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I’m a little late writing this post so can only hit the high points. I have found that writing the blog when we are only staying a night or two in a place is hard—not enough time in the day. We stay pretty busy wanting to explore each town or city we stop in.

After leaving Minnesota and the beautiful lake, we headed back West (that wasn’t in the plans) and stayed a few nights in Grand Forks. Grand Forks AFB campground was a bit challenging for camping; the hookups for the site were way in the back of the site so we had tried two different sites before finally settling in. Grand Forks was a short 2 night stay on our way back to Minot. So day one was most relaxing at the campsite and of course visiting the commissary.
On Sunday, it was a beautiful day to explore the area and visit some wineries…who didn’t figure that was coming!! We drove south on some back roads through corn fields and wheat fields and who knows what fields—it would be nice if they labeled their crops for us “driver-byers”. There was a code on one of the crops and when I looked it up, I found out it was genetically modified. And not a protester in sight!!
Well we finally arrived at the address of the 4e Winery and it was like driving up to someone’s house for Sunday brunch. But it truly was a hidden gem. Lisa was our hostess and she was divine. She treated everyone there like they were the only guests to her home for a sip of wine. She was very knowledgeable about the wines and told us how she came to ND (her husband teaches chemistry at University of ND) and how their hobby became their job. Her husband worked both at the university, and did the wine making in his off time. She worked full time in the winery. It was a casual, relaxed place where you could just sit and sip. No rush. We hate having to stand at the bar while the person pours wine after wine. We purchased a few bottles of her white wine for later and as we were walking out the door, she gave us some home grown zucchini and yellow squash to take with us. Free food—we were all over that!! Cooked it up that night for dinner and it was delish!!

We also wanted to make sure to drive back through Fargo, not far from the winery. You have to say Fargo, ND—been there!! Curt watches Fargo on TV, and he said that the town was much bigger than it looks on the show. I’ve never seen the show, so I have no comment here, it was a little big town with all the essentials, and we just drove on through. The return trip we decided to take I29 back toward Grand Forks, we had enough of the back roads, and even the highway was a boring ride.
After this we headed back to the campground for a quiet dinner, where I already mentioned we ate some of the fresh zucchini and squash with our meal.
The next day we were on the road again and headed to Minot and on the way to Minot, we passed right through the “Geographic Center of North America” in Rugby, ND. Photo-Op!

The town erected a monument in 1931 saying they were the “the spot”. But, a bar owner in a town about 100 miles away recalculated and found his bar to be the center and has since copyrighted the term (the Town of Rugby’s copyright had expired when no one renewed it). Now the two are at odds and in the meantime another fellow has come along and said a completely different place called Center, ND (I kid you not) is the geographic center of North America…drama is everywhere. If you are interested you can read more about it at:  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/science/north-america-geographical-center-north-dakota.html

Since the base was 17 miles outside of downtown Minot, we camped at a campground right in the city at Roughrider campground, nice staff, but not much grass for Daisy to lay in, mostly dirt and rock, but only 5 minutes to the shop.  We were there on business, so wanted to make it convenient to get from the campground to the RV shop (we had to drop off the camper on Thursday at 0800—today was Tuesday August 1).

1 August was an important milestone—Day 1 of Retirement. It was a day of celebration, right?!?! To celebrate this grand day, we headed out to Roadhouse Steak House for some Flo’s Filets. Dinner was divine.

Wednesday was supposed to be a very rainy day—100% chance of rain. It would be the first rainy day we have seen in weeks. Our weather has been very pretty, sometimes hot, but mostly sunny with an occasional afternoon sprinkle, but nothing to complain about. The next morning after breakfast, we headed up to Minot AFB in the pouring down rain. We were headed to the base for a specific reason…it was Blue ID card day!!
So for the military folks out there, this is an emotional day. Being an AD Colonel has some privileges written and unwritten and I thought by giving up my CAC card and becoming “just another DAMN retired Colonel” as my friend Bill Moore would say, things would be changing. I guess we will find out. I entered the Customer Service area just ahead of 5 young active duty Airman. Curt quickly directed me to the sign in computer and I was able to get signed in before them…but…I signed in as “retired” needing ID card. Surely the AD in uniform would be called first?? We waited about 15 minutes and we were called back before the 2nd AD was called back. The gentleman who took care of us, was very nice and pleasant but in no big hurry. We were with him about 25 minutes. Granted he had to update the system with my retirement orders and make 2 ID cards. He and Curt talked about golfing—Minot has a golf course! But of course with the rain and tomorrow being booked, we would not be able to get out on the course. Getting the new ID card was emotional for me. My picture was taken, I approved, but when it printed out it looks like I’ve been baking on a beach for the past 2 months. But I guess I’ll fit right in when I get to Florida.
We next headed to the commissary to fill up our small little freezer with some commissary meats. One thing we found out from our last trip over the border, was food was very expensive and they have huge taxes on everything. So we stocked up on steak, chicken, and pork chops, as well as canned goods (we go through tomatoes and mushrooms pretty fast). Back home, I decided it was a good idea to rearrange the food storage. One thing with downsizing to a 29 foot camper, I gave up my pantry. Although there is plenty of inside storage, it is scattered and hard to organize (lots of little cabinets). But I did the best I could and we were ready to go celebrate the “Blue ID Card” day.

Where are we going you ask?? First guess wins the prize…wine bar. Yes, would you believe the little town of Minot has a pretty cool wine bar? I guess you have to have somewhere to go during those long cold winters. But with the bartender’s suggestion, we purchased a nice red blend wine and a charcuterie plate and bruschetta and talked about where we were going next. WE do a lot of that, what should we see next? We have been making our reservations just a few days to the same day and have been very lucky. It lets us be more flexible to go off the beaten trail to see something of interest. We are out to see all the road side attractions and tourist traps we can.

The next day we had to have the camper to the shop by 0800. We made this appointment at least 3 weeks ago for them to fix our slide out. Our original dealer found an issue during our yearly checkup, but had to order the part. By the time the part came in, they were unable to get us in before we were leaving. They gave us the part and told us to go to any dealer. When we checked in, we asked them to fix a few small things and the list started to get a little long—nothing too crazy but when you are living in it full time can become annoying. One item is our black tank (the one that holds the toilet waste) leaks when you drive. We purchased a temporary valve that we were using and it was working well, but we wanted it fixed. We asked him to fix our screen door which was misaligned and didn’t close properly and left a gap for bugs to come in. Then we asked him to fix a broken latch, then he said, wait a minute, you made this appointment for one thing, if you want this other stuff done you will have to make another appointment—WOW!! Where have you heard that before? Reminded me of healthcare…
Sorry says the doctor, “Only one problem per appointment”. What great customer service! So as a pediatric nurse practitioner, I have had to listen to patients/parents bring their laundry list of issues in, but I on the other hand would listen attentively and then assist them in prioritizing the biggest issues. It’s all in how you talk to your customer!! I felt belittled and irritated by his response and treatment. I had to walk out and let Curt handle the rest of the conversation.
Since it had rained yesterday, the temperatures were cooler it was 62 at 0830, so we treated ourselves to breakfast while Daisy stayed in the car. It was going to be a long day to find things to do that were dog friendly, but we didn’t do too badly.
After breakfast we headed over to a Farmers Market at Oak Park, but knowing we were headed over the border the next day, we didn’t want to buy any produce, so instead we just walked around the park to let Daisy get exercised. Next we headed to the Scandinavian Cultural Center. Below are some pictures of our visit there:

Then we went to Walmart (yes again) and by then they finally called us at 2 pm to tell us that they put the piece in the slide, but if we wanted them to fix the black tank issue (that should have been a warranty issue) they would have to keep the camper for another day. This would mean we would have to get a hotel room with Daisy. Since we had a temporary fix, we decided to tell them never mind and we would be by to pick up. Upon picking it up and going over the issues we stated did you fix the latch on the door on the slide? “You never told us anything about that.” We looked at one another and said I know we had a 5 minute conversation about it this morning with this guy, forget it we’re done with these people, we’ll fix it ourselves. So we hooked up the camper, secured puppy and we were off to the next adventure.

