Crazy Horse Memorial

Yesterday we had decided to spend the day at Crazy Horse Memorial in Custer. We spent some time there 25 years ago and we had to use our imagination to visualize what this mountain carving would look like. We also know that it won't be completed in our life time, but were absolutely thrilled with yesterday's events. The carving was started in 1948 by Korczak Ziolkowski, a sculpture who worked on Mount Rushmore. Korczak was contacted by Chief Standing Bear in 1947 and asked that Korczak create and carve a memorial to Crazy Horse in the Black Hills area where Crazy Horse was born, lived, and died. Crazy Horse was a war chief of the Lakota Sioux Indians in the mid 1800's and was a leader of many. He was stabbed in the back by an American soldier and died in 1877. His beliefs and his ideals are still held close in the Sioux ways. One thing that Korczak had to project is that there were no photographs of Crazy Horse and he had to rely on many oral histories to get a description of what Crazy Horse looked like.

We drove through Custer State Park again to get to the Memorial and we were stunned when we rounded a curve and saw in the distance the carving on the mountain. We were speechless. Stopped to grab a photo then proceeded on to Crazy Horse. Viewed the video on how and why the mountain is being carved, and one fact stuck out: Crazy Horse died September 6, 1877 and Korczak was born September 6, 1908. Coincidence? After Korczak's death in 1982, seven out of 10 children as well as his widow Ruth have continued the dream. Only family members work on the mountain, following Korczak's belief in free enterprise system and that Crazy Horse should be built with interested public not taxpayer's money. Mount Rushmore was federally financed and Korczak did not want the government involved at all. When this carving is complete the memorial will be the largest carving in the world. Mount Rushmore's heads are 60 feet high, Crazy Horse's head will be 87 1/2 feet high. By the time the horse is completed the entire statue will be 563 feet high!

We went on a bus tour that took us to the base of the mountain, the driver explained many facets of the carving and oh, by the way, for an additional fee you could have a private tour in a van and take you to the top of the mountain and you can stand on Crazy Horse's outstretched arm. Dave and I looked at each other and knew we were going to do this. We thought we would never be back in this area and in the twenty five years since we have been here, his face has appeared and part of his arm. Only with donations can this work continue and if there isn't money, no work. We signed up immediately to go.

Wow, wow, wow, wow!!! I am so glad we did this. In some time in the near future all visits to the top will cease because once the arm is carved out more, obviously no one will be allowed up there. To put this picture into perspective - the nose is 27 1/2 feet long (that's a big nose!), his eye openings are 8 1/2 feet wide and the distance from his nose to chin is 28 feet! Huge. The little white blurb to the right is the van we were came up in and there is a two story building right behind the van.

We had seen Mount Rushmore 25 years ago, were going to visit it, but not now. Nothing will compare to this memorial. Instead we will take the next two days and relax, take a breather, clean, grocery shop and do laundry, and then maybe Friday we will head to the Badlands National Park. So much to see, so little time!

Hot Springs, Banana Belt and Wall Drug

Monday started out with a blood-red sunrise. As the saying goes, red sky in morning, sailors take warning; red sky at night, sailors delight. What a wet rainy awful day it became. We got to the dentist by 6:40am, Dave got checked in and I sat back and tried to read a book I brought. Instead the receptionist decided she wanted to talk, and I am glad she did. Found out some really cool facts which I'll pass on in this blog. I did not know it but when I booked Dave's appointment they blocked out enough time for all the procedures to get completed that sitting. About 2 hours later Dave appeared, all numbed up, sore, but done. Thank goodness we didn't have to worry about coming back at another sitting. Stopped for coffee/breakfast in Hot Springs where the dentist was and decided after eating to visit with the town and learn about it. There was a quilt shop in town and I wanted to go before leaving. Hot Springs is just what it is - springs that run through town with an average year temperature of 87 degrees. The town has not gotten it's act together about Bike Week in Sturgis - the dental receptionist said that if they could just cash in on all the bikers that stay there, the town would boom. Have to say Hot Springs is cute, small (1100 people) but thrives anyway. Many buildings are made out of sandstone and the town takes on a pink hue. While Dave had time in the dentist's chair, he and the doctor talked about the town, the climate, what goes on, etc. Dave told me that this town is very moderate in temperature, very little snow, mild winters, and it is truly a hunter's paradise. Cabela's (sporting goods store) opened up a second store right at the I90 exit to capture all the people coming in for pheasant hunting, the original store could not keep up with the load.

By 11am we were headed back to the RV - I wanted Dave to catch a quick nap - he was very very sore and a bit unsteady. As we were driving back, the route took us along the base of the Black Hills which were to our left. Still raining, clouds hung over the hills and Dave remarked that it looked just like it did in San Francisco - fog and clouds rolling in from the ocean. I explained that the receptionist said the Black Hills area is considered the Banana Belt. Huh? The air rises up the mountain, it cools and compresses and then releases it's moisture on the windward side (western side of the Black Hills - towards Wyoming) then as the air is pulled down the other side it is compressed and heated on the lee side (the side we are at) and causes arid, warmer conditions. We have seen this on three other occasions only didn't know the term. We were in Sausalito/California, Escanaba/Michigan, and now the Black Hills/South Dakota. How cool is that? Very little snow, temps higher in the winter and lower in the summer. We have begun to really like this area - has alot to offer and is RV friendly. Maybe this is a summer home sometime in the future?

By 1pm we decided to head to Wall Drug, a tacky tourist stop about 50 miles back east on I90. Many of you have heard of it and it is just tacky, tacky, tacky. We were there 25 years ago, Dave didn't remember anything of it, but I remember this place in the open, we had parked in the dirt parking lot, nothing around. Now - amazing. We did find a good book store inside and I stocked up on a number of books. If you ever are driving I90 through South Dakota, make it a point to stop here. You will get a big chuckle out of the tackiness, gaudiness.

