October 24, 2012

This is supposed to link to a slideshow of the well drilling rig.  The previous link did not work so I'm trying it again.  We may have to fire the editor... :-)

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October 24, 2012

Sorry I took so long to get this out but I was having some technical difficulties, mostly operator error.

October 4, 2012

Thursday we woke up to a cool rainy morning so it was a good day for indoor activities.  Our first stop was the park office.  We had arrived in the evening after the office had closed and this park asks that you not use the night deposit box so we stopped and paid on the way out.  Then we headed for the local chamber for the usual information and learned about the local Prairie Indian and Pioneer Museum so we headed there and looked around for some time.  It was donated by a local Doctor who had a large collection of Indian artifacts.  He also built the building.  It was very interesting, mostly local history.

We went back home for lunch after exploring the area and looked through our information and found that Covington Custom Cycles was located here so we headed there in the afternoon.  It’s a small shop and most of the bikes were at a show elsewhere but I checked out those that were there and got a tee shirt.  The parts guy was chatty and shared some information about the bikes and gave me a DVD and several magazines.  I thought it was cool, Debbie waited in the car.

On the way home we drove around the rest of the park and found the east entrance.  Just outside the park there was a deer that had been hit by a car in the ditch and a vulture convention so we stopped for a while to watch.  They really don’t like to be watched so you can’t get too close.

Friday we visited Alabaster Cave SP about a half hour drive from our campground and did the cave tour.  Just inside the entrance there was a rat snake enjoying a bat breakfast right on the pathway.  I stepped over it but Debbie made the tour guide get a stick and move them out of the way.  I wonder how does a snake catch a bat?  The cave was fun and interesting.  After the tour we returned to the camper again for lunch and to pick up Darby then headed to Fort Supply only to find it closed for the day.

When we got back to Woodward I found a farm and home store and got a bag of corn.  Some of the other campers had been putting out corn for the deer so we wanted to get them to visit our end of the campground.  We spent quite a bit of time watching them enjoy our corn.

Saturday we made another drive to Fort Supply only to find them closed again.  We called ahead but only got a recording of their hours.  The site is now a minimum security prisons which may have something to do with the closing but you could see the jailbirds out in the yard. 

From Fort Supply we drove south to a windmill display in Shattuk.  The windmills were fun to look at but I found the homemade well drilling rigs fascinating.  One guy took a model A Ford truck and made his rig.  It appeared that he could drive it to the site then move the driveshaft from the running gear to his drilling set up which used two old transmissions and three differentials to operate everything.  He had a winch, homemade pump and drill.  He used the transmissions and brakes to control everything. The guy was a genius.

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On the way home we made one more pass by the dead deer only to find that someone hauled him away but the vultures were back, there was a dead coyote in the ditch on the other side of the road.  I really wanted to see how far they had gotten on the deer.

When we got back home after dinner we found a plumber working alongside our camper.  We were in a full hookup loop and evidently the sewer lines had backed up.  They worked until after dark so we could not enjoy the deer that evening but did spread a little more corn in the morning and got another show before folks started moving around much.

Sunday we spent the night in Manhattan, KS.  We visited this park a couple of years ago so we found a pull through site and didn’t unhook the Jeep.  Monday when we went to leave the black water would not dump!  After fiddling with it for a half an hour I figured out the valve was working.  We cleaned up and headed for home stopping at Mahoney to dump.  The jostling around loosened everything up so there was no Bob Monroe experience.  We got home about 2:30.

I assume this is our last trip of the year.  This is likely to be my last post until next year unless there is and interesting event on a motorcycle ride.

Mike

Sorry this is such a long post, we haven't had cell service since my last post on the 15th.

September 19, 2012

Well we are again in an area without cell service but I will get caught up on my journaling.   Tonight we are at Sugarite State Park near Raton, NM.  We were sitting outside enjoying the evening when a fellow camper stopped and said a bear had just walked through his campsite and usually moves through our site, we moved inside.  We had hoped to see him but did not.  Anyway I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Sunday we moved from Hecla Junction to Hyde Memorial State Park in the mountains northeast of Santa Fe, NM.  It always fun to come into a new state for the first time as everyone has different ways of doing things at their state parks.  We did not enter NM on an Interstate highway so we were not able to stop for a map and other information at a tourist information center.  We were dependant on an atlas from 1998 for information (I think we’ll look for a new one soon).

