2009 – Week 15

July 23, 2009, Thursday:
We survived the mosquito spraying last night. About 1:00pm, when the smell was gone, Susie put he fan in the RV window and sucked the cool air inside. Daisy was much happier and so were we. We left Oakwood Lakes at 10:30am and headed southeast into Brookings to visit 2 AAA Gems. The first was McCrory Gardens on the grounds of South Dakota State University. As a matter of fact, all three Gems were on the campus of SDSC. We walked through numerous plantings and landscape features, trying to avoid the irrigation systems that seemed to spray water wherever we stood. As with all gardens, you get what is flowering at the time of the year you are visiting, but I can tell you that there was enough color for sensory overload. From here we headed to the Agriculture Heritage Museum. In this building were several very old tractors, some steam driven others gas driven. It is interesting to see the tools that farmers had available to them in the 1910’s. There was a brief history of the Briggs & Stratton Company. Briggs never went to college, but he had the knack for things mechanical. He eventually left the company and went on to head the Outboard Marine Company. There was another display of farm chores in the 1930’s based on books and illustrations by Bob Artley, born in 1917. If you get chance, look him up on the internet and get one of his books. We bought “Seasons on the Farm”. His work made the display fun, and we noticed several children laughing and wondering was this really how people lived in the 1920’s and 1930’s. As a side note, we were told that we had to go across the street to the Microbiology – Farm building where the students were trying to improve ice cream and create new flavors. We held off on going there and went back to the RV for lunch. After lunch we headed to the South Dakota Art Museum. Many artists with very different stories to tell. From here we went back for ice cream and milk (for me). The ice cream was wonderful and rich, and I needed the milk to wash it down. I returned to the Agriculture Heritage Museum to see if they had any sheets on what SD produced and how it compared with other states. Hooray for the internet, 2 minutes later I had all the info. Returning to the RV, we decided that we would head directly to Pipestone MN and skip Sioux Falls. There was a major reconstruction project on I-29 from Brookings south, creating single land traffic flows. We were on it only for about 10 miles before we exited and headed east into MN. Gabby Garmin was wrong again as we tried to get to Pipestone NM from town, but eventually we figured it out. We checked in to a Campground nearby where Susie gave me a much needed haircut, and we had dinner of hamburgers and corn plus we washed a few loads of stuff, mostly covers for Daisy’s bed. This seems to be a friendly campground with people wandering around and talking with each other. We went to bed around 11:00pm.

July 24, 2009 Friday:
Daisy and I went for our walk at 7:30am and returned to have a cup of coffee for me and breakfast for Daisy. Susie was up a bit later. We spent a good amount of time discussing what we would see in MN. We have decided to keep to our plan of visiting the outlying parks and special features. We headed off to Pipestone NM and discovered that not only was this a monument to protect the material that the Native-Americans used in the past to make pipes and other objects, but the NPS has taken the opportunity to turn the facility into a study of prairie grasses and how to rid the area of all non-native plants, most brought to the area by settlers. When they started the project of restorative burning, about 1/3rd of the plants were non-native. It seems like a tough task, and we wish them well. We left the NM at 2:00pm after having spent time with a couple who are riding a tandem bicycle across the country, Portland OR to Portland ME. They are stopping at friends and families places as they go. Actually we saw them yesterday Susie at McCrory Gardens and me at the Agriculture Heritage Museum. They are in their mid-50’s and must be retired. She has had both knees replaced, and she says he is due. They stay in hotels or B&B’s so there is no need for them to carry tents and all that other stuff. There are numerous wind turbines in the area. Most are smaller, and so must be older because the new technologies permit larger ones now. We were talking to some people in the campground today who were escort vehicle drivers for turbine blades, which are now 130 feet long. Stay tuned, I’m sure they’ll be longer soon. Once again, this is glacial lake area, and we are seeing numerous lakes, some small and some bigger. It is amazing what glaciers leave as they advance and retreat. We eventually stopped at Silbey Lake SP, approximately 10 miles north of Willmar MN. We were able to get the last spot, for one night due only to a recent cancellation. There is no electric, but we’ll make due. We took a short hike in the park to the top of Mt Tom. It was 2 miles round-trip and had a gigantic net elevation change of 100 feet. At the top of Mt Tom, there is an observation tower that just barely got us over the trees. We took a few pictures and started back. The mosquitoes began to get me as we were walking down and when we returned to the RV, I jumped inside. A bit later Susie came in and said the mosquitoes were gone. I took no chances and put on long pants and a long sleeve shirt before venturing forth. There are numerous dogs and young kids in the campground, all having lots of fun. I wonder what time curfew is here? We had green beans and meatloaf for dinner. Remembering our experience in 2006 returning from Canada where we lost all our venison at the border, we are eating all unlabelled food now. It is going to be a bit warmer tonight because we are nestled in the trees and there is not much airflow.

