Wednesday
Our last day in the USA for this trip. Our plan to stay here in Minneapolis for a whole week has paid off, as we have able to clean and prepare the TT and Chevy, yet not get overtired.
The weather has been mixed, so we have alternated inside and outside jobs. I completely emptied the Chevy and cleaned all tits little nooks and crannies. Also did the same for the basement, actually throwing out some stuff we have not used in years, which is never an easy task.Sally has been busy making sure that we have plenty of ladies clothes from Walmart to take home.
For the last four or five years (?) the Chevy has made funny little intermittent, ticking noises which have been hard to pin down, but it has got slightly worse this trip. When I consulted a campground engineering expert committee (just a fellow campers really) they instantly assured me that it was the U-bolts on the drive shaft, not a real problem, so I organised to get it checked at a local workshop while we were here, so that I could get and necessary work done when we come back in September.
On Monday I called in to Rob's Auto's (just around the corner from the campground) to ask for a quote. He took down details on paper and said that he could fit me in the next day to diagnose the problem and then do work before the end of the week, I said I didn't want to do it until September. At which point he took his piece of paper and tore it up saying to bring it back in September, as there was no point in diagnosing a problem now if it wasn't going to be fixed. But this was sorted when I told him it would be in storage until September.
So Tuesday lunchtime I took the Chevy down to Rob's Auto's. He took it into his workshop. Put it on the ramp. Had trouble getting it to make the noise, for some reason had to put the Chevy on an angle to make the noise. Got someone to listen underneath to find the problem - couldn't find it. This of course got the rest of the crew interested. For twenty minutes there were four guys working under the Chevy, plus the guy running the engine, trying to pin down what the problem was. They even had the stethoscope out. They could all hear it, but not pin it down. As well as being amusing this also started to be worrying, as a problem difficult for them to diagnose would probably be expensive.
At last the main guy pinned it down! the right hand side exhaust manifold has a small crack in it. (the manifold is the bit right next to the engine block which directs the exhaust gases to the exhaust pipe). The crac has been made because of the extreme heat produced by the exhaust, probably due to pulling our trailer up and down mountains and through hot deserts. The 'tinging' sound was gases escaping at high pressure. A bit like a mechanical fart, only a higher pitch and faster, like when you used to speed up a tape recording. If you can imagine tape recoding and speeding up the sound of a fart.So problem diagnosed, he was very pleased that he had solved the problem. I was a little pleased that the problem was solved, more pleased that it wasn't something terminal, less pleased that it is going to come in at around $700 to be fixed in September.
So here I am today, Wednesday, at 6.30 a.m. sat at the computer writing the last 'on the road' blog for this trip, with my coffee by my side, girding away ready to unleash myself on the TT and CHevy to store it. Preparing for the long trip home. Sad to be leaving the States once again. For the next trip we know we will come back to Minneapolis, but have not decided when, where we will go, what we want to see, where we will finish up, when we will fly home again.
Only that the little tapestry, that is our lives, still has blank stretches of canvas ready to be patterned, coloured and textured by what is to come.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Last stop
Thursday
Yesterday we left Sauk Centre behind and continued South to our final campground for this trip.
After a long period of juggling the various factors for our exit we have eventually made our decisions.
When we leave we need to weigh up:
Where we will store the rig?
Is it close enough to the airport to drop on the morning of departure, or do we need to get it in the night before and stay in a motel?
How do we get to the airport? Taxi, rental car or lift.
Seems quite simple, but it seems to take some time or organise.
For this trips exit one scenario that looked like it would work included a storage place I had found about 40 miles from the airport. With a Budget Car Rental only 5 miles away and a campground even closer this looked good, as the storage was only $75 per month.
The second scenario was another storage place that is only about 7 miles from airport, but he is charging $100 per month. There is a car rental about 7 miles away and a campground only a 3.6 miles away.
The first scenario looked better until we realized that we would have to store it the night before in order to make sure we could get to the airport by midday (that is another $75).
Then the storage guy in scenario 2 said he would take us to the airport. So although the storage will cost us $75 more for our three months back home, we save $56 on car rental and $35 on staying at the campground rather than motelling it on the last night.
So we have gone for scenario 2, though it got a bit sticky when we tried to book a campsite to include the weekend, but we are here now and things seem OK.
Spent most of today cleaning inside the trailer, as it was raining outside.
Hope it is better tomorrow.
Yesterday we left Sauk Centre behind and continued South to our final campground for this trip.
After a long period of juggling the various factors for our exit we have eventually made our decisions.
When we leave we need to weigh up:
Where we will store the rig?
Is it close enough to the airport to drop on the morning of departure, or do we need to get it in the night before and stay in a motel?
How do we get to the airport? Taxi, rental car or lift.
Seems quite simple, but it seems to take some time or organise.
For this trips exit one scenario that looked like it would work included a storage place I had found about 40 miles from the airport. With a Budget Car Rental only 5 miles away and a campground even closer this looked good, as the storage was only $75 per month.
The second scenario was another storage place that is only about 7 miles from airport, but he is charging $100 per month. There is a car rental about 7 miles away and a campground only a 3.6 miles away.
The first scenario looked better until we realized that we would have to store it the night before in order to make sure we could get to the airport by midday (that is another $75).
Then the storage guy in scenario 2 said he would take us to the airport. So although the storage will cost us $75 more for our three months back home, we save $56 on car rental and $35 on staying at the campground rather than motelling it on the last night.
So we have gone for scenario 2, though it got a bit sticky when we tried to book a campsite to include the weekend, but we are here now and things seem OK.
Spent most of today cleaning inside the trailer, as it was raining outside.
Hope it is better tomorrow.
Lake Wobegon Days
Garrison Keillor never says where Lake Wobegon is, though gives many indications of its nature as the stereotypical small town lost somewhere in the middle of Minnesota. Well we have being staying in what must by the stereotype of Lake Wobegon. We have been camped in Sauk Centre County Park (pr. Sock).
As well as being a really nice place the people at the campground were really nice and we have had a lovely couple of days here.
We have also had some nice weather, with lovely sunsets and sunrises, so got some nice pics to show.
We met another English cyclist, this time with a conventional bicycle, he had cycled from vancouver since the start of May - about 60 miles per day. Nice chap, ex primary Head from Gloucester.
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We are beside the lake, everyone goes fishing, it is a hundred yards from the wide 'Original Main Street' (as it has on the street signs). It has one stop light. it has gentle parks with lots of green grass around, as well as a number of small coffee shops, well frequented by the local ladies. It is indefinable in it's Lake Wobegon-ness, but this really is the place, it just exudes a quiet gentleness which you just know overlies all those small town politics.As well as being a really nice place the people at the campground were really nice and we have had a lovely couple of days here.
We have also had some nice weather, with lovely sunsets and sunrises, so got some nice pics to show.
We met another English cyclist, this time with a conventional bicycle, he had cycled from vancouver since the start of May - about 60 miles per day. Nice chap, ex primary Head from Gloucester.
If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Into Minnesota
Thursday
We started out East to drive across the great prairies of North Dakota. We were amazed by how wet the ground was and how much water there was in the lots of lakes. Instead of stopping as planned in Jamestown we decided to press on to Fargo and do it all in one hop, which was just over 200 miles. Driving on the Interstate is not much fun, but with an 80 m.p.h. speed limit it is fast, though we kept more or less to 75, which with the wind against us returned me around 5 m.p.g. But petrol is now cheap at $2.50-60 a gallon. (around 42p per litre).
We stayed at Buffalo River State Park, which is mostly prairie with the Buffalo River running through it. Very pretty campground. Though we were only booked in for Friday and Saturday we actually were able to stay Thursday til Monday.
On arrival we found that you could only use certified bug free wood on your campfire. Stupidly our meagre supply of wood was visible on the front of the trailer, so we had to give that over to the Ranger. I asked him what he would do with it. He said it would be burned!!!! I said that I could do that for him, but he wasn't buying it. Anyway he was really nice about it and gave us some wood from his own supply.
The weather is now turning - humidity up, temperature up, but often rain in the afternoon.
Saturday
Joined in the Buffalo River Trail run, which I thought was just jogging round the park with a ranger and the kids. I arrived at the 'Picnic Area' at 7.45 only to find that the start was at the University Prairie science Center - A Mile Away! However I did get there in time for the start, did a reasonable 5k, then had to walk another mile back to the campground! Still it was a very pleasant walk through along the river.
Sunday
Found out that there was a Phenology field trip going on, so joined in, thougt I would get my head bumps and dents used to tell my future, only to realise that is Phrenology, phenology is about the study of plant and animal life cycles, so we duly had a good wander across the prairie and found some Northern Leopard Frogs and a Garter Snake, as well as some very pretty flowers, in particular Prairie Smoke.
There were a number of young kids on this little field trip. So I had a great joke for them.
I mentioned that they had been hunting buffalo on these prairies for nearly two hundred years, since 1816, so next year would be the 'bisontennial'! I loved that one, and people actually laughed, though the kids didn't get it.
In the afternoon we took a ride out to Fargo to eat at the Golden Corral, which was fun.
We started out East to drive across the great prairies of North Dakota. We were amazed by how wet the ground was and how much water there was in the lots of lakes. Instead of stopping as planned in Jamestown we decided to press on to Fargo and do it all in one hop, which was just over 200 miles. Driving on the Interstate is not much fun, but with an 80 m.p.h. speed limit it is fast, though we kept more or less to 75, which with the wind against us returned me around 5 m.p.g. But petrol is now cheap at $2.50-60 a gallon. (around 42p per litre).