We stopped at the National Grassland Park visitor center which is located right by the Wall Drug compound on the way home. Glad we did - it is the headquarters for the 20 National Grassland parks in the US and watched the video, looked at the exhibits and learned about grasslands. When Lewis and Clark and the Corp of Discovery came through the west, the grass lands and prairie lands comprised the area of east of the Rocky Mountains all the way to the Mississippi River. Today only 3% of this original land is grasslands.

Tatanka Sunday

We typically scout out the town the day after we get in when we know we are staying for awhile. That is exactly what we did Saturday. Grocery shop, pet food shop, pick up some supplies, etc. Decided on Sunday to make a trial run into Hot Springs to see where the dentist is to make sure we knew where we were going Monday morning. Found the place, felt comfortable with how to get there and since we were right by Wind Cave National Park, stopped. We have seen numerous caves now and why we went below, I don't know. If you want to see stalactite's and stalagmites or any other type formation or color with a wow factor, don't go to this cave. Instead we saw boxwork (shown here), frost and popcorn which are very unusual and unique, a tad boring. Very few caves in the world have these formations. This national park is one of the oldest - 1908 - and it could stand some upgrading of it's information area and displays. You could go below to walk the trails underground with a ranger/interpreter and/or ride around in the park to see the wildlife such as buffalo, prairie dogs, sheep, antelope, etc. We were so close to Custer State Park that we decided to drive through the park on the way home to Hermosa. We were in the Black Hills area 25 years ago and never saw tatanka - Sioux for buffalo. We not only saw the token one tatanka here and there by the roadside in Wind Cave NP but much more at Custer, we came across dinner time! Custer has a herd of about 2500 and around the first of November will cull the herd down to about 950. They say that about 10,000 people come to watch the roundup. They check every one for health issues, decide which stay and which to go. Those that go are sent to other herds around the country, moved to other parks that have tatanka, and some are sent to butchers (yep - it's legal - and it's popular here to eat buffalo.)

I wanted to come back before we leave to spend time in Custer Park - it is absolutely beautiful here. We made some tentative plans and decided possibly next weekend we will do the loop and see all there is to see.

Polka? USA Today? Trivia

On our trip south from North Dakota, we drove through a town called Strasberg. Heard polka songs and an accordian in the distance. Yep, Lawrence Welk was born there. The town thrives on this tourist business. A whopping population of 409. We didn't stop. Buzzing along Route 83, through a town called Eureka, South Dakota, population of 868. These are big towns! Big sign says "birthplace of Al Neuharth, Founder of USA Today". Anything a claim to fame, they cash in. And why not?

Since we saw and still are seeing so many small towns, I get a kick out of populations. For instance, we are in Hermosa which is 398. But there is pizza places, gas stations, grocery stores, RV repair, camping, sporting goods. Very low unemployment. South Dakota as a state only has 880,000 people, 2/3 what Cuyahoga County has.

A large population of Hutterites which practice extreme pacifism, and during World War I they were so persecuted that they abandoned 17 communities in the Dakotas and fled to Canada, are located north of Rapid City, but we won't go there either. Canada enforced laws which prohibited them from coming in and during the 1930s these Hutterites came back into the Dakotas. Similar to Amish or Mennonite in their shunning of 'new world' pocessions, they speak German and stay within their sect. We haven't run into them but were told about this group from a camper back in Hazen - he is a contract harvestor (the bus and migrant workers that came in) and has occasionly been around them.

The largest city in South Dakota is Sioux City and we are in the second largest - Rapid City, population of 67,500. And the capital - PEER (Pierre) had 13,656! Amazing.

5% Increase and Rapid City, SD

A long, long two days! We left Hazen, North Dakota Wednesday morning about 9am and got moving down Route 83 towards South Dakota. Our travel was great until about an hour before we got to Akaska, a small town that we were going to spend just one night at, with construction. And a huge detour. To the tune of 65 miles out of our way. With all the oil trucks and heavy equipment running up and down Route 83 to Minot to the oil fields and to help with the flooding, this route and many others are shut down because the roads could not handled the traffic, or, the roads were flooded out. The picture on the left is a lake caused from the heavy snows - it is not a real lake. Was like this all the way to about 20 miles from Rapid City. Stayed in Akaska, South Dakota last night, 250 miles south of where we were in Hazen. We get the big - wow - when we see the city/town sign announcing where you are and they give the population. Akaska - 31 people! And yet, cute town. School bus picks up the kids and drives them to the next town, has a grocery store, bait store, supper club, city hall, etc. And everyone knows everyone. This little town has a kiosk for post office which I am sure is what all the towns where the Post Office has decided to close, will go to. Post person delivers mail to this little place where everyone has a box, then drives to the next town. Residents have to come to this kiosk to get their mail.

5% increase? Well, with Dave and I there, we upped the population by 5%. Talk about an impact. We pretty much followed the Missouri River south, passing field after field of sunflowers, corn, wheat, hay, barley, beans, and stuff we couldn't figure out. The sunflowers where cool - found out there are two kinds they grow here and was explained this way: if the sunflower is way down (like pouting) in the morning, it will perk up with the sun and follow the sun and then when the sun sets, the flower will wilt back down and return to it's original position (east). The second type of sunflower stays perked up but travels little in the sun's path. One type is for oil and the other is for eating (sunflower seeds). The picture here is a blur - and that's about what we saw - a blur of yellow! Something else that was an eye opener - we thought that Sinclair gas was out of business. Not so here in the Dakotas. That is the predominant gas/diesel sold. Even down here in Rapid City the flooding has taken it's toll. The Missouri River is still receding and when we drove through Pierre and drove on the bridge over the river, sandbags are still in place and the devastation from the floods is visible. If the powers that be release the dams upstream (where we were) this area will still flood. And winter is coming! By the way, I grew up calling the capital of South Dakota - Pierre, like the French man's name. Not so - it's pronounced PEER. After driving 285 miles today and changing into Mountain Time Zone, we are safe and secure at the campground. Will stay here for 2 weeks, Dave has a dentist appointment on Monday and we'll see how long a tooth repair (cap) will take. In the meantime lots to see and do. 6 National Parks, Custer State Park where all the buffalo are, Crazy Horse Monument, Devil's Tower National Monument, just to name a few.