Since we had some time to kill before our 3 August appointment to get the camper fixed back at Minot, we headed off to Minnesota. Curt was in charge of picking the campgrounds, and I have to admit he did a great job. Our destination was a camping “resort”at Cass Lake, but required an overnight stay since we don’t drive more than 4 hours a day. We started out after a good breakfast and headed to the Pipestone National Monument.

It was about a 1 ½ hours up the road. Pipestone National Monument preserves the pipestone quarries that the American Indians used to make pipes and other items from the Sioux Quartzite. Today, the only certain certified Indians can mine the quarries. We were excited to find out that we could actually take Daisy on the trail out to the quarries. It was pretty hot, but the walk was about 1 mile round trip and the ½ way point led to the Winnewissa Falls, which was a cool respite.

After about an hour of checking out the Monument, we were on the road again and headed for our overnight stop: Garfield, Minnesota and the Oak Park Kampground. It was a pretty site for a quick overnight, lake view and a nature walk for Daisy.  After dinner Curt and I headed out to take Daisy for her nightly walk.  Halfway into the walk we were ready for a quick retreat as we were being eaten alive by mosquitos.  By the time we returned to the camper, we had blood smeared on all exposed areas–it was terrible.  And I didn’t realize what effect it had on Daisy until a few days later when she popped up with bumps everywhere.

The next day we were on the road to our next stop: Cass Lake. It was a quick 3 hour drive to the Stony Park Resort. This is one of the best sites we’ve had as far as views go. We have a gorgeous view of the lake through 2 cabins that are right across the driveway. Curt did a great job of backing up, as we learned to call each other so there is no yelling. I calmly tell him what he needs to do and he followed my directions perfectly—there is always a first time!!

The afternoon was quiet and relaxing, watching the kids play in the lake and then followed it with an absolute awesome sunset over the lake.
Because even though this is a place to relax, we still want to explore as much of the area as possible; we took off for a ride to a small town close by called Bemidji.

Bemidji is a lake town that has a few touristy things to do. Our first stop, just like many other times is to the Visitor’s Center where the lady was excited to tell us all about the sculpture walk and then told us we had to go to Itasca State Park. Funny, that is the second person that mentioned that park—we had to go. So before heading to Bemidji, we walked around the town to find the sculptures. We first got our picture taken with Paul Bunyan and Blue. Also in the visitor’s center we saw Paul Bunyan’s toothbrush, baby shoes and toenail clippings (gross!!).

After having an ice cream cone, we got back in the car and headed out to Itasca State Park, Minnesota’s oldest stat park. It was established in 1891 to conserve its giant pines from the logging industry. We visited the oldest Pine in the park and also walked across the Mississippi River!! That’s right, Lake Itasca is the beginning of the Mississippi—called the headwaters of the Mississippi. I walked across the rocks from one side to the other of the “river”; Curt walked across on a log. We took the Wilderness tour around the park—no wildlife, but lots of pretty views of the lake.

We headed back to the camper for a home-cooked meal and another lovely sunset. I hate to say it, but the weather has been fantastic. Cool in the 60’s at night, and warming up to the 80’s during the day.

ON our last full day at the lake, we decided to head to a Blue Berry Festival at Lake George, about 25 minutes away. The Bemidji Visitor Center lady told us about it. But maybe it didn’t start til Saturday, because we could not find it. Instead, we decided to take a round about drive hitting a bunch of roadside tourist attractions:

Stop 1: Emmaville – “The Biggest Little Town in the World”. When we asked the lady in the General Store how they got that claim, she said it’s always been that way as long as she has been here. Did you check out the population—it is 4 people.

Stop 2: Dorset – “The Restaurant Capital of the World”. They say (according to an article on the internet) that because they have 4 restaurants in the town that has a population of 22—this equates to 1 restaurant for about every 5 people. We weren’t hungry yet, so didn’t sample the local cuisine. But we did tour the city and found some very quaint little stores–unfortunately, no picture of their claim to fame.

Stop 3: Nevis – “Home of the World’s Largest Tiger Muskie”. Nevis was having a musical festival this weekend, so we walked around to the different arts and crafts vendors—nothing caught our fancy so we were off again.

Stop 4: Akeley – “Birthplace of Paul Bunyan”. Not much more to say about this. Paul Bunyan is everywhere up here in Minnesota, but we went where he was born!!

Stop 5: Walker – Okay now we were hungry so we went in search of a restaurant on the water and we found a beautiful one. Waited about 15 minutes for an outside table, but it was well worth it. Check out the gorgeous view and of course we had cocktails—yummy raspberry lemonade along with lunch/dinner.

Fun day checking out the back roads of Minnesota, but now time to head back to rescue Daisy from her Air Conditioned jail. She loves lying in the sun! Poor baby though, she has gotten bug bites all over her she looks like she has the chicken pox—thanks to those Minnesota mosquitos!!!

Sioux City was a fun place and relaxing. Our campsite was under a large tree so we had lots of shade and a lot of grass for Daisy to relax. There were also lots of squirrels and bunnies to drive her crazy, but she has learned her lesson, she knows that if she chased after them, it will hurt.

After setting up, we tucked Daisy into her kennel and headed downtown. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and got the scoop on how to explore downtown.

The ladies at the Visitor’s Center were very friendly and gave us recommendations for where to go to eat for dinner. Curt wanted Mexican…Jackie’s she said. First we went up into the Visitor’s Center that had great views of the Sioux Falls from the tower.

After the tour of the tower, we went back to the Gift Shop and bought matching T-shirts—He said let’s Piss your sister off and buy matching T-shirts!! Next we headed downtown $1 all day riding on the trolley to downtown. The driver did a great job of telling us the history of the city as we drove along. We got off downtown and decided to walk around. Downtown there were sculptures on every corner. The artists donate their work for one year and the public has the opportunity to vote on the ones they like the best and the winner will be purchased by the city and placed somewhere in the city. We got to vote on our favorite–When pigs fly!!