July 25, 2009 Saturday:
We awoke this morning with cool temperatures, blue skies and wind in the treetops. It wasn’t until Daisy and I went for our walk and got away from the trees that I realized how hard it was blowing. We took showers and because the showers wouldn’t shut off, all the hot water was gone in just a few minutes. A waste of water and electricity. We had eggs, sausage and orange juice for breakfast, cooked on the outside stove. We left the Park at 11:00am and headed north towards Alexandria to visit the Runstone Museum. This museum is primarily dedicated to the discovery in the late 1890’s of a stone with ancient Viking symbols and tools that cast further doubts on the belief that Columbus discovered America. The stone tells the story about the attack and resulting death of some of their comrades while in MN. I had known since 2006 that there are the remains of a Viking settlement on the northwest corner of Newfoundland. We had wanted to go there, but ran out of time. Also Jared Diamond’s latest book “Collapse” in which he discusses Vikings in Greenland and there adventures further west. It seems very possible that they sailed into Hudson Bay, walked upstream to Lake Winnipeg and walked further south into Minnesota. According to information in the Museum, the authenticity of the stone has become more certain as investigative technology has become more sophisticated. There were other exhibits, and the one that sticks with Susie and me is a story written by a man and his experiences as a boy with the old (pre-rotary dial) telephones and “Information, Please”. He thought there was a wonderfully smart lady inside the phone who would answer any question he had. He asked her how to spell words, help with homework, etc. Even after the boy was grown, he kept it touch and was devastated he called and she had died. However, the lady had left a note with the other operators, and it was read to him. That softened the blow. After we left the Museum, we went to the local bakery for bread, an éclair and napoleon for a treat. We then continued on north, but were going to take a detour along a route marked as scenic by Rand McNally. We traveled about 10 miles and realized it wasn’t scenic at all. We took a series of back roads, which were much more scenic and arrived at Itasca SP. There were 3 spots with electricity remaining and we took one for two nights. One again we dodged a bullet. A heavy rainstorm came through and washed the RV. We had internet so I looked at local radar. This was the only precipitation within 100 miles. We noted that this land, while it has different trees than home, has the feel of the east coast with large trees and big woods. There are 11,000+ lakes in Minnesota (no matter what the State license plate says), and everyone seems to have vacation houses. We went to bed early and plan to take the day off tomorrow to relax. Probably won’t be as successful as we believe. Last night we discovered that I had forgotten to fill the RV water tank, and it was empty. That was a first, and something we’ll have to remedy.

July 26, 2009 Sunday:
Today was a bit of a rest day, and we enjoyed it. About 11:00am we decided that we should ride our bikes to the Headwaters of the Mississippi River, the outflow from Lake Itasca, and then continue around Lake Itasca, a distance of approximately 15 miles. The Minnesota folks said it was a bit hilly, but we weren’t worried. Susie made a lunch and off we went. The place was full of people of all ages. The youngest was a 19-day old, and the oldest, who knows. Kids, adults and dogs were all in the water, and it was easy to walk across the Mississippi as it was only 18” deep at worst. As we watched, the scene reminded us of the one at Upper Emerald Pool in Zion NP a couple of months ago. We finally left and went to the Visitor Center to have lunch and buy a commemorative pin for the Headwaters and the State Park. Off we went around the Lake in a counterclockwise direction. For a while the road was 2-way, but soon it became one-way and less stressful. Up and down small hills without any trouble. We stopped to see an Eastern White Pine Tree that was more than 300 years old. It was in good health. We continued on, but noticed that every time we stopped, the mosquitoes and deerflies swarmed and bit. Back on the bikes. And we stopped again to see a 300+ year-old Red Pine. It was not as healthy as the Eastern White Pine, but it had the distinction of being the co-holder champion of being the biggest Red Pine in the USA. We kept on going and returned to the RV around 4:00pm. Showers were in order and then a quick steak, potatoes and cooked carrot dinner. We unhooked the RV and drove to listen to a trio of local singers, Alabaster Falls. They were wonderful and most everyone stayed for the entire 2-hour show. We returned to the Campground and did some computer work. I was working in iPhoto and noticed for the 2nd time in the last few days that photos had disappeared from iPhoto but not from the hard drive. What a stressful time! I finally just went to bed and hoped that they would re-appear tomorrow.

July 27, 2009 Monday:
Daisy and I took our walk this morning, and she was a bit perky. Susie was drawing and I working on downloading my blog. Something bad seemed to have happened there also, and I hope I was able to fix it. We took showers and left the Park at 11:45am. We headed northeast east on US71 to International Falls. The road was often straight as an arrow as it tracked across the gently rolling hills on MN. I commented to Susie that if there were no trees, we would be able to see for miles. This area had been heavily logged in the early 1900’s, and it has been slow to recover. However, there now seems to be a plan and the timber industry is slowly coming back. The trees do not grow as fast as they do in the warmer climate, but they are making progress. The winds were blowing hard all day, making the driving a bit tough at times. We arrived in International Falls and immediately stopped at the Visitor Center in hopes of find material on Voyagers NP. Susie was successful, and we then shopped for groceries, gas and a place to stay. We found a small RV Park and settled in. I spent a time trying to figure out how to take the Boise Cascade Paper Plant tour and see as much of Voyagers NP as possible. I think we have it under control, but I need to call the tour boat company to see if the published schedule is the correct one. I have an inkling from our neighbors that it may not be. Our neighbors have an older RV, and while talking with them, realized that this is their send one, the first having been junked after 220,000 miles. On that basis, ours is just broken in. I talked to them about our battery problem without coming up with a solution. He told me that he had added more metering of the electric system so that he could tell more accurately what the charge levels were. We’re going to be able to get back home without too much inconvenience. I am actually more worried about my computer and all the photographs. We had a thunderstorm, but later the weather cleared.

July 28, 2009 Tuesday
The weather was wet, cloudy, windy and raw, just like a fall day at home. Having hot cereal for breakfast pretty much says it all! It pretty much stayed that way all day. We toured the Boise paper mill from 11:00am to 12:15pm. Two financial businessmen took the company Boise Cascade private from the country of India a few years ago. The papermaking process started with the delivery of logs from the 335,000 acres of land owned by Boise in Minnesota. The bark is stripped from the logs and used to generated heat for drying the paper pulp. The logs are chipped and turned into pulp in vats that are about 10 feet in diameter and 15 feet deep. From the vat the highly diluted pulp is distributed on to a fine meshed fabric. The water is drawn away, and all that is left is the continuous moving fiber mat. This mat, or sheet, then enters the drying section where steam heated cylinders evaporate most of the remaining water, and then heavy steel rollers finish the sheet to the required thickness and smoothness. On the smaller of the paper machines, the sheet moves at 29mph, and on the biggest machine (cost $525M) the paper moves at 41mph. The most exciting time is when there is a weak point in the paper, causing it to break. The machines shuts down automatically but just visualize the mess created by 40 -foot wide sheet of pulp/paper traveling wild at 41mph (60 feet/sec). This happens 2 to 3 times per 24-hour period. We just missed seeing this happen on the big machine, but we did see the wet mess on the floor. The cutting of the paper, wrapping and boxing the product were fun to watch, but I just kept thinking that it takes us about 15 months to go through one box. Not all of the boxes had Boise labels, there were some from Staples and other companies I did not recognize. So the lesson is to buy the weight and color you want at the cheapest price. It is probably the same paper as the most expensive brand. We drove to the Rainy Lake Visitor Center of Voyagers National Park. This entrance is at the west end and closest to International Falls. We were able to get reservations on 2 boat tours for tomorrow afternoon, leaving from RLVC, and then another trip on Thursday from Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center on Thursday afternoon. Susie and I think that we’ll get a much better view and understanding of the Park looking from the water. After all, 38.5% of the area of the Park is water. There are wolves in the Park, but the Ranges didn’t seem to know how many or where. Minnesota has not imported wolves, as has Yellowstone NP, all are native. We watched 2 movies and took a short hike before returning to the RV Park, the same one we were stayed in last night. It rained a bit as soon as we were tucked in, and we hope that tomorrow will be better. At least we have good wet weather gear for the boat trips.