We stayed at Buffalo River State Park, which is mostly prairie with the Buffalo River running through it. Very pretty campground. Though we were only booked in for Friday and Saturday we actually were able to stay Thursday til Monday.
On arrival we found that you could only use certified bug free wood on your campfire. Stupidly our meagre supply of wood was visible on the front of the trailer, so we had to give that over to the Ranger. I asked him what he would do with it. He said it would be burned!!!! I said that I could do that for him, but he wasn't buying it. Anyway he was really nice about it and gave us some wood from his own supply.
The weather is now turning - humidity up, temperature up, but often rain in the afternoon.
Saturday
Joined in the Buffalo River Trail run, which I thought was just jogging round the park with a ranger and the kids. I arrived at the 'Picnic Area' at 7.45 only to find that the start was at the University Prairie science Center - A Mile Away! However I did get there in time for the start, did a reasonable 5k, then had to walk another mile back to the campground! Still it was a very pleasant walk through along the river.
Sunday
Found out that there was a Phenology field trip going on, so joined in, thougt I would get my head bumps and dents used to tell my future, only to realise that is Phrenology, phenology is about the study of plant and animal life cycles, so we duly had a good wander across the prairie and found some Northern Leopard Frogs and a Garter Snake, as well as some very pretty flowers, in particular Prairie Smoke.
There were a number of young kids on this little field trip. So I had a great joke for them.
I mentioned that they had been hunting buffalo on these prairies for nearly two hundred years, since 1816, so next year would be the 'bisontennial'! I loved that one, and people actually laughed, though the kids didn't get it.
In the afternoon we took a ride out to Fargo to eat at the Golden Corral, which was fun.
If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
Monday, June 8, 2015
The Ice Castle Fish House
Prologue:
'Only In America' is more than a phrase, it is a mantra, a creed, a way of life,
So when you have internalised the philosophy one is always prepared to have your jaw dropped and enjoy whatever turns up.
So, after traveling in the States for nine years we encountered not one, but many of these trailers:
'Only In America' is more than a phrase, it is a mantra, a creed, a way of life,
So when you have internalised the philosophy one is always prepared to have your jaw dropped and enjoy whatever turns up.
So, after traveling in the States for nine years we encountered not one, but many of these trailers:
It is a strange looking trailer, because it sits directly onto the ground. Our view here shows it partly lifted, as it was just leaving.
They are quite popular around here. You can tow them like a trailer, but when you arrive you raise the wheels and the trailer sits flat onto the ground.
However it's primary function is to have it towed out and set up onto a frozen lake. In the floor of the trailer are six large frisbee sized holes, through which you can access the ice, drill a hole and then fish, without going outside at all. We found this an amazing site on our nice green and warm campground, at first we thought it was for disabled people. I actually had to look up the make of the trailer to find out what is was.
Of course as soon as you see it in context it becomes obvious.
Here it is in a sales brochure:It is called an Ice Castle Fish house.This is the real luxury end of the fish house market, but very popular.
To see more watch 'Grumpy Old Men'
Friday, June 5, 2015
We explore Fort Abraham Lincoln SP
Wednesday
There were supposed to be two parts to today: A tour of the Mandan Village and then a tour of Custer's House, both in the State Park. However, as will be revealed there was a third part to the day.
In the morning we set out from the trailer and were given a personal tour of the Manday Village by young Johann, who we had met in the coffee shop the day before.
The Mandan Village is a replica of the original, which was built around 1700 and lived in until around 1781, when so many (80%) of the Mandan people were struck down by smallpox, strangely enough brought from the south by Comanche Indians. The Mandan appear to be unusual in that they were not a single tribe, but a group from an number of tribes, none of them the more numerous Sioux or Crow, who lived in this area. In fact there are many unusual things about the Mandan. The most obvious being that they lived in Earthlodges, rather than teepees. These are large, circular buildings constructed from a square cottonwood framework, covered and surrounded by cottonwood logs, covered by a willow lattice, covered by a grass lattice, covered in turn by earth, which is why they are called Earthlodges. Each Earthlodge was owned by a senior woman and usually housed an extended family of about a dozen people. The Earthlodges we saw were circular and about 10 metres across, quite big.
The village was made up of almost a hundred such lodges and was surrounded by defensive hillsides and palisades,as well as the Missouri River. Such a large village requires quite sophisticated technological and social systems. Each family had land outside the village to grow food, they also had their own store pits. They had a central meeting lodge which was more than 25 metres in length, which was built communally.
The remains of the village were discovered by Lewis and Clarke in 1805 when they travelled up the Missouri and stopped nearby.
This was a fascinating tour, further reinforcing what we had found out the previous day at the Bismarck Cultural Center.
What made it rally fun was that the tourguide acted the role of a sergeant of that time period, when we stepped into the house we were transported back to 1875. He would not recognise any question post 1875. So he was basically setting himself up for a fall, as some people looked for ways to trick him into answering outside of that time frame. I think he actually did very well. He was able to account for Custer not being there and also able to tell us about almost everything we asked about that was in the house. It was a bit like the old 'Yes/No Interlude' from Michael Miles 'Take Your Pick' quiz show, where Michael Miles would stand and talk to the contestants, who could not say 'Yes' or 'No', if they did then Bob Danvers Walker would by standing by with a gong to disqualify them. I too felt that we were standing there with an imaginary gong waiting for him to make a blooper.
There were supposed to be two parts to today: A tour of the Mandan Village and then a tour of Custer's House, both in the State Park. However, as will be revealed there was a third part to the day.
In the morning we set out from the trailer and were given a personal tour of the Manday Village by young Johann, who we had met in the coffee shop the day before.
The Mandan Village is a replica of the original, which was built around 1700 and lived in until around 1781, when so many (80%) of the Mandan people were struck down by smallpox, strangely enough brought from the south by Comanche Indians. The Mandan appear to be unusual in that they were not a single tribe, but a group from an number of tribes, none of them the more numerous Sioux or Crow, who lived in this area. In fact there are many unusual things about the Mandan. The most obvious being that they lived in Earthlodges, rather than teepees. These are large, circular buildings constructed from a square cottonwood framework, covered and surrounded by cottonwood logs, covered by a willow lattice, covered by a grass lattice, covered in turn by earth, which is why they are called Earthlodges. Each Earthlodge was owned by a senior woman and usually housed an extended family of about a dozen people. The Earthlodges we saw were circular and about 10 metres across, quite big.
The village was made up of almost a hundred such lodges and was surrounded by defensive hillsides and palisades,as well as the Missouri River. Such a large village requires quite sophisticated technological and social systems. Each family had land outside the village to grow food, they also had their own store pits. They had a central meeting lodge which was more than 25 metres in length, which was built communally.
The remains of the village were discovered by Lewis and Clarke in 1805 when they travelled up the Missouri and stopped nearby.
This was a fascinating tour, further reinforcing what we had found out the previous day at the Bismarck Cultural Center.
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After lunch we then toured General Custer's House, which is in the grounds of the State Park, as part of the Fort Abraham Lincoln reconstruction, it too is a modern reconstruction accurately based on the original plans approved by General Custer and built in 1875.What made it rally fun was that the tourguide acted the role of a sergeant of that time period, when we stepped into the house we were transported back to 1875. He would not recognise any question post 1875. So he was basically setting himself up for a fall, as some people looked for ways to trick him into answering outside of that time frame. I think he actually did very well. He was able to account for Custer not being there and also able to tell us about almost everything we asked about that was in the house. It was a bit like the old 'Yes/No Interlude' from Michael Miles 'Take Your Pick' quiz show, where Michael Miles would stand and talk to the contestants, who could not say 'Yes' or 'No', if they did then Bob Danvers Walker would by standing by with a gong to disqualify them. I too felt that we were standing there with an imaginary gong waiting for him to make a blooper.
My biggest laugh (though we didn't really try to put him down) was when we were looking at a copy of General Custer's Insurance policy, taken out in june of 1874. I told the sergeant that I was clairvoyant and offered to tell the General's future for a price, but gave a freebie that he would meet an unhappy end - soon. the sergeant would not believe me. Great fun. When the tour ended we thanked him for the good time we had.
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The third part of the day came about because as we took the tour we discovered that the wife of the other family with us was actually English and had just got married and moved out to North Dakota, so we had a jolly good chinwag on the way round and then we were invited to their trailer (they too were staying at the SP) for the evening campfire and smores. Oh, and they also had a six month old baby boy, Noah, who Sally really enjoyed (withdrawal symtoms from out own Grandchildren, who we dearly love and miss when we are here in the States) So we spent the evening chatting away about life on both sides of the Atlantic. We had a lovely time and it was quite sad to be leaving the next day. |
| Getting the campfire going |
 |
| Sally with Noah |
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Didn't we have fun today in Bismarck, ND
Tuesday
Today we visited Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, though to tell the truth it was also the capital of South Dakota until 1889, when both Dakota's got statehood.
The Capitol is an imposing, but plain, no, make that 'very plain', skyscraper, built in 1932 to replace the original which burned down, supposedly due to spontaneous combustion of oily rags in the janitors room!! Believe that if you wish, even the tour guide had trouble keeping a straight face.
