Hi,
I attached a few pictures last night but did not go on the blog, I am not sure what happens. Anyway here are some.
Love,
Dad.

Hi All,
We had a wonderful weekend. We toured the Badlands and Devils tower.
We started on Friday night went to Wall and we got caught in a horrific rain storm as we entered Wall.It was raining softly on the highway but it got intense as we came to wall, got in to the famous drug store. Thre was a deluge which luckily did not last along time. It is surprising that we did not buy much there except some Copper Jewelery. We saw a beautiful rainbow as we were leaving Wall.
Our dinner at the Cactus Cafe and Lounge was so so, a buffet with some good fruit in the salad bar.Beef chicken and fish on the buffet, they also had Buffalo meatball.
We took the Badlands loop road Hwy 240 from wall to Badlands. The sun came out and had good sunlight and few hours to see the badlands formations. We also saw some bighorn sheep in the Pinnacles area. We stopped at several lookout areas as the light started to dim. We stayed at Badlands inn just south of the Badlands in the town of Interior,it is run by the concessioneer that runs The Ceder pass lodge inside the park boundary.Next morning we saw the rest of the badlands,took some short walks took pictures.
One interesting thing was our visit ot Pioneer Dan Browns homestead- sod house,it is one of the only two such structures in the country, by far the best.Many white Praire dogs, most of the others are Brown variety. We ate lunch at Cactus flat, Hot dogs and root beer,I had Buffalo hotdog and mom had beef hotdog.This was topped off with soft ice cream cones. All of this was on the east side of the Badlands. We went back in to the bad lands and finished up the rest . We went on the Sage creek rim road which is on the west side of the park and is a dirt road, where we saw some awesome vistas, some Buffalo and a herd of Elk. This sort of lead us back to Hwy 240 and to Wall where we took the I90 back to Rapid.
We ate at Pirates table in Rapid city, a quaint restaurant, with great menu, all the male waiters are dressed like pirates but without eye patches. Excellent Fillet for mom and Scallops for me. Great Tiramasu for dessert.

Sunday we went to The Devils Tower in Wyoming about 90 miles from Sturgis. The drive was great, the weather sunny but cool. We took a loop around the base of the Tower. Nice walk, with lots of ups and downs, great views of the tower. There were some climbers that we could see on the tower, The columns from the tower have been falling down for ages and that is what surrounds at the base, boulders at the base. We also saw somwe falcons flying at the top. The tower is not circular but oblong and flattened on two sides. The Devils tower is 841 feet tall.
The Tower is celebrating centenary, the actual date is in September.There was a picnic for the old settlers to day at the monument as a part of the cnteneary.There are several othe activities till September.
Mom is bringing all th pictures taken so far ,on two CDs.
Love,
Mom and Dad.

Hi,
I like the comments on my last entry. Keep them coming.
I think I will start an account in Flickr as per Chandi's suggestions.
We are laying low to day. Mom had an early christmas to day, I brought home the new pots and pans they bought for my apartment.
G'ma Judy here! With Tata coming home for lunch and off at 4pm the day is full. I did 3 loads of laundry and wrapped and mailed a present to little Sarah Grace Woodall. I have spent over 10 hours sewing beads and sequins on Christmas stockings in the last 3 days--it is addictive, I want to keep sewing longer than my eyes do. After dinner we watched Brokeback Mt. Thank-you Tamara and Anand. What an awesome movie. It will go down as a classic. It is a wrenching love story . Then we went for a walk around Ft. Meade. It was sunset time and the sky was full of turbulant amazing clouds due to a huge storm near here. We saw cloud formations we have never seen before and then they blew away quickly. We saw the Army reserves in uniform-guns and all-out training, standing at attention and being yelled at by the leader. It is different seeing them here so seriously training rather than just hearing on the news they are being sent overseas. I was so wishing Dhart and Tirzah could see them. Miss you all so much but when I leave here I will miss it here with Dad. I am lucky to have so many to miss! Love, Tata and G'ma Judy

Hi ,
This is the third blog to day, I am going to attach more pictures with this one.
There are so many pictures, shame only 5 can be uploaded to each blog.I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Love,
Tata.