NM camping fees are very reasonable, $14 per night for an electric site without a park permit, $4 with a permit.  A non-resident permit is $220 but would be worth it if you wanted to winter here.

On Monday we started the day at the Santa Fe visitor’s center for some maps and local information.  Santa Fe is an old town and there are no straight streets and they are narrow.  We started in the downtown area and visited Saint Frances Cathedral.  Inside it was beautiful.  Columns had gilded accents at the top, wonderful old stain glass and a huge pipe organ.  They request no flash photos so we respected that and took no pictures.  Outside the streets were so narrow it was difficult to get pictures of the buildings but I attempted some of the opera house.

We visited a number of the shops.  Debbie found two pairs of very nice earrings made by local craftsmen which she purchased.  After that we found the State Parks office looking for more information but they had little.  Then a late lunch at a local restaurant that was very good and way more than we could eat.  I especially liked the chili rellano.   Tomastta was the name of the place.

After lunch we found Santa Fe Stoneworks.  I had seen an advertisement and it looked kind of interesting.  They do custom knives.  It was a small place but they make really beautiful knives.  I purchased a new pocket knife, a 4” lockback with belt clip.  It is a second with a tiny flaw in one stone.  They do the custom knife work for several manufactures as well.  Their latest project was a 110 year anniversary knife for Harley Davidson.  I’ll probably have to look for that one.  It is so cool to actually talk to a craftsman that makes something that you buy. 

Tuesday we drove up to Terrero.  It is listed as a ghost town but we found only a store / trail ride operation and evidence of an abandoned mine.  There was also a stream near the mine where a fairly large flow of water came right out of the side the mountain.  It was pretty cool.

We then drove on up the road to Cowles.  There was nothing there but a few homes, most of them looked to be weekend cabins.  The only other point of interest was a marker for the Glorieta Battlefield.  The site of a Civil War battle in March of 1862, I think.  Who would expect to find a Civil War battlefield in New Mexico?  Well I bet Terry knows about it.

Well that’s got us up to date. Tonight we are staying in the Lake Alice Campground with water and electricity.  Tomorrow we are moving to the Soda Pocket CG.  There is no electricity but the view is breathtaking.

September 23, 2012

Well we are getting much more adept at dry camping.  Soda Pocket is so much nicer than Lake Alice we are extending our stay another night.  By the time we finished laundry and got moved up here Thursday it was afternoon and we spent some time just looking at the other canyon wall to our east.  We actually pulled into our campsite backwards so the view was out our front window.

While we were eating a late lunch the campground host stopped to provide us with some information.  This park experienced a wildfire in June of 2011 and this campground just opened back up in August.  It is primitive camping, the water has not yet been turned on.   He also gave us the gate code, they lock the gate to this road from the highway after dark.

After lunch we walked to the Grand Vista trailhead and up the trail which was listed as a ½ mile loop.  Debbie made it almost to the top but could handle one switchback.  As dusk approached we took a ride into Raton so I could make a phone call.  I bet we saw 20 deer, they are everywhere, not just in the park but we see them in folk’s yards in town too, we saw almost as many turkey as well.

On Friday we did the Coal Town trail along with the trail to mines 2 and 3.  It was right a 3 miles and Debbie did all but the last 100 yards to mine 3; again she couldn’t handle the last switchback.  The town vanished in 1941 when the mine closed and the buildings were torn down to salvage the materials.  The foundations are all that remain with the exception of the post office which is now the park office and the mule barn that is used as a maintenance building.  The old cable house was probably the coolest part.  There was a double track leading from the mine to the train loading area, each track had a string of 6 coal cars.  As the loaded cars descended they pulled up the empty cars and the operator in the cable house controlled the speed of the cars.

It was tough dangerous work.  Miners did not get paid for removing anything that was not coal so they blasted through rock for nothing.  It was referred to as dead work.  If they were injured or killed it was considered their fault and their families received no further compensation.  This class is another reason why we have labor unions.

