I don’t expect to have such an exciting date for awhile (see Two Senior Citizens and a Dog on the James River) In fact, we won’t have any kind of date for at least a week. Don loves my van, Flying Cloud, as much as I do. He hitched up a trailer, loaded  his motorcycle, and is now in the Black Hills in South Dakota. He is camping in Flying Cloud like I used to do. He would have taken my dog too (Don is a dog whisperer) but he doesn’t have a dog seat on the motorcycle. Sniff..which will I miss more, Flying Cloud or my German Guy?  At least Don leaves me with his spiffy, sporty Ford so I have wheels. I hide it in the garage so no one from church thinks he has moved into the parsonage! No need for scandal.

Don’s car hiding in the garage. You may have noticed that the license plate says Vegates. That is a friendly German greeting, something like “What’s Up” or “How Are you”

Tango likes the sweet car too! We take off for a walk and then a drive in the country Sunday evening.

Before Don left, to impress him with my domestic skills I clean out the van, mostly all that James River mud. I set up the bed and layer on flannel sheets, my best sleeping bag, a cotton blanket, and a spiffy BLUE bed cover. Fluffy pillows. I put a fresh bottle of water and a travel mug in the cup holders. The rolling home on wheels also comes with camp stove, pots, dishes, potty, and more. He is jazzed. Off he goes in my Flying Cloud! I am not used to sharing.

So, I gain a guy friend and give up my van. Well, at least temporarily. My job in the meantime is to keep his garden watered. This is only fair since he took care of mine while I was up in the Turtle Mountains.

His garden all neat and tidy

My garden is a wild mess. 

I receive daily update calls and pout silently as I listen to tales of biking through Spearfish Canyon and elsewhere in the Black Hills, which is a top destination for bikers because it is so beautiful. He is even eating ice-cream without me. Sigh…off to water his garden.

Vegates!