July 29, 2009 Wednesday:
This morning was a it colder, but there were signs of sun coming through the clouds. NOAA still is forecasting 20% chance of rain and thunderstorms for the next 4 days. Susie took pictures of her drawings, and I prepared the RV to go to the Rainy Lake Visitor Center to take 2 boat tours. The boat was a pontoon boat with a seating capacity of 20+ people and was named the Borealis.
As I said yesterday, we thought that the way to see this Park is by water, and we were correct. We saw the western part today and will see the eastern part tomorrow. There were numerous houseboats, mostly rental we suspect, cruising around or moored to the shore. The more fancy houseboats have waterslides and hot tubs. We were told that the Park has 204 campsites that are accessible only by water and maybe 30% were in use. It is ‘first come, first served’ for all these sites, and there were numerous kayaks and canoes pulled ashore at them. I am sure the Park is almost full during the weekends. We had a brief tour of Little American Island, the largest gold mine in the area. The gold rush went bust in ????years, but the remains of the shafts and tailing still remain. What we have seen so far reminds me of the San Juan Islands in WA, the 1,000 Islands and Adirondack Park in NY. This is much smaller, but it gives me a sense of peace as we traveled across the water.
By the way, we learned that MN has 11,864 lakes, according to the National Park Service. I wonder how big a piece of water needs to qualify as a lake? We saw numerous bald eagles, but the young have not yet fledged. There are 36 nesting pair of bald eagles in the Park, about as much as it can support so now the population is spreading in all directions beyond the Park borders. We saw a family of Loons: mother, father and one chick. The parents were teaching the chick how to dive and fish for dinner. Every so often we would hear the mother and father calling to each other with their wonderful song. We saw a single large turtle, about 12” in diameter, slip from a rock and disappear into the water.
I thought that the Rainy River, which flows through International Falls, flowed east into Lake Superior, but the Ranger corrected me. After a bit of investigation, I found that one the border between the US and Canada sits Moose Mountain (about 35 miles from Lake Superior). The water that flows down the east side of the mountain flows into Lake Superior and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. The water that flows down the west side flows west through Voyagers NP, down the Rainy River to the Lake of the Woods in Canada and eventually empties into Hudson Bay. So now we know that water flows 2 directions in MN, but let’s add a third, the water that flow down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. A look at a National Geographic Hydrological Map of North America indicates that this is the only state that has water flowing to 3 different drainage basins. We finished the 2nd boat tour at 5:00pm, loaded the RV and headed east to the Woodenfrog Campground, a MN State Forest campground, near the VNP Kabetogama Visitor Center from where we’ll take our tour of the eastern portion of the Park to Kettle Falls Hotel (accessible only by water). It rained a bit as the sun went down.

2009 – Week 14

July 16, 2009, Thursday:
I discovered this morning on my morning walk with Daisy that if we had gone to the south side of the reservoir to camp, there were showers and other facilities that we didn’t have on the north side. It turned out that we had unknowingly made the correct decision. Dogs were not allowed on the south side, and the mosquitoes were vicious. We had our showers and left at 10:30am, planning to stop at the Bighorn Canyon National Recreational Area, located in both MT and WY. We would spend the night in one of the campgrounds that was accessed from the south through Lovell WY. On the drive there Susie identified another flower, the Mexican Hat. This flower grows along the eastern base of the Rockies from WY south into Mexico. We stopped at the Visitor Center (BLM), and they were very helpful. We were told that the Bighorn Lake was 6 feet above normal, the first time in years that the level has been above average. Looking at the exhibits, Susie remembered a PBS program, titled Cloud, on wild horses in the west. The film was made here in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, which is to the west of and partially included in the BCNRA. The BLM is charged with managing the herd and has tried ways other than helicopters to herd them to capture. Unfortunately, the alternatives are much more costly, and there is a question if the more expensive program will be continued. We drove north on WY37, stopping at the Horseshoe Bend Campground to check availability. There wasn’t a tree in sight, so off we went, headed north to Barry’s Landing to check out that campground. On the way, after crossing back into MT, we stopped at the Devil’s Canyon Overlook where the Bighorn River flowed 900 feet below the overlook. Across the river was a meander that had been cut off over the years and had left exposed Natural Corrals, proving, I suppose, that the climate in this area was much warmer a long time ago. Down on the river was a privy placed on a floating barge so that people boating had a place to do their business.
As we continued north, we saw a female big horn sheep. The animal was in the process of shedding its winter coat and looked very scruffy. Also, all those pictures you see in the magazines of big horn sheep, those are generally rams with the big horns; the females have much smaller horns. A bit further on we saw 5 wild horses drinking water from puddles beside the road.
We are glad to report that the small herd of one stallion, three mares and one foal were in excellent condition The elevation of Barry’s Landing was about 3,700 feet and the temperature about 90 degrees. We decided that we had seen all that we wanted to and headed out, proceeding east on Alt 14A crossing the Bighorn Lake on a causeway. When we were here in 2006 and coming west on Alt 14A, there was almost no water flowing under the bridge. Now water seemed to be everywhere. Good News! We wanted to reach a higher elevation so that the temperature would be less, and so we started climbing a 10% grade from 5,700 feet to 8,900 feet at the Porcupine Campground in the Bighorn National Forest. A wonderful surprise, here we were some 3,000 feet above the floor of the Bighorn Basin, 15 miles from the nearest town, just entering the Bighorn National Forest and the cell phone rings. It was Kimberly. She and Susie talked about all sorts or things, especially the new Dalmatian puppy, Violet, and her (Kimberly’s) pregnancy. She is due in mid-November. At 8:30pm at the Campground, the temperature is 58 degrees and possibly could fall into the 40’s. I am now in the process of resolving the impossible task of how to stay at this altitude all the way home so we don’t get too hot. There are rumors of a wonderful hiking trail from the Campground. We’ll confirm that tomorrow. The mosquitoes around here are thick and aggressive. They don’t seem to bother Susie as much as me. She can sit out, and I need to be indoors. Just after the sun set, I was walking over to the pit toilet and thought that I saw an odd shape. I turned on the flashlight and saw the hindquarters of a large animal. I thought horse, but then it backed away from the tree, and I saw the big head of a young moose. I returned to the RV and told Susie. We both went out, and I was unable to find my moose, but Susie saw two, we believe a mother and her baby. I guess they had enough of us, jumped the fence and wandered off. That was it for the night. The skies were dark, the moon had not risen and the stars were bright. Nothing like being in a place with no light pollution.