On Saturday we visited the NRA Whittington Center.  If you are ever in northeast New Mexico this is a must see.  They have a magnificent collection of historical weapons mostly from the southwestern part of the US and not only display them well they go into the local history associated with each piece.  If you are at all interested in shooting sports after you visit the museum there are 17 shooting ranges so bring your guns.  The fee is $20 per shooter for the day.  There is also a coal mine on the property along with full hookup RV and primitive camping areas.  It is unbelievable!

Today we are going to visit a volcano then figure out where to head next, maybe Oklahoma or Kansas.

 September 24, 2012

Yesterday we visited Capulin Volcano National Monument.  It is an extinct cone volcano that erupted 60,000 years ago.  There are two trails at the top, one around the rim and another down into the crater.  The trails are some sort of manually laid asphalt so a little rough but stable walking.  (Dogs are not allowed so Darby stayed at the camper.)  I walked the rim then Debbie and I went down into the crater.  The path is lined with signs that describe vegetation, this volcano and other geological sights visible from this volcano.  It was interesting but of course I retained very little, the breathtaking views made it hard to concentrate.

The ride to the volcano was almost as interesting as the volcano.  We took highway 72 on the recommendation of our campground host.  It was a winding narrow road through a lot of nowhere where the deer and antelope play and we saw lots of them. We were also delayed by a rancher driving cattle down the road.  That was fun.

Today we moved to Black Mesa State Park near Kenton OK.  We are going to miss our view at Sugarite but this is pretty too.  This is definitely cattle country.  Most of the secondary roads are through open range.  The elevation here is about 4320’ above sea level so we dropped around 3000’ today.

Well we are again without cell service so I have no idea when I’ll be able to post this.  We do have water and electricity but no TV.  We haven’t seen any news for about two weeks.  I haven’t had to listen to Brian Williams tell me how great Obama is so I guess it’s not all bad…. J!

September 26, 2012

After arriving at Black Mesa Monday we took our usual drive around the park then to Kenton which is 8 miles northwest.  If you ever visit Kenton don’t expect to see much cause they ain’t got much.  There is a school and at least 3 churches and a general mercantile that we never found open.  I think Debbie said the population was 50.  There is also a museum that is open occasionally that looks to be about 400 square feet.

Tuesday we went to Boise City for gas, groceries, a map and park information.  We were able to find everything we came for and returned to the camper and ate a late lunch before heading up to Black Mesa which is about 5 miles north of Kenton.  After stopping at the trailhead we continued on north until we reached the Colorado state line.  This was all through open range so you cross a cattle guard at least every mile.

This is interesting country.  I have never been anywhere where you have to swerve to avoid spiders on the highway.  These things are huge!  The body is 2 – 3 inches and with the legs I guess they measure around a half a foot.

This morning after checking out the petrified wood display we left and headed to Boiling Springs SP near Woodward OK.  After arriving I set up camp while Debbie tried to figure out how and where to register.  Things seem pretty loose.  They have a drop box but prefer that you not use it and come and pay in the morning while the park office is open, or flag down a ranger or campground host if you see one… J

We’ll be here for a couple of days before heading north and planning on being home sometime next week.  So far this has been a fun trip and we’ve added two states to our map!

 

September 15, 2012

I posted to my blog last night but I’m not yet up to date.  Late in the afternoon on Tuesday while we were in Hancock we watched as the clouds began rolling over the tops of the mountains and the rain moving in.  Most of our drive back to camp was in showers and the rain set in all day Wednesday.  We spent the day just driving around looking at the area.  First we stopped at the visitor’s center in Poncha Springs then into Salida and drove through the old part of town.  The stores are touristy so we just enjoyed looking at the architecture of the old buildings and homes.  From there we drove east along the Arkansas River for a while before heading back to Poncha Springs then south over Poncha Pass.

We finished our tour with a visit to the Elevation Brewery between Salida and Poncha Springs.  There we shared a sampler of 6 very different beers.  There were two I really liked but only one was bottled so we purchased two 750 mL bottles of Signal de Botrange which is described as “a farmhouse ale aged in chardonnay wine barrels.”  Alcohol content is 7.5% so I will wait to enjoy these at home.

