Where Does The Steak Come From?

Tuesday night, June 28, 2016, we have traveled 850 miles since Urbana, Illinois. We crossed  the rolling prairie crossed with rivers, moved on to the flat of Kansas and then into the eastern Rockies of Colorado. Our Rocky, the Tacoma pulled up Ni La Veta Pass at 9400 feet today(did a great job) and a couple of days ago we were camped near the Mississippi. Tonight we are camping in a State Park just outside of the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Each night has been a very different experience. 

View from Garden City, Kansas Walmart Parking Lot (Rain finally stopped)

     Last night we ended a day of about 7 hours of driving by arriving at Garden City, Kansas which is a few miles from Dodge City. We were scheduled to stay at the Fair Grounds in Garden City but after asking a few people and driving around found that it was a grass field with the electricity being iffy. We had been watching dark clouds build all day and as we sat in that few minutes we noted a temperature drop of nearly 30 degrees from the 90’s into the 60’s. The wind began to blow almost sideways with dust scouring the side of truck and trailer. Then the rain started with a ferocity that matched the wind. The next park was 30 miles away. We drove down a town street till we could park into the wind to wait it out. We made a command decision. Earlier during the day, one of us had noticed a steak house was in Garden City. We decided have a salad and steak was the best way to wait out the storm and decide what next since it was nearly 8 o’clock by that time. It was raining so hard that we were soaked just walking from the parking lot to the restaurant. We joked during dinner that there is always the Walmart parking lot. Well, the paved parking lot looked darn good at that point. Didn’t even unhook just climbed in and went to bed. All was well till about 5 in the morning when a semi next to us started his generator. 

       Must make a comment on how we where able to compartmentalize the steak from the steer. For a least a 75 miles of highway, we had been seeing and smelling feedlots. Huge lots covering acres with cattle standing in dark colored evil smelling pens for mile after mile. The smell was so pervasive that we could smell it in the pick up when we stopped for gas. Garden City as we drove around had the largest Hispanic population we had seen anywhere since we left California. Suddenly it clicked when we drove by a Tyson plant with a line of cattle trucks that this was an area of “meat processing.” As has been widely written about, many Spanish speaking immigrants work in these slaughter houses since others shun the jobs. The feed lots where numerous for 200 miles through southwest Kansas and southeast Colorado. These were the ones we could see that lined Highway 50 that we drove a good part of Kansas, and Colorado to Las Animas. 

Abandoned Gas Station on Highway 10 on the way to Waldenburg, Colorado.  There was no town for 65 miles on this stretch of road.

Someone's use to be home on the same stretch of road. 

     Moving into the Colorado mountains we have finally left humidity behind us. As we climbed in elevation, it was so delightful to drop to 80 and be greeted with a thunderstorm as we came into camp.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains from our campsite. Bit different than Walmart camp site!

We just pulled into the campsite and ate our very late lunch (4:00 pm) and waited out the storm before we set up the Escape. We will be here for two nights with the quiet high desert with a view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from the San Luis Valley. No semis and only birds to wake us in the morning. Be well all!

Colors of Evening

     

We stopped from gas and have our lunch along Highway 24 in Norbroune, Missouri. These are  some houses in a town of 600. 

 We followed an old highway 24 from Hannibal, Missouri across Missouri today under overcast skies. There was just a scattering of showers with highs in the 90s. We agreed, as we passed towns of 600 and less people that the consolidation of farms into large tracks of corn and soybeans. Old homesteads fallen into ruin  overrun with vines stood surrounded by neglected trees and barns with slumping ruins were spotted along the road. There are some beautiful new homes with acres of mown grass sprinkled between the rolling fields. It was small farms and diverse crops that was missing as it is in many rural areas in the midwest.  It is clear that people must do something else other than farm to make their living, at least if it is small farming you would like to do. It was good view of the middle of Missouri which ended at Kansas City where we crossed into Kansas and headed for Lawrence which hosts the University of Kansas.
       

Native Grassland in the Park. You can almost picture the bison grazing. 

Tonight we are enjoying another Corps of Engineers Lake Clinton, sited in a very large State Park with 3 very large camp grounds with many trees as well as grasslands being returned to the native grasses. We met a couple with a Casita they just picked up last year on our walk tonight through the park. They remarked that they had seen our Escape and hoped to meet us. There is, it seems, this little fraternity among fiberglass trailer owners. They are from Arizona and headed to Michigan to visit family during a 6 week trip. We compared experiences and common friends we have met at fiberglass rallies. As we walked on the sky, as the sun set, just lit up with the most wonderful light.
     

