%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 Life, Adventure, Family, Writing what else is there? Random thoughts. |
|
WELCOME TO: GEMINI RISING   UPDATED INTRO 30 JUNE 2025: Just a little about me. I've been married for 33 years this past NOV and currently live in Southern California, but I grew up in New Hampshire. I've got 2 boys who are young adults. I work as a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. I enjoy my job a lot. Still. If you can believe that. I love to write. Thankfully both of my boys achieved Eagle Scout. My Scouting days are over and I'm back to focusing on my writing. I like to get out in nature, drink coffee and watch football. Here's a little bio about my zodiac. GEMINI: Gemini, the sign of the Twins, is dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory. On the one hand it produces the virtue of versatility, and on the other the vices of two-facedness and flightiness. The sign is linked with Mercury, the planet of childhood and youth, and its subjects tend to have the graces and faults of the young. When they are good, they are very attractive; when they are bad they are more the worse for being the charmers they are. Like children they are lively, and happy, if circumstances are right for them, or egocentric, imaginative and restless. Their good qualities are attractive and come easily to them. They are affectionate, courteous, kind, generous, and thoughtful towards the poor and suffering - provided none of the activities resulting from expressing these traits interferes too greatly with their own lives and comforts. Geminians can be successful in many walks of life though their general characteristics tend to make them unreliable. They are often skilled manipulators of language, in speech and writing, and may be: debaters, diplomats (though in politics they are more interested in theory than practice), orators, preachers (brilliant rather than profound), teachers, authors, poets, journalists, or lawyers. BLOG ACCOMPLISHMENTS: SEPTEMBER 2025:
SEPTEMBER 2025:
Merit Badges collected and earned from "Earn the Badge 2025" ![Merit Badge in WdC Supportive Friend
[Click For More Info]
Thank you for participating in [Link To Item #2133333] . Congratulations on completing the September
2nd Daily Task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/community-WdC_Supportive_Friend.gif) ![Merit Badge in Earn the Badge
[Click For More Info]
Thank you for your donation to [Link To Item #2133333] - from Purple Princess.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Earn_the_Badge-2093257_1.gif){kind=icon} ![Merit Badge in Music
[Click For More Info]
Thank you for participating in [Link To Item #2133333] . Congratulations on completing the September
3rd Daily Task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif) ![Merit Badge in Contests
[Click For More Info]
Thank you for participating in [Link To Item #2133333] . Congratulations on completing the September 1st daily task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Contests-235.gif) ![Merit Badge in Growth
[Click For More Info]
Good job earning the Growth Merit Badge in [Link To Item #2133333]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Growth-1150.gif) ![Merit Badge in Word Searches
[Click For More Info]
Great job participating in [Link To Item #2133333] and completing the September 5th task.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Word_Searches-19000.gif) ![Merit Badge in Teamwork
[Click For More Info]
Great job for picking a teammate and completing the September 6th Task at [Link To Item #2133333]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Teamwork-210.gif) SUMMER 2025:
Merit Badges Collected from Virtual Blogging &Virtual Blogging Friends: ![Merit Badge in Let Dreams Take Wing
[Click For More Info]
To my upcoming virtual traveling blog companion. Dream big and fly high!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Let_Dreams_Take_Wing-2335469_1.gif) ![Merit Badge in Normal Is Boring
[Click For More Info]
here's to another week of creating adventures!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Normal_Is_Boring.gif) ![Merit Badge in Blog Camping
[Click For More Info]
Thanks for completing [Link To User elusive4lyn] July 2025 blogging vacation!! Great job!!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Blog_Camping-1788309_13.gif) ![Merit Badge in Travel
[Click For More Info]
Woohoo! We’re halfway through!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Travel-1975.gif) ![Merit Badge in BCoF 2
[Click For More Info]
Thank you for your participation in BCoF's 50 States Virtual Blogging adventure.
*^*Heart*^* Lyn](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-BCoF_2-1901868_14.gif) ![Merit Badge in Endurance
[Click For More Info]
51 days of blogging takes commitment, and you rocked it.
*^*Heart*^* Lyn](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Endurance.gif) SEPTEMBER 2024: I participated in the
![Merit Badge in Nonfiction
[Click For More Info]
Congrats on your Honorable Mention in Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Nonfiction.gif) Big thanks to WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger   for hosting the contest! OCTOBER 2024 & 2025 : I participated in the
![Merit Badge in Halloween
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on completing the 13 Poetic Days of Halloween.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Halloween-2026567.gif) ![Merit Badge in Determination
[Click For More Info]
You rose to the poetry challenges in 12 Poetic Days of Halloween in grand style.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Determination-2500.gif) ![Merit Badge in Ghost
[Click For More Info]
Thank you for your successful completion of 13 Poetic Days of Halloween *^*Heart*^* Lyn](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Ghost-700.gif) Big Thanks to A Warped Witch I Be  for hosting the contest!Find me at: WEBSITE: http://www.stephanieburkhart.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor GOOD READS: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart YOU TUBE CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee  WARNING I intend to be open, honest, and forthright. No topic is off limits from religion to you name it, I'm going there. If you think you might be offended...back up now - this blog isn't for you. For those who "dare"  check out the "Gemini Rising..." 