This sculpture was the 2006 People’s Choice Award and is one of my favorite:

We then went looking for “Jackie’s” Mexican Restaurant and found one downtown. We had good service and okay food, we ordered chips and guacamole and margaritas that didn’t have any alcohol in them and then we ordered shrimp ceviche. It was good, but not great.

We caught the trolley back to the Visitor’s Center and home rescue Daisy.
Saturday we decided to visit a couple of states we have not visited before.

The next day we drove down to Sioux City, Iowa and visited the Visitor’s Center which was the Sgt Floyd’s Welcome Center. Sgt Floyd was the only member of the Lewis and Clark Party that died on this excursion. Sgt Floyd was a 22 year old man when he became very ill and passed away. They think that he most likely had a complication of appendicitis. We also visited a monument that commemorated his burial place.

After that we headed to Nebraska and found the Nissen Winery. It was out in the middle of nowhere and looked like we were driving up to someone’s house and thought we were going to be the only people there. Boy, were we wrong! We walked in on a bachelorette party and one poor lady who was running around like a crazy person. We asked her several questions about the wines and winery, and it was clear that she was a wine pourer and knew nothing about the wines. But she was pleasant and very attentive to us. It was a beautiful winery that had a great view of the prairies.

Next we headed back to South Dakota and one more winery. We arrived about 20 minutes before the Winery was due to close, but that didn’t seem to bother the young lady who was working. She was pleasant and had a very good knowledge of the wines.
Sunday was a lazy day and we just relaxed around the camper and went to Walmart! A camping trip is not complete without a visit to Walmart. Because we wanted to go golfing, we extended a day and moved our departure date to Tuesday. Curt planned the next week or so, as we head to Minnesota.
Monday we went golfing thanks to a Groupon. Curt found a place that was about 40 minutes outside of Sioux Falls. For $45 we both golfed 18 holes, including a cart. It was a beautiful course and we played much better this time than the last time we played. And it has been about a month since we golfed.

Yesterday marked our 1 month on the road anniversary. That went fast. It still feels like a long vacation. We are always asking each other, what day is today. I have stopped wearing my watch. Living in the camper has been great. We upgraded our camper to our camping condo last summer and glad we did. It has been towing much better and although this one is about 8 feet smaller, we don’t miss that extra room. Our camper has all the comforts of home including recliners and a comfortable bed. Even Daisy is having a fun time and she has been adapting to the mobile life. It is nice to stay up late, or go to bed early and not have to worry about what time we have to get up. Except for getting to the golf course for a tee time, we don’t set alarms or have to worry about what time it is. Even on the days we are on the move, we get up at a reasonable time (me at 0700 or so—I’m the early riser) and Curt will get up about 0830. Usually the checkout time for the campground is 1100, and since we usually only plan a 3-4 hour road trip, this works out well and still gives us time to get to the next place at a reasonable time.

I am looking forward to getting to Florida, but it certainly is exciting exploring this great country. And soon we will be heading north to Canada to explore there as well. I never thought we would hang out so long in South Dakota, but there was a lot to do!

After a week at Ellsworth, we were rested up and ready to go on to the next adventure. A few days ago we made some reservations through the weekend, headed to Sioux Falls. We picked Sioux Falls because it was close to Nebraska and Iowa. We’ve not been to those states, so we are planning a road trip with SF as our home base.
Because we only like to drive 3-4 hours a day, and Sioux Falls was closer to 5 and we wanted to stop one place along the way, we decided to cut the trip in half. This worked out well, because it was another hot day! After packing up the camper we headed out east on I90 toward Oasis Campground in Oacoma. We arrived about 1:30 pm and decided to leave the camper attached and just try to relax. With the drive the camper was pretty hot, and in the heat of the day it is hard for our one AC unit to cool the boiling camper. Not minding the heat too much, I sat outside with Daisy. If Daisy is outside on the runner by herself, I like to keep the door open in case something happens (she decides to chase squirrels/bunnies/other dogs). But, if we kept the door open. The inside would never cool. After about 10 minutes, even Daisy wanted to go inside (she loved the heat). It was a little cooler in the camper, but still not cool enough.
I asked Curt if he wanted to go to the pool that was just across the street from our campsite and there was no one in it. He said, it was too hot??? OK, then I decided it was time to have some slushies. Curt went to get some ice and I pulled out the frozen berries and strawberries out of the freezer and started to make some slushies. Curt then pulled out the tequila, I said slushies, not margaritas. Guess who won? Me, I found the rum and we had daiquiris.
Later in the afternoon, we ventured out to the pool and chased a few kids out and had the pool to ourselves. Didn’t chase them, but they left right after we got there. They had two small kids and one teenager and the teenager looked like he hated the world and had his earphones in and eyes glued to his phone. Nothing against kids (especially my own), but I don’t envy people that have to travel across the country with a teenager. We’ve done our time and our kids were VERY GOOD, compared to what we have seen some kids do on this trip. I only have 2 kids on this trip, Daisy and Curt and they have been very well behaved! By the way the pool was wonderful. Just cool enough to be refreshing, and warm enough that it only took me 2 minutes to get completely wet. I’m not the jump in the water person, I have to get used to it before my head gets wet, so that was good for me. Curt on the other hand is a cannonball entrance person. Good thing those little kids got out, he may have scared them!
As we ate our dinner, BBQ country ribs cooked on the George Foreman Grill and some potato salad I made yesterday for the trip, we watched the people across the way unhook and set up. People watching is fun! We like to see how our set up compares to others. We decided we were much more efficient that these folks. But not saying we can’t learn from folks. When we were at Ellsworth, our next door neighbor, an Army vet and purple heart recipient recently retired and his wife had a system. They left San Antonio June 16th and had been on the road for the past month and this was their 13th stop. She got out of the cab and called him on the phone and she guided him in and we didn’t hear any screaming or arms waving (I’m not saying that is what I do…). So when we got here, we tried it as Curt backed into our spot here. Boy it worked out very nice—one back up and no waving arms or screaming to “turn the wheel”…”turn the wheel the other way”!!! Another couple we watched came in with a Big Rig Cab pulling a 40 foot 5th wheel –huge with 5 slides—for 3 people. While they set up they got the young girl’s bike (she was about 10) off the back of the truck and let her go ride her bike while they set up. That would have never happened with our kids, they always had to help Curt set up the camper. They each had jobs (put down the jacks, take the hoses out, unhitch the truck), no playing until the chores were done. I think they actually liked helping out. They would argue who got to use the drill to put down the jacks—they used to be the crank kind so the upgrade to the drill worked for them (another trick we used from watching someone else set up).
After dinner, we took Daisy for a walk around the campground and relaxed watching TV and playing phone games (Curt ) and reading a book (Meg). I called it an early night after being a sleepy from daiquiris and swimming, and the camper was cooled down.
The next day we headed out to Sioux Falls, but we knew we were planning a stop at the Corn Palace. Several years ago, my brother and sister-in-law moved from Seattle to Philadelphia and I remember getting a post card from them for this place. I texted Lisa and asked her if it was worth stopping. She told me it was free and was worth the trip just to say you have been there. That is what we did. About an hour into the ride we see the signs for the Corn Palace.
The town of Mitchell built the original Palace to prove to the world that South Dakota had a healthy agriculture climate. It was established in 1892, and more than 500,000 people visit the Palace each year. The Palace is redecorated each year with naturally colored corn, grains and grasses (reminded me of the rose parade floats that have to use flowers). A different theme is used every year and the walls of the palace are the canvas for the murals to reflect the theme. We arrived just in time, as in August they start stripping the corn as they get ready for the next year’s mural. We walked around the inside, which is a basketball court, but that was set up as a gift store today. We liked it as well because it was pet friendly. That’s right Daisy didn’t have to wait outside, she got to go in the nice cool building and walk around. She was very well behaved.
The theme this year was Rock of Ages with murals of Willie Nelson, Elvis, John Travolta and others we couldn’t figure out.
Check it out:

 

 

We did a lot of sightseeing, here as there was a lot to see. I am glad we booked a week.