Inside however, it manages to capture the spirit of the 30's, with excellent Art Deco decoration. It was designed by Chicago architects Holabird and Root, who were expert at the Chicago style (skyscrapers) and reflects the 30's style, reminiscent of the Chrysler building and Flash Gordon.
The lady who showed us round was very pleasant and I was impressed with the way that she handled the twenty odd school children who were with us.
The tour finished on the 18th floor with its very pleasant views of Bismarck.
There are four skyscraper capitols, Tallahassee (FL), Baton Rouge (LA) and Lincoln (NE) are the other three.
We went down to the ground floor (basement to you and me) where there is a cafe and we had our packed lunch and a cuppa.
The boxcar is displayed, in a somewhat understated way, round the back of the museum, but very nicely in amongst the trees. Inside some of the artefacts are on display in a rather small display case in the basement of the building, still it was fun finding it and looking at the artefacts.
There are several halls in the museum. We found the fossil room very interesting, knowing that these great dinosaurs could be found within a few hundred miles of here was impressive.
There was a hall dedicated to the American Indian, which we found fascinating, particularly because there was an Indian docent there, a guy called Dakota Goodhouse. He was very happy to explain all sorts about the local tribal history, inparticular we found out about the Winter Count pictures. Each picture was made up of a number of small pictographs, each representing the story of a year. the whole picture made up something like a calendar. It would then be incumbent on one person to remember the story of each pictograph, thus being able to recite the history of the Winter Count. There was one on display, called the High Dog Winter Count, that showed the events of 1798 to 1912. This was quite fascinating. As was the concept that his tribe, the Lakota, may well have met up with Norse travelers in the 12th century somewhere round the Great Lakes, as shown by their understanding of the use of ponies, hundreds of years before they were introduced either by the Spanish to the South, in the 15th C, or by Lewis and Clarke in 1805. He also pointed out the controversy regarding Sacajawea, who was either a Shoshone girl abducted by the Lakota, or she was sakakawea, who was a Lakota girl who was abducted by the Shoshone, later to be reclaimed by the Lakota, then sold to the Canadian. We also noted the use of coracles and bodhran in the Mandan history and its possible link to the 12 C. Nordic travelers.
Following that we had a very pleasant conversation with three young workers, who were trying to build an interactive program for the Smart Board about agricultural development in North Dakota, though the conversation mostly centred round film locations and film bloops.
On the way back to the trailer we stopped at the Texas Roadhouse for a very pleasant steak.
Today we visited Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, though to tell the truth it was also the capital of South Dakota until 1889, when both Dakota's got statehood.
The Capitol is an imposing, but plain, no, make that 'very plain', skyscraper, built in 1932 to replace the original which burned down, supposedly due to spontaneous combustion of oily rags in the janitors room!! Believe that if you wish, even the tour guide had trouble keeping a straight face.
Inside however, it manages to capture the spirit of the 30's, with excellent Art Deco decoration. It was designed by Chicago architects Holabird and Root, who were expert at the Chicago style (skyscrapers) and reflects the 30's style, reminiscent of the Chrysler building and Flash Gordon.
The lady who showed us round was very pleasant and I was impressed with the way that she handled the twenty odd school children who were with us.
The tour finished on the 18th floor with its very pleasant views of Bismarck.
There are four skyscraper capitols, Tallahassee (FL), Baton Rouge (LA) and Lincoln (NE) are the other three.
We went down to the ground floor (basement to you and me) where there is a cafe and we had our packed lunch and a cuppa.
If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
After lunch we went across the car park to the North Dakota Heritage Center (that is a museum to you and me). Although we wanted principally to visit the Merci Train Boxcar, we thought the museum would also be interesting.The boxcar is displayed, in a somewhat understated way, round the back of the museum, but very nicely in amongst the trees. Inside some of the artefacts are on display in a rather small display case in the basement of the building, still it was fun finding it and looking at the artefacts.
There are several halls in the museum. We found the fossil room very interesting, knowing that these great dinosaurs could be found within a few hundred miles of here was impressive.
There was a hall dedicated to the American Indian, which we found fascinating, particularly because there was an Indian docent there, a guy called Dakota Goodhouse. He was very happy to explain all sorts about the local tribal history, inparticular we found out about the Winter Count pictures. Each picture was made up of a number of small pictographs, each representing the story of a year. the whole picture made up something like a calendar. It would then be incumbent on one person to remember the story of each pictograph, thus being able to recite the history of the Winter Count. There was one on display, called the High Dog Winter Count, that showed the events of 1798 to 1912. This was quite fascinating. As was the concept that his tribe, the Lakota, may well have met up with Norse travelers in the 12th century somewhere round the Great Lakes, as shown by their understanding of the use of ponies, hundreds of years before they were introduced either by the Spanish to the South, in the 15th C, or by Lewis and Clarke in 1805. He also pointed out the controversy regarding Sacajawea, who was either a Shoshone girl abducted by the Lakota, or she was sakakawea, who was a Lakota girl who was abducted by the Shoshone, later to be reclaimed by the Lakota, then sold to the Canadian. We also noted the use of coracles and bodhran in the Mandan history and its possible link to the 12 C. Nordic travelers.
Following that we had a very pleasant conversation with three young workers, who were trying to build an interactive program for the Smart Board about agricultural development in North Dakota, though the conversation mostly centred round film locations and film bloops.
On the way back to the trailer we stopped at the Texas Roadhouse for a very pleasant steak.
If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Pressing on to Bismarck ND
Sunday
Although I had booked for us to be at Indian Creek for three nights we were concerned that the weather was deteriorating again, so we decided to move on today, just as well, as although it was dry the wind had got up and our campsite was distinctly chilly and exposed. We crossed the river at Mobridge and pressed on through the Sioux Reservation, passing Sitting Bulls Memorial, which we did not go and see, and also where he was shot and killed, which we also did not go and see, because it is kind of hidden away.
We are still (surprise. surprise) driving through priarieland, which here is quite hilly, very similar to our moorland, but without the heather.
Coff/T time was approaching, so we stopped in another railway depot town - McLaughlin. Stopping at The Red Light, we could see the sign for 'The Prairie Dog Cafe'. It looked kind of run down, but there were quite a few cars outside, so we guessed it wasn't too bad. We went in through the cracked glass door and were welcomed by a room full of family tables, with half a dozen families sat at them having their Sunday morning brunch. We took a booth and not wanting to appear unfriendly ordered our Coff/T and also, for not good reason, a waffle and side of bacon. Well I have to admit that it was probably the best waffle we have tasted and the syrup (which is usually along the lines of Aunt Jemima's) was a homemade butterscotch/creamy toffee sauce which came in a half pint jug, warm and thick. It tasted amazing, so good was it on the waffle (Sally had half) that we actually started eating it by the spoonful. We figured that this would have been a real find for Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
We are looking forward to spending a couple of days here exploring the State Park and the Capital of North Dakota.
Sunday
Sunday was sunny and warm and we just sat and enjoyed it, all day, with a campfire in the evening. Lovely day, lots of bird pics.
Although I had booked for us to be at Indian Creek for three nights we were concerned that the weather was deteriorating again, so we decided to move on today, just as well, as although it was dry the wind had got up and our campsite was distinctly chilly and exposed. We crossed the river at Mobridge and pressed on through the Sioux Reservation, passing Sitting Bulls Memorial, which we did not go and see, and also where he was shot and killed, which we also did not go and see, because it is kind of hidden away.
We are still (surprise. surprise) driving through priarieland, which here is quite hilly, very similar to our moorland, but without the heather.
Coff/T time was approaching, so we stopped in another railway depot town - McLaughlin. Stopping at The Red Light, we could see the sign for 'The Prairie Dog Cafe'. It looked kind of run down, but there were quite a few cars outside, so we guessed it wasn't too bad. We went in through the cracked glass door and were welcomed by a room full of family tables, with half a dozen families sat at them having their Sunday morning brunch. We took a booth and not wanting to appear unfriendly ordered our Coff/T and also, for not good reason, a waffle and side of bacon. Well I have to admit that it was probably the best waffle we have tasted and the syrup (which is usually along the lines of Aunt Jemima's) was a homemade butterscotch/creamy toffee sauce which came in a half pint jug, warm and thick. It tasted amazing, so good was it on the waffle (Sally had half) that we actually started eating it by the spoonful. We figured that this would have been a real find for Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
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Eventually we left this little Coff/T oasis and moved on to our destination. Fort Lincoln State Park, just south of Bismarck, ND. Being as it was now Sunday we had a good choice of campsite and chose a very nice site, with lots of trees protecting us from the wind, but an open aspect to the West giving us nice sunshine, it had now warmed up considerably. After setting up Sally rested and I went for a run, before cooking tenderloin pork in Satay sauce and then pleasantly sitting out round a campfire (probably only the third or fourth on our entire trip), where I managed to cook and eat a smores. There seem to be a big variety of bird here, prize of the afternoon went to what I think was a Blackheaded Grosbeak, though I haven't got a very good pic of it yet.We are looking forward to spending a couple of days here exploring the State Park and the Capital of North Dakota.
Sunday
Sunday was sunny and warm and we just sat and enjoyed it, all day, with a campfire in the evening. Lovely day, lots of bird pics.