July 17, 2009 Friday:
It was 48 degrees this morning and there were two (that I know of) very short rain showers before 7:00am. This morning we decided to stay for a second night, giving us time to take a hike someplace through the surrounding meadows. The Camp Host directed us to a NFS Station one mile down the road, but they were all on work detail. We found a map posted in a shelter, but a critical part had been removed, and it was such a small scale that the detail didn’t show. We tried to sort it out and then return to the campground to tell the coupe from Memphis what we had found, but by that time, they were already a trail that showed on my GPS and the NFS map. It wasn’t much of a trail, or maybe it had been and was abandoned many years ago. We are finding that maps and GPS data has not been updated or new roads replacing old, and the old ones still showing. Pretty aggravating. We finally straighten ourselves out and returned to the RV to make a lunch and get proper equipment, plus prepare Daisy for the hike. We had a nice 4-mile round trip walk across meadows full of wild flowers and indications of places where animals had laid down to sleep or rest.

We at lunch in the woods and walked back taking a slightly different track to avoid crossing Porcupine Creek and some small streams. Susie did better than I, more patient I suppose. Both my feet were wet but neither of hers was. We returned to the RV at 3:30pm and had a rest before starting our afternoon activities. I am trying to work out our schedule for the rest of the trip.

July 18, 2009 Saturday:
Today is the day we leave the Bighorn Mountains. It is a neat place and feels as if a set of mountains were uplifted about 6,000 feet above the land below. I say that because you have to climb that amount to get onto the plateau and then go down the same amount to get off. The highest we went was at Medicine Wheel NM, just a bit below 10,000 feet.
This is an ancient Native American sacred place, and a spoked-wheel laid out on the ground and marked with stone. It is not a building, and the only indication of living quarters, and this is a guess, were the small circular rings at the perimeter of the big ring that may have been there to hold tepees in place. I can visualize the winds that blow across this mountain top all times of the year. We continued east an US14A until it ended at US14. We continued east on US14 and found that they are in the process of straightening this road and taking out many, if not all, of the switchbacks. Nothing like big equipment and dynamite to move rock! US14 in Wyoming is the northern-most road in the state, and we suspect truckers will use it extensively. Of course, when it really snows, it may be difficult to keep open. US14A is closed during the winter. When we came down out of the mountains we came across a viewing area for the ‘Fallen City’, a number of very large granite rocks that were about the size of buildings with a height of 6-10 stories, thus the name. I don’t think we have ever seen anything like this before. When we reached the plain, and the boring part of the trip, we stopped in the town of Dayton WY where we had lunch at the Branding Iron Restaurant. The food was good, especially the pie a la mode. The waitress was a bit old than we, and she kept us in line. The land out here is mostly sage and used for grazing, plus it seems that natural gas grows well here. It is not very attractive, but I suspect we knew that in our hearts as we left the Bighorn Mountains. We stopped in an RV park in Gillette WY because we were afraid that the State Park some 30 miles further would be filled, being it was Saturday night. Susie made the comment that Wyoming equals big trucks, ATV’s and chainsaws, but she could become a western WY and MT girl, but only during the summer months.

July 19, 2009 Sunday:
Daisy had a bad night last night; once again the effects of coming down from high altitude (10,000 feet) to lower altitude (4,800 feet). She was up every 2 hours, and I had to take her for a walk. I finally stayed up at 6:00am, took a shower and rattled around the RV (making more noise as it became later) until Susie got up. It was a bit cloudy, but we followed our plan to visit Devils Tower National Monument as our last big event in WY before we passed into SD. As we drove from Gillette east on I-90 we saw numerous oil/gas drilling rigs, but the most surprising was the coal generating plant on the south side of the road and a small but growing open-pit coal mine on the north. A conveyor under I-90 connected the two. The BNSF has a set of railroad tracks that pass by the plant, and Susie and I wondered if they were selling any of the coal or if it was all being used to supply the plant. A few miles east, we saw three long coal hauling trains, and we assumed that they were waiting to be loaded so some of the coal from the open pit is probably being shipped some other place. We passed north of the Thunder Basin National Grasslands, with an area of 1,800,339 acres. In the early years settlers familiar with farming in humid areas homesteaded the area with catastrophic results. The area turned into a dust bowl. It has now been replanted with native plants and is being used with great success as grazing land for sheep, cattle and pronghorn antelopes. At the north edge of this grassland, which is blessed with great energy resources, operates one of the largest coalmines in the US. There was a two-issue article in the New Yorker magazine a few years ago about this mine and the challenges of transporting the coal, some of which was sent to a huge power plant somewhere in the southeast. The train never stops as it is unloading and returns empty to WY for another load. There is a scenic road that includes Devils Tower, and the routing is, from I-90 Exit 153, US 14 north, continuing past Devils Tower and then turning left (south on WY111. It is very different from the land we past through from Buffalo WY to Moorcroft WY on I-90. Susie and I couldn’t believe the difference. The route was generally flat with an elevation of approximately 4,000 feet until past Devils Tower