One day we went to Deadwood and Sturgis. I’m sure everyone is familiar with Sturgis’ claim to fame. This year will be the 77th Annual Motorcycle rally held there. The town was pretty dead, as the Rally doesn’t start until the first full week of August. This is why we need to be out of the campground as they are full for the next month. But from what I hear from locals, I don’t think I want to be here for that anyway…too many people!! We did find the Harley store and Curt got his picture taken so he could send it to a friend—Chuck!

Deadwood was pretty crowded for being a weekday. We walked up and down the streets of Deadwood and came upon a few reenactments.

We made sure we went to Saloon #10 where Wild Bill Hickok was killed. Do you know what hand of cards he was holding, that is now known as the Dead Man’s Hand? (Answer will be posted below). How about who killed him? That would be Jack McCall. If you are in Deadwood on any day but Sunday in the Summer, you can attend the trial of Jack McCall.

The day was hot, so we of course went looking for a winery to rest our weary bones. We found a wine bar in Deadwood called the Deadwood winery. You could taste wine or beer, but we stuck to the wines and enjoyed a little charcuterie tray. Good up sale by the bartender. She was from Sturgis and told us how crazy Sturgis can get during the rally.

When we got to Sturgis (our second stop), we found a very nice winery on a hill and relaxed there before heading home. The lady who worked here told us about the signs we see on the road that say “highway closed” and how often that happens. Not as often as you think she said, but told us of one time a few years ago that they got 3 feet of snow that was drifting for 3 days before the road was open. No thank you to living here—no more snow!

This visit also allowed us to meet up with some friends. On Saturday we went out to lunch with a friend that I used to work with when I was stationed at the Pentagon in DC. They were on a 2 week vacation from their home in Las Vegas and were traveling across South Dakota and Yellowstone and we just happened to be in this area together. It was great catching up with them.

On Sunday we were invited to dinner at another friend’s home. She worked on MHS GENESIS project in DC and came out to visit with us at Fairchild a time or two. She was very supportive to me personally and I loved working with her. She just decided she wanted to retire here after 8 years in DC. She has a beautiful home in the hills not too far from Mount Rushmore. While we were eating dinner, we were visited by a herd of deer and a wild turkey. Might not be a bad place to live if they didn’t have SNOW!!

We visited the Badlands on what I think was the hottest day we had here. We didn’t get out of the car very often as the temperature hit 109 degrees according to a bank sign in Wall, SD. We’ll get to Wall in a minute. The Badlands were beautiful. We saw many folks braving the heat to hike the trails, not us, we just did a windshield tour. Below are a few pictures. Curt kept saying, I think we were here before, it all looks very familiar, and although we have never been to SD, there is the Painted Desert in Arizona, where we were stationed for 3 years 1997-2000 which is very similar.
On the way back from the Badlands, we drove through Wall, SD. There were many signs telling us we could get free ice water at Wall Drug. Wall Drug takes up the entire city block. It has multiple gift stores, café, ice cream parlor, and a wet park area for the kids to cool off and it was well needed today.
Our trip to Mount Rushmore was on Monday morning. We booked a tour that included breakfast and dinner show. The tour started at 0730 and ended about 0830 and it was about 35 minutes from the base. We had to do some calling around, but did find a doggy day care/kennel to board Daisy overnight. We would have never left her alone in the camper so long. The ZZZ kennel was great. I don’t know why there are not more kennels around these national monuments/parks that offer doggy day care that is easy. One place I called required us to bring Daisy in for a 4 hour acquaintance visit—not ideal with limited time. Daisy even got a bath out of the deal!
The Fort Hayes Mount Rushmore tour was well worth the $99/each it cost us. It was nice to give Curt a chance to look out the window instead of keeping his eyes on the road. Like I said, it started out with breakfast. The Fort Hayes place has the Dances With Wolves movie set (which you can visit for free if you are just driving by). You can make a brick or stamp a tin plate. At 0830 they loaded us on a bus in the order that your reservation was booked. We were on the 2nd bus, but got very lucky although we were about the 4th or 5th party called, the front row was still open. We grabbed that! We had great views out the front and side windows.
The first stop was Mount Rushmore. Our next door neighbor at the campground at Ellsworth told me that the best time to see Mt R was between 0900 and 1200 for the best lighting, so this timing was perfect. We have also heard that the evening lighting show is a good time too, but that didn’t work out for us. If you try it, let us know how you liked it.
I felt a little rushed at Mount Rushmore and would have liked a little more time. But we did get our pictures and watched a movie about the carving of the monument.

We then took a drive on Iron Mountain Road (the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway). There were 3 tunnels on this road and you can view Mount Rushmore through each of them—pretty cool. You could tell that some of the people didn’t realize it as they drove through the tunnel take their picture of Mount Rushmore.
After that we drove through Custer State Park, supposedly to find wildlife, but we did not see ANY wildlife here 
We had lunch at the State Game Lodge. They said that this was the Summer Home to Calvin Coolidge and Dwight Eisenhower. Curt had the buffet which included Buffalo Stew and I got the Cobb Salad that was adorned with Buffalo Bacon. So the bus driver requested that those sitting in the back of the bus be the first to exit the bus to be first in line for lunch. Remember, we were in the front seat which means we were last in line. We only had an hour for lunch and the line was not moving. 20 minutes in and we still had not gotten seated. I went looking for another venue for lunch and found the “bar and lounge”. I asked the bartender if we could eat at the bar and he said absolutely! So I went and got Curt and we sat at the bar for lunch. Guess who was sitting next to me…the Ken the Bus Driver. He knew where to get personalized service too!
After lunch we were off and headed for Needles Highway. It was very scary sitting in the front seat and probably even scarier if you were the car coming towards this big bus on these narrow winding roads. A couple of times I thought the bus was going to force the other cars off the road, because we were so big and the roads were so small!! Ken, the Bus Driver, told us he was the 2nd best driver behind the other 4 drivers that were tied for 1st, but I thought he was very entertaining. He also maneuvered the bus very well, and told lots of great stories. I took a video of us going through the last tunnel, but if you google “Charter Bus in Rock Tunnel” you will see what a feat it was to get through. It was extremely tight and having the front seat made it even better. He probably made a lot of people very mad as he paused in the middle of the tunnel to finish telling a story and then proceeded to blow the horn and make gestures so the people in the oncoming cars would think he was stuck. It was quite funny.

