As we have crossed and recrossed this country we have retraced many different routes from the Chisolm Trail to Route 66 to the route of the rout of the Texians as they ran from the Mexicans after declaring Texas Independence at Washington on the Brazos. As we crossed from Mississippi into Louisiana on L 6 we noticed signs bearing the shape of both Texas and Louisiana and the word Camino, Spanish for trail. This was the route of the Mexican forces as they explored this land from Mexico to Florida. It took us back to Nachitoches in western Louisiana, south of Shreveport where we had enjoyed ourselves a couple of years ago. We stayed in a different campground, Dogwood Camping, to avoid the truck stop noise that had kept us awake in the Nakatosh Campground which bordered the truckstop. Dogwood had two inescapable features. We saw the first immediately as, with Carol at the wheel, we had to surmount an enormous and steep hill on broken pavement just to get into the place. There was no alternative for her but to gun the engine and go for it to hesitate would have meant disconnecting the car on the hill and backing off for another try. She made it easily, but not without some hard breathing.

The second was a bit more interesting. As I entered the office to pay for the night my eye was immediately drawn to a small table with a crossed flag stand bearing two flags, the US and Israel. I worked real hard to avoid the obvious thought that I had found a Jewish campground, in Nachatoches, LA. I cannot come up with as unlikely a scenario to compare it too. Once I disclosed my name the answer became clear. I was in the presence of an Evangelical Christian who has a love affair with Israel. As the conversation progressed and she asked if I was a Messianic Jew, I knew where we were going. We did. I assured her in no uncertain terms that there was no way I could/would consider Jesus as other than a prophet and left to go about my business.

The next morning Carol went to the office to pay for a second night and the conversation was repeated. It is nice to find people who care about Israel as much as we do. It is difficult when they want to change what we believe and do not accept no for an answer. Having had a Caatholic friend when I was 5 whose priest told him it would be good for me if he converted me, I have had plenty of experience at warding off most approaches, I do get bored with the subject.

In the campground we met Norm and Wilma. Norm is a minister, Orthodox Presbyterian as it turned out. We invited them in for happy hour and had a wonderful time. I learned more about the Presbyterians, and their schisms than I remember from any comparative religion course I ever took. We even had a chance to look at different ways of viewing a passage in the Torah, Exodus 34:14 if anyone is interested. We only had two translations to work with, but I know there are others. There was no overt attempt at conversion and there was lots of talk about grandkids and interesting travel.

The next morning, that must have been today (1/18/06) we continued across the Camino through Nacodgoches, TX and Crockett (last time through here we stopped at the spring where Davy and company stopped to refresh themselves – it’s still there and there is now a sign saying “Future Site of Park.” And on to Bryan where we will spend two nights and the most likely conversion attempt will be to Texas A&M loyalists, but we will be joining Leigh and Pat in Austin on Friday and will have to maintain our loyalty to #1 –

BROWN University, #1 in the Ivy League!

This is not quite a nonsequitor, well maybe it is, but I’ll go with it as you will see how it fits.

It was cool and threatening when we started up in the Wal Mart Parking lot. We moved back out on to US 278/MS 6 westbound from Oxford to reach the river. At Clarksdale we worked our way over to the Great River Road, MS 1 and turned south. It you pull out a map of the region you will see that the Mississippi snakes its way south like a plate of linguini. There are many threads of water, none of them connected to the main stem. They are remainders (or is that reminders?) of where the river once was and is no longer, for the time being. Actually this paragraph is very much like the area, meandering around the subject without really reaching it. The valley floor is a wide flat plain of very fertile soil and it is mostly agricultural, we saw cotton, rice and wheat fields and I am sure other crops as well that I would have no way of recognizing at this time of year. We did not ever see the river! We saw water that was old ox bows and we saw tributary streams, but the river was always just over the next levee or meandering west as the road went east.

We were intrigued with the name Yazoo City and when we saw a sign for the Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) we had to explore, in Gee 2 with the car still in tow. We turned off into the entry road fully expecting to find a visitor center parking lot that would provide a place to stop for lunch and a place turn the rig around. As we got further in we saw hunters heading off into the woods with portable tree stands on their backs. We saw plenty of turnoffs into the woods, but place to stop comfortably and certainly no place to turn. We came to an intersection, deep in the reserve, where all our choices were unpaved. I hailed a passing truck and the driver, in hunting camouflage, assured me that the road ahead had no low hanging or encroaching trees and would, as my mapping software told me, return us to MS 1. We proceeded a short distance and found a spot where we could get off the road for a lunch break, but not reverse our course. There were some trucks in the area and as we were ready to get lunch out a hunter appeared. I engaged him in conversation about hunting in the NWR and he explained that bow hunting only was permitted and only in certain areas. He said that hunting was allowed to the right of the entry trail (from his perspective) and to the left was a closed area. All the really large deer stay in the protected area and don’t venture into the hunting area during the season, that is why they are large, they are, for deer, intelligent.. After eating we continued down the road with no incident and returned to the highway and continued on down to Vicksburg.