when it climbed in to the Black Hills National Forest and the Bear Lodge Mountains to reach a high elevation of 4,400 feet. It seems like an insignificant amount, but all of a sudden the grass turned green and lush and we found many ranches that were harvesting and bailing hay. It reminded us of the east coast with its lushness. We returned to I-90 and continued east into SD and Rapid City. Rapid City is host to one of the largest and most famous Harley Davidson rallies in the USA. We only know about this because in 2006 we ran in to some folks headed there. It was hot today, but a cold front was expected and did arrive with thunder and lighting and heavy rain. The RV Park we are in is packed full as it is close to Mt Rushmore NP, Wind Cave NP, Custer SP and the incomplete Crazy Horse Memorial. We are hoping to get the RV house battery issue resolved in Rapid City before we push on further east. Tomorrow Meredith and Michael Ray close on their new house in Indianapolis IN. Happy Days are here!


July 20, 2009 Monday:
Oops, talked to Meredith today, and the closing will be on Wednesday due to a law that requires the buyer to have the appraisal in hand for 3 days before the closing. That makes the closing on Wednesday. Today was unusual one in that whatever we had planned seemed to go amiss. We tried to go to Safeway for some minor stuff and Gabby Garmin had us doing all sorts of silly things. We eventually took measures into our own hands and got there. Next was the stop at the Interstate Battery store to check on the RV house battery. There has been some road configuration in the area and Gabby had us on the wrong side of the tracks, figuratively and literally. In addition, the address on the Interstate web site was wrong because they had recently moved. It turned out that the battery was in good shape, but for some reason it was not getting a full charge. More investigation is needed, but when we get home. Off we went, headed towards Badlands NP in SD. Along the way, we noticed great areas being hayed and even the areas between the fence and the road surface (the right-of-way). This serves to give the ranchers more feed and eliminates the need for the road departments to mow. Seems like a good concept to me. Most of the ranchers out west no longer bale the hay in rectangular shapes, but now make roll bales. The roll bales are easier to handle in large quantities. We took the scenic route US44 along the south side of the Park and entered at the southeast entrance. We took the road through the center of the Park from east to west, losing some of the easterly progress we had made earlier in the day. We saw a herd of 25+ Bighorn Sheep, primarily females and young ones, at the end of the drive. It was 5:30pm when we pulled into a RV Park in Wall SD. If that rings a bell, Wall Drug is really a mini-mall in the town and seems to be the obligatory stop if one is traveling the northern route across the country.
We saw at least 6 tour busses in the parking lots, and many people with nametags pinned to their shirts. Back in the 1930’s Wall Drug’s first marketing ploy was to offer free ice water to shoppers. We toured the many stores in the evening and will stop there in the morning to get 5-cent coffee and fresh donuts. They seem to sell everything in this place, but we only bought a commemorative pin and an ice cream cone. We had steak, corn and green beans for dinner, mostly cooked outside. The little Coleman stove had a hard time boiling water due to the strong north winds. It was a much cooler day than usual, and most everyone we saw commented on this fact. Daisy is feeling much better, and we hope we are near the end of her altitude problems.

July 21, 2009 Tuesday
It was cooler last night, and we had a better sleep. Susie gave Daisy a bath, and she smells much better. There was a hair-cutting shop across from the RV Park and needing help Susie called over for both of us. The earliest they could take us was 11:00am and too late. We took showers and left the RV Park at 10:00am and headed to the public parking lot in Wall. We found a spot near the trees and in the shade. I thought we would be able to keep Daisy cool and pull right out after Susie took her pictures of boots and hats, and I bought fresh donuts.

When we walked back, we noticed several RV had pulled in, and from a distance I thought we were trapped. Luckily we were able to back out and escape, but I’m sure some others were trapped for a while. We headed east on I-90 through gently rolling grasslands. We saw few houses and even fewer cattle, but lots of hay bales. They even harvested the hay down the median of I-90 plus along the shoulders. We continued east and to be truthful it was a bit boring. We were desperately looking for a rest area so that we could stop and make lunch, but I guess out here no one stops for anything so we drove straight to Fort Pierre SD and had a late lunch at a restaurant we learned about from the Visitor Center. It had recently reopened after major renovations (we were told) but it really needed help with the food. I was dying for an omelet, thinking that would be fresh but had to settle for a club sandwich that wasn’t anything to write home about. We continued along to visit the State Capital complex.

The building is coming up on its 100 birthday. We spent about an hour inside walking three floors. It is a great building with materials and workmen from all around the world. Hopefully the pictures will show you the magnificence. We discovered that even though the dividing line between the Mountain and Central Time Zones is down the channel of the Missouri River, leaving Pierre and Fort Pierre in different time zones, the people have decided they belonged in the Central Time Zone, so we lost an hour. At least tomorrow morning the sun will not be rising before 6:00am. We have pulled into the Oahe Downstream Recreation Area for the night. They have electricity at the sites but no water, not a problem for us. Susie is working on her pictures for the next issue of her blog. Daisy wanted to go swimming so badly, but now that she is clean and doesn’t smell, it will be a while.

July 22, 2009 Wednesday:
HAPPY 42ND ANNIVERSARY TO US! Since we were operating as if we were in the CDT Time Zone, even if we were on the west side of the Missouri River, the sun came up later than just the day before. We were out of bed at 7:30am and on the road by 9:30am. We decided to drive over the top of the Oahe Dam and discovered to our amazement that there didn’t seem to be any way for commercial water traffic to pass upstream of the structure. When we have wifi again, I’ll check on that question. We headed east on US14 to Miller SD and turn north on SD45, planning to intersect US212 east to Watertown SD. When we reached US212, We found that the road was closed, so we turned around and headed south to SD26 and headed east again. After a few zigs and zags, we were able to get back on US212 and head into Watertown. The trip across SD from Pierre to Watertown was a study in rolling hills, pastureland and crop producing land. It was green without irrigation. The farms were well kept and the equipment was generally new. There were more John Deere and Case International dealers than Wal-Marts. What a refreshing change. Approximately 30 miles west of Watertown, we passed through the town of Clark, with a population of 1,285 people. What was most interesting and first caught my eye was a grouping of 7 cars, all the same model and year. All were painted the in the same color scheme and were lined up in 2 columns. After that we saw a sculpture of old steel wagon wheels and then two sculptures of wooden poles installed in the ground at a slope.