Next stop was Sylvan Lake, time to stretch our legs and take some pictures.
Last stop was the Crazy Horse Memorial. Wow, what a sight! It was quite impressive and to learn about the family that is leading the charge to carve this memorial was inspiring. The original sculptor who died a few years back, Korzak Ziolkowski, had a vision and his wife (who also passed in 2014) and 7 of his 10 children now continue their father’s life work. The reason it has been taking so long…they are not accepting any federal funding. The Indians have learned their lesson, whatever the government promised, they always take back. There is also some controversy regarding this monument as the carving of a mountain goes against the Indian way, and some feel the family is getting rich off of their ancestors. The memorial is also supposed to become a satellite campus for the University of South Dakota and has started a Summer Scholarship Program. I am not sure we would have paid the money to see this if it were not part of the tour.

Next we headed back for our Chuckwagon Dinner of BBQ beef, BBQ chicken, Baked potato, beans, applesauce, biscuit, and spice cake served on a tin plate cafeteria style and accompanied by a tin cup filled with lemonade or iced tea. It was pretty good and filling. After we cleaned up our own dishes and returned to our seats we were entertained with a great band. They played a montage of many different styles of music and their lead guitarist was young and amazing. We enjoyed the show and would recommend the tour!!!!
One day we went into downtown Rapid City and did the walking President’s tour. Check out the ones we found:

Our last day we visited Bear Country.  Took a hundred pictures of animals, but these are the best of the bears.  It was a great way to get up close and personal with the bears.  Unfortunately it won’t let me upload any videos, but had a cute video of two bears fighting.

 

Answer to the Dead Man’s hand:  2 Pair Aces and Eights!!  Did you get it right??

 

 

Our trip from Yellowstone to Ellsworth, AFB (Rapid City, SD) needed an overnight stay.  So we decided to stay in Buffalo, WY–pretty uneventful trip.  We (or should I say Curt since he doesn’t let me drive) don’t like to drive more than 4 or so hours.  This one was 4 hours away.  We stayed at Deerpark RV Park.  A very nice place with a pool (but we didn’t test the waters) and lots of trees.  We actually stayed right next to another Reflection Travel Trailer who was also at the last campground with us as well.  They were on their way to Iowa.  He was an older gentleman and Curt helped him get his TV working.  (Reminded me of my mom and the TV in FL—inside joke for my parents!!).  We had a nice dinner and I was craving French fries and found a recipe on how to make French fries on a George Foreman grill.  They turned out pretty good.  It is funny that in our kitchen at home (when we get there and get it set up, that is) we have many different gadgets (i.e. Fry Daddy), but on the road you learn how to improvise. 

The next day we headed out to Ellsworth, and came upon Little Big Horn.  For those who don’t remember their American History, the Battle of Little Big Horn is where General George Armstrong Custer was killed in a battle between the 7^th Calvary and the Lakota and Cheyenne Indians.  The Indians were trying to preserve their nomadic way of life.  Although the Indians won the battle, they ultimately lost the war.  We learned a lot about Custer, the Indians and the battle by driving through and listening to an audio tour via our cell phone.  It was very hot, no dogs allowed outside the parking lot and there was no parking at the visitor’s center, so we just did the audio driving tour—a big loop that was 4 miles round trip.  There were pullouts that enabled you to listen while you learned about the different areas.  

We arrived at Ellsworth and checked in around 1400. We reserved from the 11th to the 18th to stay here, but after stopping at the Visitor’s Center on the way in and seeing the many attractions here in the Black Hills of SD, and wanting some time to relax and write blogs, we asked if we could extend. So we will be here from 12th through the 20th. We haven’t planned any further, we will have to figure it out while we are here. Daisy loves this place, there are lots of bunny rabbits.  She tried to go after one while she was tethered to the picnic table, but she couldn’t get very far and finally gave up chasing them while tethered.  When we go for a walk, that is a different story, she wants to chase them all the time.  But check this picture out how the bunny was torturing Daisy, but she just sat there and watched the bunny

We left Malmstrom Air Force Base and Great Falls and headed for Livingston and Yellowstone National Park.
The trip to Livingston was uneventful and short (only 3 hours). We pulled into our RV Park, Osen’s RV Park. It was very pretty and well maintained—lots of green grass and a small dog park. We relaxed that afternoon, knowing tomorrow was going to be a busy day as we decided to take the top loop through the North end of Yellowstone. Curt and I have been to Yellowstone before in 2003 when we drove through in a convertible. I don’t remember too much of the trip except the Bison and Old Faithful. So maybe with this trip will be more memorable with this blog!
It was a beautiful day and we headed out for the 1 hour drive to the park. Again, no dogs allowed on Yellowstone trails, so Daisy stayed back to guard the camper and stay cool. We entered the park through the North Entrance at Gardiner. If we would have had time, this would have been a fun town to walk around in (remember Daisy is in the camper). We headed into the park we saw our first of much wildlife…a pronghorn, or at least from research I did, that is what I surmise they are. If you have a differing opinion, leave us a comment. The pronghorn is not a true antelope which is found in Africa and SE Asia (This is what Lewis and Clark called it on their expedition). It can run at sprints of 45-50 miles/hour and they think there are about ~450 in the park (as of 2015). Today however, it was not running but munching the sage just at the entrance of the Park.

The sign at the park entrance told us that there were openings at some of the parks. I made reservations back at Livingston thinking the park was full due to how being last minute. If we had it to do over, I think I would try to camp in the park. Most of the campgrounds we saw were very nice. Some were a little remote and I heard there were bears in one of the parks over the night.

Just inside we passed this sign:

Just after entering Wyoming, Curt eyed something off to the side of the road (he has good eyes) and sent me out to get a picture. It was about 10 feet from the car and it was huge. I was afraid it would charge so I refused and got back in the car and told him to take a picture of the deer?? Or elk?? As well as the sign that said we were entering Wyoming.

Our first hike was at Mammoth Hot Springs, just past the visitor’s center. This is a hot springs and the ground is very hot and delicate (you could fall through), so they have built a boardwalk so that you can see all angles of the springs. Many, many steps, but, of course, Curt found the way that was more of a ramp than steps—steep ramp, but not steps. The photos of the top of the springs were taken by following the trail up the ramp. This was really cool and still flowing, note the rust colored areas. The white you see is where the water has stopped flowing (turned to a travertine-calcium carbonate). I wonder if they would mind if we put some in the truck to take back for our kitchen floors in Florida. I then took a close up of the water forming these shelves. It was very hot and we left the water in the car, so it was time to get going.

The last time we were here, I told you we were in a rented convertible and I don’t remember these windy roads. We did the lower loop, entering through the West, past Old Faithful, and exiting out the East Entrance near Cody, WY. The roads this time were windy and steep, reminded me of Glacier “Going to the Sun Road”. The views were awesome.