Sunset in clouds near Lawrence, Kansas Lake Clinton

Hannibal History

   

Hannibal Jail built in 1876  currently under going restoration

  Today was a day of historical exploring in Hannibal, Missouri and beyond. We began with the culinary course by heading for Becky Thatcher's Restaurant well know locally for it's breakfasts. It is themed not with Tom Sawyer and Mark Twain but the Missouri 50's when Route 66 famously traveled through St. Louis to Chicago. Jim declared his Southwest Omelet to be best west of the Mississippi (by about 1/2 mile).  The waffles and sausage were a close second. They had a huge mural with Cadillacs and Buicks of the 50's and a movie theatre featuring Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender from 1956. Period tables and chairs graced the diner as well as more pictures of Hannibal cars and owners from the early and mid 50's.  I looked through all the photos to find my 1953 Dynaflow Buick I drove during my tenure at Woodland High but it had not been immortalized in the Hannibal photos.

Becky Thatcher's Restaurant 5 star breakfasts!

       After this course in culinary history, we walked Main Street of Hannibal after climbing up to the top of the bluff to see the lighthouse which was erected to the memory of Sam Clemens otherwise known as Mark Twain. We walked by the building where, as a very young man, he started his writing career with the town newspaper, and his boyhood home that he lived in for a few years as a child before his father lost it to a financial downturn. We are staying at an RV park which includes the Mark Twain cave. Young Sam explored this system of tunnels in the limestone as a child and it was the inspiration for Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher's cave escape from Indian Joe.

Palmyra Site of Several Important Historical Events

       Being interested in some of the Civil War history of this area .We drove to Palmyra about 10 miles from Hannibal. There in front of city hall is a monument to 10 Confederate POW's who were shot by the Union because they would not give up the location of a proUnion sympathizer who was being held by the Confederates. There is a sculpture of a Confederate soldier and a moving tribute to their deaths by the hand of the Union Colonel. We had to do some reading to remember that Missouri was a slave state with roving guerrilla bands of Secessionists who hit the Union soldiers who held areas such as Hannibal. In Palmyra, an abolitionist was jailed for convincing slaves to run away. Tensions were strong through out Missouri during the war.

Near the Main Street in Palmyra were several lovely old homes which had been beautifully restored. 

      Today, again, we had a brief rain in the morning. It was just enough to drive the humidity up and with a temperature of 95 in the afternoon, Rose was opted to stay home in the Escape under the air conditioning while we made our stops. This heat and humidity is not traveling dog friendly. Be well all.

Old Friends and New

 Today I am writing from Hannibal, Missouri, home of Mark Twain. There have been several days between my last entry and meeting up with Mr. Twain. Tuesday night, after a challenging pull through the freeway interchanges and tollroads that skirt Chicago, we arrived at the D & W RV park in Champaign, Illinois but not till I took the wrong turn and missed paying the toll. (Have learned it is possible to go on line and pay missed tolls in Illinois, so we are hoping that arrest will not follow us home to California!) Tuesday night with so much anticipation we got ourselves to the home of Terri and Jay in Urbana, Illinois. Terri and I have a friendship that reaches back to 1968 when we met at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. My Jim and I moved into a duplex apartment in January 1968 right after we married and Terri and her Jim, at the time, lived next door. During that time in Lawton, Terri and I did so many creative projects together and developed a wonderful friendship. Since our husbands got orders for Vietnam at the same time, departing October 1969, we decided to live in Woodland together and wait out the 12 months till the guys returned the best we could. It was during that year in Woodland that Terri greeted her son Porter to the world and I was honored to be her stand in coach during his birth. It was on many days difficult when we didn’t get mail or just got worried about the dangers to our men in Vietnam. We have seen each other just a few times over the nearly 50 years that have passed. Sadly, she and her Jim parted ways but share 3 beautiful children. She now enjoys her life with Jay and has for over 20 years now. It was a wonderful time as we spent about 2 1/2 days picking up our creative projects, sharing family stories and just enjoyed being together. Sometimes we are just gifted with meaningful special people in our lives. Terri is one of those people. It was difficult to leave. Perhaps the next visit will be less time in the distance. We laughed and said 20 years between visits is a luxury we can”t afford anymore. 

A great visit. Thanks Terri!

          While we were in Urbana, we definitely got to experience Illinois summer weather in spades! Tuesday night, we returned about 10 pm to our little Escape home. We could see the stars and the fireflies were dancing on the grass. We went to sleep with windows open. Sometime in the very early morning hours, the thunder and lighting hit with vengeance . The whole inside of the trailer lit up with the lightening. Thunder shook with such force that you could feel the ground shake. After an hour or so the rain started beating down noisily on the roof. That was pretty much the end of sleep after about 3 in the morning. The rain was heavy and steady, sheeting down the windows for the rest of the night and into the morning light. We discovered the power to the trailer was off. We went off to Terri and Jay’s feeling not quite ready for the day. 

       The day, with the end of the rain about noon then turned hot. We are talking over 90 with humidity just as hight. To our disappointment, still no electricity which meant, horror of horrors, no air-conditioning. Yikes, it was a long night with little comfort and weirdly it started to hear our neighbors running their air conditioners. (It was after 10 pm when we got home so couldn’t reach the park owners to fix our issue). We tried flipping the breaker with no changes. Will end to the story, after complaining to owners next morning tried one more time to flip breaker and it came on. The whole experience has caused us to have great admiration for those Illinois people who managed summer nights and kept right on doing their work. Summers in California have made us soft. 