There were no signs about the origin, so we named this area the Stonehenge of SD. We pushed on, realized we were hungry and stopped under a tree in the town of Henry, population 268, and had lunch. Interestingly, there was a restored 2-story square house, with additions, that was the class of the town. It seemed a bit out of place, but it was nice. AS we drove east from Henry, the more lakes and ponds we saw. There were white pelicans on most of them. This northeast portion of the state is known as the Glacial Lakes Region. We finally reached Watertown and the Terry Redland Museum. I had never heard of him, no great surprise there, but neither had Susie. According to the magazine, US Artists, he was voted the most popular American artist 8 years running. It turned out that he had donated $1.8 million towards the construction of the building, which was designed by his son. Anyway, when we walked it, the paintings reminded us of velvet paintings we have seen on street corners. He must have sold numerous prints from the original oil paintings hung in the museum, but they weren’t to our taste.




There was a small room where approximately two dozen of his graphite sketch drawings that were studies for his paintings. We thought these were the best, but to each his own. Susie said that she had never been in and out of an art museum so quickly. We jumped back into the RV and headed south to Cottonwood Lakes SP in preparation for going to Brookings for three AAA Gems tomorrow. There are 2 campgrounds in the Park, There are big trees everywhere in Campground 1 and small going to be big trees in 30 years in Campground 2. We’re in Campground 1. We have been warned that they are going to spray for mosquitoes tonight between 9:00pm and 11:00pm. Glad we’re not tent camping. It has been a long time that I’ve heard about spraying, but the SD SP’s we’ve been in seem to do it regularly. We stopped at 5:00pm after having driven 266 miles.

2009 – Week 13



July 9, 2009, Thursday:
Susie and I were up at 6:30am. Daisy had 2 walks, and we were able to leave the RV at 8:15am for the 9:00am boat. Once again, we were transported by 2 woodies that were in magnificent condition. We were told that the boat on Lake Josephine, the farther of the two lakes we would travel, a few years ago had been in need of a major overhaul. She had been hauled over the glacial moraine between Lake Josephine and Swiftcurrent Lake (an artificial lake in front of the Many Glacier Hotel). The boat normally on Swiftcurrent Lake was hauled the other direction to Lake Josephine and placed in the fully enclosed boat shed for the winter. As luck would have it, an avalanche hit the boat shed and sheared off the roof so that boat operated as an open boat for the following season. Given the afternoon rains that seem to come through here every day, it must have been a wet tour season. To get back to the activities of the day, we took the first boat across Swiftcurrent Lake, walked a 1/5-mile across the moraine where we boarded the other boat to go to the far end of Lake Josephine. There were tall mountains all around the lake, and not much space available for paths along the water’s edge. We had the choice of 2 hikes; an easy one led by a naturalist, the other a more strenuous hike by ourselves. We, along with several others, took the more strenuous one named the Grinnell Glacier Overlook. Along the way, we saw fresh bear scat and a discussion followed as to what our thoughts would be if the scat wasn’t on the trail as we went up but was when we came down 20 minutes later. We were unable to go the entire way because of snow blocked some of the trail. If we had tried and slipped, it would have been a long way down.




We saw five people, all young, ignore the gate and keep on going. We thought our 2- mile hike from elevation 4,858 feet to 5,876 feet was enough. So did lots of other people. There was a Ranger at the high point who answered the question “Can we go on?” The Ranger’s answer was short and to the point “We can’t stop you but none of you have the proper equipment to proceed beyond this barrier.” Silence; no one asked anything more. Eventually we all headed down only to see many more people of all ages heading up. The wild flowers were colorful, helped I’m sure by all the moisture this year.

We opted to walk back along the north shore of Lake Josephine rather than wait for the boat. As we walked, we noticed several avalanche chutes where the trees had been cleared out from the top of the mountain almost to the lake. However, for some reason the avalanches seemed to stop about 150 feet of the lake and never took the trees out. We ate the rest of our lunch while waiting for the boat, and then went into the Lodge for some snacks. I rested (slept might be a better word) around the large fireplace while Susie allegedly headed to the gift shop. However, when she returned, she told me she had been talking to a lady who had a Kindle 2 from Amazon. The lady loved it! Susie thought it might be a bit pricy. We made one attempt to ride our bikes back to the campground but it was raining a bit with a promise of more to come. We waited for a while and then decided to tough it out. About 15 minutes after we arrived at the RV, the sun broke through so we got wet for no great reason. Susie took a nap, so the recharging of the RV battery was delayed. We had dinner and went to a Ranger talk on fire in the forests. It started to thunder and lightning and then rain so the program was moved under the motel porch. She was here in 2003 when there was a fire on the west side that threatened to jump the ridge and burn the east side as it had a few years earlier. The Many Glacier area was evacuated, and she and her young children went into Canada for 3 days before returning. She also talked about the fire in the spring of 2006 on the east side that jumped US89 and burned part of the Blackfoot Indian reservation before it was put under control. When we passed through here in September 2006, the smell and the burned bark on the trees was still there. This year the smell is gone and the bark has fallen to the ground. There is also some new growth. It rained quite a bit last night, and the bikes are cleaner than they’ve been in a long time.