On Thursday we arrived at the Oasis RV Park just outside of the Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Park.  After 6 days of dry camping it is nice to “be connect to the grid” again.  This is not the kind of place we would normally choose but we have full hook-ups so we are catching up on laundry and getting the batteries charged.

I find it difficult to describe the Great Sand Dunes.  As we look at them from the camper it looks like a big sand pile that someone made and it changes with the wind.  What is impossible to get your mind around is the size.  We visited the park and dunes Friday and I walked to the edge of the dunes and knew I had to come back prepared to hike up a ways.  Between the elevation and my “middle age spread” I did not expect to make the top but did hope to make it about half way up, which I did (well maybe half way).

As you would expect hiking the Dunes is difficult as the sand is very fine and very deep.  My GPS showed that I walked 1.53 miles and went from 8060 feet in elevation to 8217 then down to 8035 before getting back to the car.  My GPS uses topographical data to show elevation, it does not calculate it. As the landscape here changes day to day take my climb figures with a grain of sand (I couldn’t resist).  All that being said I was pooped when I got finished.

The coolest part was that most of the evidence of yesterday’s visitors was gone; the winds removed most traces of any tracks.  One dune that yesterday had a steep drop off of 10 – 15 feet yesterday was today a little mound.  What you could find if you looked was animal tracks.  I saw at least two kinds of rodent, deer and coyote.  There was even one spot where the coyote caught the rodent and there was evidence of a brief struggle.

Every once in a while a little clump of grass will stick up out of the sand.  You can see where the sand then blows in and raises the ground level and tiny ridges under the grass where the blades droop over and rub arcs in the sand as the wind blows through them.

We drove through the Dunes Campground on Friday and Saturday.  It was very nice with asphalt roads and pads.  They do have a dump station and fresh water but no electricity.  Many of the spaces would be tight for us but no problem for smaller rigs.  We could manage in about 20% of the sites.  We would have stayed there if not for our dirty laundry.

Tomorrow we are moving on, we’ve talked of south into New Mexico or maybe farther west.  Today is a kind of reorganize and rest up day.

Sorry this is going to be a long post, I've been unable to get internet access for some time.  The posts will not include out latest move but I will try to add it before we leave here.

September 9, 2012

It has been a while since I’ve written anything.  I tried yesterday morning but found my battery was dead and didn’t want to start the generator, but I get to that later.  On Labor Day we moved from North Sterling to Chatfield SP about 15 minutes south of Terry and Glenda.  We found Terry working on the camper getting ready for an elk hunting trip the following weekend.  We had been talking with them about it and had yet to decide if we would go along.  Terry had his water tank out dealing with a leak and stopped working and we had a long visit and a nice dinner.

On Tuesday morning Debbie and I had planned on driving up to Kenosha Pass to see if following them on the elk hunt was even feasible but we both felt under the weather and by the time we got to feeling normal it was too late.  We got to T&G’s about noon and I tried to assist Terry with the tank but after five attempts at plastic welding we failed.  That evening we had elk roast that G had prepared in the crook pot with a jar of peppers from their garden that we had to smell cooking all afternoon.  It tasted as good as it smelled.

Wednesday we made the drive to Kenosha Pass to look at a Forest Service campground and the area they refer to as open camping on forest service land.  Coming over the top of the pass is breath taking.  It is officially listed at 10,001 feet elevation.  Coming up the eastern slope is aspen and pine forest with small of open meadows.  On the western slope are miles of open high meadows and cattle ranches as far as the horizon.  A couple of miles west of the summit we took Lost Creek Rd into Lost Creek campground.  It was 19 miles in past the county road which ran 2 or 3 miles in from the highway.  It took an hour and 10 minutes to get to the campground.

Along the forest service roads there is what is referred to as open camping.  It consists of a relatively flat spot where people pull off and set up camp.  There is quite often a stone fire ring that someone has assembled in the past but that’s it.  All along the main “road” are side roads where it is legal to take off road vehicles, 4 wheelers or dirt bikes.  Hunting camp ended up being down the Rock Creek side road.

Needless to say we decided to follow them out on Friday.