Where Are We?

If we could fly like a bird and go due south, we would fly over Wall, South Dakota (some of you have been there) Amarillo and then Lubbock, Texas, and eventually get to Del Rio, Texas on the border with Mexico where the Amistad Reservoir is, last year a man was jet skiing and was killed by the drug cartel of Mexico. No - we aren't going there! If we fly due west we would fly over Great Falls, Montana, just miss Missoula, then Coeur d'Alene, Idaho fly on to Spokane and then Seattle, Washington hitting the Pacific coast at Olympic National Park. Flying east we would fly over Chisholm, Minnesota (liked that town), then over Copper Harbor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie, lots of Canadian towns in Ontario, then to just below Quebec City, then Frederickton, New Brunswick where we camped 2 years ago on the St. Johns River that reverses flow, and then on to Prince Edward Island. As you see, we are quite high in longitude. We asked about seeing the Aurora Borealis but they said only in the winter. We remember seeing the Borealis when we camped in Jackson, Wyoming in July many years ago. Will have to pay attention when we get to Wyoming in a couple of weeks.

We are surprised by the weather. Yesterday it was 94 but low humidity, which they say is typical for summer. By evening it had cooled to high 40's. We can tell winters are hard - small homes with huge garages that are double the size of the house. Electrical plugs hang outside the front of the car/truck so it can be plugged into a heater and keep warm when it is 40 below. Another thing we noticed - there are no fancy cars here. No Beemers, no Lexis, no Benzs. Or any kind of foreign for that matter. American trucks and cars and many of them are beaters, just plain worn. And very dirty since many of the roads are dirt and gravel. Only state, county, or federal roads are paved.

Many homes have RVs such as 5th wheels, motor homes, boxes, etc. parked beside it. We think that maybe some of these garages also have their RV stored in it. Do they head south for the winter with them or do they use them in the summer then store inside for the winter? I have had some conversations with people while in town shopping and ask about winters, economy, life and for the most part people say they only go out for a short amount of time in the winter, then head back inside. Snow can get quite deep but it is the wind and the temperatures in the minus 40s that keep everyone in. Schools? I imagine that when the school bus comes along to pick up kids - they are inside and at the last minute fly out of the house to the bus. Not many snow days here - this is what it is. And the economy? Need a job - come here. This little town is just booming. No unemployment - everyone has a job that wants one.

Tomorrow we head south towards South Dakota, stopping for one night near Pierre, SD (the capital) a distance of about 260 miles from here. Then Friday we travel about 250 miles west to just south of Rapid City (Mount Rushmore is there) to Hermosa, SD where we will stay about 2 weeks. Depends on how Dave does at the dentist appointment as to how long we will be there.

Fort Mandan and Knife River Indians

Yesterday we traveled 30 miles east and stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center to get information on the area, what to see, etc. Very disappointed from the standpoint that this center was a showcase for George Catlin's North American Indian artwork he did between 1833 to 1844. He was a famous painter of Indians and his portfolio was sold when he hit hard times in his later years but fortunately the works ended up in the Smithsonian in Washington. Fort Mandan which was 2 miles down the road from the center is located on the Missouri River and the Fort was closed due to the spring/summer flooding. We drove there anyhow and the cleanup is horrendous. Mud piled half way up the building. Knowing that they lived with the Mandans, Hidatsa and Arikara Indians there and traded with them and helped each other through the hard winter, I am glad that I at least stepped on the same ground that Lewis and Clark had walked, for many years I had pictured Fort Mandan a certain way but was surprised at what the area looked like. Too bad we didn't get to see the fort. By August 17, 1806 Lewis and Clark had returned to this Fort Mandan and within a month they were back in St. Louis and the completion of their journey.

Since the morning was a bust we drove back towards Hazen and stopped in a small town called Stanton where the Knife River Indian Village is, a National Park Service Historical Sight. The Mandans, Hidatsa, and Arikara Indians were living in this area when Lewis and Clark stopped for the winter in 1804. This location is across the Missouri River where the Knife River joins up, actually on the Knife River, a distance of about 2 miles from Fort Mandan. The Park Service had a an earth lodge set up to depict how the Indians lived in the winter. Displays showed how they farmed, how the lodges and teepees were set up, their life in general. Outside temperature yesterday was 90 but inside the earth lodge it was about 65. This lodge is about 40 feet in diameter and about 80 feet high. The center was well laid out, we even hiked to the Knife River, passing the archeological digs where the Indians had set up their village. Since there had been flooding and the banks were unstable, we could not actually go to the river - just at the overlook.

We have new neighbors here at the campground. A WOW factor. A converted school bus and a huge 5th wheel, very old, came in last evening and set up near us. We had terrible headaches while this was going on because the 5th wheel was pulled by a truck cab and they kept it idling during the setup - about an hour. Noisy, smelly. The farmers contract help in harvesting their fields and every year help comes to them from all over. This group is from Kansas and they will be here for 3 weeks. The crops need to be harvested by the second week in September because by October 1 everything is beginning to freeze. Temps usually are 20s and it just goes downhill from then on.

Lewis and Clark RV Park - Hazen, ND

We moved from Devils Lake to Hazen, North Dakota yesterday and we exhauled with a sigh of relief when Dave was able to gently pull the Turtle out of the mud and up the incline. Almost had a playmate for Chip and Grace - a little kitten bugged us and wanted to play while we were cleaning out the holding tanks. Chip would not have been happy. We had a beautiful ride to Hazen, driving about 240 miles. Again, we stayed off major highways. Still lots of flooding where roads were washed away and now are temporary dirt dams over the water. And most of the water (now major lakes) were never there before this past spring. We are right near the first winter fort of Lewis and Clark which is now called Fort Mandan. During the winter of 1802 Captains William Clark and Meriwether Lewis with their Corps of Discovery built a fort and spent the winter with the Mandas and Hidatsa Indian tribes. It was during this winter trading with the Indians and surviving the harsh winter that two new members joined the trip - Toussaint Charbonneau and his Indian wife Sakakawea, as guides. What really thrills me about this area - I have been an American Indian buff for many years and now I will get to see what I have read about! There are so many historic places to see here and we hope to see lots. We will be staying in Hazen until Thursday morning when we start our trek again, just staying overnight one more time in North Dakota before getting into the Badlands of South Dakota. This campground is a city-owned park - the second city park we have used. And cheap! Last night we paid $10! Full hookup - 50 amp service, pull-through. Life is good! And - it's level.

