After several month's of not traveling due to Covid, we decided to purchase a house in Texas near my mother and siblings so we could visit over the winter and periodically the rest of the year.  We had a house hunting trip lined up, but a family member became ill, so...

We recently spent three months in Texas visiting my siblings and my mom.  This was an exciting time for us as we have not lived near family our entire married life.  Depending on your family, this could be either a good or a bad thing.  But I was very excited to have...

As many of you have seen on the news, Texas recently experienced severe weather with a week of power outages, frozen water lines, loss of cell signal and/or internet, and in some instances, a loss of sense of humor. Gene and I were extremely fortunate that we only had...

Years ago, Steven was in fourth grade and his teacher wished him Happy Birthday. He responded, “It’s not my birthday today. I’m using the Lariviere Flexible Holiday Rule.” His teacher laughed and asked him what that rule was. He explained that in our family, if your...

One of the great lessons my mother taught me was to thank the people who quietly work for you all year long . . . the mail person, the trash collector, the UPS delivery person. Over the years, I have come up with various gifts, but for the past ten years, I have...

I was listening to the 80’s music channel this morning when I heard a Blondie singing Heart of Glass. It took me back to my Amarillo roots and teenage years.  My dad LOVED Blondie – to the point of annoyance. If you knew my dad, you would never expect Punk Rock to...

Day 10 of our Great Montana Adventure (or Day 29 of our road trip): Homeward Bound We drove from Sioux Falls to Home. Nothing happened.  Absolutely nothing. For those of you wondering how Gene has stayed married to me for 37 years when I post stories about our...

Day 9:  Custer to Sioux Falls. (Badlands) If you want to social distance and see stunning scenery, then the badlands is where you need to go.  We left Custer and drove Hwy. 16A through Custer State Park on our way to the Badlands.  Sure, there are faster ways to go,...

I have wanted to visit Mt. Rushmore for many, many years, but the opportunity never presented itself.  I was so excited that I woke up early; I mean really early.  I'm like a kid on Christmas morning.  Gene got up early as well and we walked to the local “Our Place...

Our drives each day have been filled with beautiful landscapes and mostly mountain views. We are now about to head through eastern Wyoming where the population is sparse and there is a quiet beauty to the landscape (as long as you don’t have to cross it in a covered...