Wednesday evening Art Heather and the kids came out to Chatfield for dinner.  T&G were still having issues with the camper so they did not join us.  We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and had a nice long visit, they stayed until almost 10:00.  Cole did his homework on our kitchen table.  He had to count the pockets of everyone present, I had 5.  He then calculated the pocket total; I think it was 27 when he added his own.

Thursday morning we ran a bunch of errands which included trying to find a CanCooker, we were unsuccessful.  After several phone calls Debbie and Glenda altered plans for Friday’s evening meal (which was successful) and got everything arranged.  We also learned that while t was reassembling the camper that the water pump was not working.  We volunteered to run after the replacement so he could load the camper.  Camping World was also near Gunsmoke which I was hoping to visit.

After picking up the pump we found Gunsmoke.  I went in and Debbie went to get gas (go figure).  It is smaller than it appears on TV and was crowded with people wanting hats and tee shirts.  I picked out a hat and one of the gunsmiths was at the counter signing autographs.  While waiting my turn another showed up so they both signed.  Then someone gathered up the pile of hats and shirts and took them down stairs for others on the show to sign.  It was kind of cool and it the highest priced hat I’ve ever bought…. J

 When we got back to T&G’s we found that Terry was at Camping World.  While loading the camper he smashed the end of his plug and went for a replacement.  I was in the camper trying to figure how the pump mounted when he returned so I volunteered to rewire the cord while he dealt with the pump.  I got the cord rewired and just one more trip to the hardware store and he was up and running.

Friday morning we moved to Kenosha Pass East campground.  It is a forest service campground so there is no water, electricity or dump station.  But it is beautiful.  The aspen are starting to turn a little early up we understand.  T&G got here in the afternoon so we loaded up the Jeep and followed them into their hunting camp.  Larry, Iris and their son Mark were already there. We shared diner with them and Art, Cole and Mark’s son Nick arrived in time for diner.  We found our way out of camp after dark but missed the turn into our campground on the way home.

Saturday we drove to Fairplay and had breakfast at a small local place called the Brown Burro (I think).  Then we explored a little and went back to the camper to pick up Darby.  We got to the hunting camp in the afternoon but found no fresh elk meat cooling.  David and Beth Wolfe, Glenda’s nephew from Louisiana arrived and we got to visit with then, they are both fun outgoing people who we’ve met only two or three times.  It was fun to catch up.  After dinner at the hunting camp we returned to the camper.  Tomorrow we are headed to the Arkansan River Headwaters SP unless plans change.  T&G may join us.

September 11, 2012

Sunday we visited Jefferson Lake.  We visited this area many years ago with our first pickup camper.  Marv and Opal were with us and the kids were both little.  After lunch at a burger stand in Jefferson we crossed the highway to see the other street and found a blacktop county road heading south (?) and followed it for several miles before heading to Kenosha Pass.  There we took the two Forest Service roads for a ways until Debbie had enough so we headed for the hunting camp to visit some more.  We heard several of David’s tails about life in Louisiana.  He knows several of the alligator hunters on Swamp Men and it is filmed just above his fishing camp.

We did move to the Arkansas Headwaters area, we are staying in the Hecla Junction Campground.  The campground is run by Colorado Parks but the land is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. It is a beautiful area, mostly pine trees; spruce, cedar and pinion varieties.  A few miles north there are aspens but not here.   We almost didn’t come here.  I thought there was water, electricity and a dump station here but there is not.  The Salida Chamber of Commerce provides water and dump free but does ask for a donation.  So we dumped and filled there.  We got set up here in the afternoon on the banks of the Arkansas River.

Today was ghost town day.  We visited St. Elmo which is still somewhat inhabited.  All of the buildings are privately owned.  There is a junk /tee shirt store, some sort of hotel and many buildings look to be used as either weekend retreats or hunting lodges.  It was kind of interesting to see how folks are trying to preserve the area.

From St. Elmo we drove up to Hancock.  At the town site there remains only the foundation of a single building, a salon.  The town had as many as five along with three stores and a train depot.  The elevation was 11,700 feet so living conditions were harsh.  When the RR abandoned the line in 1910 the town was abandoned.  There is evidence of several mines along with an abandoned cabin and a tumbled down structure outside of town.