We asked the Ranger in the visitor’s center where we could find a nice fairly easy and short hike (less than an hour—remember Daisy) to take to see someplace off the beaten track. He pointed us to Sheepeater Cliff. We arrived at this picnic area and decided to have lunch. I wasn’t yet hungry, so only ate half of my turkey sandwich, but drank all of my iced tea. It was a little warm, but there was a nice breeze blowing. After lunch we gather our supplies: walking stick (for Curt—I have one too, but I never use it—I think they are for old people!), cameras with 3 lenses, water, bug spray, sunscreen, and bear spray (Curt puts this on his belt). All this goes in a backpack that I carry, I don’t need no stinking walking stick!

The hike was nice, but I’m not sure about “easy”, it took us on a trail that had not been “cleared” in years. The ranger said he took his kids there this weekend, I think he should have been doing his job and had those kids clear the way a little better. Shame we didn’t pack a machete! We went over rocks and downed trees, through a hobbit hole (look at the photo), next to the river and up a steep hill and we finally made it to a waterfall. Well worth the hike and I had to keep yelling at Curt to get back as it was a long drop to the bottom of the waterfall. On the way back we found this skull. It looked pretty well preserved, so thought it might be planted there since the Rangers send folks on the hike. It was hidden in a bush that we found while we were trying to get a picture of some little chipmunk. We replaced it back in the bushes for someone else to find. All in all a nice after lunch activity.

Our next adventure came when we pulled off to see a Clearwater Springs. There was another truck pulled over here, so we pulled in front of him and there right by the barrier for the overlook was a huge bison. So some of you may have seen this pic on Facebook, but I’ll describe the scene. The day before we were coming to Yellowstone, my sister-in-law, Lisa, told us not to get any selfies with the bison. So this was a perfect opportunity to get that selfie, safely! We had been told stories about bison ramming cars and people, so I was going to be safe! As you can see the bison is not facing us directly and munching happily on the grass and distracted from us. So I told Curt to get over here quickly (he just realized the bison was there, it was hidden behind this big truck). We got our Selfie, again safely!, But as we were going to take more pictures, note the man in the red shirt, his sister is on her knees taking very close up pics and the bison slowly moved to face her and then without warning he jumps the fence. We all run behind the big truck, keeping the bison between us and the truck. Check out his butt on the road, I was took surprised to get pictures of the jumping.

By the way, Curt and I each have a real camera, and we each have cell phones. Each night we go back and download our pics and then I have to scroll to these pictures that are not collated together to find that picture that I think is the best. It is very time consuming, so I hope you appreciate these great pictures (just kidding), that is the best part—deciding who got the best picture to post on the blog. You know there are probably 5-20 pics for each of the pics seen on the blog!

We hung with this bison for a while, because we came to see the Springs, darn it that bison was not going to keep us from our goal. So we waited until he moseyed down the hill a bit and Curt and I made our way down the boardwalk to the Springs. Then as we were headed back to the truck, here comes the bison again. I slowly walked by him, I thought I had my camera on video, but evidently, my hands were still shaking from before, that maybe I didn’t push the play button hard enough. But I think the Bison saw Curt in his green shirt as food, because he started coming back toward Curt who was still back at the Springs, and I start yelling at him to come along. Back in the truck and onward. WE still hadn’t made it to the first of 3 more visitor center areas we needed to get through.

We finally arrived at Norris and the Norris Geyser Basin. Here we hiked back to Steamboat Geyser, a short 0.6 mi hike past Emerald Spring. This one was hot and stinky, sulfur stinky. But walking by you could get a facial when the wind blew your way. We headed along the trail back to Steamboat Geyser. As the sign says it is the world’s tallest active geyser. It has major eruptions every 5-10 minutes. I took a video of the eruptions; they maybe got about 10-15 feet high, but unfortunately it was too large to load on the website.

Next stop was Canyon Village for ice cream and shopping. We also posted our Bison pictures on Facebook here as it was the only place in the park with internet service. It was a quick break; this is where everyone had their dogs out as you were only allowed to have them in the parking lot. Glad Daisy was cool and relaxing back home and not cooped up in the car not able to get out, but we needed to get back to the camper before too long and still had ½ the route to get through.

We were now headed to Tower-Roosevelt area named for Tower Falls and Roosevelt Lodge. We just drove with our eyes peeled for bear as the ranger told us that the best place to see bear was near Roosevelt Lodge area. No bears, but several bison sightings. After our close encounter, I was going to stay in the car until we came upon this herd. Check out the baby suckling at her momma’s breast. Had to get out for this one. I was between two trucks taking the picture and the Ranger came along and told me I was too close until she saw a Chinese gentleman moving down the slope toward them. I took my two pictures and we were on our way. Further down the road, another bison—quick picture and off again.

We got out and did the trail for Tower Falls. This was a crazy place. There were signs telling people to stay off the rocks and where were they on the rocks. They sell books in the gift store about people who die in this park and I know you can google it too, but most likely it is because people are stupid!! Even Curt got a little close to take a picture of a fall, but in front of him was a 3 year old child that was climbing rocks while her mom was trying to take pictures with her cell phone. We went further down and this trail was the most crowded, I think and people are rude–walking right down the middle of the trail 2 and three across with no regard for others. We were forced to dodge people right and left and walked single file. Maybe I was just getting tired, but I was done with these rude people. But we hurried down to the fall, which was impressive and of course there was one prime spot that everyone wanted to get that perfect picture. We waited our turn and were ready to take our picture when others just pushed right in…crazy!!! I got my selfie and got out of there.

Check out this pano I did later on and a locust or something landed on my phone. I didn’t know it until I was done.

Finally we headed back toward the entrance and Albright Visitor’s Center, right where we started and as we are driving through town. More wildlife, not bison this time, but Elk just hanging out in the town area. Snapped a few good pics and off we went.

We still had an hour ride to get home and there was a storm rolling in. We actually drove through rain the whole way back and it was getting dark. There was construction on the road and about half way in we came upon an accident. A jeep had rolled over and as we passed we say them loading a young man into the ambulance. We were about 30 miles from the hospital. I said some prayers for his safe recovery. Curt dropped me off at the camper and headed into town to gas up for our next leg of the trip. While there he heard that the young man in the accident lives in town and works at Yellowstone and was on the way home from work. The man told Curt he was talking and doing fine when he left him…thank God!

Yellowstone wasn’t on our initial itinerary, but so glad we made the detour. It was a great day and just so you know, when I got home it was raining and Daisy refused to go out in the rain to pee. We had to wait until it stopped. We then headed down to the dog park for a few minutes and she was happy. Looking forward to our next adventure as we continue to Ellsworth AFB.

 

 

 

The rest of the drive to Malmstrom was uneventful, until we arrived in Grand Forks when again the GPS went berserk, sending us the scenic route and even putting us on a dirt road where we had to turn around and call the campground for directions.  I guess since Malmstrom is a missile base, they want to keep their location a secret, as we could find no signs on the highway or as we came onto base that we had arrived.  The man on the phone gave us the directions to the off base campground (they have two:  one just off base and one on base).  Unfortunately, they did not accept reservations, but were told there were plenty of spots on base.  We got lucky and pulled into the last spot off base.  Five minutes after we parked another camper arrived asking lots of questions and because we called the office, we had all the answers: the camp host is on vacation, there are plenty of other spots on base, you can get on base through the commercial gate (no barriers), you go to outdoor rec to pay. 