Some interesting facts about North Dakota. First - if you need a job - come to the North Dakota. They say within 10 minutes of showing up at a site you will be employed and working 7 days a week. Making at least 90K a year! Between repairing and fixing the roads and infrastructure due to flooding and the largest oil production find in the 48 states, makes North Dakota rich! They have 4 billion dollars sitting in the bank and everyone is scurrying to get a piece of it. Dave suggested that North Dakota buy Minnesota since they went bankrupt not too long ago and call it East North Dakota. The Missouri River, Knife River, and Lake Sakakawea's 6 major power plants within 30 miles of where we are produce enough energy to serve 9 states. Starting this Saturday anyone trying to camp here will not find a spot - the power plants begin a downturn to retool, repair and do preventative maintenance. Worker-bees coming to set up an RV and stay during the downturn has locked up all campgrounds for miles - glad we got here when we did.

You have to remember that the population is nothing compared to the mid west, Texas, California or even the Atlantic coast. Some towns we drove by were booming - with a population under 1000. Very rolling hills, like the Badlands, very pretty, very desolate. Seeing field after field of sunflowers, wheat was cool. About 30 minutes prior to getting here we passed the largest coal mine in North America - the Freedom Mine - with some of the world's largest earth moving equipment - a drag line shovel which is larger than a 3 story house and we saw this for miles before coming up to it. Euclid trucks were moving enough coal in one dump to fill 3 railroad cars. Huge!

And last - seemed like we drove and drove and drove and didn't get far. Now that I studied the map - here's the difference between Ohio and North Dakota: North Dakota is 2 times wider than Ohio but the same distance from north to south. We are driving east to west and no wonder! But - we are going at our own pace.

Killer Plane

Last night we walked down to the lake and watched a beautiful sunset to the west and with a storm just north of us with thunder, could not see the lightning. Just gorgeous! Until we got rained on - and scrambled back to the camper. Only lasted about 15 minutes but did cool it down. We are very concerned about tomorrow's leaving out of here - we have sunk down in the back and late yesterday I talked with the owner about the flooding, etc. Told him our concern about pulling out. He said - don't worry - I have a huge tractor that will pull you out without a problem. So, if in the morning we are struggling, Dave will let them hook up the Turtle and haul it's shell out of our campsite. The owner said that he had 60 overnight camp sights last year and he's down to 10 and will probably close down the 10 soon. The water he said will still rise since the dam down the river has not been opened up more to release. He said, I quote, Dang Indians!

This morning we were buzzed by a plane. Did not understand what was going on until it came back over about 2 minutes later. And again, and again. It was a crop duster, dropping probably our death dosage of DDT or something to kill the mosquitoes. Yes, the mosquitoes are just as bad here as everywhere else. Both Dave and I - being so stupid as we thought about it - were sprayed with droplets of stuff. But, like a great photographer - got some great pictures. See how close this guy is? Looks like he's hitting the office right near where we are. And you can see the chemical he's spraying. We will sit tight today, relax, I probably will do laundry, just enjoy not rushing around. We are supposed to get a new neighbor beside us, so are waiting to see who it will be. Just glad to be leaving, living on an incline has kept us vigilant - don't want to fall. Our balance is way off from us sinking in the back.

Water Everywhere

I mentioned in the previous post how Devils Lake was overflowing it's banks. We went on a little journey yesterday, to see the Geological Center of North America in Rugby, North Dakota. Since the owner of the campground said that if we go south out here and get on Route 20, we should have a much better ride. Oh my goodness! We had 12 more miles of dirt road, will have to say - it was a tidge smoother since most people don't use that road - but still. Creeping along at 8 miles an hour because you don't want to kick up dirt and stones - not my way of going. We bucked up and continued on and the devastation from the flooding was similar to what we saw last year in the bayous of Louisiana - 5 years after Katrina had gone through and it was still awful. Whereas Katrina took everything away and just left foundations, this flood just buried buildings and structures and farm land - gone. Under water. Talk about mud and yuck. The picture above left is from our truck moving along Route 20 right near Devils Lake. Thousands of workers are here to rebuild the roads, the infrastructure, the gas lines, electric lines, build highways much higher. We passed a couple of worker-bee RV camps that looked like small cities. The weirdest thing about these camps where - no cars or trucks parked there - everyone was at work. As a matter of fact we have a couple of sites here where the guys get up at 5:30am and are out of here by 6:15. We wake up to smelling bacon and eggs and toast about 5:45 - yum. We did make it to the Geological Center of North America - and here's what it looked like - dorky, but we can say we have been to one of the four points - Lubec, Maine. We will get to the one in Washington some day. I went to the office to talk with the owner about how best to go to our next sight - west and south of here about 150 miles. He said - Route 20! No way. We will go back out the way we came in, heading west again on Route 2, then jogging down Route 83. We leave tomorrow and the one thing we are dreading during the drive - the cabbage butterflies just gunk up the windshield and the front of the truck and RV. There are so many of them that it looks like big snow flakes. Except when they hit the window and well, yuck.

TWC Lies!

