Erynn and I headed up to Jerod and Mylynn's new ranch in North Dakota. They gave up their digs in Phoenix for the remoteness of North Dakota. Jerod set up his own law practice and bought a huge plot of land in the middle of nowhere. They had a ton of friends and neighbors up for the 2005 Labor Day Weekend, and we made the trip up from Iowa. Not that Jerod and Mylynn are reason enough to drive 11 hours, they just had their first child, Taggart, which was an even greater reason to visit.
Here's the four of us in front of the sign to the Tufte Ranch, which Jerod's uncle made for him. Jerod also made sure the North Dakota flag was flying next to the Stars & Stripes.
As I mentioned, their new baby boy, Taggart, was one of the main reasons for the trip. He was born at the end of July so he was only about 6 weeks old. As you can see, he's terribly cute. I kept asking to hold him, but others kept beating me to the chance. ;-)
I took a couple panoramic photos of the ranch. The top one shows the ranch's barns. They rent out the fields and barn to local farmers. The bottom photo shows their house and the Quonset Hut outbuilding.
One advantage of living hours from civilization is that you can afford vast tracks of land. One of the benefits of owning vast tracks of land is that you can have cool toys. Here's Erynn enjoying the Tufte's new ATV. Isaac, Jerod's nephew, is behind her on his little ATV. We also got to see cows. We didn't get many of thos in Chicago.
Jerod and Mylynn own all of this. I don't own anything at the moment. However, in a couple months, I will own something better.
Erynn took these cool photos of Isaac and a sunrise from their deck.
The highlight of the trip was when Jerod was showing off for some friends and got his "Trail Rated" Jeep stuck on a pile of poo. Elton, Jerod's dad, had to come to the rescue in his "real" truck.
Elton then had to show us how it should be done. However, he did lose his front license plate in the endeavor.
Before the poo pile fiasco, Isaac and I were riding the ATVs over the piles having a grand old time. During "The Rescue" he could only laugh and wonder how grown ups could be so silly.
This is the way things should be. Plus, it doesn't hurt having a toy with which to enjoy the speed limit.
And another little reminder of what it's all about...
© 2005 Doug Rathburn