Cold and Snowy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.