We packed up early yesterday morning, left Minnesota headed towards North Dakota by 9am. We opted to stay off the interstate and chose to drive Route 2 which connects Mackinac Island, Michigan to the border of Montana and British Columbia. What a beautiful drive. Divided highway for the most part, as soon as we got into North Dakota speed limit went up to 70! But we can't drive that fast, turtled along about 60 to 62 miles an hour. Saw numerous cars from Manitoba and Alberta and now we can understand why. We are staying at Eastbay Campground which is located right on the eastern shore of Devils Lake. Very pretty. This is Spirit Lake Indian Reservation land - a branch of the Sioux Indians - and with that said WOW. The road was gravel coming the last 5 miles into here. Very rough on the RV. Owner of campground said that the Indians were supposed to sign off on getting the roads paved that day, but didn't sign. Seems they are wanting more items done before signing. She wasn't happy about the delay at all. When I got inside the RV to set up the place and open the slides, most drawers had opened, doors had shut, opened the fridge and lots fell out. We have to go out on this dirt road on Saturday and I am not looking forward to it. Chip and Grace yelled at us the entire 5 miles. And the flooding! Remember this past late spring and early summer when Minot, a town about 100 miles from here on the Missouri River, was flooded out? The same is going on here. Indians fighting with the government as to who has control of the dam, the river, the lakes, to release the water to make the flooding go down, so flooding continues. This campground has lost over 30 sites to being underwater and I found out last night there are 8 other campgrounds that had to close due to the flooding. No wonder I had trouble finding a campground. The picture above shows some of the campground's lost sites - notice the electrical pedistals and the building just now drying out? A shame. As for TWC lies - well, supposed to have clear weather from yesterday through to next week and boy did we get nailed last night. Started about 1am and 3 waves of lightning and thunder, hail, heavy rains came through. Didn't stop until 5:30am. We hope things dry out before we leave Saturday - don't want to drive out of here in the mud. Last night I took this picture of the sun setting over the lake. Looking at this - you would never believe a storm is coming! Notice the lamp post in the water? They had to rebuild the boat launch ramp and also to put in new lamp posts for lighting. This lake is a haven for fishing people. We just missed the walleye tournament and when we leave they are having another one start up the next day. I watched a boater come in last night and asked how the fishing was - he held up a huge line of walleye he caught - he said he had to stop due to the limit. Wish the catch was mine - we love to eat walleye!

Forest History Center

The day before we leave (break camp) is usually spent cleaning, doing laundry, putting things away, last minute grocery shopping, tanking up the truck. Did all that by 11am this morning except did grocery shopping and fill up truck around 3:30pm. This morning after I got back from the laundry we decided to go to the Forest History Center which is an educational center dedicated to the logging business at the turn of the century. Located here in Grand Rapids. We have been at other centers where there were reenactments of life on the Frontier (Virginia's museum), one for mining iron ore (Chisholm's museum), and also went through the museum in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Calumet) dedicated to the copper mining. This center showed how logging camps were set up and how people lived. If there were any women in the camp, it was the cook and her 3 cookies (helpers). The cook was the highest paid person ($50 a month). And the lowest paid person was a road scupper - who cleaned up the poop of the horses off the ice roads where the sleds of lumber went along - didn't want those sleds to get mucked up from the poop, right? In each building (with the exception of the crapper) a person was there telling you how they did their job in that building. Buildings where the loggers slept, where they ate, where they did their 'business' - a 4 holer!, how the horses were taken care of, the office where the records were kept - how much work a logger did on a daily basis, a forge for the blacksmith, the filer shack where the person responsible for keeping the blades of the saws sharp, where the cook kept their food supplies and the kitchen, the sled that took the prepared meals out to the men at noon (they got to eat all they wanted 3 times a day), etc. All these jobs were 7 days a week, the only day off - Sunday - was usually the men who took care of the horses since the horses needed a day of rest. Otherwise - chop/chop. Remember that these men worked from late fall to thaw of spring in 30 degrees below zero, snow, and ice. In 1900 there were 800 logging camps in Minnesota alone.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Devils Lake, North Dakota, about a 5 hour drive west. Nice thing is we don't get on an interstate. We will stay in Devils Lake (on Spirit Lake Indian Reservation) for a couple days to get rested and do some sightseeing before moving westward again. We are glad to be moving on, we certainly understand a whole lot more about the 10,000 lakes and the boundary waters/wilderness of Minnesota. Definitely a fishing/boating/outdoor area destination if you are so inclined.

Bears and Wolves and Ely, OH MY!

Today I got the WOW factor. Now I get it why so many people are here in the North Woods area. We drove to Ely (EEE-LEE) about 75 miles north east of Grand Rapids and had an incredible day. The drive up was more pleasant than the day we drove to Voyageurs, more little towns, more traffic, more things to see, same distance. One lane road each way but 55 to 65 miles an hour while not in the small towns. Was a quick trip. The number of cars and SUVs pulling a trailer with canoes as well as cars and SUVs with canoes and kayaks strapped on top should have been an indication of what we were going to find. Our first stop was going to be the International Wolf Center which we had to drive through Ely first to get to. Ely is a really cute town. Every other place of business is an outfitting center for the BWCAW, which is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The BWCAW is the most visited wilderness area of the United States. And, the 1000 lakes just in this area were formed over 2 million years ago from receding glaciers. Very very scenic, peaceful, much solitude in the North Woods. In Ely there are so many restaurants, shops, clothing, coffee shops, canoe and kayak rentals, and in the winter time it flips from warm weather outfitting to cold - snow shoes, snowmobile rentals, ice fishing, etc. Impressive. The city is trying (can't compete with Chicago) for the 2016 Summer Olympics - they have so much to do if it was given to them. Did you know that Ely is considered the most wilderness canoe outfitting town or city in the world? Ely lies on the Vermilion Iron Range which iron ore was discovered in the late 1800s and mined above ground and below. At one time there were 11 mines operating and today there are none. Logging is one of the main businesses after tourism. We noted that the Mukluks store was right on the main drag and I wanted to go back and shop look when done with the Wolf Center. The International Wolf Center staff have a gold mine on their hands. Very educational, very informative, the center laid out very easy to interpret, just a great place. Did see two wolves that they have in captivity and was truly amazed at how big those dogs are. I'd say about the size of a St. Bernard dog. Big. Recommend anyone to come to the Center if you are in the North Woods of Minnesota. We moved from the Center into town and walked around, of course going to the Mukluk store - a tidge out of our price range - but this picture you should recognize (seems the teenagers really likes these). Looked into a couple of outfitting stores. Amazing! Got a recommendation to go to the Grand Ely Lodge for a nice view while having lunch, and this lodge overlooks Lake Shagawa. The view and the food (I had walleye) was great. From the Lodge went to the North American Bear Center. We had such a warm fuzzy feeling with the Wolf Center and our expectations were high. Not to say that this Bear Center wasn't any good. It seemed the fascination of the bears felt commercialized and to make money for the bear owners (and there were some) and photos taken and videos, whereas the wolf center was of deep respectfulness and centered on trying to get the wolf population re-established and off the endangered list and to educate the public. To give an example of how people reacted in each center: in the Wolf Center people whispered and didn't talk out loud, people moved from one display to another almost in stunned silence. When the wolves came out of their dens to eat, no one talked, people stared and were in awe. At the Bear center, people were talking over each other, kids were running around, people were asking to purchase photos and videos (lots on display to sell) of bears, and when the bears came out, the people (me included) ran to the viewing area and said - oh, how cute! I really felt sad for the three bears we saw and of the wolves - silent wonder. We did discover that the howling we heard last summer while in the UP of Michigan was more than likely wolves, not coyotes. One final note: we passed through Lake Vermilion (yes, one L) and of course I had to get a sweatshirt with Lake Vermilion, MN on it!

