Following Lewis and Clark

Not exactly in their footsteps or in their mode of travel (thank goodness!), but we have stopped at several places where they also traveled.  From Jamestown, ND we went to Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park in Mandan, ND.  This is the place where Gen. Custer was stationed with the 7th Cavalry before departing for the Little Big Horn in 1876.  They built a replica of his and Libby's home 25 years ago and this weekend was the celebration of that event.  There were demonstrations of the 10 barrel Gatlin gun and cannon, tour of the Custer House with period interpreters,  and an army camp illustrating life during that time.  Gene enjoyed all of this while I stayed at the RV with a headache.  This is the first time I've been not well since we left June 3rd.  The day before we had walked up to the Visitor Center, looked at the exhibits and then walked out to the On-A-Slant Mandan Village.  The name came from the fact that it was built on the hill overlooking the Missouri River.  When Lewis and Clark arrived at this place in October 1804, the smallpox had already wiped out most of the people and those remaining moved north to live with the Hidatsas.  A few earthlodges have been reconstructed  so we can see how they lived.  The women were responsible for building and maintaining the lodges, growing corn, squash and beans and the men hunted elk, deer, etc. 

 From there we traveled to Cross Ranch State Park near Washburn and visited the ND Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.  They had exhibits depicting the journey from the beginning May 14, 1804 from Camp Dubois to the end September 23, 1806 back in St Louis.  The hardships they endured can hardly be imagined, but a route to the Pacific Ocean was found.  We also toured a replica of Fort Mandan, just two miles down the road.  This fort was built to shelter them during the winter of 1804 to 1805.

Our guide for the fort tour was extremely informative and we enjoyed the time spent there learning more about these brave men.

Next day we were off again to the Knife River Indian Village in Stanton where again we enjoyed learning more about the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Tribes - later known as the Affiliated Tribes. This is where Sakakawea, a Shoshone girl, lived after she was taken from her tribe near the Bitterroot Mountains.   We ate at a local cafe - Cafe du Mond - recommended by a volunteer at the Gift Shop.  He suggested ordering fleischkuechle - seasoned ground beef wrapped in a pastry/dough and fried.  It was delicious. 
We spent the next three days at Lake Sakakawea State Park.  Yes, there are about 20 ways to spell her name, all because Lewis and Clark would write it phonetically in their journals.  We had not made a reservation and found a beautiful "first come first served" spot overlooking the Lake.  Gene set up my screen room and I enjoyed the time to rest and relax. 

We then spent time at Lake Sakakawea
COE on the Missouri River, visited the Audubon Refuge Center in Coleharbor & spent last night at Fort Stevenson State Park on Lake Sakakawea.  Today we drove north to Lewis and Clark State Park on Lake Sakakawea near Epping, ND. It's a big lake!  We are now in oil country - seeing the oil rigs and what we call "praying mantis" drills.

 We have seen beautiful country on our trip - grasslands, wheat fields, corn in all stages of growth and have now learned what the brilliant yellow fields are - canola, and purple/blue fields are flax.

So we shall rest up for another day or so and turn south towards Theodore Roosevelt National Park and then into South Dakota.  I am so thankful we have this chance to see this glorious country of ours.
It is truly a blessing!

So until I have wifi again, blessings to all our family and friends.

 

And WiFi at Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Washburn, ND

But to back up - on our way to Mel Rieman Rec Area we drove through Akeley, MN and saw Paul Bunyan.  We met the son-in-law of the man who constructed it - in his backyard - with steel frame, then covered with fiberglass.

These little surprises are one of the reasons we enjoy traveling the back roads.

While at Jamestown, we saw White Cloud, a white buffalo, which has great spiritual significance to the Native Americans and her 5th calf, who was born white, but now has reddish coloring, Dakota Miracle (pictured below).  We also saw the small herd of buffalo that roam the very large fenced in area.  There is a concerted effort to restore buffalo herds in various areas of the country.  Currently, Yellowstone National Park has the largest herd, which we were privileged to see in 2007.

We stopped at Wal Mart and found a small screen room that would 1. protect me from the bugs and 2. was in a small enough case that it would fit in the RV behind my seat .  The one at  Gander Mountain was so big we would have had to buy a carrier to attach to the back of the RV!  Back to Pelican Point where we were staying and Gene put it up for me.  Now I can sit outdoors and enjoy the fresh air without being harassed by the mosquitoes.  Pelican Point was another delightful campground overlooking Jamestown Reservoir.  I could watch boaters and fisherman enjoying the beautiful weather we were having.  The next stage of our journey will be covered in the next blog - to Ft.Abraham Lincoln State Park in Mandan, ND.  See you later.

WiFi at Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park!

It's been almost two weeks, but I'm online again.  Gene has the advantage of a tablet and excessive energy so can walk to wifi locations when they're available at campgrounds.  But, here I am, so will catch you up.