We had stayed near Vicksburg a couple of years ago, the year of the snow storm on the Natchez Trace Parkway. At that time we drove into Vicksburg and had dinner at Borellos, an experience that we both remembered fondly. That being the case we left the Magnolia RV Park in the car after cleaning up and drove into town and after wandering around in the gathering dark for an hour we parked in front of Borellos and went in for dinner. The waiter approached and asked for drink orders and I ordered a Beefeater Martini, up with an olive. He looked startled and asked me to repeat which I did. As he left I looked at Carol and realized what I had done. I have not had Beefeater in a martini in over twenty years. Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray for sure, but I had heard the words fall out of my mouth and decided to go with it. It was the best part of the meal. We will not seek out this place again. It wasn’t bad, just not worth coming out for.

As I write we are not sure where we are going today. We could spend the day here, but it is rainy and it being MLK day much is closed. We are thinking of moving on through Natchez and then into LA and across to Natchitoches (pronounced Nakotish). Still no word on the volunteer connection so it appears we will just keep moving and visit the Rainwaters in Austin late in the week.

Stay tuned!

We left Hungrytown Hollow fairly early and had an uneventful drive up and over the Blue Ridge and down the Shenandoah Valley on I 81. We remembered this time that the first Flying J we come to at exit 80 has propane but no dump facilities and is sized for mini RVs. Therefore we continued down the road to exit 77 where there is a Flying J with room and propane and dump facilities. Dump facilities are to RVers like bathrooms in Manhattan, sometimes hard to find and critical when you really need them. Lest I bore the non RVers I will leave that subject for now, but you may be assured it will reoccur and the most inopportune moments. We went looking for a Wal Mart in Bristol, TN that showed in all our guides. It wasn’t where it was supposed to be, it must have grown legs and moved. We gave up and continued to a campground we remember well. Baileyton RV is maybe 20 miles over the line into TN. We stopped there two years ago and had a pleasant enough stay – until we awoke in the morning to several inches of snow. The new owners remembered the storm; they have pictures of the campground that day. It has not happened again, yet. After a good night’s rest we continued down I 81 to I 40.

On one of our first trips down this way in 1988 (tent camping and staying in Inns and B & B’s) I had decided I wanted to take a tour of Oak Ridge, TN. As we got tangled in traffic coming through Knoxville I decided it was a bad idea and we continued back up into the mountains. The idea has stayed with me, but we never got within range of Oak Ridge again until this trip. We located a campground Volunteer Family Park outside Knoxville and twenty minutes from Oak Ridge, TN, it was open, well, sort of open. A quarter of the sites were torn up for upgrading water and electric and the place was a bit of a mess, but they had water, electric and sewer and more to the point WiFi (not free – $2). After setting up and having lunch, this was a really early stop, we drove over to Oak Ridge and found the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) which has a huge exhibit of photos and memorabilia from the days it was the “Secret City” one of the homes of the Manhattan Project. There are still vast tracts of land that are off limits to anyone without appropriate clearances. This is one of those stops that is not worth going way out of your way for, unless you are fascinated with the history of this country through WW II. It is definitely worth a stop if you are passing this way.

Hmm, Tennessee, what else is in Tennessee that I want to see but would not get on a plane or make a special trip to visit? Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, TN population 361! Just look at a map, it is in the same state and only moderately out of the way from any place one might want to go. So off we went, going cross lots on roads that were lightly traveled and not another RV to be seen. Eventually there was the Distillery right on route 55, the main road to no place in particular. The tour covers then entire plant, even in the rain and cold, from the preparation of the charcoal for mellowing to the mashing and distilling and barrel aging warehouses. Moor County, the home of the Distillery, is a dry county. By special state legislation they are permitted to sell commemorative bottles of the product in one room of the visitor’s center. After the hour and a half tour and a walk into the heart of Historic Lynchburg, we got on the road to Mill Creek RV in no place Alabama. This place is off a back road, off a back road (I am not stuttering) in the boonies. It is about an hour north of Huntsville which is to say it is barely south of the TN line. Nice place, nice people, cold weather! The site was level and roomy and if I were into hunting or fishing this is a place I might come back to many times. I am not likely to be back there again myself.