We also visited the Iron City Cemetery, I have no clue where Iron City was.  For some reason I find old cemeteries interesting.  Most of the markers were missing and had been replaced with wooden markers that were numbered if you wanted to know where someone was buried.  There were three wire / metal enclosures around small plots that looked like baby cribs.  Two still had the original stones the other had a wooden marker that had long since become illegible.  I have never seen graves like these.

I think we’ll be here at least one more day and I will try to post this when I can.  I need to download some photos before updating my blog and Debbie is paying bills and other real stuff in the internet so I will have to wait my turn.

 

September 1, 2012

Although I’m writing this on Saturday I will not be able to post it until Monday or Tuesday.  We left home Wednesday morning and drove to Fort Kearney SP and arrived about 2:00 or so.  It was kind of funny when we got to our campsite there was someone else’s name on it but the dates were for the holiday weekend.  After verifying we were at the correct site we set up camp.  Then we were waiting for the ranger to stop by but she never did.  When I finally caught with her and asked if we needed to let anyone know we arrived and that we had reservations she said no, we were good.  I thought it was strange that there was no check-in when there was no reservation identified on a list or the post.  Go figure.

We crossed the Platt several times on this trip, looks like it needs to be mowed.

Thursday morning we went to the state fair.  The new facility is very nice.  All of the buildings are well laid out and are much nicer facilities for the 4H and FFA exhibiters.  We ate sweet corn, cheese on a stick, pork chop on a stick, red velvet funnel cake, fresh squeezed lemonade and chocolate covered bacon.  We saw many different exhibits but it still does not hold a candle to the Minnesota state fair.  It is probably about ¼ the size.  The food venders alone in Minnesota could fill most of the midway at our fair.  Expected attendance is in the 350k range, I think Minnesota does a million.

Friday we moved to North Sterling SP near Sterling Colorado.  It features a 3000 acre irrigation lake but this year it looks to be a 2500 acre beach.  Only 1 boat ramp remains open and there are a few brave souls out there trying to us the lake but mostly just fishing and cruising around slowly.  We took a drive north of the park today and visited Peetz and Pardoni.  Peetz had a school, post office, 1 bar and gas available at the co-op.  Peetz is a pickers paradise, there is rusty junk in every yard.

Well it’s about time for the game to start.  We move to Chatfield SP Monday where there will be cell service available, here it is very limited.  We’ve gotten a few calls but all of them have dropped and when we had to use the internet last night we drove to Sterling to get service.

 

September 5, 2012

Just a breif note, we are at Chatfield SP about 15 minutes south of Terry and Glenda and will leave here Friday morning.  We'll be heading southwest to Kenosha Pass.  I'll try to catch up soon.

August 5, 2012

We were the first to arrive at Camden SP probably a little bit after 1:00 PM.  We were pretty much set up when Julie, Arnie and family arrived.  About the time they were done setting up Leslie, Paul and the kids made it.  They were followed by Dennis, then Steve, Karen and Vadim.  A little later Laura and Mark arrived then finally Joyce, Lee and Mom got here.  The SHOWeR group was finally all together.

Camden is a pretty park.  There is a small manmade lake that the kids are canoeing in today.  The Redwood River runs through the park and there are three camping areas.  We’re in the upper.  The lower is near the swimming pond and there is a small horse camp across the tracks.  The tracks run through the park and are fairly busy, we often hear the trains and train whistle.

We did take a ride yesterday to see the park and a little of the area to the east and north to Marshall but that’s about it as this is more of a family visit time.  The younger kids have been active swimming, fishing and canoeing but most of the time has been watching grandkids and visiting.

Tomorrow we head home so I’ll try to add some pictures and wrap this up when we get home.

August 8, 2012

We arrived home Monday about 6:00 or so.  The drive took a little longer than planned as we had to stop 3 times to secure a body panel.  There are several panels on the coach that are held on with double stick body tape.  I’ve learned to easily deal with this when one comes loose.  I guess this time there was either too much residue from previous tape jobs or my tape is getting old because it would not hold.  After replacing it twice I got out the Scotch88 and got it anchored down for the last 30 miles.