Our original itinerary had us staying the night at Helena, but we made this diversion when I saw on FaceBook that a nurse practitioner (Lt Col Deb Davidson) who worked for me at Fairchild had just taken command of the Medical Operations  Squadron here and I wanted to come by and say Hi!!

So after we set up the site and paid up at Outdoor Rec, we headed over to the Medical Group.  It was very pretty and just like Fairchild, you walk right into the pharmacy waiting area.  But their waiting area was not as crowded for a Friday afternoon.  We found the command section, but it was locked down.  Curt started knocking on the door, a young MSgt came to the door and asked if she could help us.  I said I would like to come in to see Lt Col D, the MDOS/CC.  She left us at the closed door to check her office and returned to tell us she was not in.  I told her that I was “Col Carey”  and a friend of hers and I’d like to leave a note on her desk, could I please come in.  She was very reluctant to let us in, but walked us down to where her secretary sits and said that the secretary wasn’t in so we’d have to come back later.  It was then that I realized, you’re not the Gp/CC anymore, you don’t get special compensation, people are not going to fall all over you…I’m not sure I like being just another retiree 🙁

I texted Deb and we met up after work at the club.  Yes they have a club at Malmstrom, not an event center.  But they don’t have a golf course either.  The club was having “First Friday” which was a great deal for us.  Happy hour prices for beer and margaritas and free food for club members.  We were going to get our $10 club fee back with dinner tonight—we’re retired and on a budget!

Catching up with Deb was great and we also got to meet her boss, Col Craig Forcum and his wife.  We spent the evening swapping war stories, it was a great evening.  So glad we decided to change our plans!

Saturday we headed out to explore Grand Forks.  We drove out to see the Falls and that is where we found Ryan Island.  So my nephew’s name is Ryan and we texted his mom and told her to tell him we found his island, but we couldn’t find him!!   It was a very hot day, but we walked about the island and again glad we left Daisy behind, because there were no dogs allowed on the island.  What is it with these people and their hatred for dogs? 

After the falls we headed over to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and followed their journey in the air conditioning!!  (BTW:  If you are active duty military did you know you can get a FREE National Park pass and boy has this come in handy.  We picked it up and got in to Glacier for free and now again we are in free with this pass.)  We learned so much about Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea’s journey.  Did you know that the Lewis and Clark expedition is chronicled in their writings (an early blog) where they described everything they encountered in exorbitant detail so they could report back to President Jefferson all that they had discovered.  They were following the Missouri river and knew to expect falls, but what they did not expect was that not only were there on falls, there were five of them.  This was one of the hardest parts of the journey—the Great Falls Portage—the group had to move all of their supplies and canoes and carry them 18 miles on land around the falls, it took them a month–back breaking work for sure.    They had to leave their boat behind at the base of the falls and would retrieve it on their way back, so once on the other side of the falls, they had to build another boat.  Outside the Interpretive Center there is a replica of their first attempt that sank pretty quickly, but they persisted and finally came up with a better model.  We also learned a lot about the sacrifices of Sacajawea, she joined the expedition with her 4 month old son Jean Baptiste.  She had great knowledge of the local plants and the terrain.  She also was an interpreter and was the only one in the party who could speak Shoshone.  This was a great help to Lewis and Clark in their travels. 

If you ever get to visit Great Falls, I would make sure to make this one of your stops, it was well worth the trip.

 

 

  

The next stop on our itinerary was going to be Malmstrom Air Force Base, but we needed a stop-over on our way so we headed South out of Edmonton toward the Canadian border and a small town called Milk River. 

On our way we to Milk River we discovered a town called Drumheller, touting itself as the Dinosaur Capital of the World.  In the middle of the town square is a huge 86 foot high T-rex.  You can actually climb inside him and go up to his mouth to see the whole town.  Unfortunately, the park did not allow dogs, so I jumped inside the park to visit the Visitor’s Center and take some pictures.  There was a Dino Walk throughout the city, but since the camper isn’t fun to drive through city streets, and since we had another long day of driving the next day, we decided to skip the Dino Walk and continue down to see some of the other attractions Drumheller had to offer.

Our next stop was a suspension bridge over the river.   We decided this was a nice place to stop for a picnic lunch; I packed some turkey sandwiches and chips.  But before sitting down to our feast, we ventured over to the suspension bridge.  Daisy was leading the way until she hit the bridge and she saw the see through grate floor.  She refused to go out on the bridge, even with me pulling her.  Change of plans:  quick detour to put Daisy back in the car so we could run out on the bridge—that is practically what we did.  It was hot out and I was afraid someone would call the cops, or worse break the window to get her out of the hot car (it wasn’t that hot in the car, we had the on AC 2 seconds ago, and we were out and back in about 4 minutes flat). 

We met a nice Calgary family at the Dinosaur Town and they caught up with us again here.  They gave Daisy lots of loving because their dog’s name is Daisy too!!  

Check out the pictures of Drumheller and the Bridge:

The next stop was to see the Hoodoos.  Hoodoos are rock formations.  The word Hoodoo, similar to voodoo,  was used by aboriginal people to refer to evil, supernatural forces.  Some people believe hoodoos were giants turned to stone by the Great Spirit due to their evil deeds.  (according to sign posted at the site).

We continued down Hwy 56, over Rte1 and down Hwy 36 to Hwy 4 to Milk River and the Under 8 Flags Campground.  The campground was so named because the land had been under 8 different country flags in its history.  It was a small but nicely maintained campground that had gazebos and horseshoe courts along the side.  The host came driving out as soon as we pulled out and assigned us to a spot right next to the river.  He also notified us that they don’t take credit cards, a fact I was not told when I called to inquire about reservations (I was told they never fill up).  We only had one Canadian $20 bill, so after unhooking the truck (we weren’t planning on unhooking), I took the truck into town (2 blocks away) to the nearest  ATM and they didn’t take my card…what?   USAA is accepted everywhere, or so I thought.  So we took our last $20 Canadian bill and added a $10 check to the envelope and called it a day.  With the conversion rates, they made a few bucks on us.  We had a nice relaxing evening and a good night sleep and on to Malmstrom.

So since we only had to drive 3 hours from Calgary to Edmonton, we got to sleep in.  Curt’s idea of sleeping in and my idea of sleeping in are different.  So I woke up at 0800, made my cup of tea and took Daisy out for a walk.  (that is our routine).   Curt finally rolled out of bed at 0900.  We ate breakfast and packed up and we were still on the road by 1100. 

I can’t believe how well Daisy has taken with our new nomadic life.  She sits on “her seat” (the single seat behind me in the truck when we are driving in areas that we can put the windows down and then when she gets tired of that or the windows go up, she has lays down in her bed on the floor next to her chair.  With the exception of our Playmate cooler, that has a stash of snacks and drinks, she has the whole back seat area to herself. 

