tour of the freedom minePlant

Our son Dan arrived on Mon. for a short visit. Wed. we toured the Freedom coal mine the Antelope Valley Power Plant and the Dakota Gasification Plant. Freedom coal mine supplies coal for the power plant and the gasification plant both owned by Basin Elec. Power cooperative. The power plant has the capacity to generate 900 mega watts of elec. The gasification plant produces enough synthetic natural gas to heat 400 thousand homes all year long. The gas is of the same quality as regular natural gas and is put into a pipe line and co mingled . They also produce Anhydrous ammonia, xenon, argon, krypton as well as co2 that is piped to Canada and injected into the oil fields to nearly triple their daily production. The coal mine returns the land to the original topography as well as restores all wet lands and is better land production wise when they are through with it.

Hazen Bay

We arrived back at Hazen Bay last Mon. late afternoon. It seemed good to be back after nearly four summers hear it seems like home to us. This week has been a rather strange week weather wise. It has been coo, but early in the week it was really dry so spent a lot of time watering grass and trees. By Wed. PM it had become cloudy and we received some rain. Thur. afternoon I was able to mow for most of the afternoon and Fri. was cool windy and showers just kept rolling thru every 2 or 3 hrs. All in all I think we got 1/2 in. of rain for the week. This weekend is the archery tournament that the local archery club hosts every year the first weekend in Aug. This year it is a state shoot so they expect 200 or more to go through the course as compared to most years when it is a regional shoot with about 150 going through. They hold it at our lower tenting area and the targets are out in the hills and brushy coulies in an adjoining farmers pasture. This evening we will go the the big barbecue. We also have a family get together here this weekend so we are fairly full again this weekend.

Wheeler Family Reunion

We arrived at my sister Gloria and husband Rons house last Mon. evening to begin preparations for our bi-annual Wheeler family reunion on Fri. thru Sun. My sister Ilene husband Al, sister Kathy and husband Dave arrived on Wed. We four the Miller siblings were hosting it this year. It was a very busy three days getting the farmstead spruced up and preparing meals etc. for the reunion. We also enjoyed reminiscing in the evenings as we always do. We also played a game of UNO Fire on two evenings. The reunion began on Fri. evening with a catered meal at the Grant UM Church fallowed by a short business session and visiting. On Sat. morning we all gathered at the Patrick farmstead for coffee juice and rolls. At 9:30 a group went to the lake at Ogallala for a day of jet skiing and boating. Another group went to the golf course for a game of golf and another went to City Park for tennis. There was a small group that stayed behind to visit and prepare the pork for the evening meal. Everyone gathered back at the farm at 4PM for a scavenger hunt, water balloon toss and other games. Many people also enjoyed riding the 1903 Olds replica, The side by side bicycle built for two, go cart riding etc. Fallowing a supper of pork cooked over hot coals, a seven bean dish, homemade ice cream and much more. we were entertained by the Cowboy Capitol Chorus. Later in the evening all gathered around the campfire to share our talent and to share memories. This year we tried to focus on memories of Grandma Wheeler. Sun. morning part of the group that hadn't already started for home met at Gloria and Ron's house for a short worship service lead by Kathy Cook. There were 70 to 80 people that attended the reunion. Two of the three remaining Wheeler children were in attendance. That being Uncle Carrol age 91 and Uncle Wesely age 85. Uncle Gerald age somewhere in between was unable to attend. The youngest in attendance was one month old son of Jesse and Renee Dillon.

H.ermosa, SD

This morning we left Hazen Bay about 11AM. We are on our way to SW NE for our bi annual Wheeler family reunion. We traveled south on US 49 past the Freedom coal mine north of Beulah and the Westmorland mine south of Beulah nestled among the rolling farm and pasture land. The barley and wheat fields are starting to turn to a golden color as they ripen. Nearing Glen Ulin there was noticeably less farm land and more pasture land and thousands of bales of newly baled prairie hay. Rolling on past Elgin and on ino South Dakota it was through the vast rolling prairie pastures filled with sleek fat mostly black cows and calves. At Faith SD we turned west on US 212 to Newel SD where we turned south on US 79 and suddenly were back in more populated farming country after traveling nearly 160 miles and seeing nothing but cattle and pasture. We stopped in Sturgis for a quick bite to eat and then it was on south on 79 to the Heartland RV park at Hermosa for the night. At Sturgis it was 95 degree's when we got out of the motor home for something to eat, that is 10 degree's warmer than we have seen at Hazen Bay this summer and 30 degree's warmer than we were earlier in the week. I am sure we will adjust as it will be very warm in NE for the next week. Unlike most years when the country side would be turning brown at this time of year it was green and lush all the way due to more rain than usual.

Hazen, ND

The country side has taken on a very different look than it had 30 days ago. It has gone from a patch work of browns and greens to a patch work made up of yellow fields of canola, light golden fields of ripening barley, green fields of wheat heading out and the pastures have gone from a dark lush green to an light green to tan color due to the grasses heading out. The farmers are swathing hay in the fields and along the road ditches. We continue to get more than normal amounts of rain every week making for the prospect of bumper crop yields this harvest season. In another 3 weeks or so they will be harvesting the canola, barley and wheat.

Hazen Bay July 4th

July 4th. weekend we had 124 total camping units here that includes tents. Last year I think we had around 86 total. They have added 22 new sites this year that we utilized this weekend for the first time. We figure that during the day there were from 500 to 700 people here. Twenty two of those campers are seasonal so we still had around 100 campers that we checked in mostly on Thur. afternoon. Some came on Wed. and a few on Fri. It was a stressful week as the 22 new sites across the road didn't have water until Tue. evening and then there was an open line that we were unable to find until about noon on Wed.
The campground has doubled in size since we first came 4 years ago. It has just become to large for us to handle and still take 2 days a week off. I do have a guy that helps out on my end but Nancy is doing the reservations and check ins all by her self. We have had a lot of rain this year and the grass keeps growing. Also we are having to mow with a smaller mower as our 84 inch one has been in the shop for repairs every since we arrived.
The lake has continues to rise very rapidly. It looks to me like it has probably risen about 2 feet in the last week. It is now some 30 ft. higher than we we first came 4 years ago. The picture shows our camp ground looking across the bay. This is the first time in 4 years that we have seen water in Hazen Bay. The campers on the near side are also part of our camp ground they are the original sites before they started developing on the south side of the bay.

Spring time in NO. Dak.

It is still spring in North Dakota. The lilacs just started blooming last week and the trees are nearly all leafed out. The pelicans arrived back in Hazen Bay and the goslings have hatched and are swimming around the bay with their parents. The temps are still in the mid 60's most days and low temps are in the 40' to mid 30 degree's. The farmers are busy planting the last of their spring crops and the mother cows with their small calves dot the green hill sides. The weather forecast for this weekend is for rain possibly areas of snow freezing temps and highs only in the upper 40' to low 50's.