We spent the 4th of July weekend at Winnie Dam Rec. Area on Lake Winniebigoshish.  It was a restful time with some rain and even a pelting of small hail stones.  The mosquitoes, however, were bothersome, so I spent most of the time in the RV.  That's when I decided I'd like a screen room.  When we left there, we
drove south and west and into Fargo, ND.  I spotted a Gander Mountain and we turned around and stopped in to look for one.  We thought at first we wanted one with a floor, which they didn't have, and we traveled on. 

The next two nights we spent at Mel Rieman COE which was beautiful and mosquito free.  We watched little bunnies feeding in the evening and  little yellow birds which I think are finches.  Our view was Lake Ashtabula - gorgeous.

We then traveled to Jamestown, ND and stayed at Pelican Point.  Went to Buffalo Museum. 

OK, battery is low.  Hope to continue soon.

Door County, WI to Walnut Grove, MN

We have covered a lot of territory, seen new sights and had a great time since my last post.  As stated before, the campgrounds we've been in have had sketchy or nonexistent wifi, but they have been very nice.
We left Baraboo, WI and traveled up to Green Bay so Gene could stop by Lambeau Field and get pictures of the stadium.  We then went on to Sturgeon Bay to stay at Harbour Village, an RPI resort, for three nights.  We're discovering that we need "rest days" along with our sightseeing days. Wednesday we drove up to the northern tip of Door Peninsula - Gills Rock - and visited the Door County Maritime Museum.  They had a lot of interesting exhibits, (Gene saw a Johnson outboard motor same as his step-dad used to have), some relics from shipwrecks in addition to information on their ferry system.  We ate lunch at the Shoreline Restaurant which overlooks Garrett's Bay, then to the ferry landing at Northport to watch the ferry come in, unload and reload.  This particular ferry travels between Northport and Washington Island.  There was a tour bus on the ferry along with bicyclists, a Segway tour group, pedestrian passengers and about a dozen cars and trucks.  After reading about the shipwrecks that had taken place in this area, I was not too eager to take a ferry ride!  We drove over to Cana Island Lighthouse near Bailey's Harbor to take pictures.  The lighthouse is on the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula - very choppy water.  Back to Harbour Village where the mosquito population kept us inside the RV, but we brought several DVD's, so just enjoyed a good movie.  The next day Gene did some RV cleaning (outside) and I worked on downloading and organizing pictures.

Friday we left Harbour Village and stopped at Quietwoods RV Service in Sturgeon Bay.  The hot water heater was not working on electric, only on propane.  The heating element had quit working - it had lasted 11 years, so no complaints.  The new one was installed, we filled up our propane tank and were good to go.  A quick stop at Wal Mart for some groceries and on down the road we went.  We spent that night in Wausau at Marathon County Park.  Gene has found some very nice places for us using  "RV Parky" and "Oh Ranger" apps on his tablet. 

Saturday was another Laura Ingalls Wilder day in Pepin, WI.  This was where she was born and her first book "Little House in the Big Woods" is based on this area.  We toured the museum, spent the night in Lake
Pepin Campground and next day went to the actual site where a replica log house has been built.  I fixed sandwiches for our lunch and we ate there - a lot less work than Ma went through to fix a meal!

Needing a bit of rest, we chose Peaceful Valley Campground in Le Sueur, MN to spend the next couple of days.  To get there, we crossed the Mississippi River again - still very high from all the rain - into Red Wing, MN and almost straight west to Le Sueur.  When we entered the town, we saw a huge sign of the Jolly Green Giant that said "Welcome to the Valley".  As it turns out, the Giant hasn't been in Le Sueur for many years.  I was disappointed.  I looked forward to sitting outside and soaking up some sunshine, but , alas, rain and mosquitoes nixed that, so I read and relaxed inside.  Gene walked up to the office with his tablet and played his "Clash of Clans" game on his tablet
. 
Yesterday we drove further west to Walnut Grove, MN to another Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.  Her Pa traveled almost as much as we do.  They had a sod hut, school house, settler's house, chapel and many items related to the television series "Little House on the Prairie."  In "Grandma's House" they had displays of butter churns, old washing tub, and other household items that make me very thankful I live in a modern age.
It was an extremely windy day and our drive here to Randall, MN in and out of rain was wearying.  Again, the need to rest up before our next leg of the journey.  Tomorrow we're off to Winnie Dam Campground near Deer Lake, another COE, for the holiday weekend, then into North Dakota.  We're still smelling the roses and enjoying the trip.