The drive to Edmonton was uneventful because I paid more attention to the GPS directions and refused to follow the directions that sent us into the city.  We were not going to have a repeat of Calgary.  I found some county roads that bypassed the city and got us into the Diamond Grove in Spruce Grove, just outside of Edmonton without any stress of traffic.  The campground was well kept with a cement patio and large patch of soft green grass (may have been recently sodded/seeded), but there was not a tree in sight–so the sun just beat down on us.  We always seem to face the wrong way and get afternoon sun.  And with the long days, it makes it hard to enjoy the outdoors with the high temperatures.  The one good thing about this campground was the adjacent city off leash dog park.  Daisy is usually a little skittish at dog parks, but she was quite bold and went up to quite a few dogs to say hello, played and ran around with them.  By the end of our stay she had enough of that and made her high part of the dog park laying down and rubbing in the grass.

Setting up the camper at a new spot has become a well-oiled machine we can knock it out in about 10 minutes for an overnight stay and about 15 for a long-term stay. It of course did not start out that way.  We had a few disagreements early on, but we worked it all out.  We work together, Curt does one thing, I do the another.  Once the slides come out after all the outdoor hookups are completed, we hit a button and the camper levels itself.  This is the best part of this new camper, no more cranking down the levelers, it is now all automatic.  It takes all of 5 minutes!  We then both jump in the camper and take out the cooler and grill.  Lay down the area rugs that makes it more comfortable for Daisy, who doesn’t like to walk on the floors.  Turn on the ice machine and air condition and we are good to go!

After set up and taking Daisy for a walk to the dog park, we settled her in a cool camper and we headed out to see the Largest Mall in North America– West Edmonton Mall.  It was a short ride down the highway from the campground.  By this time we were very hungry and were looking for a place to eat.  There were many restaurants to choose from but most were crowded and loud.  We were looking for a place that was a little quieter, and not too expensive.  We chose a bar and grill called Hudson’s at the end of the hall where there were lots of other choices.  We lucked out with happy hour choices and some really good halibut and chips. 

After dinner we checked out the Mall:

 

An Aquarium complete with a sea lion show,  and of course a huge cinema with IMAX.

Well we can now say that we have been here.  Check that box.  The next day we headed to Fort Edmonton. 

Fort Edmonton was a living history park, reminded me of Old Williamsburg, where volunteers dressed in period costumes walked around and told their stories. 

The Park is divided into four distinct Eras:

·         The Fur Trading Era as represented by the Hudson Bay Company Trading Fort (circa 1846)

·         The Settlement Era as depicted on 1885 Street

·         The Municipal Era (post railway) brought to life on 1905 Street

·         The Metropolitan Era portrayed on 1920 Street and the Johnny J Jones Midway

We started by riding a trolley car back to the 1885, then walked further back in time to 1840 to tour the fort.  Not a military fort, but a fur trading fort.  We were brought back to present day when we had to evacuate the fort because the fire alarms were sounded.  It took about 30 minutes of standing outside for the fire department of 2017 to decide the alarm was a false alarm and all was clear to re-enter the fort to finish exploring 1846.  One of the fur traders stayed in character and did his best to entertain us during the delay. 

We then strolled over to 1885 and explored farms, houses and businesses.  One gentleman was cooking bacon on his grill right outside his covered wagon.  He invited us to breakfast, but we passed on this.  The farm has hogs and sheep and reminded us of our good friends Chris and Jason and their farm.  We also took a horse and carriage drive around the city, an aromatic and bumpy journey!!

 

 

Next we headed to 1905 where we stopped at a hotel and found a bar, of course, and had ourselves and adult beverage…period martinis.  It was nice to sit in the air conditioning.  It was a long hot day and those costumes were all made of wool, so I knew the volunteers had to be hot!  Most of the stores sold goods that looked like antiques that belonged to that year (or so I would assume) and they also sold lots of candy!! 

In 1920 we also visited the County Fair and Midway. 

We did the funhouse, train ride and Ferris Wheel, but then Curt dragged me onto the Swings.  Used to like swings back when I was younger and rode them on the Wildwood Boardwalk; but not today, they turned me “green”.  Good thing we saved that til last. Because after that I was done!!!  Time to go home.

So back to the car and the Air Conditioner blasting, I was revived a bit.  So feeling a little better, we headed to the Beer Hunter, a sports bar for early dinner/happy hour.  The waitress gave us the best service ever!  She had several tables, but was very attentive to keep our food coming (we had several different appetizers) and of course the beer (for Curt) and the wine (for me).  So checking out at the restaurants in Canada are a bit different than in the states.  They bring this machine to you to swipe your card and add your tip.  So you have to look them right in the eye when you hand the machine back to them for them to complete the transaction.  I am sure this gets them better tips.  They say it is safer as you always keep control of your credit card. 

The next day is supposed to be a rest and relaxation day.  We headed home and watched TV for a relaxing night.  TV, that is a funny thing.  None of the campgrounds have cable and most have limited internet, so even though we upgraded before our trip to unlimited data (Don’t tell Malissa and Justin), we still have trouble getting Netflix using our data.  So we usually have to watch either PBS, Fox, ABC, CBS or NBC, so normally have 4-6 channels at the most.  But in Canada there are usually only 3 stations, so we didn’t do a lot of TV watching.  Curt plays his games on his ipad and I read a book. 

So after sleeping in til 0830 for me (that’s really late for me!) the next morning, Daisy and I head down to the dog park and walk around, then come back to sit outside and read my book.  It is nice to sit out in the morning as we get morning shade.  Curt finally rolls out of bed around 1000 and decides he is going to make breakfast:  bacon and egg sandwich.  After that we decide to head downtown to ride the street cars, (no it wasn’t named desire).  It was a short ride downtown we thought until we couldn’t find the place.  After some googling and research, we headed down to the other end of the track and found it.  We were a little bit early so we strolled around Old Strathcona, a cute little neighborhood with some cute stores and cafes.  We eyed a Starbucks and ordered super large (larger than venti) Shaken Lemon Iced Tea to split.  It’s nice to have something familiar once in a while.  Our first Starbucks since Banff.  

The streetcar came along in about 30 minutes and by the time we walked around the block exploring Old Strathcona sipping our Iced Tea, there was a crowd of folks waiting for the streetcar under the shade of a building since there was nowhere to sit.  Not afraid to stand in the sun, I went and stood in line by the sign and we were the second group on.  The High Level Street Car takes you from the heart of Old Strathcona and downtown Edmonton across the world’s highest streetcar river crossing.  The streetcars are owned, operated and maintained by volunteer members of the Edmonton Radial Railway Society. 

This mural was right where we got on the Streetcar.   I thought this was a cool picture. 

 View from the bridge of downtown Edmonton

View of the new bridge they were building next to the street car bridge.  The street car bridge was on top and the cars drove under the bridge.  Sorry, didn’t get a picture of the bridge we were riding on.  

It was a nice ride and an easy ride back to the campground, for our relaxing day.  Salads for dinner!

Leaving for Malmstrom tomorrow with a stop on the way.