Woodlawn Farm 1824

         The geography of the states we have passed through has been so interesting and varied. We have left the lakes and trees of Michigan, passed just briefly through Indiana where the terrain began to flatten to move into Illinois. Truly corn and soybeans are king. The fields are often large with trees remaining around houses and some field lines but little evidence of hills until we began to draw closer to Missouri and the Mississippi River. We did see an example of what the smaller farms looked like many years ago as we took a road to see the historical Woodlawn Farm built in 1824. During the period between Christmas and New Years, slave owners would allow a week for their slaves to go visit family. This provided, during the coldest part of the year, a small period of time when the slaves were less closely watched thus an opportunity to reach Canada and safety.  This farm, a part of the Underground Railroad near Jacksonville, Illinois, was a stop for slaves escaping from Missouri and making their way to Canada. They were given clothes and food and guided by "conductors." Hidden in wagons under loads of straw or in specially designed secret places in wagons to help them get away from the merciless slave hunters.  Due to the Fugitive Slave Law enacted in 1850, the slave hunters were allowed to capture the escaped slaves in free states and return them to their "owners," who paid a bounty. The abolitionists referred to this law as the Blood Hound Law.  

I was fascinated by this old outbuilding. It was held up by trees that had grown into it. 

       The old farm house is slowly having parts removed that we added in later years to bring it back to the original. It now houses a museum with volunteer docents. The garden has herbs planted in it that would have grown during the time of the Underground Railroad. A mom and her four children stopped by and told us so much. The kids are home schooled and have taking a great interest in history and especially this period of time. Three of them are high school aged and one has an art showing at a nearby cafe owned by some Amish friends. The museum as on their way and they had stopped to see it. We got a detailed engaging lecture from them about this part of Illinois history. Rose was a real hit with all of them. They were very interested in our stops at historical places on our trip and asked us what we had seen an learned. 

Detail of door of outbuilding. Note the wonderful use of doorknob, latch and hinges. 

Wash Day

 Monday, June 20th and nearing Solstice, we are taking care of mundane matters such as replacing our water pump in the Escape and servicing the Tacoma. Thus, we have opportunity to enjoy the wireless connection and waiting room at the Toyota place in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I think this is one of the largest urban areas we are visited on the trip. The park we are staying in has about 100 spaces and specializes in attracting families with children with many different blow up structures, water sports and all sorts of jumping/bouncing actives. The spaces are amazingly close. We look out our windows and see huge 5th wheels looming up instead of pines and lakes but it was only 5 minutes from the RV place and about 15 minutes from the Toyota place also. So you could say it met criteria. Boring.

            We found that with the close spaces, it was very easy to meet and talk to the neighbors. A couple came over that was renting a 31 foot trailer across the way from us. They were very interested in the Escape. First the wife came to visit and later she brought her husband to take a tour. They were in Grand Rapids to sponsor their 15 year old grandson in basketball camp. Delightful couple who are just a couple of years from retirement. Today was all about sometimes you have to just take care of the wash so you have underwear for the next part of the trip. In this case, it was taking care of vehicle business and tomorrow we pick up for the 2nd half of our adventure. Weather was only in the 80's today but a thunderstorm this afternoon that made it so humid. Had to run the air conditioner for the first time. Stay well all!

Car Shows and French Forts

           Cheboygan gave us an opportunity to share a Vintage Car Show, it's 30th year of coming together and an arts and crafts show this sunny Saturday. It was so warm and humid that Rose couldn't stay in the car so she walked both events with us. It was a good place to see (the art and craft show) how people in Michigan manage the long winters. There were very painstakingly done things like plastic flamingos that had been covered in very small colored glass pieces. Work working was represented by carved bowls and many key hangers and picture frames. I met a granddaughter about 12 and her grandmother who are traveling the summer craft shows with their little dog in a trailer selling grandma's jewelry. They were great sales people and the conversation was the best part. There were all kinds of needlework to include quilting.

So many people visiting and enjoying, the cars were just a gathering place. 

           Down further on Main Street was the Car Show with

Mackinaw Coast Guard Ice Breaker

Main Street blocked off. It is a little too much reality to see that vintage cars include Chevy IIs, El Caminos, VWs as well as 1953 Buicks. In our defense of being the oldest coots, there were cars that preceded World War II but Mom would be familiar with those sweeties. Mustangs and Covettes were also well represented. People were having the best time. Met one woman who was showing her late husbands car and she brought out an album to show us what it looked like when he brought it home. It was a muscle car, a bright red Mustang he found rusted in a field. It took him 6 years to restore it. He got sick as he sent it off to his friend to paint. He lived to see it come home but then she lost him. With the help of his old friend, she now tries to take it to car shows around Michigan.