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Prairie Schooning by the Oahe Reservoir to Indian Creek SP
Saturday
Saturday we packed up and moved on, the weather was now sunny and clear, we drove north to Indian Creek State park on the banks of the Oahe Lake, which is really the Missouri river dammed. Sally enjoyed taking pics of the Prairie, here it is quite farmy, lots of grain and green. On the way we stopped off for Coff/T at a really small village called Onida (the 'i' is pronounced as in the word 'I'/me. The tumble weed brushed loudly through as we parked in the main street, the bakery cafe seemed to be the only place open, amongst the tall grain silos, as this was the end of the line for the railway which carried all the grain away.
Saturday we packed up and moved on, the weather was now sunny and clear, we drove north to Indian Creek State park on the banks of the Oahe Lake, which is really the Missouri river dammed. Sally enjoyed taking pics of the Prairie, here it is quite farmy, lots of grain and green. On the way we stopped off for Coff/T at a really small village called Onida (the 'i' is pronounced as in the word 'I'/me. The tumble weed brushed loudly through as we parked in the main street, the bakery cafe seemed to be the only place open, amongst the tall grain silos, as this was the end of the line for the railway which carried all the grain away.
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Once we arrived at Indian Creek SP we camped on a promontory with a lovely view of the Oahe Res, which is dammed just above Pierre, now a hundred miles downstream, Oahe Res is actually pretty near 200 miles long, but not too wide as it follows the Missouri River valley We were able to sit out and catch the sun for a few hours, which was very nice and quite unusual. Also got some nice pics of birds that were around the place.If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Capital Visit to the Capitol in the Capital
Friday
Having now achieved our goal of getting licenses and ID we spent Friday on a visit to the Capitol building. In the morning we had to wait for the rain to stop, it had started at about 3.00 in the morning and poured until 10.00. The weather stations says we got more that 2 inches of rain. On the outside the Capitol building is a pretty grim grey, but on the inside it is a very pretty white colour, with lots of marble effect columns and mosaic tile flooring. We literally walked in and ran into a tour just starting, so we joined in. we found out that the mosaic tiling had a special blue tile, one for each of the workers there, who were asked to place them wherever they wished. Of the 66 workers only 49 tiles can be found, but it is kind of interesting to look for the tiles as you go round. The columns are scagliola, artificial marble constructed round a steel beam, I am sure we have seen these in other Capitol buildings, but can't remember where.
The building is quite small (it is a small state, population wise), so it didn't take long to get round it, but it was very interesting. After a coff/T at a local family restaurant we returned to the trailer.
Having now achieved our goal of getting licenses and ID we spent Friday on a visit to the Capitol building. In the morning we had to wait for the rain to stop, it had started at about 3.00 in the morning and poured until 10.00. The weather stations says we got more that 2 inches of rain. On the outside the Capitol building is a pretty grim grey, but on the inside it is a very pretty white colour, with lots of marble effect columns and mosaic tile flooring. We literally walked in and ran into a tour just starting, so we joined in. we found out that the mosaic tiling had a special blue tile, one for each of the workers there, who were asked to place them wherever they wished. Of the 66 workers only 49 tiles can be found, but it is kind of interesting to look for the tiles as you go round. The columns are scagliola, artificial marble constructed round a steel beam, I am sure we have seen these in other Capitol buildings, but can't remember where.
The building is quite small (it is a small state, population wise), so it didn't take long to get round it, but it was very interesting. After a coff/T at a local family restaurant we returned to the trailer.
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In the evening the weather started to clear and I was very pleased to get a pic (though somewhat poor, because of the evening light) of a Nighthawk fly catching over the lake.If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Driving test time and Weather Watch in old Pierre
Thursday
Pierre is the capital city of South Dakota, as it was nice and sunny we decided that we would see the capitol tomorrow and just hang out today, Oh! and renew our driving license/ID card.
The grand building that is The Driving License Office Of Pierre is wonderfully described as "Down the alley behind the Burger King", which indeed it was!
I had checked the place out last night and also got a driving test manual, which I had read from cover to cover, for twenty minutes this morning.
We arrived and spoke to a very nice young girl, who enthusiastically guided us through our application, which required a visa, two address bills, proof of residence for one night, affidavit to say we would not live here, a completed form (in black ink only) and a twenty dollar cheque for each of us. The I had to take the eye test, which was more or less read some letters the size of a barn door, then go answer 25 questions. When I had completed that , yes OK, so I got one wrong, the dear young girl gave me my driving license, which will be valid until the end of September, but never mind, it is two year more recent that the last one.
That took us about an hour, so we were definitely ready for a Coff/T, so called in at the only coffee house in town, conveniently called Pier 347 (?), before relaxing for an hour in Walmart.
Though the weather had started fine and sunny, you could tell that the cloud was going to increase until it hit thunderstorm proportions, it was just a case of whether they would hit us or not. One did at about 5.00, but several others passed North and South of us. I have enjoyed watching them on the Wunderground.com radar, along with the storm tracks that have set off tornados a couple of hundred miles south of here in Kansas. Very interesting. So we will see what the weather brings tomorrow.
Pierre is the capital city of South Dakota, as it was nice and sunny we decided that we would see the capitol tomorrow and just hang out today, Oh! and renew our driving license/ID card.
The grand building that is The Driving License Office Of Pierre is wonderfully described as "Down the alley behind the Burger King", which indeed it was!
I had checked the place out last night and also got a driving test manual, which I had read from cover to cover, for twenty minutes this morning.
We arrived and spoke to a very nice young girl, who enthusiastically guided us through our application, which required a visa, two address bills, proof of residence for one night, affidavit to say we would not live here, a completed form (in black ink only) and a twenty dollar cheque for each of us. The I had to take the eye test, which was more or less read some letters the size of a barn door, then go answer 25 questions. When I had completed that , yes OK, so I got one wrong, the dear young girl gave me my driving license, which will be valid until the end of September, but never mind, it is two year more recent that the last one.
That took us about an hour, so we were definitely ready for a Coff/T, so called in at the only coffee house in town, conveniently called Pier 347 (?), before relaxing for an hour in Walmart.
Though the weather had started fine and sunny, you could tell that the cloud was going to increase until it hit thunderstorm proportions, it was just a case of whether they would hit us or not. One did at about 5.00, but several others passed North and South of us. I have enjoyed watching them on the Wunderground.com radar, along with the storm tracks that have set off tornados a couple of hundred miles south of here in Kansas. Very interesting. So we will see what the weather brings tomorrow.
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Checkback to week ago
Check the page out here
Today I have posted a blog onto the site dated Thursday 21st May, so it could have been missed.
It was a record of the snow storm we had in Custer and evening views of Stockade Lake
Today I have posted a blog onto the site dated Thursday 21st May, so it could have been missed.
It was a record of the snow storm we had in Custer and evening views of Stockade Lake
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| We get snow |
The Badlands NP in South Dakota
Tuesday
At the entrance to the Badlands lies Wall, a town which has not raison d'etre for it's existence except for the famous drug store - Wall Drug, so of course we had to stop there to investigate it.
It is a very nice story. Back in 1929 a pharmacist and his wife felt it right to open a drug store in Wall, even though it was a dying community. They gave themselves five years to make a go of it. No chance. In the summer of their last year the wife put a notice out on the highway to offer free ice water. Tourists visiting the places to the West stopped off for the free water and the rest is history. Unfortunately, in the inimitable style of the Americans the place now resembles the Main Street of Disneyland - all just gift shops.
Anyway it had to be done!
From there we drove into the Badlands NP. This, we realised, is the last of the 'Big Desert Parks' that we shall see as we move East, not knowing if we will ever get back West again. So we were determined to enjoy it, which we did.
It is about a 25 mile drive through the park, with lots of stops for the overviews, so we made quite slow progress, in fact it took us most of the day to arrive at the Cedar Lodge Campground, where we were surprised to find that there was a walk in site available,with lovely views of The Badlands.
The weather has now, finally, warmed up.
Wednesday
Although it is warm, the sun is still not shining through. I got up early to take some sunrise pics (5.30!), but it was mostly cloudy, still there were some bright spots.
We planned to drive about 120 miles today to Pierre, however a lot of the road was on I90, with its speed limit of 80 m.p.h. so we took some time to visit the Fossil Trail, which, rather disappointingly was a boardwalk with just information about fossils, no actual fossils in the rocks there. Still it gave us a last look at The Badlands.
The weather took a hand again: Since sunrise we were watching a large rain cloud on the Wunderground.com radar, which was sitting to the East of us for several hours as we packed up left the campground, that was OK, except as we left it started to move North East, so as we hit the I90 and moved east it crossed us and we were in rain. We drove through and out the other side, just in time to turn North to Pierre and catch it as it continued North East. We drove through it again and reached the Farm Lake SP at Pierre, just in time for the rain cloud to catch up with us. So still not much luck with the weather, but at least it is now warm.
The campground here is very nice though and we are looking forward to better weather.
At the entrance to the Badlands lies Wall, a town which has not raison d'etre for it's existence except for the famous drug store - Wall Drug, so of course we had to stop there to investigate it.
It is a very nice story. Back in 1929 a pharmacist and his wife felt it right to open a drug store in Wall, even though it was a dying community. They gave themselves five years to make a go of it. No chance. In the summer of their last year the wife put a notice out on the highway to offer free ice water. Tourists visiting the places to the West stopped off for the free water and the rest is history. Unfortunately, in the inimitable style of the Americans the place now resembles the Main Street of Disneyland - all just gift shops.
Anyway it had to be done!