|
The Party Bus made it to Rapid City, South Dakota and Maid of the Mist Most Macabre  found a 7-11. She recharged her 64 oz Big Gulp. Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka  went to visit his mother’s family in Rosebud, South Dakota. After we stocked up on pastries and coffee, the Party Bus was off. A Warped Witch I Be took over the driving and took us on the 31 mile loop of Badlands National Park. Me and Spooky Kooky Krista  rolled down the windows and stuck our faces out so we could feel the wind on our cheeks. One of the things that really impressed me was how desolate the land looked. There were flat prairies and odd rock formations. It reminded me of the Pinnacles hike at Camp 3 Falls in the Los Padres National forest. The rocks were steep, almost white and in a way reminded me of stalactites. A Warped Witch I Be took us the Fossil Exhibit trail where we got out and walked around. It’s a trail that has a wooden boardwalk for us hikers to walk on so we don’t disturb the dirt, wildlife, and rugged terrain. Well, AmyJo-Zombie hours  took her Nalgene and was just kinda walking along oohing and ahhing at the low hanging clouds and rock pinnacles when a BIG FAT BISON with HUGE ASS HORNS appeared next to the walkway out of nowhere and made a wicked high pitched grunt startling the hell out of her. Well she bolted behind me, Giant Phantom Jelly and WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger (Don’t ask me why!) and her Nalgene went flying into the air and fell in a little dip on the other side of the walkway. Princess Megan Snow Rose  channeled her inner bison whisperer and the buffalo stopped grunting and bleating and sat down right next to her on the walkway. Then that BIG FAT BISON let Princess Megan Snow Rose pet him. Maid of the Mist Most Macabre joined Princess Megan Snow Rose and started petting the BIG FAT BISON, too. Spooky Kooky Krista got some great Instagram pictures. Everyone was amazed at how quickly the bison calmed down. Princess Megan Snow Rose just smiled and named him “Sweetie.” AmyJo-Zombie hours calmed down too but declared “Sweetie” was kinda stinky and she wanted her Nalgene back. After all, she paid $50.00 for Nalgene in Hawaii. While Princess Megan Snow Rose was petting Sweetie, me and WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger and Giant Phantom Jelly started looking over the ledge of the walkway in the direction of the Nalgene. A Warped Witch I Be spotted that wicked expensive Nalgene next to a dip by a strange looking round brown rock. We all covered for AmyJo-Zombie hours who snuck off the path. She was about six feet off the path when we heard a whistle. Oh no! Park Rangers?! AmyJo-Zombie hours scooped her Nalgene and a big handful of dirt and Giant Phantom Jelly tugged her back on the walkway just as the Park Ranger rode up on the E-Bike. “I’m Ranger Rick.” He stopped and pointed at Princess Megan Snow Rose . “I can’t believe you got ol’ BIG ASS BUTCH over here to chill out.” He looked totally stunned. “I’ve got the touch,” said Princess Megan Snow Rose “Well, Ma’m, you’re a brave one. Butch does this all the time. He loves to scare the Tourists,” said the Park Ranger. “We call him Sweetie,” said A Warped Witch I Be smiling. “Sweetie?” the Park Ranger burst out laughing. After he calmed down, he said. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you all. Now, don’t leave the walking trail. There’s rattlesnakes and scorpions all around the ground, now.” “Yes, Sir,” said WakeUpAndLive~NOV Word Monger He drove off. AmyJo-Zombie hours looked mortified. “Cool rock,” said Spooky Kooky Krista pointing to AmyJo-Zombie hours lump of dirt. AmyJo-Zombie hours “Thank goodness it’s not a rattlesnake, but it’s a pretty porous rock.” She gave it to A Warped Witch I Be A Warped Witch I Be inspected it. “This is a fossilized dinosaur egg!”“Eeeekk!” yelled AmyJo-Zombie hours Maid of the Mist Most Macabre declared AmyJo-Zombie hours couldn’t keep it and threw it back in the dirt. A Warped Witch I Be pointed toward the parking lot. “We really should get going.” So after all that drama, we visited the deserted Minuteman Missile silo which was kinda neat. There were no more missiles in the silos, but the command center was pretty compact. The equipment was all MS-DOS with big fat computer buttons out of the 1970’s. Afterwards, we were all hungry so we went to the Badlands Visitor’s Center at the Cedar Pass Lodge and ordered lunch at the café. Everyone ordered a “White River Indian Taco” with fried bread, chili and bison meat. Giant Phantom Jelly and Princess Megan Snow Rose passed on the Taco though. They got the “Veggie Indian Taco.” Adventurous souls. The tacos were okay. Sadly, South Dakota is not a place that makes Foodies smile. I guess the food ain’t all that in this state. We kinda wanted to see Mt. Rushmore, but after all that drama we decided to pass and went to Air BnB in Rapid City to chill out and relax before our next adventure. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
Hey, that's half the fun. It's never to early to at least see if you love a town first before making a decision. Best way is by trolling it! 