Amazingly restored Ford Hairline at the Cheboygan Car Show

            Later today, we went on to Mackinaw City, and Jim toured the retired Coast Guard Ice Breaker, the Mackinaw. It was built right after Pearl Harbor to a assure a ice free port and retired just a few years ago. I enjoyed my time waiting for him with Rose, as I made calls home and caught up on news and watched the lake and Mackinaw Bridge traffic. Later we went on to the Fort Michelimac which is under one end of the bridge. The Fort was originally built by the French in the early 1700's as a trading post and presence in this part of the Americas. They closely cooperated and traded with the Native Americans. Later the British, 10 years before the Revolutionary War used it and then demolished it during the Revolution so the Americans couldn't take it. They rebuilt it on Mackinac Island and then burned what was left. There was been an been an archeological dig going on since 1959 to determine where the building were and rebuild them. They have recovered thousands of items and recovered much of what live was like during that time. They had docents dressed as people of the time, Native Americans, French fur traders, British soldiers and women of the time who talked very engagingly about their lives. Rose got to go with us into the Fort, thank goodness as we couldn't leave her in the car and was so well mannered. We were very proud doggie parents! Oh, forgot to mention had the traditional pastie for lunch which reminded me of Grandma Herrmann's strudels without the dill. We had a lesson from the locals. It is pastie with a short a not a long one like the little private parts covers!

Rose just climbed up on the table to help Jimmy write post cards. This dog is thinking she is people. 

Cheboygan Evening (Love that name)

Cheboygan River quiet evening 

Sunset over the river

River slowly flows around the islands 

    Living more south in Northern California, it stays light in mid June till 9:00 pm or so, here in Northern Michigan the light is still evident till 10:00. It still gets my attention even after these weeks. The park we are in in Cheboygan is filled with people mostly from Michigan enjoying their 3 months of summer with so much activity. We see boats parked in the RV park, and see them moving down the road sometimes behind the trailer. We have seen families gather and lots of joy in getting together it seems. Tonight we walked just a couple of miles of bike path that passes by our park. It utilizes an old railroad bridge to cross the Cheboygan River and appears to follow the old railroad right of way for many miles. We needed to do that as we also enjoyed our first Friday Night Fish Fry at Alice’s Restaurant. So far it seems a bit like fish and chips with local fish if you want or cod if you don’t. We have tried to go to locally owned restaurants but so far much seems to be fried so we have resorted to eating almost all meals “at home.” 

    When we crossed the Mackinaw Bridge today it marked the farthest north we will travel and when we leave day after tomorrow we will begin to turn west again. We will visit Terri and Jay Mittenthal on Tuesday evening if all goes well on Monday getting the water pump fixed at Camping World while we get the truck serviced at the Toyota dealer in Cedar Rapids, Michigan. I managed to “lose stuff” like my phone and favorite pants this last week. Wondered if that was about not wanting to be at our midpoint or I was proving you can manage to misplace things even if your whole living quarters consist of a truck and 21 foot trailer. The phone after two days of looking was found on the back seat floor of the truck and the pants just where I stored them and then forgot! Most likely a brain fart! 

     Mosquitos: I mention them tonight because of the absence of them. It is such a relief from the last couple of weeks. They have been merciless and if one gets in the trailer at night they feast on what ever part is uncovered. My face has sprouted itchy red bumps that I attempt to cover, with little success, with makeup. They seem to ignore Jimmy. Am trying to figure out what he is doing right. Be well all.

Northwoods Outfitters in the UP

             Wednesday night, Germfask, Michigan at the Northwoods Outfitters, we have much to tell. Tuesday was a challenge in that it rained all day, in the afternoon it was so heavy that we holed up in the trailer with books and our very weak internet connection. I am reading a biography of Paul Newman, an odd footnote to the wild woods of Michigan. We went to the Seney National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday morning, a 95,000 acre set aside for ecological habitat. We drove a 7 mile observation drive and saw a pair of loons tending two babies by diving for long periods of time and then surfacing with fish to feed their young. There is a very diverse habitat of bogs, multiple ponds and islands in larger lake like areas. The entire area was logged off, clear cut, and then burned in the late1800’s. Dikes and dams were then built after the wetland were drained off to sell the land as farm land. This was a complete failure. In 1935, it was made into a Wildlife Area and many dikes and dams were removed though some have been left to assure the level of multiple lakes and ponds. Trumpeter swans were first reintroduced as were Canadian geese. The native plant life and animals have returned over time, to include the Timber Wolf which is now controversial. The wolf has been so efficient in reducing the deer population that the local people who depend on deer hunting tourists coming to the Wildlife Refuge for allowed deer hunting. Locals are feeling an economic hurt by the lack of deer. We met some local people who were volunteering at the Refuge who described very well the challenge of urban area people who do not live with the wolves but have more votes are whether or not wolves should be culled. 