July 10, 2009 Friday:
We were very lazy this morning and eventually settled on doing a 6-mile roundtrip hike to Ptarmigan Falls, taking us into the 3rd different valley in three days. The weather looked great and we eventually started the hike at 11:15am. Before we left, Susie had taken Daisy for a last walk down the main road and was stopped by another camper warning her than he had just seen a black bear sow and cub crossing the road where she was standing. Evidently that spot was a major known crossing route. The first 1/2-mile was the toughest, or so it seemed. We passed a family taking a break, and they were eating oranges. They seemed like a great snack and Susie vowed to get some when we came down. We walked through woods, and as we gained altitude we passed through fields of wild flowers and low shrubs. This was definitely bear (black and grizzly) country and so we hollered “Here Bear” is an effort to warn to warn them off. We passed very fresh bear scat and a spot along the trail where a bear had torn up the grass to find grubs and roots. As we went further into the valley, the Horrigan family (Leo, Margery and son Eamon) we had passed earlier caught up, and the five of us joined up. We were now close to the magic group of six people that the NPS had found bears had not attacked. It turned out that this family was from Baltimore. The usual “You’re kidding!” and other comments were passed. We stopped at the Ptarmigan Falls, talked, had a snack and then Susie and I decided that we would carry on to Iceberg Lake. This would make the hike a 10-mile trip. Off we went, climbing higher all the time and hollering “Here Bear” more often and a bit louder.



About half way up, we saw the first major wildlife of the trip, a Golden Eagle. This large bird was sitting on a rock ledge about 100 feet above us and the same distance off the trail. It doubt if it was watching us, but all of a sudden it took off and put on quite a show as it soared over our heads and the valley below. Continuing on, we started to hear news of a grizzly bear about 5 minutes ahead and about 35 yards off the trail. All the people coming down the trail confirmed this and were very excited. We approached quietly, but when we arrived, the bear had disappeared. We hope he would pop up again, but after 10 minutes we continued on, more than a bit disappointed. We kept looking back, but it was Susie who spotted it moving across the fields.
It took the rest of us a bit longer, but eventually we all saw it. There was another person nearby, and try as we might we never could get his eyes in the right place. Susie took the pictures, and we’ll see how they turned out. Up we continued and came upon a small lake. The GPS and the map showed only one lake, but this was a disappointment. We continued up the trail, popped over a small rise and there it was: a beautiful blue lake sitting at the bottom a semi-circle of 2600 foot high mountain cliffs above the water surface.

We had lunch there, soaked our feet, and gazed in awe of the scenery. We saw Mountain Goats on the cliffs and steep rocky slopes.

Leo and I tried placing ice on our knees to reduce the swelling before heading down. Off we went, making noise and encouraging those coming up the trail to continue on: the view was well worth the effort. Eamon had a great recollection of the trail, and he was right on when telling us when we were approaching a point where something exciting happened. We stopped at the Ptarmigan Falls for a rest and then continued down. We reached the bottom at 6:30pm and headed to our respective campsites with an agreement to meet the next morning to exchange information, etc. Susie and I had corn-beef hash and eggs, real comfort food, before heading off to hear a Parks Canada Ranger give a talk. Evidently, the US Park Service and Parks Canada swap programs during the summer, and we had a great one. On the way to this program we were slowed by the sighting of a black bear on the mountain slopes above the road. It was a black bear even though it was blonde in color. The two major differences between the species are the big muscle hump and the dished face on the grizzly bear. This bear had no such hump so it was a black bear. We returned to the campground and took showers. All of a sudden it was 10:15pm, and exhaustion set in. Off to bed!

July 11, 2009 Saturday:
We were slow getting up this morning but managed to have one cup of coffee before the Horrigans came by. We exchanged info and wished them good luck on their remaining visit. They headed to Two Medicine Campground for a couple of days before heading back to Whitefish MT where they would catch AMTRAK home to Baltimore. They were hoping to get a white-water trip in before leaving. Susie and I headed to St Mary Campground and decided to make today a rest day. Tomorrow we’ll spend a few more hours in Glacier NP before starting to head east. Susie drew, inked and colored like crazy while I tried to catch up on my photographs and prepare a blog for the next time we have internet.

July 12, 2009 Sunday:
Today we did as we had planned, plus a few more things. We took the shuttle to Logan Pass and then jumped on another bus to The Loop, a 180 degree-hairpin turn on the western side of the Going-to-the Sun Road. We didn’t want to go all the way to Avalanche, because the cliffs and valleys were not as spectacular. We passed The Weeping Wall, but it wasn’t as wet as it was when we passed in late June. We returned to Logan Pass where we took a short hike along the Highline Trail. The exciting portion of the hike was a rock ledge varying in width from 4 to 6 feet. Just to help us along, there was a steel cable covered with old garden hose that we could hang on to as we walked if we wanted.




Sometimes we did and sometimes we didn’t. There were hikers coming from the other direction, but the most interesting obstacle was a male mountain goat coming at us. He passed on the outside, but only after we had averted our eyes. These mountain goats, while not actually friendly, do not seem to fear humans. We returned to Logan Pass after a 1/2-hour hike. We jumped back on the shuttle to St Mary and decided it was too late to travel on, so we checked back into the campground. When Daisy was settled, Susie and I took our bikes to a trailhead and hiked the 3-mile loop around Beaver Pond. We returned to the RV around 6:15pm, and Susie took Daisy for quick swim that turned out to be 40 minutes. Daisy came back all refreshed and happy. The Park Host came by on his evening rounds and found us running the generator out-of-hours. Oops! We had dinner and tried to plan an exciting way across MT and WY, seeing places we haven’t seen before. It’s a struggle, but I think we have a plan. Next struggle will to do the same for SD.
Tonight really is our last night (of 12) in Glacier NP. As you can probably guess, it has been great and there is more to see.

July 13, 2009 Monday:
This was the last day in Glacier NP; twelve nights on both the east and west sides of the Park and well worth the time. It rained last night, and the weather for today was forecast to be rain most of the time. We decided to get breakfast in St Mary before heading to Great Falls. It was a real local place and very popular. We left St Mary and headed south on US89. The terrain changed from the foothills to the plains where we first saw cattle ranching and then as the land was better, there was still ranching but much more hay cultivation. To the west of the road, there was the Bob Marshall Wilderness and beyond that, even though we couldn’t see it, was the Abolt’s house and the town of Condon MT.