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| The Famous Wall Drug in Wall |
It is about a 25 mile drive through the park, with lots of stops for the overviews, so we made quite slow progress, in fact it took us most of the day to arrive at the Cedar Lodge Campground, where we were surprised to find that there was a walk in site available,with lovely views of The Badlands.
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In the evening I went for a run up into the rocky area, along Saddle and Castle Trail, which was fun. I got back in time to take a couple of sunset pics, though there wasn't a lot of sun in them.
Wednesday
Although it is warm, the sun is still not shining through. I got up early to take some sunrise pics (5.30!), but it was mostly cloudy, still there were some bright spots.
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I even managed to take a video of the drive from the Fossil Trail to the Campground, which, while not as boring as the train passing by at Fort Laramie, is probably only of interest if you want to see lots of rocks and hear our idle banter in the van.The weather took a hand again: Since sunrise we were watching a large rain cloud on the Wunderground.com radar, which was sitting to the East of us for several hours as we packed up left the campground, that was OK, except as we left it started to move North East, so as we hit the I90 and moved east it crossed us and we were in rain. We drove through and out the other side, just in time to turn North to Pierre and catch it as it continued North East. We drove through it again and reached the Farm Lake SP at Pierre, just in time for the rain cloud to catch up with us. So still not much luck with the weather, but at least it is now warm.
The campground here is very nice though and we are looking forward to better weather.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Overnight in Box Elder
Our mailbox is in Box Elder, so since we had to pass close we decided to pick up our mail direct. There being no suitable campground nearby we stayed in the car park of Celebas, a sports outfitters. This is the first time we have stayed on a car park. It was really quite easy and we felt quite safe. Dropping the trailer meant that we could pop out to Golden Corral for a meal and then spend some time in Walmart. Came out to pouring rain.
Tuesday morning we were up and away early to pick up our mail at Americas Mailbox, before driving on to The Badlands of South Dakota.
Tuesday morning we were up and away early to pick up our mail at Americas Mailbox, before driving on to The Badlands of South Dakota.
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| Forgot to put card in camera, so this is a street view cheat pic of Americas Mailbox |
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Deadly Dreadwood
Sunday
Oh what a disappointment!
We approached Deadwood with visions of the Deadwood Stage and Calamity Jame, sunny skies and lots of happy dancing people.
It turns out that when when the mines closed down at the turn of the century Deadwood died. Around the eighties some astute person somehow got the State to legalise gambling in Deadwood, because that is what had made it famous, along with gold, drinking and prostitution, so like almost every other town west of Boston. This enabled Dreadwood to 'renovate' and 'restore' its old buildings and turn them into casinos, so now the City Center looks like a disney theme area.
Arriving here yesterday we did not feel comfortable at all, though we did have a very nice steak in the Legends Restaurant in the newly re-opened Franklin Hotel. The theme park environment was extended by having Main street as a no parking area, almost a pedestrian precinct, which made the public car parks a nightmare.
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Today was raining, all day, though we did go back to Dreadwood it was still very miserable with loads of small casinos and 'kiss me quick' establishments.
We made a detour up the hill to the cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried, however a combination of pouring rain and charging (albeit only a dollar) to go into the cemetery made Sally see red when, having taken our money, she could not actually access their graves. So by the time she had finished with the dear lady in the box office we were able to leave with our two dollars firmly back in our pocket.
So we spent this afternoon doing the laundry and watching the trickling stream that runs through the campsite turn into a raging torrent.
Oh what a disappointment!
We approached Deadwood with visions of the Deadwood Stage and Calamity Jame, sunny skies and lots of happy dancing people.
It turns out that when when the mines closed down at the turn of the century Deadwood died. Around the eighties some astute person somehow got the State to legalise gambling in Deadwood, because that is what had made it famous, along with gold, drinking and prostitution, so like almost every other town west of Boston. This enabled Dreadwood to 'renovate' and 'restore' its old buildings and turn them into casinos, so now the City Center looks like a disney theme area.
Arriving here yesterday we did not feel comfortable at all, though we did have a very nice steak in the Legends Restaurant in the newly re-opened Franklin Hotel. The theme park environment was extended by having Main street as a no parking area, almost a pedestrian precinct, which made the public car parks a nightmare.
If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
Today was raining, all day, though we did go back to Dreadwood it was still very miserable with loads of small casinos and 'kiss me quick' establishments.
We made a detour up the hill to the cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried, however a combination of pouring rain and charging (albeit only a dollar) to go into the cemetery made Sally see red when, having taken our money, she could not actually access their graves. So by the time she had finished with the dear lady in the box office we were able to leave with our two dollars firmly back in our pocket.
So we spent this afternoon doing the laundry and watching the trickling stream that runs through the campsite turn into a raging torrent.
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Around Devil's Tower WY
Friday
We rose at a leisurely pace today, knowing that the only thing we had to do all day was to go and take close look at the Devil's Tower. I guess we were savouring that for as long as possible. Once we were up and had breakfast we went out of the to the Trading Post to buy a coff/T, which was truly awful.
We drove up the roadway to Visitor Center, which runs quite close to the DT. Having sampled all the information available there we then took the path that goes right round the base of the DT. This was the highlight of the day, seeing the DT up close, looking up at those columns, picking out the climbers, so small against the mass of the DT. We took the opportunity to call the kids, we got through to JP on Facetime and we had an exciting Facetime conversation as we showed him and his family the wonderful view, almost from the spot where Richard Dreyfuss slipped back down the rock face, of the DT. The we Facetimed Andy, who was slightly more busy making tea for the kids. Unfortunately we couldn't get hold of Helen, so they must have been busy elsewhere.
We then continued round the base of the DT. The track is 1.2 miles long and has an asphalt surface, so Sally was able to tackle it in her power chair, though there were some speed bumps, which I think were to help with drainage. rather than to reduce speed.
We watched a number of climbers, we saw about a dozen altogether, though I think there were probably some we did not see.
We constantly marvelled at this amazing phenomena as we travelled round it's base. By the time we had watched climbers, taken pics and talked to various people on the way round it actually took us about two hours to circle the Tower, but is was so impressive.
We drove back down to the campground, from which we could see the tower very clearly and relaxed in its memory.
That left one more activity, in the evening we watched Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, which only enhanced the magic of the place, as only Spielberg can do. After this I went out for a quick wander, only to see lights way up on the top of the DT. Even though it was nearly nine o clock in the evening and dark there were still climbers up there. So I can at least say that I saw the lights in the sky over Devil's Tower.
We rose at a leisurely pace today, knowing that the only thing we had to do all day was to go and take close look at the Devil's Tower. I guess we were savouring that for as long as possible. Once we were up and had breakfast we went out of the to the Trading Post to buy a coff/T, which was truly awful.
We drove up the roadway to Visitor Center, which runs quite close to the DT. Having sampled all the information available there we then took the path that goes right round the base of the DT. This was the highlight of the day, seeing the DT up close, looking up at those columns, picking out the climbers, so small against the mass of the DT. We took the opportunity to call the kids, we got through to JP on Facetime and we had an exciting Facetime conversation as we showed him and his family the wonderful view, almost from the spot where Richard Dreyfuss slipped back down the rock face, of the DT. The we Facetimed Andy, who was slightly more busy making tea for the kids. Unfortunately we couldn't get hold of Helen, so they must have been busy elsewhere.
We then continued round the base of the DT. The track is 1.2 miles long and has an asphalt surface, so Sally was able to tackle it in her power chair, though there were some speed bumps, which I think were to help with drainage. rather than to reduce speed.
We watched a number of climbers, we saw about a dozen altogether, though I think there were probably some we did not see.
We constantly marvelled at this amazing phenomena as we travelled round it's base. By the time we had watched climbers, taken pics and talked to various people on the way round it actually took us about two hours to circle the Tower, but is was so impressive.
We drove back down to the campground, from which we could see the tower very clearly and relaxed in its memory.
That left one more activity, in the evening we watched Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, which only enhanced the magic of the place, as only Spielberg can do. After this I went out for a quick wander, only to see lights way up on the top of the DT. Even though it was nearly nine o clock in the evening and dark there were still climbers up there. So I can at least say that I saw the lights in the sky over Devil's Tower.
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Friday, May 22, 2015
To The Devil's Tower, WY
Thursday
Well the weather has finally turned (for how long?), clear blue sky welcomed us as we packed up the trailer to move on to our most North Westerly location on this trip. Back into Wyoming, to the Devil's Tower, a huge lump of rock made famous in the film 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind'. This has been one of the most looked forward to places for me, but is not a well known landmark to many.
We left Custer behind and set off West, passing through the Jewel Cave National Monument (tick that one off) and stopped for coff/T in a place called Newcastle, at Donna's Diner. Interesting but not outstanding. From there we travelled north across the foothills of the Black Hills until the Devil's Tower hove into sight. At first it does not seem too grand, but then it was about 15 miles away, as we approached we started to realize just how big it is.
We have decided to stay in the campground which is in the National Monument Park, called Belle Fourche, after the river that runs round the edge of the campground. This is the first time for a long time that we have felt confident enough of the weather to camp without electricity. The campground is beautiful, we have already seen Orieles, Northern Flicker, tree creepers, a family of hawks as well as the usual Robbins flying in and out of the Cottonwaood trees that are in the campground.
From our window we can see the Devil's Tower, towering over us. We plan to set out tomorrow to explore it. Tonight we will have a campfire and look for lights in the sky.