             Today, Wednesday, we left early on a beautiful clear day to drive to the Painted Rocks National Lakeshore. It was about 35 miles from our camp and encompasses Sable Falls, which we hiked to see, and the Log Slide. This is where the logs were slid down the sand dunes from about 400 feet up and made it to Lake Superior in a matter of seconds. People are warned at the top that though you can slide down quickly, it may take hours of hand over hand to get back up. They added that rescue must come from miles away so basically to climb down was to get the Darwin Award! We watch with trepidation in another part of the park where people climbed down another dune, perhaps 200 feet high, with warnings posted everywhere that is was unstable and that you could suffocate in a slide due to the unstable nature of the dune. They had children by the hand and one was carrying a baby. Darwin award is one thing but taking an innocent child with you is another. We went on to Miners Castle which is one of the cliffs along Lake Superior which was first worked by the glaciers and then ultimately eroded by the Lake to reveal beautiful colored layers hence the name Painted Rocks. Tonight is so different from last night. Warm, fewer mosquitos, and I am actually sitting outdoors typing this entry. 

          Tomorrow we move to a new place but have enjoyed the owners of Northwood Outfitters. They rent cabins, canoes, and kayaks and have a small store with stuff hikers and kayakers need. Rachel and David would love being here and kayaking to the the Refuge. Postscript: The name Germfask, we thought was a German name. Nope, the first male founders made up the name based on their last names. No ladies allowed.

Lunch at the Eatery in Germfask on rainy day. You can have the Jolly Burger or anything you want that is fried!

It was bright and well decorated. This is where the Germfask regulars eat their Friday night fish fry!

Sable Falls in the Painted Rocks National Parks. At least 100 steps down and 100 steps up!

This the sand dune with all the warning signs and roped off, you can barely see the ropes. They families were climbing down the far right shoulder. Yikes!

 Be well all.

Dark Sunday, Beautiful Place

When I started to write this entry, it was to be about the beauty of this area of Wisconsin and the warmth of the people we have met in the campground, then I turned on the radio. It is Sunday the 12th of June. At last report 53 people have been killed at a club in Orlando, Florida. Obama wearily comes forward to say this is the worst mass shooting in American history and to give his condolences. Once again it was done with an assault rifle which was powerful enough to shatter a police man’s kevlar helmet. It is either a hate crime or terrorism or both. Trump, of course, on his on brilliance as decided it was Islamic State directed terrorism. Obama says we decide when we have the facts. Obama also noted in his speech that gun control is not going forward without the American people will decide by their votes if we do anything about allowing these weapons in our society. The LBGT community must be traumatized.

     Where I sit in this wooded green place with it’s placid lake full of fish with loons calling, we had spent time talking with our neighbors but before we turned on the radio. We may be the only ones who even know as there is only a weak wifi and it is up by the owner’s home. It is a place where families gather and the kids are plenty. Focus is not on the world and one could even feel safe. Don”t know Wisconsin’s gun laws of the top of my head but my guess is we are surrounded by guns of every type, we just don”t see them. Hope all these friendly people are mentally balanced. Black thoughts in a beautiful place. 

     Last night we visited with our neighbors on both sides, one a retired military fellow and his wife. They were very welcoming and told us so much about Wisconsin, a state they truly love. They gave us a tour of the very large 5th wheel with a king sized bed, full kitchen and big screen TV. It is nicer than a lot of people’s full time homes. Not sure I would want to pull it as far as we are pulling our Escape though. Our dear little Escape, we are very comfortable in it and it is quickly becoming as well liked as our little Casita. It just takes a little more thought when you go into service stations so you can make a turn but seems to be plenty stations that fill the bill.   

      It is now Monday night as I write this next part of the journey. It is truly a challenge as wifi is often weak or missing and our hotspot just sucks up and quickly exhausts the data but here is what followed. Rain followed and it was overcast so we went to explore the town of Ashland, Wisconsin today.  Went to a local place for lunch after spending time in a laundromat. How best to see the real town! Loved the Breakwater Restaurant which it seemed was being enjoyed by many Ashland people. We were advised to have the Swedish meatballs, the special of the day, AFTER having a boring salad! Our mouths are set after listening to Wisconsin NPR special on the Supper Clubs. They are often renowned for their food and entertainment. Michigan has them also counted many as were on the road. The other thing not to miss we hear is Fish Fry Friday. We have our menu planned for this week. Rambling but wanted to add that we were able to watch a rather large snapping turtle come up out of the lake to dig with her back legs to lay her eggs. They seem to prefer the gravel areas and dig several areas before laying eggs. Many young never make it as the area has many foxes who often dig up the eggs and eat them just before they hatch. It seems, according to the local people that the snapping turtle always seem to appear during this two weeks of June to lay their eggs. 

Long Lake, Wildwood Resort, Mellen, Wisconsin 

North Woods, an easy place to get lost. 

Headwaters of the Mississippi

Big Sandy Corp of Engineers, Headwaters of the Mississippi park has been our home for Thursday night and tonight, Friday June 10th. On Thursday we drove for over 300 miles through North Dakota and then into Minnesota. The terrain moved from prairie hills, grasses and wheat with unending sky to almost flat with small shallow lakes abounding. Our route took us from Bismarck to Jamestown, to Fargo on 94 in North Dakota. I believe our strongest impression of that country was the sparseness of the population between the major areas of Bismarck and Fargo. Where small towns might exist, it seems we saw minimal services in most cases not even a grocery store which must mean long drives to the larger cities for an major purchases or even basic groceries. There were many more small butcher facilities though and many people appeared to have gardens so perhaps they do much more canning and drying for the winter and grow their own beef, pork and chicken.