Voyageur National Park

We had decided to drive up to International Falls and see the town and visit Voyageur National Park. I booked us a 'Discovery' boat tour the day before and we had to be at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center of the Park by 12:30pm. We drove 95 miles north of where we are, through the most barren desolate area we have ever been in. We drove through the Chippewa National Forest first and we both agreed that this was more scenic than the national park. Also - we came in close proximity, but not contact, with 11 deer on the way up. Once we passed through the forest we came to barren parts - we could drive for miles and miles and not see a car, and, not see a home or anything. This must be amazing in the winter - they say it gets to 50 below and lots of snow. While in International Falls we were to visit the Koochiching County Museum which detailed how the Ojibwa Indians were living, then the French-Canadians and the Fur Trading business came in and how that affected the area, and how the Mando (now Boise Cascade) Paper Mill was started. We were upset that they didn't allow us to take pictures. Oh - and also in the museum was dedicated to Bronko Nagurski, one of the 100 greatest football players of all time. He is actually a Canadian, but International Falls MN claims that he is from MN. Also - there is no Falls of International Falls. Actually there is, but it is underwater now since they put in the Paper Mill over 100 years ago - dammed up the river and it's now a lake.

The National park is a water-based park meaning that in order to see it you have to be on a boat and go to designated areas to day-camp, over-night camp, or hike or fish for the day. Can't drive in and walk around and see. The name of the national park is dedicated to the voyageurs who traveled and worked these lakes of the fur trade area of the late 1700s and early 1800s. Some of the rocks in the park have been dated to being the oldest in the world - older than the rock found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. We boarded the boat Voyageur at 1pm and went to see what we could from a tour boat for two hours. We never were in Canadian waters although we saw it most of the time from the boat. Three large lakes make up the National Park: Rainy - which is the only lake that borders Canada, Kabetogama Lake, and Namakan Lake. Pretty, lots and lots of boats, saw numerous house boats which you can rent for a day/week and then go camping at the National Park. This park does not require any use fees, it is free to camp for up to 14 consecutive days, and does not require permits to fish. However, you do need to check in at one of three ranger stations prior to embarking on your visit. We had a naturalist aboard the boat and she described the history, ecology, environmental aspects of the area. Very informative. We did see two eagles, some loons and a couple of chicks, geese. No moose which we wouldn't since the population is gone due to the deforesting of the area and hence moose had nothing to eat. Deer population grew and they brought in their diseases which attributed to the moose dying off or moving elsewhere. The two hour boat ride was fun although from a boat you can't see alot. We were impressed with the house boat aspect - you could see fishing boats rafted off the back of a house boat, then moving along. Best of both worlds - you have a toilet and a bed to sleep in while out on the lake and then camping overnight instead of building a latrine while camping. Another fact - while camping you HAVE to put all your food stuffs in a bear locker provided at each campsite. If a ranger does a spot check and see that you haven't followed this rule, you are fined and told to leave. Our drive home was very long and boring. We only saw 2 deer on the way home, did drive past numerous piles of birch and cedar wood piles waiting to go to mills, saw the deforestation of large areas. Quite sad. Again, drive for miles and miles and not see a car or a house. Amazing. Dave and I agreed that this is not the area for us to live in. We are not going to move more north to the Ojibwa casino as planned. Chip is still not doing well, although better, want him to be better before we uproot him and move on. We will use this site for some of the other things we still want to see. Lots of driving for us but better than a sick cat.

Minnesota Mines and Cleveland

Today we traveled up to Chisholm, Minnesota, about 35 miles northeast of where we are camping. Minnesota Museum of Mining is located there, dedicated to the mining industry of Minnesota. For a small town they are keeping a great museum in place by documentating and displaying their history. Dedicated to the miners of iron ore, explained how iron ore was mined above ground as well as below ground, how it was gathered, processed and shipped to waiting steel mills on the Great Lakes. It also documented life in Minnesota, all the different ethnic people and how they lived. The Vermilion, Mesabi and Cuyuna iron ranges are the largest deposits of iron ore in the world. And the connection to Cleveland. LTV Steel (my former employer) owned a number of mines in this area, having it shipped through Duluth's harbor into Cleveland. I can only shudder when I remember the Edmund Fitzgerald, the iron ore tanker, that sank at Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula in 1975, loaded with iron ore from the mines heading to Cleveland. Another reference to home - we are camping right near the Mesabi Range and next week we are heading more north east and will be right near the Vermilion Range. How cool is that? Touring the museum was fun. With the big equipment and machines on display, well worth our time.