Well the weather has finally turned (for how long?), clear blue sky welcomed us as we packed up the trailer to move on to our most North Westerly location on this trip. Back into Wyoming, to the Devil's Tower, a huge lump of rock made famous in the film 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind'. This has been one of the most looked forward to places for me, but is not a well known landmark to many.
We left Custer behind and set off West, passing through the Jewel Cave National Monument (tick that one off) and stopped for coff/T in a place called Newcastle, at Donna's Diner. Interesting but not outstanding. From there we travelled north across the foothills of the Black Hills until the Devil's Tower hove into sight. At first it does not seem too grand, but then it was about 15 miles away, as we approached we started to realize just how big it is.
We have decided to stay in the campground which is in the National Monument Park, called Belle Fourche, after the river that runs round the edge of the campground. This is the first time for a long time that we have felt confident enough of the weather to camp without electricity. The campground is beautiful, we have already seen Orieles, Northern Flicker, tree creepers, a family of hawks as well as the usual Robbins flying in and out of the Cottonwaood trees that are in the campground.
From our window we can see the Devil's Tower, towering over us. We plan to set out tomorrow to explore it. Tonight we will have a campfire and look for lights in the sky.
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Thursday, May 21, 2015
Weather
Tuesday
Well today the expected snow arrived, it started as rain, but turned to snow in the afternoon, not before we had been to Bakers the Bakers, well known for its buns. The sign says to ask the waitress to show you her buns.
We stuck to donuts and sticky things with our Coff/T
We returned to the trailer and waited out the storm.
Wednesday
Today saw about three inches of snow lying around us when we woke up, however the sun was shining and the sky was blue, the temperature was climbing, so we knew that the snow would not last long. We got up had breakfast and then went for Coff/T at Bakers fairly early, on the way we took a ride round the local lake in the chevy to take some snowy pics, which were very nice.
By the afternoon the snow had just about gone and we were thinking about wearing shorts. It just shows how quickly the weather can change in this part of the world at this time of the year.
In the evening we again drove round the lake and saw a fairly gentle sunset and several of the deer that frequent the area.
Well today the expected snow arrived, it started as rain, but turned to snow in the afternoon, not before we had been to Bakers the Bakers, well known for its buns. The sign says to ask the waitress to show you her buns.
We stuck to donuts and sticky things with our Coff/T
We returned to the trailer and waited out the storm.
Wednesday
Today saw about three inches of snow lying around us when we woke up, however the sun was shining and the sky was blue, the temperature was climbing, so we knew that the snow would not last long. We got up had breakfast and then went for Coff/T at Bakers fairly early, on the way we took a ride round the local lake in the chevy to take some snowy pics, which were very nice.
By the afternoon the snow had just about gone and we were thinking about wearing shorts. It just shows how quickly the weather can change in this part of the world at this time of the year.
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Tomorrow we will be ready to move on to Devil's Tower.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Mount Rushmore
Monday 18th May
So today is the day. Today we visited Mount Rushmore.
Here is a little test.
Taking no more than one minute, what are your top 10 iconic locations in USA? (I will give mine at the end of this page).
We had been advised that the best way to approach Mt Rushmore is via Route 16A, from the South, called the Iron Mountain Road, which we did. This road is another iconic (that is the word for today) road, more than just a scenic byway. So we set out, managed to get a few miles up the sleepy, but beautiful, valley before the first coffeeshop loomed ahead. We stopped of course, only to find that it would not open until the next day. The owners were just off to Rapid City for supplies, but they made us a drink and left us to relax on the patio! Met a couple of nice young ladies who were here for the horse riding, they had brought their horses from Kansas for a week.
Now we started the climb up to Iron Mountain. Iron Mountain is the next mountain over from Mt Rushmore. The road winds and twists its way up to the top, be fore descending to Mt Rushmore. The guy who designed it had the monument in mind when he designed it. As the road twists there are three tunnels to pass through. Each of them is lined up so that its entrance/exit frames the four presidents of the monument, very impressive. There is also a wonderful viewing point at the highest point of the road. So twisty is the road that there are a couple of 'pigtails', where the road actually loops back over itself, via a bridge. We really enjoyed this road.
This brought us to Mt Rushmore, where we paid our fee and parked in the multistory car park. The sun was still shining, but there was a very cold wind, so instead of eating our picnic lunch we went into the restaurant and sat where Cary Grant sat in the film North by Northwest, no actually I lied, the restaurant in the film has now been knocked down to make way for this much bigger and more efficient restaurant, shame really, but there you are. However eating there meant that we could sit and look at/discuss the monument in relative comfort while we ate, as our table had a great view of it.
After we had eaten we continued walking up the central avenue that took us to the closest viewing point, past the avenue of state flags, where we interestingly noted that the Hawaii flag actually has a Union Jack as part of the design.
We went to the auditorium and watched the short video about the monument's history and then went back upstairs to the outdoor viewing area to take a good long look at the four presidents, memorizing each one. From our left they are President George Washington, President Thomas Jefferson, President Theodore Roosevelt and President Abraham Lincoln.
Having enjoyed a good long look we strolled back to the car and then drove home, stopping briefly at Bakers Bakery for a Goody.
So today is the day. Today we visited Mount Rushmore.
Here is a little test.
Taking no more than one minute, what are your top 10 iconic locations in USA? (I will give mine at the end of this page).
We had been advised that the best way to approach Mt Rushmore is via Route 16A, from the South, called the Iron Mountain Road, which we did. This road is another iconic (that is the word for today) road, more than just a scenic byway. So we set out, managed to get a few miles up the sleepy, but beautiful, valley before the first coffeeshop loomed ahead. We stopped of course, only to find that it would not open until the next day. The owners were just off to Rapid City for supplies, but they made us a drink and left us to relax on the patio! Met a couple of nice young ladies who were here for the horse riding, they had brought their horses from Kansas for a week.
Now we started the climb up to Iron Mountain. Iron Mountain is the next mountain over from Mt Rushmore. The road winds and twists its way up to the top, be fore descending to Mt Rushmore. The guy who designed it had the monument in mind when he designed it. As the road twists there are three tunnels to pass through. Each of them is lined up so that its entrance/exit frames the four presidents of the monument, very impressive. There is also a wonderful viewing point at the highest point of the road. So twisty is the road that there are a couple of 'pigtails', where the road actually loops back over itself, via a bridge. We really enjoyed this road.
This brought us to Mt Rushmore, where we paid our fee and parked in the multistory car park. The sun was still shining, but there was a very cold wind, so instead of eating our picnic lunch we went into the restaurant and sat where Cary Grant sat in the film North by Northwest, no actually I lied, the restaurant in the film has now been knocked down to make way for this much bigger and more efficient restaurant, shame really, but there you are. However eating there meant that we could sit and look at/discuss the monument in relative comfort while we ate, as our table had a great view of it.
After we had eaten we continued walking up the central avenue that took us to the closest viewing point, past the avenue of state flags, where we interestingly noted that the Hawaii flag actually has a Union Jack as part of the design.
We went to the auditorium and watched the short video about the monument's history and then went back upstairs to the outdoor viewing area to take a good long look at the four presidents, memorizing each one. From our left they are President George Washington, President Thomas Jefferson, President Theodore Roosevelt and President Abraham Lincoln.
Having enjoyed a good long look we strolled back to the car and then drove home, stopping briefly at Bakers Bakery for a Goody.
If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
What was on your list?
Mine is (not in any order):
- Empire State Building, New York
- Twin Towers Site, New York
- Golden Gate Bridge, California
- Disneyland, California
- Niagara Falls, New York
- Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
- Las Vegas Strip, Nevada
- U.S.S. Arizona, Hawaii
- Grand Canyon, Arizona
- National Mall, Washington D.C.
Crazy Horse and The Needles
Sunday
We were expecting reasonable weather today, but while it started sunny it was also quite cold, so we didn't want to walk around outside much.
Just a few miles north of Custer is Crazy Horse Mountain Sculpture. After stopping at the Bakery in Custer we drove up and entered the quite large park. It is a very ambitious project, several hundred acres of land, with plans for a university and medical college as well as a cultural center and museum. If that sounds ambitious then you should see the centrepiece, which is the Crazy Horse Mountain Sculpture. This was started in 1948 when the then chief of the Lakota (formally known as Sioux) tribe engaged sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to produce a monument to the Indian, similar to the monument at Mt Rushmore. However this monument would sculpt the whole mountain. Ending up with a statue several hundred feet high, depicting Crazy Horse on a horse pointing towards the hills, showing where his lands are. (Crazy Horse was a chief in the 1870's, stabbed to death by a soldier, with a bayonet, in Fort Robinson, NE in 1877). So far, after more than 50 years, half of the head and the top of the arm have been completed. So it is a work where the journey is as important as the destination. We toured the visitor center and stood and looked at this marvel in rock, which dwarf's it's counterpart of Mt Rushmore (which however is finished).
This mountain sculpture is not just a memorial to Crazy Horse, it is a rallying cry to the Indian Nations and though it is not said, it a monument to the wrongs that have been done to them, as Crazy Horse was the focal point of the Indian resistance to White America in the Nineteenth Century. We were quite impressed.
This is a road which winds along the top of a series of granite mountain tops and bluffs, quite reminiscent of the Blue Ridge Mountain Highway in NC and Virginia. It is only a few miles long, but very dramatic, partly due to the views, partly due to the very narrow road and its tunnels, mostly due to the needle like formations of the the granite rock. These needles soar dramatically into the air sometimes over a hundred feet and are very impressive. The tunnels are very narrow, the first one is only about a foot wider than our Chevy, but didn't seem that wide at all.