Hi, I tried to attach a bunch of photoes to the last blog twice and it did not work. I will try to attach noe to this.
We just came back from dinner and walk. We ate mexican food at Spearfish, Guadalajara restaurant,the food was excellent,. Mom is planning when to go there.

Hi All,
It has been several days since the last blog. We were in commune with nature and there was no way to blog.
The work has been fine. One operation that I got to perform came to me in an unusual way. The primary surgeon had an important meeting that could not be missed. We tried to get the case started early but could not be done. So I was asked if I would mind starting and the other surgeon would join me later. By the time the surgeon came after the meeting the case was finished. Me finishing up the operation
so fast gave me the name Rapid Rao.He also said "what are you doing to me,making me look bad, this cemented the feeling that I am the slowest surgeon in the center".

We had a wonderful trip to the Custer State park. We stayed at the beautiful old Sylvan Lake lodge.It was initialy built in the 1892 but had a fire in the 1900s(early) and the new!!!! lodge was built.It is on the shores of the lake which was manmade by damming up the creek. There are large boulders around the most or half of the lake. The lake was beautiful, we saw several kids and adults fishing the lake, also saw some people in the paddle boats. The dinner on Friday night at the restaurant was excellent, all the workers are seasonal and most of them come from Jamica,several from India.
There were about three weddings while we were there. The first night it was a storm downpour and it stopped after we checked in and the sun came out for a brief moment and the play of light on the rocks was delightful.
Saturday we toured the Needles and Wild life loop in the park. Saw several buffalo in the wild.
We saw a play at the Black hills Play House-- Play it again Sam by Woody Allen,the players/actors were superb . It thundered and rained while in the playhouse.
Drive back to the lodge was foggy and Gorgeous full Moon, it seemed that some one was in a car behind us with bright lights, the moonlight was that bright.
Hi This is Mom! In the late afternoon we visited Mt. Rushmore. The drive was great as we never had driven from that direction. There were two places where tunnels had been cut for the road just so you saw the carving as you exit the tunnel. Seeing the carving in relationship to all the mts. around it put the awesomeness of it in perspective. It is so huge up close but minute when compared to mother nature's work. Oh, those mothers. I learned lots I had never known. there is a sculpture studio where the 1/12th size model is and looking at it you realize how much never got finished. And Jefferson was supposed to be to Washingtons right but the rock was too crumbly so they had to move him to Washington's back left. Gutzon Borglum was the sculptor and he had great visions of a vault which would be huge and hold details of the Pres. and the US but it didn't get done. Dad and I got matching t-shirts. We enjoyed wearing matching shirts on Sat. It was Tues. before I even touched the projects I brought because I have been turning the apartment from a govt. building to a home for Dad. It was clean but not Judy clean so that came first. I took down the heavy,long tan shower curtain and replaced it with a new one . I added some sage green bathrm rugs to match---Dad was using towels which look messy. I put a cloth on the table and washed all the new dishes,glasses, silverware etc. they had gotten for us. It was like Christmas opening all the boxes. The best part is they took the old twin hospital beds and ordered a brand new queen set complete with new sheets, blanket, dustruffle and comforter. So it is a bit homier now I hope. On Mon. I met
Dad for lunch and met some faces to match the names. We ate with another surgeon and the postmaster of Ft. Meade. We learned lots about the whole postal system-he was interesting. Evening are fun as Dad gets home at 4pm which gives us hours to drive through beautiful canyons and shop! We are of again. Love to all of you.
Mom and Dad

HiEveryone! We are off to
Custer. As I was packing I remembered my fanny pack,Anand. It is some neat stuff and we will be using it for sure. My favorite is the whistle,ther.,compass. We will think of you when we gaze up at the stars and try to identify the constellations with our bifocals in the dark of night! Of course since I am G'ma Judy I will have my trusty little flashlight with an extra battery right next to my band-aids in my fanny pack. Shyla and Chandi, was good talking to you both. You too Bennett. Shyla you may not see this until you get back but hope your trip to Mass. is as great as it promises to be. Don;t worry about how every thing will work out--give it to the universe to solve. Let go let God--you know all that good old New Age stuff. Love you all xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooox-{easy to be generous when typing}Tata and G'ma J Hi Steve and Barb if you are reading this!