Fun facts that we have discovered....... The Mesabi Trail is a rail-to-trail 130 miles of biking fun for those enthusiasts. It starts in Grand Rapids and moves north east all the way to Ely. It was once a railroad line for the movement of iron ore. It connects the Mississippi River to the Boundary Waters of the upper North East. Another fact....we crossed over the Mississippi River this morning - not at all the raging wide body you see say in St. Louis. Just a small creek, only about 30 feet wide, very very shallow. The Mississippi River in this part of the country is called the Upper Mississippi where many lakes and small creeks make up the beginnings of the River we know which is 2,320 miles long and is the largest river in North America. We are about 4 miles from Lake Itasca where the Mississippi is formed and begins its flow south.

I had tried to get us a campground in Two Harbors, Minnesota, located about 20 miles north of Duluth on Lake Superior. All booked. I found out today the 3M company started there. You know the company - Post-it-notes, sandpaper, Scotch cellophane tape, Scotch-Brite cleaning supplies, printers, fax machines, medical and dental products, etc. Evenutally it moved to Duluth, then to St. Paul. Certainly has made my life easier. Ah-hah.

As we approached the entrance to the Museum, we noticed that the visitor center looked like a castle. We found out that it was built to represent the symbol of the Army Corps of Engineers, the oldest and largest engineering organization in the United States. During the 1930s when there was no work the City got a huge grant from the government to help develop the town and make jobs and the Corps was instrumental in building up the town - this building, a massive stone fence around the town, sports complex, buildings for the workers, civic buildings and more.

Did you know that Greyhound Bus Line started in the town of Hibbing which is next door to Chisholm? Started out by two guys who started a quick shuttle of miners back and forth between mines and their homes and it became a hit and so did the company. And the last fun fact - and now the WOW factor - while we were visiting the Museum of Mining in Chisholm, the hostess was adamant in telling us that the movie "Field of Dreams" which starred Kevin Costner, was based on the Chisholm's own Doctor Graham. This Archibald "Moonlight" Graham played for the New York Giants in 1922 but never came up to bat. Instead, he gave up baseball and returned to Chisholm and practiced medicine for the next 40 years.

Grand Rapids, Minnesota

We moved this morning from Grand Casino in Hinkley, traveling 137 miles more north to Prairie Lake Campground in Grand Rapids - the home of Judy Garland. Our timing was good because as we drove through the town a festival was going on - Tall Timber Days - and less than an hour the roads in town would have been closed due to a parade. We traveled through the Fond Du Lacs Indian Nation lands and we know we are in the 'North Country'. Desolate, pines, very raw and wild. We still haven't had the 'wow' factor that the upper peninsula of Michigan gave us. Maybe this week we will see it. Much to see and do here, we will be staying until next Sunday when we move again more north but east - but this time we are going to another Indian Casino - in Ely (where Mukluks were first introduced and are still made there) called Fortune Bay Casino, run by the Chippewa Indians.

We are now camping at the most northern spot in the US since we started this trek. Day time temps are low 70s and nights in the 50s (yeah!!!). We are hoping that we get to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) from the recent solar flare up and also start hearing wolves like we did in the UP Michigan last year. We need to stay put for a bit, Chip got pretty sick again and we think he got food poisoned, I didn't clean out his dish the day we went to Duluth it was pretty warm and I think he ate whatever food was left over. He's better, not 100%, but better. And Grace managed to scrape her eye, so she's a one-eye Pete. Our kids!!! wow.

RV life at a Casino and Duluth

We moved from Ham Lake yesterday to Hinkley, Minnesota. About 60 miles more north. We wanted to find the police department in order to get a badge or business card for our nephew who works for Hinkley OH police department. No such luck. This town is on Ojibwa lands and they do not have a police department/fire department like any other town/city - they have tribal security forces. Trying to find the town on Mapquest shows empty fields - we are sure on purpose. We are on Indian Nation land and what ever they want to do, it's fine. They are not governed by US laws since they are a separate nation. We are at Grand Casino, a Mille Lacs Band and Ojibwa tribe casino. There are 16 similar casinos in Minnesota - a consortium of 500 tribal groups. However, this is the only campground inside a casino. Wish there were more of casino campgrounds - we would definitely camp there, it's much cheaper, cleaner, well laid out, all the amenities you need! Found out we are camping at the #1 rated campground in Minnesota. It is lovely here and can understand the rating. We decided to eat at the casino last night, checked out the buffet but was recommended to eat at the better restaurant - the Winds. Fantastic! We sat down to dinner at 5pm and by the time we left which was about 7pm, the casino was packed! And so was the RV park. The only complaint I have - a shuttle bus drives around the complex 24/7 - every 20 minutes - to pick up and drop off people for the casino. During the night, if you are a light sleeper, you hear the shuttle moving around.

This morning we decided to drive into Duluth located on Lake Superior. Wow, talk about timing! Tomorrow marks the anniversary (8-7-1789) of George Washington signing into law the federalizing of the nation's lighthouses and tomorrow starts Light House Days in Duluth. We got into town about 9am, walked around, saw two freighters coming and going through the harbor, walked the harbor walk, walked out to the lighthouse, saw the lift bridge and then drove down to Canal Park, toured the US Corp of Engineer museum/visitor's center and by 1:30pm we had enough - and a thunderstorm was coming. There were no parking spots left, gazillion people walking around, busy, busy! Duluth is a very people-friendly town. A huge harbor for shipping, they have developed the waterfront with shops, restaurants, entertainment, alot of family-friendly activities. They say the winters in Duluth aren't necessarily snowy, just bitter cold - 0 to -30 for the month of January. Now that's cold. And - we found out this casino campground is open all year! Can you imagine camping in 30 below temps? Brr. Can you hear me complaining all the way to Ohio about how cold I am?

Finally found a campground!