This turtle wandered into our little camp, moved more quickly than expected. 

As we passed Fargo and entered Minnesota, traveling through Moorehead on Highway 10 until

Sunset at the Big Sandy Lake, Minnesota

Baxter and cutting north on 65 to Big Sandy Lake.The small towns had more amenities as they were strung like beads along the highways. Some of the roads we traveled in both states showed heavy use and made for a fairly difficult ride for the Escape. We hit some pretty hard bumps that causes our pots to find their way out of the cabinet and many things were jumbled and tossed.

As we camp at the Big Sandy tonight, we are surrounded by many families enjoying their summer in this green, green tree lined park. Many kids and adults are enjoying bike rides around this wonderfully designed place. Everyone who comes it seems brings trailer and boat. It is easy to see why “going to the lake” is a summer event Minnesotans look forward to doing. Rain this morning that cleared off by noon and was replaced by an 85 degree day and, of course, humidity which makes the breeze off the lake a joy. Early this morning and this evening the excitement for not just the kids is the turtles that on coming on land to lay their eggs. We saw one last night digging with her hind legs making a fairly deep hole and this morning she had covered it so well that you could almost not see were she had been. This morning Jim saw a turtle who had come up that was quite large, perhaps 18 inches wide and 24 inches long. Most, like the one I took a picture of tonight are about 12 inches long. They look like red eared sliders but have black shiny shell so not sure of my id.

It was a slow day today, had time to finish a novel and take a nap. Jim tried again on our water pump. We haven’t wanted to give up and have to get a new one that Reese would send to us later on our route. It is a self priming pump that no amount of trouble shooting seems to get it to prime so we, with Reese’s agreement, are going to a Camping World later in our trip in Michigan. We tried to get an appointment at a RV Repair Dealer in Duluth for Monday but they laughingly said “Sorry, first available is mid-July!” It really is not a big deal as we had planned to stay in full service parks through most of Michigan. Be well all!

Bismarck

Mandan home reconstructed in 1930s by Corp of Engineers under instruction of Mandan woman in her 90s who had build several in her lifetime. The Mandan are since a presence in the area and hold rituals in these structures at Fort Abraham Lincoln reconstruction also redone by the CCC in the 30s. 

       Still in North Dakota, blame it on the water pump! We left Glen Ullin City Park this morning just before the city crew trenched across the little gravel exit road. The camp hostess knocked on the door and let us know we needed to get while the gettin was good. There were only about 15 sites at Glen Ullin and we had a little visit with the camp host and hostess that were babysitting their grandson. There were several very large RV that seem to be stored there waiting for their families to visit. The host was proud to tell us that they had recently installed new electrical and sewer outlets. The crews this morning were working on electrical and, it appeared DSL wiring. Having working wireless has been our biggest challenge as many parks have very weak connections and we quickly use data up on our Verison hotspot. We noticed in our drive to Elgin, that many small communities had invested in RV parks in the community areas since during the fracking boom many workers dealt with housing by buying RVs and then paying to park. Now the boom has crashed and it seems the parks were added but are mostly empty. Must add that some appear empty as the works don't return till sunset which now is 9:30 in these northern regions.

Reconstruction of a Mandan home, an entrance with building in back ground. 

      Back to our adventure, we drove to Mandan and turned off to see Abraham Lincoln Fort and the reconstruction of the Mandan Native American Village off Highway 94. This is the fort which was home to the 7th Calvary which rode out under General George Custer never to return. The Fort sits on the banks of the Missouri River which for centuries was home to the Mandan Indians but was abandoned before the arrival of Lewis and Clark. The Mandan, who were fisherman and farmers had often fought off the Lakota (Sioux) had been decimated by small pox brought to them by European traders. We had a good tour and the lunch. We had been called back by Reese, owner of Esacpe Trailers, about the unworking water pump. He had more trouble shooting ideas. We decided to divert to Bismark, a big 14 miles away, and stay at the KOA. This is the only KOA in North Dakota and it is decidedly fancy as RV parks go. Plus, it has great wifi! We justified by saying the this short day was needed if we could do a final trouble shooting and maybe get the pump to work. Please note, dear reader, we only need the pump when boon docking i.e. roughing it with no hookups. So lovely afternoon but no luck with pump so we will have to carry water on dry camps till new pump reaches us. Gosh this is just like real tent camping! Yikes.  So tomorrow it will be hook up early and cover 300 miles to Minnesota. We have reservations at a Corps of Engineers site at the Headwaters of the Mississippi. Be well all.

Compare this historical description with the Montana explanations of Native  American clashes with the US Calvary.  This sign was in the city park of Glen Ullin, North Dakota about 35 miles from Elgin, ND. 

