a lot of wood put up and I am busily staining wood when the sun is shining and the temps are over 40 degrees. The top 1" or so of the ground is thawing in the sunlight so where it isn't ice there is mud. Rapid Creek is still almost solid ice below the garden area and quite beautiful.

Boxcar Cabin Progress

2009-02-18T20:19:00.000-08:00

The weather has been good to us. Tally has been putting up soffit. I would be helping but the demands of the being the Silver City VFD treasurer are keeping me occupied. I have about one more day of treasurer bookkeeping duties and I can concentrate on cabins again. Our next stage of cabin decisions is to try and figure out what color we ultimately want this cabin to be. The roof is grey, the soffit is stained canyon brown, currently the cabin is grey. Any suggestions?

Happy Trails.

Boxcar Cabin history

2009-02-09T16:50:00.001-08:00

The Boxcar Cabin is a real boxcar moved into Silver City and placed on the lot in 1933 by the Potter family. The wheels were taken off when it was put on its current site. There are various additions onto this cabin and all the roofs were flat and leaked.

We are the 3rd owners.

We took a look at the cabin and decided a flat roof is not acceptable in snowy Silver City. Plus it leaked. We did try to save the rounded wooden boxcar roof ( see right picture). It was so rotten and unsightly we could not. Instead we took it out and made a vaulted ceiling. We do try and incorporate original structure whenever we can. We believe in reusing and recycling. All the interior trim boards are from reclaimed lumber. The Boxcar is the middle window part. There are 2 bedrooms in this cabin and we thought it was a great addition to our cabin rentals here in the Black Hills. Unfortunately we discovered that as it is not adjoining our property it cannot be used commercially but we can still let people stay in it for their vacation.

It's snowing

2009-02-09T16:39:00.001-08:00

It is snowing at Happy Trails Cabins. Tally has all the inside trim done on the Boxcar Cabin and after I get the accounting done I will get the curtains and blinds in. I will admit I am not very good with window treatments - cellular shades will most likely be in the living room, curtains in the master bedroom and I don't know yet for the kitchen area.

Tally has started putting up nailers for the soffit boards. He will need to find something else to work on if we get much more snow. I need to stain boards before he puts them up. That is sometimes a race as he gets so anxious to see the final result.

The creek is frozen and getting higher as the running water freezes from below.

About Silver City

2009-01-28T16:37:00.000-08:00

Silver City, SD is located right in the middle of the Black Hills. We were originally a mining town and at one time had a population of 200. There once was a hotel and bar, later there was a grocery store with gas station and a post office. Due to the increased mobility of people the store closed and the post office was combined with Rapid City. We still miss having our own zip code, we have the same zip code as Rapid City and we are 23 miles apart. I don't know when the original bar and hotel closed. The store had various locations, we were the last to run the store. We ran it for about 5 years when the books told us it was not worth it, $2.00 per day on average profit.

Every draw and hill top has mine diggings, everyone was looking for gold. The largest mine in the vicinity of Silver City was the Diana Mine dug by the Gorman Brothers. The first mining platt was made in 1883 on what was known as the Nebraska Bar.

About us

2009-01-22T11:55:00.000-08:00

We have owned Happy Trails Cabins since 1995. We purchased Wagon Wheel Lodge 2 weeks before our daughter was born. We changed the name to Happy Trails Cabins to go along with our great love of mountain biking and the wonderful trails around Silver City, SD.

When we bought the place it was very run down. Tally's father and step-mother (Al & Audrey) owned the place for 20 years. Al had a stroke 10 years before he died and wasn't capable of getting in into shape. When he passed away in 1994, Audrey kept the place going for another year before realizing it was too much for her to handle and things were just falling apart. She asked us if we wanted to buy it and we said "of course". That was the start. We love our cabin rentals and helping guests have a great vacation in the Black Hills.

1/16/09

2009-01-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

Tally got the windows and door in the bedroom trimmed out, looks great. We used a dark trim, the same as the living room. Nice and warm.

It is 45 degrees F outside so we will take a hike instead of working on the cabin.

Welcome

2009-01-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

Start of a new year for Happy Trails Cabins here is the peaceful Black Hills. We will start by finishing what we started last year. We have been doing trim work in the Boxcar Cabin, a new addition to our rentals. When the trim is in I can make final decisions on window treatments. One window is now done.

It is cold and snowy.

Starting to get guest inquiries. I love this time of year, quiet with guests but busy with phone and e-mail.