We kept heading southeast and came to a small town, almost abandoned but it had a Post Office. We stopped to change drivers, and I took a walk with Daisy. As we had approached the town we saw seagulls and wondered why, but when I got out of the RV, the ground was covered with grasshoppers or some other such bug. They were everywhere. No wonder the birds liked the place. We passed by Freezeout Lake, which is a bird wildlife refuge, but it was empty this time of the year. We continued to be amazed by the land and ranching until we reached Great Falls at 2:15pm. We stopped to refill the food stocks, get gas, purchase more dog food for Daisy and wash laundry. We finally reached the KOA at 7:15pm and had sticker shock at the price. It is a beautifully maintained place, but we didn’t need that. There was a husband-wife team who gave a small concert, and we met a couple and two young children who live in Michigan. It turns he was from Nova Scotia, but moved because of a lack of job opportunity. His father was a coal miner in an area we visited, but the job killed him at age 42. Tough life in the mines. The concert was a nice end to the day.

July 14, 2009 Tuesday
We work on computer stuff until 10:30am when Susie took Daisy for a walk before we left for Billings MT or thereabouts. I disconnected the RV from water and electricity and move it to the propane filing station. When I was in the office I discovered that they had ‘Cookies made just for you’, and I had a few and picked one up for Susie. They were delicious and just what we needed as we headed down the road. We continued south on US89, once again through wonderful farmland. It was raining intermittently, and we actually passed through an area where it had snowed. There were about 3” inches remaining on the edge of road, making it a bit slippery. Remember, this is July 14th! We passed by the Sluice Boxes State Park, so named by the early miners for the shape created by vertical rock walls and flowing water at the bottom. The signage stated that this area had been under water Unfortunately the road didn’t follow the river so we had just a short view. We continued south through the Little Belt Mountains where we passed the rough the town of Niehart, a place with a sense of humor. One street was named Compromise St. and the one store was named ‘The Inconvenience Store’. There didn’t seem to be much activity here but in earlier times it was an active mining town. We saw the remnants of two vertical mine shafts. We crossed the Kings Hill Pass at 7,393 feet where we found the base of a skiing facility. We went down the other side and turned east on US12 with the Little Belt Mountains on our left and the Castle Mountains on our left. This is true ranching land, and it is hard to find any houses anywhere. As we continued down, we began to see land under cultivation and irrigated for hay. We saw one cattle feed lot, but it wasn’t very big. We passed through a few very settlements, but they did have Post Offices so they must have been towns. We then turned south to Billings where we were planning to spend the night. The trip from St Mary to Billings has been wonderful and very different from the areas we have visited over the last three weeks. We have had a touch of the MT plains that we have not had before. Nearing Billings we called RV Parks and the prices were outrageous. We traveled a bit west on I-90 to Laurel where there was one with more reasonable prices, but it was behind a truck stop, and the smell of diesel fuel was too much. We moved on and started south on US310 and US212 and as we passed over the Yellowstone River (on its way to join the Missouri River) we saw a County Park. We though we had it made, but it was adjacent to a large refinery and while the wind direction was fine and the smell went the other direction, all that was needed was a wind shift, so we passed that one up also. We continued south and eventually stopped at 6:30pm at Cooney Reservoir State Park. The reservoir was above overfull. We settled in on the north side, right next to the water, and had dinner. It was quick and great and we needed the refreshment after having traveled 288 miles. Just after dinner, Susie looked out the window and there were two rainbows, one brighter than the other. I took Daisy for a brief walk and as the sun was setting Susie went out again. Daisy dearly wants to swim again, but it’s going to be cold tonight. The skies cleared and suddenly the Beartooth Mountains at the northeast corner of Yellowstone NP became visible. There was still snow on the peaks and in some of the areas protected from the sun. As we were going to bed last night, we heard a singing in the distance and discovered that there was a powerboat on the reservoir with a group of young folks and a boombox. They were far enough away and seemed to be having a good time without being a nuisance.


July 15, 2009 Wednesday:
Beautiful clean skies this morning. We have decided to spend a 2nd night here and so we are looking out over the reservoir with Daisy mostly of her leash. There is not too much activity here, but with the numerous homes on the north side, I suspect it is busy on the weekends. Susie is desperately trying to catch up with her drawings, and I am trying to identify the individual mountains we see off to the southwest. The Park staff has confirmed that these are the Beartooth Mountains
so we feel good about that. We have now seen the Beartooths from all sides, and the view never seems to get worse. I have pulled out the chairs and lowered the awning to provide shade. The generator is running full tilt to recharge the house battery and the computers. I have begun to take Susie’s battery when mine is low on juice. Either the battery is going bad or the iPhoto program with all our pictures is an energy hog. Well, I have a 3-year guarantee that expires in November so I’ll just go get a new one! I’ve already replaced it once. As I sit here with clear skies, I am beginning to think we should get a solar charger for the computers so that we don’t have to run the generator as often. There are 2 powerboats on the lake, often with water skiers behind. Oh no, a 3rd boat was just launched and it has a very loud boom box. Daisy is swimming in the water with a big stick and having fun not being on leash. She will be exhausted tonight. We have noticed that as the days go by, the winds shift from the south to the north and then back as night falls. It makes orienting the RV so the generator exhaust doesn’t infiltrate the cabin; closing the windows isn’t sufficient. Susie drew and drew and drew, finally stopping at 5:30pm after many hours. She took a rest and made a meatloaf and Brussels sprout dinner. I prepared a Byrd’s pudding, shortbread and peaches desert. She is now working on here photographs to prepare for the next time we get to a wifi site. It may be a while. It beautiful out as the sun sets. We had a 5-minute shower with very big raindrops, but that has all cleared away. We had a tent camper come and decide that he would pitch his tent between the water and us in our campsite. Susie politely asked him to move, and he did. Don’t know what he was thinking. There is much more activity on the Reservoir than yesterday. PWC’s seem to be everywhere as they roar up and down the lake. Susie had trouble with her pictures so she may need to take them again tomorrow.