As I am writing I am sitting in a Wal Mart parking lot. They may mistreat their employees, but they are mighty nice to us RVers. Free parking with all the security you could ask for. This particular Wal Mart happens to be located in Oxford, MS. When you remember what/who Oxford is famous for, let me know. To get here we had to drive past the birth place of Helen Keller and make a stop at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscmbia just outside of Muscle Shoals. There will be a quiz on who and what these places are famous for when I see you next. The rest of the day included a piece of the Natchez Trace Parkway and sundry roads also not well traveled by our fellows in the big boxes.

Our current plan is to continue across Mississippi to the eponymous river and proceed along its east bank on MS 1 at least to Vicksburg. I’ll provide a report on reality after the fact.

Everything old is new and everything new is old. Setting up Gee 2 in the driveway in the cold of the New Year is becoming part of our normal life. As we park in the slot behind our townhouse the neighbors recognize we are getting ready for our winter travel and stop by to wish us well, offer to keep the keys and plants, look out for our unit and in general be good neighbors. Everyone wants to know where we are going this year. Our answer is, as usual, a bit vague. We will visit the kids in Virginia and the ones in Los Angeles. Somehow there is an awful lot of country between those places and a lot of time available this year. We too are fascinated to know where we will have gone by the time I am ready to close this section of the journal in early April. For now open roads and a sense of adventure lie ahead.

Other knowns about this year’’s trip are a visit with Leigh and Pat in Austin, TX; we hope to meet up with the Hoggs in AZ; as of today we will be at the FMCA Convention in Pomona, CA in late March where Carol will do her seminar again. I assume there will be a group from Chai there for us to meet with. After that, we will cross the entire continent (well, most of it) to Rochester by the end of the first week in April or so.

The drive from Rochester to Covesville, VA was uneventful. The weather was various shades of gray with an occasional splatter of rain. We stopped at the Flying J in Carlisle, PA for Gas, Propane and a nights rest. Unfortunately, people far less considerate then us, pulled in behind where we were parked and blocked access to the fueling islands, propane tank and dump station. At 9:00 PM a peremptory knock on the door informed us they we had to move on because no one could move until those who were first in had left. We rolled 6 miles down the road to a Wal Mart along with a dozen others and were left alone in blessed quiet for the rest of the night. I won’’t even try to stay at that Flying J next year. This intersection of I 81 and I 76 (PA Turnpike) is a madhouse with hordes of Canadian Rvers coming down 81 from the 1000 Island border crossing where they pick up it up and many others from northeastern US who are not headed for Florida (or are and are just avoiding the traffic and large cities on I 95). Each year when we reach this point coming down US 15 we haven’’t seen any RVs at all until we get to this intersection.

The kids, large and small and the dogs are wonderful to visit. We were able to be here for Josh’’s 14^th birthday and what a party it was. He had his entire class -– 7 in all -– at the house for active play in the yard and individual pizzas that each got to dress for themselves and a gluten free birthday cake that did not seem to be missing anything. Malena is a miracle worker putting the whole thing together in a day while also driving the older children into school and doing all kinds of shopping.

Dan and I are working to develop a more appropriate site for the motorhome on his property where I will be able to have some more amenities to extend our stay. We are currently limited by the size of our holding tanks to less than a week. Also using a 15 amp circuit from his house really limits what we can use on board. The microwave pulls the circuit way down. Our 1500 watt heater leaves us almost no ability to use any other appliance while it is on. Also, as I may have mentioned in the past, positioning Gee 2 in the driveway is more of an art than a science. It takes 5 or 6 very small maneuvers to essentially turn it around in 10 feet more than its length, without hitting the house, fence or tree and once we are in the space is not very level and requires a lot of blocking to get the refrigerator sufficiently level to work well. In the next year or so we hope to improve the parking, get in a 30 amp service and most importantly get access to his septic system. Now that the specs are in place we can start looking for what it will take to make it happen.

Carol and I had dinner with the Gretchen and Ed Robb last night. We went to the Mill Street Grill in Staunton as we did last year and had a delightful evening chatting about all kinds of subjects. We even got on to politics, amazing that that would come up. Ed has two years left on his current term and I guess politics are never too far from the top of his mind. We read “Friend of the Family” since the last time we saw him and I must admit it casts a different light on this gregarious friendly guy to know how much time he spent undercover in the Mafia for the FBI. Gretchen is still managing their menagerie and has added another quarter horse from the King Ranch to the stable. She is going off to a hunt this weekend.