Hi,
The couple is reunited!!!.
Judy got here on time this morning. She was pretty tiered. We ate at Perkins in Rapid city as we came from the airport. The flight was uneventful and the meal was satisfying.
The Rapid city regional airport is similar to Hagerstown, pretty and new. Only one concourse to the gates. Three airline serve this airport Delta, Northwest and United.
Hagerstown had free parking but here it is paid parking.
We went to Spearfish canyon made a loop from Spearfish. The dinner at 7 grill was excellent. Mom had steak can you believe that!!! She didn't want more ribs!!!,I had pork chop lightly breaded and smothered in apple sauce with Gorganzola., the pepper bisque was exquisite. Mom cant wait to go there again. We did some shopping at walmart.
Here are some pictures we took in the canyon.
We are going to Custer state park tomorrow staying at the Sylvan lake lodge for the weekend return on Sunday. We will be blogging Monday again. The cell phones will be on but I don't know about the reception.We will try to phone when the reception is good.
Love,
Pad and Judy.

Hi,
I saw a beautiful sunset as I went out for the walk. I like to share them with you.The buildings are around the parade grounds which is an oval. My appartment is facing the parade grounds. On one side (south) are the Old officers quqrters which are for rent for the employees,Simon and Paul both live in single family units. Suyama lives in the same building as me , building is on the east side of the parade grounds. The side (north) opposite the officers quarters are several buildings one of them is Fort Meade Museum,and Reserve training offices etc.
Here I go again getting of fthe track.
Good Night.
Love,
Tata.

Hi,
I just came back from dinner, went with Paul and Simon. We ate at the Knuckle Saloon,had Steak tips,locally famous,they were good.
I am on call so I could not have any beer.
I think I have lost 2-3pounds. If I keep this up it will be great, should get down to below 170,a good weight for me,closer to 160 would be even better.
I have no more pictures to load.

Simon had some good news to share, he will be 57 next week, he just( to day) bought 3.5 acres of land in a development and plans to be in the house in an year.The lot is a hill slope and his driveway will cost him 140,000.00!!!that is correct. But the good news is that he had a n offer to share the cost with the neighbor and build a common driveway.

I am glad you all had a nice Birthday gettogether. I was glad to see comments to my last blog from all of you.
I am just rambling on,better close. It is getting late and I better get my evening walk.

Judy I will see you at the airport tomorrow night.

Love you all,
Tata.

XXXXoooo to the kids.

Love to all.

Hi,
I just came back from having Chicken Gizzards with Morehouses, therfe is a chiken-a- doodle in Sturgis.
Jean Morehouse and their daughter Karen are horse enthusiasts. Karen is working for the summer on a ranch with teh horses,near Custer-- campers come ther for the activities and she is incharge of the horses.
The Morehouses ahve two horses in sturgis. They took me to see them, one is an apaloosa male named Sonny, and the other is mare wild mustang 15 yrs old.

I hope you had a nice Dinner, better than mine.You had anice company-FAMILY. Will talk to you all later.

Love,
Tata.

Hi I tried to attach some pictures to the previous blog twice it did not work, hope this time it will work.
Love
Tata.

Hi,
Happy Birthday Judy.
I had a nice hike yesterday to the arm of Crazy Horse. It was only 10K or 6.5miles instread of 20 K.I started the hike local time about 10:30AM.It was a pleasant morning, temprature was just about right. While I was waiting for the bus to take us to the registration area one of the guys from the VAMC was there and talked to me and was s aying to his wife that they needn't worry because the Doc is here. This was heard by a family practitioner who was hiking with his 3 daughter. At the registration area he said I hear you are a doctor and introduced himself as Tom Groeger,from Deadwood. We exchanged pleasantries and started to hike together. He is a family Doc,one of 11(or so) children and his father is a Family Doc also,now in Colorado.He practiced Allergy in Texas and finally moved back to Colorado as the children started to get back there(Colorado). We talked about my retirement and working a s alocum tenen and that is how his father became the topic,he could not give up medicine and he downsized to Allergy from full fledged family practice. Tom graduated from Univ of COlorado Med school in Denver, did residency at Casper, Wyoming. He worked as a contractor( part of group practice) for the Mining company in Deadwood and it folded in 2000, and now he is solo, and has several PAs who cover the ER. His wife is Elizabeth a Nurse anesthetist. They have 4 children, 3 adopted and one of their own,all girls. Two of the children are from China. He says his wife wants them to go to China and work there for a year or two at the western hospital. The anesthetists at the VAMC know the couple- Bob Rilley CRNA says Dr Groeger saved his life, shocked him 5-6 times when he had the heart attack.
It was good to be hiking with the children they used to Lallygag around and run up ahead, stop and rest etc, that made me go slow ,stop and rest up frequently. It was harder than hiking at home because of the elevation about 6000ft. I am not used to the elevation change, I dont think the mountains at the Appalchian trail are that high, only 2-3000ft. the first part was through the wooded area menadering and when we came to the toher side of the mountain it was like dirt road with lot of large gravel and many switchbacks.

