My Valentine day

Yesterday my valentine took me for a ride..I didn't know where we were going but he said to bring my camera.



We live in a tri-state area. Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota are a bridge away. We drove over to the Nebraska side and on the old highway. The rolling hills are so pretty, even this time of year.



Cedar trees are scattered on the sandy hills and even though it was cold and overcast it was nice, my heated seats always make me happy.


We drove over the new bridge into South Dakota, the ice is starting to break up but still it looks cold.


Some sort of falcon or hawk was flying right outside Ricks window so I snapped a shot. I will have to see if I can ID it.


We we got to Gavin's Point Dam area I realized where we going. 35 and a half years ago we honeymooned here. We were married Nov. 3rd so it was cool then. In the picture below in that grove of trees we parked our camper.


Being it was Nov. we had the entire campground to ourselves like we did yesterday. It looks almost exactly the same only the trees are larger. We camped here 3 days until we ran out of propane and the water froze. It was the first time I had been camping and it was so much fun. Very romatic. We would stand out and watch the sun go down over the water.



And when the sun hits the hills across the lake just right they look like they are made of gold.


There are unfortunately houses built all over but you can still see how pretty it is in alot of the area yet.






We stopped at a outhouse that was still open, thank goodness. In the winter they don't smell quite as bad and when there isn't a bathroom around for miles and miles you make do.

Anyway, I go in and sit and hear this pathetic noise. Like a animal in distress. What is that I yelled to Rick jumping up. Some type of bird he thought. To me it sounded right below me and I had visions of some angry animal that had been hibernating and was angry I had just piddled on it. I looked in the hole and there was someone's cell phone bleating away. It sounded soooo distressed. Help me help me it seemed to be crying. I suppose the owner was calling the number and walking around somewhere in the park trying to locate it. I bet she won't want it back where it ending up laying.



We drove to the dam and I was surprised to see people fishing even this time of year. It was in the 20's. Burrrr. They have great paddlefish and huge catfish here.



Some of the fishermen didn't pay enough attention to the weather though as we saw 3 ice houses sunk from the warm weather last weekend. Sitting by the lake we could here the groans and moans of the ice either melting and breaking or freezing, not sure if it sounds different or not.



We sat by the lake and watched the geese get ready to take off. The are hundreds of them.



The sky is full of them and you can hear them calling for miles.



And them we went back to the top of the dam to watch the sunset, just like we did on our honeymoon. It was as romantic now as it was then.



When we got home my son's were here and my oldest gave me a dozen roses. Rick gave me candy and we ate dinner. This was the best Valentine's day for us both. It was just a lovely day and spending it together is what makes it special