The weather was in the 60’s today (Monday the 9th as I write) and Carol and I took a wonderful hike further up the Hollow to a hunting lodge (a fancy name for a derelict cabin in the woods). WE hiked with the dogs for over an hour and returned to the house tired and ready for showers. We were disappointed to find the power out, which meant no shower for the time being. Power was restored in time for dinner. Tomorrow Carol will join Dan at an open jam in town, I may go along as audience. We plan to be on the move Wednesday, the 11th.

You can see my first attempt at a PowerPoint slide show covering our trip from Hamilton, Ontario to the Convention in Minot, ND by clicking on this link . Be patient, this Adobe Acrobat file is 7 meg. I hope to put up another slide show in a few days.

On the roll again. It is September 1. On our arrival at Cedarville CG at 6:40 PM we were greeted by Shelley and Norm and the owner. We were guided to a site next to the Topfs and after a few minutes to get set up we put together the first of our pot luck dinners together. They had been touring the area for the past two days and we had just put in a long day behind the windshield so for our first day we decided to do nothing. Nothing included a trip to the town library to make use of their WiFi, as a result of which you received the previous posting. It also included getting the boat out again. Carol was not up to boating so Norm and I went out for a long paddle during which we had to pull the boat up onto a dock to further inflate it. I had been inflating to carry Carol and me and Norm actually weighs a few pounds more than Carol and the boat needed more air for appropriate stiffness. Since I had the pump along, per instructions, this was a simple exercise. After clean up and dinner it was time for early turn in.

For day two we drove up to Sault Saint Marie (finally learned how to spell it) and watched a freighter go through the locks and had an acceptable lunch. We then stopped at a coffee house, where we should have gone for lunch, to use their WiFi. For a change only Carol was able to get connected. Usually she had a hard time and I didn’t have any problem. We went back to the campground and Norm and I took computers to the library for another round of connectivity. When we got back to camp, it was still a bit early for wine so Norm and I took the boat, which was still inflated, out for a quick paddle before cleaning it up and packing it away. I think that those are the forth and fifth uses we have made of the boat, but who’s counting. The women put together a wonderful dinner of eggplant on the grill, ask Carol for the recipe she made up on the spot. Shelley baked a cake and we ate in the Topfs coach because the flies had become totally miserable when the food came out. As the women cleaned up from dinner, Norm and I were busy outside putting away all the stuff we could in preparation for an early departure in the morning. Early in this instance was by 9.

We woke up at our usual time this morning and with out pressing too hard we were hooked up and rolling in caravan by 8:50. We plan to stop in Saginaw to fuel ourselves and the motor homes. 32 miles remain as I write this. We will go our separate ways from there.

Fuel stop: talk about pucker factor. We bought 48.75 gallons of gas at $3.40/gal. OUCH. I guess I had best readjust my thinking about operating costs. The reality is that the additional dollar a gallon still has not made fuel the most expensive part of operating the motorhome. I will just have to modify my expectations and drive slower and take more direct routes. As for the “drive slower” when you RV’s on the road running 10 mph below the limit, don’t get annoyed, take a lesson from us, fuel consumption improves by 15 to 20% and that makes a big difference.

After parting from the Topfs at Saginaw, we crossed into Canada at Port Huron and started looking for place for the night. The Wal-Marts were all too far off the road and I had no way to locate a Canadian Tire. From our books we determined that there was a campground in Woodstock and that is where we directed our course. My oh my! Woodstock was an eye opener on our drive through, large gracious homes on beautiful lawns with lovely gardens. Except for the size this could have been England. We later learned it was settled by British Admiralty retirees. It is also a short drive to Stratford (50 km). The campground certainly fit in, it had lovely grounds and gardens and a pleasant pool that I managed to take advantage of. In the morning we trundled on down the road to Niagara on the Lake for three plays and a visit with some family.

We saw Gypsy, Belle Moral and Happy End. All were well produced and acted. Happy End had the difficult attribute of lacking a play that was related to the music and lyrics. We enjoyed the music, but were mystified as to how it related to the meager plot that was offered.

Saturday night we had dinner with the Foreman and Arnie Zimmer and Peggy at Epicurean. The place was a delight and on advance order they had a nice veggie dish for Carol.