Wisconsin Dells

Our plans when we left Decorah were to stay at the Blackhawk COE near DeSoto, WI, which we did for one night.  With all the recent rain, the Mississippi River was rising and the campground had to be closed.
We drove up to LaCrosse, WI and took the LaCrosse Queen paddlewheel boat tour on the Mississippi River.  I've wanted to do that for quite some time.  Gene met some folks that recommended Rudy's Drive-In, so we drove over for their famous chili hot dogs.   Since we were in the area, we went up to Granddad Bluff where you can see Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.  It was a lovely view.  We had not made reservations for Saturday night - Gene said we would wing it.   We found a quiet state park near Camp Douglas, WI - Mill Bluff State Park.  It was a non electric, no water site, but we had plenty of water in our fresh water tanks, we switched the refrigerator to propane and our "house" batteries ran our lights.  I opened a can of chicken and dumplings (manual can opener), added some frozen peas and heated it up on our propane burner.   It was quite tasty.  I also made sure I called for a reservation at a campground for Sunday night.  An interesting tidbit - Mill Bluff is #40 on the state park list.  It was also our 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday, the 22nd.  When we left Sunday morning, we took the scenic route Hwy 12/16 rather than the interstate.  If we don't have a deadline we prefer the slower pace.  I'm glad we did because we saw the cutest display of cows for the cow-munity project in Mauston, WI.  We arrived in Wisconsin Dells, stopped at Culver's for lunch and then on to Fox Hill RV Park and Campground in Baraboo.  Another nice, clean campground.  Today we drove into the Dells and took the "Original Wisconsin Ducks" amphibian tour through forests and into the Wisconsin River and Lake Delton.  It was an exciting ride and we loved it.  We ate lunch at Moose Jaw Pizza, then stopped at Market Square Cheese for some real Wisconsin cheese.  We're now back at Fox Hill to catch up on emails and such.  Tomorrow we head for Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay where we'll explore Door County.  We've been busy, but are having a lot of fun.

Laura Ingalls Wilder and Vesterheim

We have had an interesting three days!  On our way into Decorah, IA on Tuesday, we spotted a sign for
Pulpit Rock Campground.  It is a city Parks and Recreation campground right on the Upper Iowa River.  We registered, then drove ten miles up to Burr Oak to tour the Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum.
The building was the Masters Hotel and they lived and worked there awhile after leaving Walnut Grove, MI.
Ma, Mary and Laura did the cooking for up to 25 people three times a day and the cleaning.  Pa took care of the animals and whatever else needed to be done.  There were many items from the time period 1876 and 1877 such as clothing, shaving supplies, cooking utensils, etc.   Laura was nine years old when they moved there and did not cover this time period in her books.
On Wednesday and today we drove into Decorah to visit the Vesterheim  Norwegian-American Museum.
Yesterday Travis gave us a guided tour of the outside buildings including small homes, parochial school, church and mill.  Today we toured the three stories and basement of the museum itself.  The Rosemaling (flower painting) on bowls, plates, storage chests and many other items was exquisite in detail as was the carving on furniture.  We thoroughly enjoyed our Norwegian experience!

Heading Out To The Badlands

OK, the title is a bit misleading.  We will get there eventually, but the joy of the trip is smelling the roses along the way.  We left home on June 3rd after attending two K-5 graduations and a 5th grade graduation of our great-granddaughters.  We visited family and friends in Georgia and North Carolina, then on to our daughter and son-in-law

in Mt. Zion, WV.  June 9th we left there and traveled through Ohio and spent two nights at Indian Lakes near Batesville, IN.  After traveling the curvey, hilly roads in WV, we needed to rest up a bit.

Next stop was Peoria, IL at Millpoint Park.  A nice perk was the receipt was also a 20% coupon  for Peoria Pizza Works.  A delicious Chicago-style, thin crust, 6 topping pizza satisfied our pizza craving.

We had made reservations at Wallashuck Recreation Area, a Corp of Engineers campground near Pella, IA.
What a delightful surprise - a nice clean site with electric and very nice bathhouse.  In addition, we were
serenaded by the cicadias.  They have a 17 year cycle and this is the year!   Our trip into Pella to the
Vermeer Windmill Museum was extraordinary.  Our guide, Virgil, is from one of the families that came to
Pella to settle, therefore, was a fount of information.  This windmill was built in Holland, dismantled and shipped to Pella and rebuilt.  We were shown how the "sails" can be turned so they can always be in the wind.  They grind wheat flour there and we later bought a loaf of bread (and other goodies) from the
Jaarsma Bakery. 

Our next COE campground was at Saylorville Lake north of Des Moines.  Another lovely spot in which to relax.  The only drawback to COE's is no wifi.   I don't miss it too much except I can't post my blog.

Yesterday we stopped at Cedar Valley Arboretum near Waterloo, IA and then at the Little Brown Church in the Vale in Nashua.  Last night we stayed at R Campground in Charles City, IA.  There was a very bad rain & thunderstorm with high winds - rocked our RV a few times.  I kept waiting for the tornado siren to sound, but thankfully it didn't.  Today we're off to Decorah to do some more sightseeing.  We are definitely smelling the roses!