Makoshika Badlands and North Dakota Villages

      Sunday morning 6/5/2016, we left Harve, Montana at 9:10 am. This was an achievement! We are getting faster at battening down the inside of the trailer, and readying hitch, undoing hookups and emptying the tanks to get on the road in addition to showers, breakfast and coffee. We continued down Highway 2 with very little traffic as we traveled the prairie which once was traversed by millions of bison which is now mostly grain farming areas. There were historical markers along the way, impressive in the way they covered the battles involving Native Americans. Often in Montana we found literature giving a heroic read to their save their way of life and a fair read on the numerous betrayals by the US government. We found a sign in North Dakota which saw Custer, especially, as fighting back against the hostile Sioux. It was a presentation slanted toward Custer.
      Sunday afternoon we arrived at Makoshika State Park in the Montana Badlands. It was a small camp deep in the striking badland formations. Makoshika actually has deeper erosion that the North Dakota and reveals geological strata that proceeded the dinosaurs. It is rich in fossils and beautiful to see the deep cuts which have been made by the Yellowstone River. It was warm and the grass still green. Later in the summer it will get into high 90s to low 100s and the grass will be brown and stressed. We hiked into the formations on Monday afternoon with an eye out for rattlesnakes and saw none. We would like to return, it is a very special place. Montana, we discovered has joined together three departments, Fish, Wildlife and Parks and struggles with little funding. We found that they petition every year and are turned down every year. They are then left to struggle along with revenue from only hunting and fishing licenses but they do have low taxes!
      Monday we stayed over and found our water pump had stopped working. We also had no wireless or phone service so could not us our hotspot. So now I am catching up on my notes on Tuesday night. Jim had to go to the Visitor Center to make calls. We consulted with Reese at Escape and Jim took the water pump apart to try to release a stuck valve with no luck. Escape, i.e. Reese, is going to send a new water pump to us via Terri Mittenthal in Urbana, Illinois for pick up on June 22, 23. It was still a good day with visits with our neighbor from Billings in his 1975 Airstream and hikes into the surrounding formations. The visitor center had a display explaining the different geological time zones with examples of fossils to be found in each one.

Makoshika State Park, Montana

Found in the Congregational Church cemetery in Elgin

Leith, documentary subject

     Today, Tuesday, 6/7/2016, primary day in California, we entered North Dakota and drove Interstate 94 stopping at the Teddy Roosevelt National Park. We made the 36 mile drive through the South Section of the park seeing the North Dakota Badlands with it's prairie dogs, feral horses, and bison. There were very beautiful views of miles of color and formations of amazing shapes and colors. We then continued on 94  going through the heart of the oil fracking county. There are so many apartments, hotels and RV parks which have been built, though now the demand is much less with the drop off in oil prices. The roads take a constant beating from the oil tankers and 94 was undergoing major repairs. As we moved away from the oil areas into the farming the countryside began to look much more sparse. We checked into a city park RV site in Glen Ullin about 5:00pm and set up the trailer. We then drove the 32 miles to Elgin. We drove around hoping to find a restaurant but seemed to be none but did find the cemetery or cemeteries, I should say, there where several each set apart with it's own beautiful gate, there was the American Lutheran, the Bethesda Methodist, Immanuel Lutheran and the Congregational Church. I found a Heim in the Congregational Church cemetery, wonder if it is the family Heim. We went on New Leipzig and then to Leith. Leith was the subject of a documentary called Welcome to Leith, a couple of years ago. The town of 24 people which had lost much of it population and so had several lots that were unused and houses abandoned, discovered that 13 of the lots had been purchased by a White Supremacist group. The story is about how the town pushed back in a creative way to stop the proposed take over by this racist group. We found a young woman in Carson down the road to give us a follow up on the little town and how it has fared. It is doing well but it is still only 24 since they persuaded the racists to move on. Must say we found this helpful young woman in the Bar/Bowling Alley/Pool Table establishment which in all the towns we visited had the only food available. We could find no restaurants either in business or open. Either we missed them or people drive a very long way to eat out.