The wiew from the top was great, clear view. I was next to the finished face of Crazy Horse, it is huge,much larger than the Mount Rushmore faces. the whole monument will be 561 ft, taller than Washington monument. They say the four face of the Mount Rushmore will fit on the side of Crazy Horse's face.The Volks Mrchh,was well publicized and it has been going on for about 22 years, they estimated over 10,000 people took part. It was on the news both days. The picture of Tom and the kids- are from left to rt Emily,Tom,Lauren and Carolyn.
After the hike I spent the afternoon at the visitor center. Ate Tatanka (Buffalo in Latoka language) stew at The Laughing Water restaurant. I bought a Bead work Bolo Tie, made by one of the Latoka ladies,sold at the visitor center. It depicts Lakota Flag she said.
I wore the tie to work today, it started a lot of discussion. People here dont like the Sioux indians,and say they are /were killers. I got a history lesson from Mark Blum aboiut the indians--Sioux.Sioux menas Enemy!! according to some other tribe language. The scouts for the US miltary were the remaining indians of the other tirbal indians. He said the Sioux killed anybody/anthing in their way,they were chased out of Minnesotta,and they were not native Balck hills indians. The Indians killed more Buffaloes than the white man, they just drove them off the cliffs.He also said that if Crazy horse was alive today he would be jailed as a terrorist. Then there was a discussion about terrorism, one said the Irish were the earliest terrorists, also talked about Wallace the Braveheart, Suyama said the japanese were the earliest terrorists. The Indians are not taking care of themselves, they want the government to bail them out, and they are lazy dirnk too much destroy everything. Any one coming from the east loves the indians and their plight and after a few weeks they will learn!!! not to like them. I dont know if that is prejudice or racism/discrimination.

After the visit to the Crazy horse ,on the way back I went through a part of the Custer State Park- Needles Highway, beautiful drive. Saw some Buffalos resting under the trees. I have some pictures(140) of the hike and Needles on the Snapfish, check it out. I could not post them on the Flickr,I have used up more than 50% of monthly allotment with only 6 pictures.

I am looking forward to Mom coming. Hope ypou all had a nice Birthday celebration!!!.
Love to all
Tata

Hi,
I have some pics of the sparcely furnished appartment that I live in. It is small and has a small kitchen and hardly any counter space. The bedroom has two twin beds, large bathroom .

Hi,
I dont have much to write about.
I talked about Spearfish Canyon before in one of previous blogs. I have some pictures of the canyon- water falls, streams, cliffs etc. It is so beautiful and peaceful. The canyon is only 17miles from Sturgis, it is a scenic byways of SD.

Hi Guys,
I tried to add pics to old entries, i dont know what happened it did not work.Here are some pics of the people I work with.\Justin Thurman. Lisa wuring, Paul Morehouse with moustache, Simon Kovalik with sunburnt face,Mark Blum with a pipe. I dont know how to add titles to the pics!!.
More in the next blog.
Tata

Hi All,
I am at my lap top hooked up to cable modum, listening to Kannada songs and creating this blog. What could be better? yes I could be home.
I am going to hike Crazy horse on Sunday. I willl be able to send some pictures. I am attaching pics from my last hike. please check the blogs of earlier dates so that you can see the earlier pics.
The ist picture is of Bear Butte taken on the way back from the hike.@nd one shows Simon on the trail. 3rd one is along the track. 4th is at the top of the butte Pad,Simon and Justin, the last one is a view from the trailthe lake you see is the bear lake.
TheCentennial trail starts at the top of the Bear Butte and goes south for 111 miles. The trial goes next to the hospital.
Love you all,
Tata.