After the needles the road twisted and turned downhill alongside a small mountain stream, which was a very pretty route to follow. The road eventually comes out near to the Legion Lake Lodge, giving us a short ride back home.
Another super day in the Black Hills.
N.B. Wanting to give a picture intro to the slide show I cropped a pic from Street View, only to find that the Google Crew had been passing through during Sturgis Bike Week - I wonder if that caused chaos?
We were expecting reasonable weather today, but while it started sunny it was also quite cold, so we didn't want to walk around outside much.
Just a few miles north of Custer is Crazy Horse Mountain Sculpture. After stopping at the Bakery in Custer we drove up and entered the quite large park. It is a very ambitious project, several hundred acres of land, with plans for a university and medical college as well as a cultural center and museum. If that sounds ambitious then you should see the centrepiece, which is the Crazy Horse Mountain Sculpture. This was started in 1948 when the then chief of the Lakota (formally known as Sioux) tribe engaged sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to produce a monument to the Indian, similar to the monument at Mt Rushmore. However this monument would sculpt the whole mountain. Ending up with a statue several hundred feet high, depicting Crazy Horse on a horse pointing towards the hills, showing where his lands are. (Crazy Horse was a chief in the 1870's, stabbed to death by a soldier, with a bayonet, in Fort Robinson, NE in 1877). So far, after more than 50 years, half of the head and the top of the arm have been completed. So it is a work where the journey is as important as the destination. We toured the visitor center and stood and looked at this marvel in rock, which dwarf's it's counterpart of Mt Rushmore (which however is finished).
This mountain sculpture is not just a memorial to Crazy Horse, it is a rallying cry to the Indian Nations and though it is not said, it a monument to the wrongs that have been done to them, as Crazy Horse was the focal point of the Indian resistance to White America in the Nineteenth Century. We were quite impressed.
If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
After visiting Crazy Horse we took advantage of the Custer SP Open Day to take a ride round the Northern section of the park, a section called The Needles.This is a road which winds along the top of a series of granite mountain tops and bluffs, quite reminiscent of the Blue Ridge Mountain Highway in NC and Virginia. It is only a few miles long, but very dramatic, partly due to the views, partly due to the very narrow road and its tunnels, mostly due to the needle like formations of the the granite rock. These needles soar dramatically into the air sometimes over a hundred feet and are very impressive. The tunnels are very narrow, the first one is only about a foot wider than our Chevy, but didn't seem that wide at all.
After the needles the road twisted and turned downhill alongside a small mountain stream, which was a very pretty route to follow. The road eventually comes out near to the Legion Lake Lodge, giving us a short ride back home.
Another super day in the Black Hills.
If you don't want ads then click on the 'Start Slideshow' button, bottom left and then the 'Full Screen' button, bottom right. Then select 'Show Info', top right to see captions.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Wind Cave and Custer State Park
Saturday. You can listen to this while you read
Hurray! The sun is out, it is a beautiful day! We pack up a picnic and head south to Wind Cave NP. We had sort of made arrangement with the Park Ranger to visit today, as they need to make special arrangements for wheelchair users.Wind Cave is a very large cave system, some 440 miles of it! We only expected to do a part of that. We were met by a very pleasant ranger, who loaded us into an elevator and took us a hundred feet below ground to a part of the cave system. Wind cave is special in several ways, first of all though it is large it only has very small access to the outside world, so it breathes! As the air pressure outside changes so air must move in or out to equalise that, sometimes the wind can get up to 50 m.p.h, so they say, however there was a gentle breeze as we left the elevator to enter the Garden of Eden cavern.
Here it was explianed that the caverns are limestone, though it seems that the water erosion simply exaggerated the cracks that were already in the rock. It seems that the limestone was formed 350 million yeasrs ago, but around 65 million years ago a batholith (basaltic domelike intrusion) lifted the limestone over a large area. In being lifted the limestone cracked causing many fissures which the ground water exploited to make a large network of caverns. This made for a very interesting map of the caverns. These caverns are characterised by showing very few of the traditional forms of stalagmites and stalactites.
We were then taken further down to The Assembly Rooms, which were much larger and contained the unique BoxWork phenomena. The box work lattice are made from calcite. It seems that water percolated through a layer of gypsum above the limestone, dissolving the gypsum, which was then deposited in cracks in the lower limestone. The Gypsum then hardened to Calcite. Over time the limestone was removed by chemical erosion, leaving a strange latticework of calcite, very pretty.
Well as usual we really enjoyed our tour of the cave, and as usual it took much longer than anticipated. We emerged again into the sunlight and moved on. It was now the turn of Custer State Park to entertain us.
The first piece of good news was that this weekend was their 'Open Weekend'. Entry was free!! So we set out on to the Wildlife Loop. The scenery was very pretty, rolling hills and prairie. We stopped at 'Prairie Dog Town' and watched their antics for a while as we ate our picnic lunch. They are very funny.
We rode on and saw lots of other wildlife, we saw many more bison, lots of them had a calf in tow, often they were very close, they seemed more tame than those in Yellowstone.Then we ran into the 'Begging Burros'. A herd of burros who, as soon as you stopped the car, put their heads through any open window, begging for food. There were several very cute foals of various sizes and colour. This was a very popular stopping place for visitors, many of whom had brought apples and carrots to feed the burros.
On our trip round the Wildlife Loop we saw quite a few pronghorn, some deer and some very pretty bluebirds as well as a song thrush.
Finally we stopped at place called Legion Lake Lodge, where, as part of the open weekend we could attend an 'Ice Cream Social', complete with a free scoop of Blue Bunny ice cream. So we had a coff/T as well and watched the geese with their goslings on the lake.
All in all a very pleasant day in the Black Hills.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Custer in The Black Hills
Friday
Custer is sort of in the middle of the Southern part of the Black Hills. As well as the town itself and the very pretty scenery close by. To the south is one part of Custer State Park - known as the Wildlife Loop, while south of that is Wind Cave National Park. To the North is the Crazy Horse Mountain Sculpture, nearby is the Northern section of Custer State Park, known as The Needles. While a good way further North is the Mount Rushmore Monument. So it is a good place to see most of the attractions of the area.
Today however there was very little worth seeing, except the rain. We had a slow day at home. In the afternoon the rains stopped so we went and explored Custer. We went into Shopco and then went for a meal in a very forgettable family diner, quite a miserable day really. Tomorrow should be better.
You can listen to this while you read
Well just for a change it looks like the weather will deteriorate after the weeknd, so we have decided to hang out here in Custer for a whole week!That is going to make a change as it is pouring with rain today.Custer is sort of in the middle of the Southern part of the Black Hills. As well as the town itself and the very pretty scenery close by. To the south is one part of Custer State Park - known as the Wildlife Loop, while south of that is Wind Cave National Park. To the North is the Crazy Horse Mountain Sculpture, nearby is the Northern section of Custer State Park, known as The Needles. While a good way further North is the Mount Rushmore Monument. So it is a good place to see most of the attractions of the area.
Today however there was very little worth seeing, except the rain. We had a slow day at home. In the afternoon the rains stopped so we went and explored Custer. We went into Shopco and then went for a meal in a very forgettable family diner, quite a miserable day really. Tomorrow should be better.
Friday, May 15, 2015
Road To Custer
Thursday
We made quick time to Custer and the Custer's Gulch RV park, stopping for a coff/T in Hot Springs and a quick look in at Wind Cave NP, though we planned to return there later. We were starting to enjoy the scenery as the prairies gave way to hills and then mountains, the Black Hills of Dakota The We Love.
You can listen to this while you read
We moved North and very quickly left Nebraska and entered South Dakota. At last the Chevy was home! We had registered our vehicles in South Dakota in October 2012, mostly in order to save a lot on our car insurances, so we are also officially South Dakota Residents, so it was a homecoming for us as well, though it didn't really feel any different.We made quick time to Custer and the Custer's Gulch RV park, stopping for a coff/T in Hot Springs and a quick look in at Wind Cave NP, though we planned to return there later. We were starting to enjoy the scenery as the prairies gave way to hills and then mountains, the Black Hills of Dakota The We Love.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Nebraska
Wednesday
We could have made it from Fort Laramie to the Black Hills of Dakota in one long hop, but decided that we would slide Eastwards a but to 'do' Nebraska. We would stay for one night in a place called Chadron. We discovered that there is a lot of prairie in Nebraska, we know because we drove through a lot of it, even though we only scraped at one corner of the state. On our way to Chadronwhile still in Wyoming, we stopped for a coffee at a place called Higher Grounds in Lusk, whre we met an English couple who were on a 5 day break from home! Arriving in Denver and driving to Mt Rushmore then South into Nebraska. Needless to say they were driving a white Mustang Convertible! Once into Nebraska we called in at Fort Robinson, this was the fort that replaced Fort Laramie and became the centre for keeping the peace around the Black Hills and West of them. It is also the place where Crazy Horse was killed (murdered?) on sept 5th 1877 while resisting being confined in a cell. He was fatally stabbed in the back by a bayonet.
Our overnight stay in Chadron was not particularly noteworthy. It has a Walmart, which we visited. We ate at a bar/grill, which was OK. We used the laundry on the campground to catch up on the washing.
