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.
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