Feral horses in the Teddy Roosevelt National Park

On Highway 2, in Northern Montana

Saturday Night in Havre, Montana

    We were schooled by Montanans that this towns name is pronounced "have her" not matter it is named after a French town. Starting with yesterday morning to catch up, had breakfast at the Sans Suz Ed RV park where we were staying. Shared breakfast space with the woman who was serving the meal and a great pony tail handy man who had a bear law necklace. She it turned out seemed to be very schooled in all uses of marijuana and he told us stories from his years of being a contract firefighter. He told of fires fought in Humbolt County and mesquite infested areas of California and of surviving a flash over. In his many years, has been to many big fires, but says there are less and less contractors since they must invest heavily in their own equipment and financially survive between fire seasons. The marijuana came up when we asked about stumbling over a grow. He said since it can be legally grown they get treated quite well as they protect it just like any other crop. It was a fascinating two hour breakfast. The rest of the day I stayed and "arted" and Jimmy drove out to some areas in Glacier. We had a prime rib and pulled pork dinner at Osos Barbecue in Tamerack Lodge near Hungry Horse.
     This morning pulled over the Continental Divide and saw the abrupt change from green mountain forests to the rain shadow effected eastern side. The terrain change to rolling prairie as we went farther east in Northern Montana. This is the old range of the proud and feared Blackfeet tribes though now their reservation is a very much reduced and financially challenged area. The weather has surprised us. It was hot this afternoon in Harve when we arrived about 3:30. Registered 88 degrees and forecast is for more of the same for the next week. We have seen long trains of Baaken crude running along Highway 2 and through towns like Harve (about 6000 population) like the train that derailed near Columbia Gorge.
     Tonight we are staying at Evergreen RV in Harve which appears to be an old farm with very old trees that has been turned in to a grassy informal park. They just mow back the grass to the trees, and bushes that surround. It is great bird habitat. Rose's little nose is going many miles and hour. Be well all.

Glacier National Park, A Jewel

    We arrived at the San-Suz-Ed Campground last night. They have owned and run the park for over 50 years and just a couple of years ago Ed died. We met his wife last year when we stayed here and visited with her over breakfast. She has a daughter who helps out when she can as she is a teacher at a  high school in West Glacier.  Suz does breakfast if you let her know so we will get a chance to visit with her tomorrow and find out how her year as gone. It is a wooded and often used park during the season from mid June to first of September.

    Yesterday was a pretty tiring day. Jim's cold had bloomed into a misery, so he had to take cold medicine and try to recover while I did the drive. We crossed several mountain ranges approaching the Rockies on Highway 2. We will follow it for most of our drive east. Absolutely breath-taking country which makes me understand why people will brave the winters to live in this landscape. Towns tend to be small and fairly widely separated. We saw many signs of upcoming community events even in the smallest towns so it seems people create their own social events. We hope as we get beyond GNP to find some small lunch or breakfast places or just take some walks in some of the towns to meet and talk to people. 

     Today we went into the park, and after stopping at Apgar Resource Center, we went on to McDonald Lake and the McDonald Lodge. It was built in 1914 by a man named Williams and was one of few lodges on the lake not built and owned by the Great Northern Railway. They later did buy him out a few years later. The lake is 9.9 miles long and is a rounded bowl carved out during the last ice age glaciers. We took a boat tour with a ranger and went out on the lake this afternoon followed by a beer and flatbread with elk sausage on it in the Lodge. After that we figured we needed to go find dessert so went into the town of Hunger Horse to the most touristy looking place that sold huckleberry pie and brought it home to pig out on. If we were true adventures, we would go out another month from now and wrestle a bear for the huckleberries but being wimps we let some other person do that for us. Now for the pictures which will show how we managed to secure our huckleberries.

Our tour boat is at back of dock on the rainy day. 

During the boat tour saw results of a fire in 2003 and how west side is slowly recovering. East side forest has some old growth, much over 100 years and some as old as 500 years.

Jimmy fighting off Captain Jack for his huckleberries!

Judy also had to hang out with some pretty weird types to grab her huckleberries, whew what a day.

We enjoyed Glacier National Park with the company of some other members of the family. They really enjoy RV travel!

One of a fleet of Red Buses originally put in service in 1936 and restored with V-8s and all new running gear in last few years. 

Boundary Crossing

       Traveled from the Okenagan to Sand Point, Idaho today through mountains and green valleys. We shared the driving with Jimmy struggling with a dry cough all day which tonight is clearly a cold coming on. We passed many small towns some only a few hundred people, as we traveled through BC, then crossed Washington, and then into Idaho. Such beautiful country, I forget that the US and Canada have so many open miles of forest and green meadows. All the country, in fact, most of it is not as populated as California. Jim reminded me that the area know as the Boundary, to include the Boundary River in BC was part of a long wrangling between the U.S. and Canada over the proposed border. It wasn't until the 49th parallel became the divide between the two countries did the arguments stopped. I was a bit tense during my part of the drive, feeling for any strangeness in the pull of the trailer. All seems fine now and I think we have the problem handled. Just in case, we drive a bit more slowly especially on the down hill pulls. Every day we lighten the load and all helps with stability. We have begun to look for stays at Fair Grounds and tonight is at the Bonner County Fair Grounds in Sand Point. It so green, forest around and almost as if they just cleared out and then mow back the high grass for the park areas. Walked around the grounds. It is clear that animals are the heart of fair in August. There are no less the 150+ horse stalls for the events with two very large arenas. Did notice like at our fair that the last night includes a destruction derby. Sand Point is known for fighting off a move by the White Supremacists several years ago. They managed to sue them and forced them to sell their property to pay the judgement. Sand Point then passed their own ordinance which make illegal to discriminate against race, gender, religion or sexual persuasion in their town. Hope we have time get a chance to talk to some of the residents.

Some of the horse barns, Sand Point, Idaho takes its equine sports seriously.

View from edge of our campground at Bonner County Campgrounds, spring runs at the point of the trees.