We could have made it from Fort Laramie to the Black Hills of Dakota in one long hop, but decided that we would slide Eastwards a but to 'do' Nebraska. We would stay for one night in a place called Chadron. We discovered that there is a lot of prairie in Nebraska, we know because we drove through a lot of it, even though we only scraped at one corner of the state. On our way to Chadronwhile still in Wyoming, we stopped for a coffee at a place called Higher Grounds in Lusk, whre we met an English couple who were on a 5 day break from home! Arriving in Denver and driving to Mt Rushmore then South into Nebraska. Needless to say they were driving a white Mustang Convertible! Once into Nebraska we called in at Fort Robinson, this was the fort that replaced Fort Laramie and became the centre for keeping the peace around the Black Hills and West of them. It is also the place where Crazy Horse was killed (murdered?) on sept 5th 1877 while resisting being confined in a cell. He was fatally stabbed in the back by a bayonet.
Our overnight stay in Chadron was not particularly noteworthy. It has a Walmart, which we visited. We ate at a bar/grill, which was OK. We used the laundry on the campground to catch up on the washing.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Lots to do in Guernsey
Tuesday 12th
We awoke to clear sunny skies and the mighty roar of trains carrying their 20,000 tons of coal Eastwards.
Still it was good to be up and away in good time. Today we were going to 'do' some more of the Oregon Trail, as it passed along the North Platte River. This must have been one of the more comfortable bits of the journey, plenty of grass and water, flat land, though it was probably hot, there is also plenty of shade.
After walking along the river bank, having crossed the river at Fort Laramie, they were able to rest for a while at a pasture that ran up to some cliffs, known as Register Cliffs, as many of the emigrants had carved their names in the soft mudstone. Those names are still there today as a memorial and testament to those who traveled this way between 1840 and 1860. Although all seemed well there were constant threats of cholera and dysentery, of running out of food, or feed. Always there was the drive of knowing that they had to get to the Cascades before the first snow of winter, or they would starve on the cold Eastern slopes. Although we have not been there, a key point on their journey was another rock where they carved their names. Independence Rock, about 120 miles West, which the Emigrants tried to reach by July 4th. Sally and I sat and had our picnic here. It was very pleasant and warm in the sun.
Earlier we had been to the site of some ruts made by the carts of the Emigrants heading West. At this point the travelers had to climb up from the North Platte Valley Floor to the rolling hills above. Here they had to move across bare rock and grass land. The rock is a fairly soft sandy limestone, so the heavy carts wore ruts in the rock. This was very interesting as some of the ruts were several feet deep. We think that some of the trail was cut into the rock to make for easy passage, but some of the ruts were just too deep to have been made purposely, we thought that they were the result of the carts moving across them. It was not as straightforward as it seemed, as there are many wagon routes all running across this area, as though the route had been changed frequently, perhaps when one wore out they moved it, or perhaps when it rained it got too muddy. Anyway it was very enjoyable, interesting and thought provoking to see this evidence of the migration westward in the eighteenth century.
On our way back through Guernsey we stopped off at the Presbyterian Church and surprisingly found Anne Miner, the minister that we had chatted to in the Cheyenne Museum ,was doing some work there, so we had another very nice chat and a tour of the lovely country church before leaving Guernsey.
We finished our day by visiting some real Ghost Towns, Hartville and Sunshine. They are not old ghost towns, they have only recently been emptied, when the iron ore mine closed down. In the case of Sunshine the town was bulldozed and removed completely. Hartville is now just a pretty little hamlet, with lots of closed up shops. It was interesting to drive through. The transient nature of mining means that there are many such towns in Wyoming, indeed throughout the Western States. We returned to the RV Park and I took a short walk to see a bison and some emu that we had noticed in a field. Interesting combination.
We awoke to clear sunny skies and the mighty roar of trains carrying their 20,000 tons of coal Eastwards.
Still it was good to be up and away in good time. Today we were going to 'do' some more of the Oregon Trail, as it passed along the North Platte River. This must have been one of the more comfortable bits of the journey, plenty of grass and water, flat land, though it was probably hot, there is also plenty of shade.
After walking along the river bank, having crossed the river at Fort Laramie, they were able to rest for a while at a pasture that ran up to some cliffs, known as Register Cliffs, as many of the emigrants had carved their names in the soft mudstone. Those names are still there today as a memorial and testament to those who traveled this way between 1840 and 1860. Although all seemed well there were constant threats of cholera and dysentery, of running out of food, or feed. Always there was the drive of knowing that they had to get to the Cascades before the first snow of winter, or they would starve on the cold Eastern slopes. Although we have not been there, a key point on their journey was another rock where they carved their names. Independence Rock, about 120 miles West, which the Emigrants tried to reach by July 4th. Sally and I sat and had our picnic here. It was very pleasant and warm in the sun.
Earlier we had been to the site of some ruts made by the carts of the Emigrants heading West. At this point the travelers had to climb up from the North Platte Valley Floor to the rolling hills above. Here they had to move across bare rock and grass land. The rock is a fairly soft sandy limestone, so the heavy carts wore ruts in the rock. This was very interesting as some of the ruts were several feet deep. We think that some of the trail was cut into the rock to make for easy passage, but some of the ruts were just too deep to have been made purposely, we thought that they were the result of the carts moving across them. It was not as straightforward as it seemed, as there are many wagon routes all running across this area, as though the route had been changed frequently, perhaps when one wore out they moved it, or perhaps when it rained it got too muddy. Anyway it was very enjoyable, interesting and thought provoking to see this evidence of the migration westward in the eighteenth century.
On our way back through Guernsey we stopped off at the Presbyterian Church and surprisingly found Anne Miner, the minister that we had chatted to in the Cheyenne Museum ,was doing some work there, so we had another very nice chat and a tour of the lovely country church before leaving Guernsey.
We finished our day by visiting some real Ghost Towns, Hartville and Sunshine. They are not old ghost towns, they have only recently been emptied, when the iron ore mine closed down. In the case of Sunshine the town was bulldozed and removed completely. Hartville is now just a pretty little hamlet, with lots of closed up shops. It was interesting to drive through. The transient nature of mining means that there are many such towns in Wyoming, indeed throughout the Western States. We returned to the RV Park and I took a short walk to see a bison and some emu that we had noticed in a field. Interesting combination.
Robbie and Mr Peabody
Tumbleweed Alert Although this campground is now behind us it has left indelible memories, which I think are only fair to share with the world.
As you read the rest of this page you may wish to play the video, it will provide a soothing background.
Did you know that Wyoming produces 40% of USA coal? That was 388 million tons last year, just over 1 million tons a day. I think I showed an interesting picture from our tour of the museum in Cheyenne. Look here it is again:
See how much coal there is.Well, what we found out is that almost all of the million tons of coal a day passes about 25 yards from our trailer! In trains that have 3 to 4 big diesels pulling them at the front and 1 to 2 more diesels at the back pushing. I only counted the number of trucks on one train - 133 while I was washing up, after that I sort of lost the will to live. Each truck carries 121 tons of coal (that is more than 16000 tons of coal), in case you really didn't count the trucks on the train video, there are 166, which more or less rounds out at 20,000 tons of coal.
The exciting thing for the train driver was that the train goes through the middle of Fort Laramie, which is a town which has no stop light, but three rail crossings. I don't know if you know, but when a train approaches a rail crossing in USA it usually sounds its romantic, long ,low moaning whistle and rings a bell, unfortunately these cola trains have very loud air horns, really very loud air horns, and the Chuck Wagon RV is about 100 yards from the first crossing, which is where that video was shot, as we were leaving). Fortunately, so as not to overwhelm us with surprise, the train gives an initial blast about 200 yards from the crossing, and then again at 100 yards, that was the one that really was loud. Put it this way, the third crossing is at the other end of town, about a mile away, and the air horn still sounded loud when it went past that crossing. Interestingly enough these trains can travel quite fast, I reckon about 15 m.p.h., so they are making a lot of train noise as well, especially when they are 25 yards away and full of coal.
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| Train coming through! |
Because the coal is carried in a finite number of trucks and by a finite number of engines, they must return to the coalfield to fill up again, so every train that goes down the line full, comes back again empty, only faster. Again fortunately you know they are coming and can prepare yourself, as they sound their air horns as they approach the first of the crossings at the other end of town, thus giving you a chance to strap yourself down or don ear protection. To be fair during the night we only got trains coming through at 11.20, 12.30, 3.15, 3.25, 5.00 and 5.15 a.m.
So one could get some sleep. While lying awake one can count coal cars instead of sheep and work out that at 20K ton of coal per train, that is 50 trains per day taking it out and 50 trains returning, to be fair there were not 100 trains per day, it just seemed like it. I also know that a lot of the coal is taken West, either for use or to be shipped to the East or abroad. However, we also noticed that many of the trains were oil, which is also found in large quantities in Wyoming.
I think we would say that this was the noisiest campground we have ever stayed in, but we did see some trains.
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We took surprisingly few pics of the trains |
The reference to Mr Peabody - Peabody is the name of the coal company that owns the mines. Same Peabody that 'owns' Memphis and the Peabody Hotel. Same 'Mr Peabody' so lamented in the haunting song about Peabody's and the ghost town of Paradise in Muhlenburg County, Kentucky, which inevitably brings to mind dearly departed Jim Martinson of Marilee and Jim, back at Istachatta, FL, from whom I first heard the song.
Robbie? Coltrane of course
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