We are on the final cabin for deep spring cleaning.  The Bullion cabin is the last in the line.  We seem to rotate the order of cleaning each year based on when they get rented.  We get asked which cabin is our favorite.  While I am cleaning I look each cabin over and I still can't seem to choose a favorite as they all have their special charm and character.
The Boxcar Cabin siding is not completely done but the cabins are almost cleaned.  We do have our priorities.
This years mothers day we hiked Harney Peak with my extensive extended family.  My 73 year old mother (who rarely hikes) almost made it.  My 79 year old father would have made it but turned around with mom (it ws her day).  We had a great time and the weather was warm and perfect.  Wonderful snack at the top and much appreciated lunch at the bottom.  Always take food and water with you.  It is a bit harder and longer than you think.

Spring progress

I will officially update the cabin progress.
Bullion Cabin now has linoleum in the kitchen.  The owners have wanted that done for ages.  We put an egress window in the bedroom with the twin beds and as Tally had the tools in the cabin, and we had the time, the carpet got torn out of the kitchen.  It will be easier to clean and maintain.  When you walk into the cabin you now see straight through the dining room and living room to the view out the egress window.  Small changes make such a difference.

The Log Cabin now has screen doors on both the front and back door.  One can have a nice cross breeze on a warm summer evening.  I won't say hot as our nights always cool down.  At 4600' we almost always need blankets at tnight.  They now have the signature wood door slam - I will try and rectify that by summer.

Our regular guests will understand this update.
The back side of the Boxcar Cabin is getting new siding.  The whole cabin will now match.  We have the large wall done and are working on the alcove part.  Tally also put trim boards around the windows.  We had a bit of rain yesterday so we are slowed down on the project but we had a nice day off from the outside work.  I sat and worked on paperwork at my desk, made a pie and cooked a delicious dinner.  Pictures to be posted at a later date.

Spring at Happy Trails Cabins

Can't believe it has been so long since I last wrote.
We have accomplished so much.  The ordinance passed.  It is overly regulated but nothing out of line.  Our guests are so nice that there will be no problems enforcing such things as quiet time.   We are in the process of getting our conditional use permit but hopefully we shouild have that in hand by mid June.  There were actually residents of Pennington County that opposed vacation home rentals.  Here we are in the prime tourist county (Pennington County is the home of Mount Rushmore) and there was an actual statement that tourists and residents next to each other is a "lose lose situation".  Our job is to make up for that lack of hospitality.  Tally and I have always believed in making others welcome in our home and our community.  I will post more on our current projects later.

What we are doing now.

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

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

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

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.