The SHOWeR reunion was great fun.  The kids swam, fished and canoed and the little ones really enjoyed the bounce house.  Each family took turns preparing the evening meal which was great fun.  The different “camping food” choices were interesting and it was all good.  There were also two group breakfasts and a group lunch.  No alcohol was consumed as it is illegal in Minnesota State Parks (if you believe that I have a good used bridge to sell).

Camden SP is on our list of parks to revisit.  We did not get to spend any time exploring the area or to see as much of the park as we’d like to.  The topography changes as you move from east to west in Minnesota.  Around Camden it is more open prairie than farther east, more arid and rougher terrain but the glacier cuts seem less dramatic than in the east.  When we were in Shetek the staff was working to keep the trees alive in the new campground.  One ranger said that they had not had any rain since Memorial weekend.  While in Minnesota we got a little rain every three or four days.  The crops looked pretty good.  On the drive home you could drought damage kept getting worse as we went south.  Along I29 north of Council Bluffs fields that were under water last year are so dry the corn is dead and beans are close behind.

Well this will be my last post until our fall travels.  We’re not sure where we are headed yet but thinking of Colorado.

August 1, 2012

Rice Lake is another pretty park but we just barely got a glimpse of the lake.  It is a shallow lake surrounded by trees and marsh.  The “boat ramp” leads to a path through the cattails but I didn’t see any open water.  The park is pretty large but not a lot is developed.  There are several campsites that are canoe in sites.  There are two loops in the campground one without electricity and one with electricity at most sites.  The electric installation is new, you can still see the trenches. The shower house is in the loop w/o electricity.  From a design / cost perspective this does not make sense unless future plans call for adding electricity over there.

Rice Lake was popular with the Indians and white settlers because of the wild rice.  It provided a plentiful food source.  The town of Rice Lake failed like many small communities when the railroad went around the town.   The only thing that remains is an old church that they are trying to preserve.

Owatonna is the closest town of any size.  I’m sure it is a nice community but I saw nothing outstanding when we visited.  The surrounding area is very pretty, I see why folks settled here.  The land is gently rolling with rich soil and plenty of water.  You rarely see any irrigation.  Although we keep hearing about drought conditions this area appears to be doing better than farther south.

On Monday we moved to Flandrau SP at New Ulm.  The park is located on the south edge of town.  It has a more open layout than the last several parks we’ve visited.  The sites are large and well spaced but trees can make it a challenge for larger rigs in some sites.  The guy across the road asked us to move our Jeep Monday night as he was leaving early Tuesday morning had to swing his 5^th wheel around a tree.

New Ulm is an impressive town.  It is very well laid out and was settled by German and Bohemian immigrants so you can see the German influence in the old parts of town.  At 5:00 PM Monday we visited the Glockensphiel. It’s an animated German clock tower with 37 bells.  I think we’ll visit it again with a video camera.  The animation lasted 10 minutes and occurs 3 times each day.

Yesterday we toured the Schell Brewery.  It was a fun tour and of course ended with sampling their beers.  Following the tour you are invited to walk around the grounds which are beautiful.

Well tomorrow we move to Camden SP where we meet the SHOWeR group for a long weekend of family fun.

July 28, 2012

When we returned home from the fair Saturday we had “popcorn & movie night.”   Everybody showered early and we watched ”Cars” from Grandpa’s movie collection (the kids stuff was just too weird).  On Sunday headed back to Bunker Hills.  (Sunday evening was “Cars 2”).

Oh, I do need to correct one error from my previous post.  The playground we stopped at was in Dennison Minnesota not Dundee.

On Tuesday we moved to Frontnac SP near Frontnac Station Minnesota, which is southeast of Red Wing.  It is a beautiful area with high bluffs and deep valleys cut out by glaciers.  The park is rather large but only a small portion is developed.  Again there lots of trees which make it a challenge to back into a site but they are very nice once you get landed. 

After getting set up we took a drive to Wabasha hoping to find the homes of the moron and the puttz across from the old “Glitner” place.  Unfortunately most of the film was made elsewhere (Debbie knows the details if you are interested).  The writer was from Wabasha so the names of the places are real.  There is a Slippery’s Tavern but it looks nothing like the movie.