You would think that being a full-time camper with lots of resources and memberships for nationwide camping discount parks at our fingertips would be easy to find a campground. Not so. I start looking for our next stop the first day of sitting down here on Monday. I have searched, called, sent emails, and just got very stressed to find our next home. Our intent is to move farther north - try to get as close to International Falls on the border of Canada as we could. No luck. We found out that a number Winter Texans are up here for the summer and then they return to where ever in Texas starting in September. Easy ride for them - straight up and down Interstate 35 which goes from Duluth to San Antonio. How perfect is that? These folks have locked up many campgrounds. Doesn't leave alot left for us transients. We even met a woman who waited on us in McAllen, Texas last winter - she works 6 months in the Camping World in Minneapolis and 6 months in the Camping World in McAllen. Small world. Finally secured our next two sites and tomorrow we are moving about 75 miles north to an Ojibwa casino for the weekend. Then on Sunday we move to Grand Rapids (no, not Michigan) which is about another 120 miles further northeast for about 12 days. We will use that base to see International Falls, Duluth, 3M company, Lake Superior lighthouses and what ever else is interesting, mining and fur trading history stuff.

The campground we are currently staying at is a bit strange. There is a 'Noah's Ark' area right across from the dirt roadway that has animals. Wooly sheep, lots of goats, roosters and chickens, llama, geese, horse, 2 ostrichs, lots of birds and who knows what else. Children love it. Our cats love it - they constantly stare out the window at the goings-on. I think Chip was flabergasted when he saw the ostrich for the first time - never took his eyes off it for minutes. And there is a huge lake (Ham Lake) right at the end of our campground. On the other side of us is a man-made pond and every day two Sand Hill Cranes come and visit. Dave is desperately trying to get pictures of them before we go. These are big birds - a bit smaller than the Whooping Cranes we saw last winter in Texas. Also, we hear the loons calling and I really want to see them when we get farther north.

Mall of America - Minnesota

The morning started out rough - we had 60 mile an hour winds and a nasty storm batter the RV about 8:30am. It rained until we left about noon to go to the mall. The temp was pleasant - about 75 so we left the windows open and no a/c on. Poor cats - when we got back at 5pm - it was 94 and so sunny and hot/humid. So - on the a/c went and it is still on as I type this. When will this awful hot stuff end?

For those people who like to go to malls and shop - this is the place for you - Mall of America in Minneapolis. Unbelievable. Built in a square, it is numbered sequentially by unit number and by direction (E135 for example - which mean this store is on the lower level in the east quadrant of the mall). Three sometimes four levels of stores and restaurants and more stores. Kiosks abundant through out. At times it was kinda hard to walk around - you dodge and weave around these kiosks and then all the people! We walked most of the three main levels and saw only 2 stores that were vacant. Some stores had multiple sights - just in case you missed the first one, have another opportunity. In the middle of the mall is an amusement park with rides. Some where as wild as you get at Cedar Point, some where kiddie size. And the people!!!!! It was a work day, school is not in session, and there had to be hundreds of thousands of people shopping, eating, playing. Glad I saw it - Dave has been there before, and now I don't ever have to go back. Mashu-mashu (Hebrew for UNBELIEVABLE!!). I did go into Macy's for some quick replacement shopping (underwear) and Dave went browsing at Best Buy. In total, between buying something to eat and what I purchased, we spent less than $100 today. Which in itself is truly amazing since there was some pretty neat enticements that I walked away from.

I have to say this mall is not a place to watch people - there were very few places to sit. However, to have a kid's birthday party inside in the amusement area - wonderful! I was most impressed with the LEGO store - some pretty cool things hanging outside that were made from those little blocks and about 5 feet in diameter. The most active store I saw was Apple and right across the way was MicroSoft. Apple was bombed with people, MicroSoft was so-so. Does that tell you what is HOT? Those little Itouchs/Ipads/Ipods/etc. are flying off the shelves.

Another observation was the kind of people we saw - predominately Swede / Norwegian / Scandanavian. Blonde, blue eyed, lots of very tall people. Very few dark haired people. And very few Asians. Interesting day.

Wisconsin and Ham Lake, MN

We drove from LaPorte, Indiana yesterday morning, driving 268 miles, through Chicago on a Sunday morning. We were not going to drive into the city - were going to take I80 west and pick up I39 north about 50 miles west of Chicago - but. I80 had construction and detours - so we drove through the heart of Chicago - surprisingly without a problem! Too, too much traffic for us. Regardless, made it through the Windy City by 10am and headed up into Wisconsin. By 2pm we were at the Wisconsin Dells, and settling into the camp sight. It was 97 when we pulled in and with that said, I think Dave had heat exhaustion by the time he hooked up electric, water and cleaned the bugs off the nose of the unit and the front of the truck. He was pretty wasted the rest of the afternoon and never recovered fully until this morning. As a friend of mine (Count) used to say, and Dave didn't do, '"push the water"'. Thank goodness we had 50 amp service to run the a/c and it never shut off until about 3am this morning. Definitely made our night a noisy night (the a/c unit sits on top of the roof in the living room area).

This morning - up by 5am (they do not have daylight saving here) the birds were singing and it was very light out. Did I mention that it is dark here by 8:15pm? Got our showers, had breakfast, and by 8:45 we had pulled out of Fox Hill Campground. Today's drive was less than the other 2 - only (!!) 240 miles. Made good time but when we got near St. Paul, Minnesota, we could see lightning and a storm was building. Minneapolis/St. Paul had record highs yesterday and this storm which is still going on after 2 hours here, is supposed to break the hot spell. We weren't so lucky with the weather - within 45 minutes prior to our arrival time we came full force into the storm. Not fun at all driving and trying to figure out where you are going. The campground (Ham Lake Campground) is about 30 miles north of Minneapolis. Nice place - but they didn't have full-hookup which was promised to us when we made the reservations. We will only stay till this Friday then head north. Not sure yet if we will head towards Thunder Bay or go directly north to International Falls.