Wednesday we took a drive to Red Wing and found a nice restaurant for a very late breakfast.  Next we visited the Red Wing Boot Museum.  It was quite interesting.  They still make boots here, there are two large facilities along with factories it two other locations that I don’t recall.  Unfortunately only their work boots are made in the USA, their other shoes and boots are imported.  Next was a visit to the Ufa Da Shop.  As usual our return to the park was by a very indirect route.  Whenever we’re ready the GPS gets us back to our campsite.

When we got back Darby and I took a hike, only about a mile or so but there was a steep drop down the bluff to get a good view of In Yan Teopa Rock.

On Thursday we took a ride around Frontnac.  It is actually two “towns,” sort of separated by the park.  Frontnac Station is along Hwy 61 and was originally a trading post operated by James “Bully” Wells. In 1854 Israel Garrard came to the area hunting a never returned home.  He purchased 320 acres from Wells and following the Civil War platted the town of Frontnac with two brothers and a step-brother.  Their graves are at the far end of one of the strangest cemeteries we have ever visited.  It is situated on a long narrow strip land between two creeks with graves on either side of the road.

At one time the town had a resort / hunting lodge but today all that is there are a number of old homes on nice big lots platted by the brothers.  It is surrounded Frontnac SP on three sides and Lake Pepin (Mississippi River) on the east.

On Friday we moved to Rice Lake SP.

July 26, 2012

I tried to do a little writing yesterday but was unable to access my new blog.  I spent considerable time “online” downloading all my important email so I didn’t have much time to play around with the blog.  Today I’m using the word processor to get my thoughts down and hopefully get them transferred over, we’ll see if it works.

We left home Sunday July 14 about noon or so and drove to Lake Shetek near Currie Minnesota.  We’ve visited here twice before.  It is a nice park and has a new loop of full hookups that is quite nice but does lack shade in most spots.

The previous week was quite hectic.   Along with the usual getting ready to go we finally pulled the pin on upgrading our TV in the camper and bought one.  Of course the old one was mounted in the steel bulkhead in the front of the RV so there was a design / build process involved in the installation which I do enjoy but it was time consuming.  The TV is great but we now need to work on the audio and trim around the rough edges.

Monday we took a ride to Worthington, we’ve passed through here many times but never seen what the town has to offer.  The southwest side of town butts up against Lake Okabena so there is a nice city park and some beautiful homes there.  The town seems quite prosperous.

We took county roads back to Currie so we drove through several small communities.  We both find it interesting to speculate on how folks make a living in some of these places and wonder why one community looks to be quite prosperous and the next looks to be near death.

Tuesday we made the trip to Bunker Hills.  We did stop at the BP in Mankato for fuel and Propane.  Seems the fry cook there is in charge of filling propane tanks.  This one was training her backup and almost knew how to do it.  She couldn’t get the hose connected and forgot to close the vent valve but other than that she did ok.

Tuesday evening we got another really good look at P&L’s new camper then went to dinner.  Wednesday morning they dropped off the kids and left for their concert.  Wednesday and Thursday were rainy and cloudy so we did not make it to Bunker Beach as we had planned so we settled for a couple trips to the park and watched movies.

 Friday we moved to Nerstrand Big Woods near Nerstrand, MN.  It’s an older park with lots of trees so the sites are tight to get into but nice when you get squeezed in.   The restrooms / showers are new and quite nice.  The park offers a number of hiking trails.  We took a short (less than ½ mile) hike to Hidden Falls which the kids enjoyed but no one thought to bring a camera.  Connor is fascinated with maps so he carried his own and we talked about various locations as we passed them and looked at the compass.  This kept his interest on the way to the falls but that was good enough.  He wasn’t interested on the way home.

Saturday we took a ride and found a playground in Dundee then ended up at the Rice County Fair in Fairbault.  We went through the horse barn, watched the horses in a pole race, saw a tractor pull, wandered around the midway and went on a few rides.   We ate fried cheese curds, mini doughnuts and had some fresh squeezed lemonade before going back to the camper. 

Well I’ve gotten pretty long winded so I’ll close for now and see if I can figure out how to get this posted.  Next time I’ll try to include some pictures.

Traveling with Darby

It has been suggested that I start a blog while we travel rather than journal in a word processor so this is my first attempt at blogging.  We'll see how it goes.