On Monday we set off for home at 10 AM. By 10:30 we had cleared customs on the Lewiston Bridge and were rolling for home with one more fuel stop to top off the tank for storage. As we pulled out of the Pembroke Flying J, I decided to drive along NY 5 rather than the Thruway. The good news was it was pretty and we could drive slowly without upsetting the rest of traffic. The bad news came as we approached Caledonia. I thought I saw something in the road, in the shadows, but was unable to see much other than that it was in the center of the lane. Too late it became clear that it was a stacking chair. The noise it made as I hit it was horrendous. It dragged under the front end. I pulled over at once and discovered a metal framed plastic chair wedged under the front bumper against the axle. Our FMCA Goose Egg is gone from the front and the license plate is bent. There is other minor damage to fiberglass that will not hinder our operations and will not be repaired immediately because it is not visible except on close inspection. People appeared from nowhere, drawn by the noise and we were glad to reassure them that the damage was limited to some broken plastic. The chair was in much worse shape when I hurled it into the adjacent field. When we stopped shaking we drove on home. We are grateful that this was the only untoward event of a 4061 mile trip.

Some other statistics: We put 616.81 gallons of gas in the tank. We average 6.84 miles per gallon, but that was improving steadily toward the end of trip. The worst tank; Driving in the Black hills and Badlands averaged 5.26 mpg; the best at 7.95 mpg was from Madison WI to Cedarville, MI (near Sault Saint Marie). We stayed in 14 different campgrounds and our longest stay (other than the rally) was three nights in three different places.

I will not describe the monuments, they have been photographed and used in so many media that they are totally familiar to all. We stayed in a very nice camp ground in Hill City, very close to the center of monument area, it is Crooked Creek CG and we would certainly stay there again, if we return to the area. While we were there a collectors car club was gathering for a weekend rally and there were plenty of cars from the 20’s 30’s and more recent already encamped as we were there. I would suggest that if you have not been to the area it is well worth the trip. We took a 22 mile loop road, in the car, that twists and turns and goes through several tunnels, two of which afford splendid views of the Mt Rushmore framed in the tunnel opening. Along the way we passed Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park and decided it would be a great place for paddle number two in our boat. We returned with the boat and had a fine time on this tiny gem of a lake with rock ribs protruding from it and gentle shores all around.

Our one dinner out in the area – at Ruby’s in Keystone can best be described as Iceberg Lettuce and bland coffee. It wasn’t bad, just not good. On the other hand, our lunch in the restaurant at the Crazy Horse Monument was delightful and inexpensive. Also the Board of Directors, including Korcak’s wife, Ruth, were at the next table. We spent 4 or more hours there and could have stayed longer.

The next day, Friday, I think, found us on the road toward Madison WI, some 750 miles to the east. First we had to drive through the SD Badlands. All the guidebooks take this route east to west, but were going the other way. In retrospect, the approach from the east would be far more impressive. You would have driven 400 miles of straight flat highway and then encountered this 1,000 foot wall that forms the first impression the pioneers had of this area. We had that view in our mirrors as we descended onto the plain. Ah, but first as we entered the Badlands from the west we had to stop in Wall, SD at Wall Drug where we were able to actually purchase some drugstore items we were in the market for. Of course you could buy almost anything else there too. This is another not to be missed ONE TIME stop.

We drove east across SD the rest of the day and still did not make it to Minnesota. We stopped in Mitchell, SD at Rondee Campground which had the benefit of being Passport America (50% off) and being located just off I 90 and on the edge of town. In Mitchell one must visit the Corn Palace. It has had its exterior redone in corn, rye and other material since 1892. Of course the current building is the third one, but it dates back to 1913. Once we saw it there was nothing left to do but hit the road, and we did. Crossing the rest of South Dakota and all of Minnestoa took up the rest of the day. As we approached the Mississippi River, I started looking for a place to spend the night. The Exit Source (a book that lists every business within ¼ of a mile of every Interstate exit) said there was camping at exit 2 in La Crosse, WI. We got off and took the indicated turn and found ourselves on an industrial road with no indication of camping availability. As we proceeded to the end we had the La Crosse airport on our left and at the end there was a large paved area that had the look of extended disuse. It was perfect for an overnight dry camp. As we settled in our seats to contemplate it, I noticed the Airport Police and Fire Office with one car in the parking lot. It occurred to me that they might have an interest in anyone wanting to park where we were. I walked over and rang the bell and was admitted. The officer who greeted me was clearly nonplussed at my request. And had to think about how to respond, this resulted in the natural easy response for any security officer, NO! We moved on and two miles later we pulled off for a Wal Mart/Sam’s Club parking lot. The Wally was abandoned, clearly replaced by a Super Wally someplace, but the Sam’s Club was in business and all ready inhabited by motorhome set up to spend the night. We joined them. In the morning we were up by 7 and we walked through the parking lot to a Panera Bread store that had just opened and had breakfast there while Carol got her Mac online using their free WiFi. We returned to Gee 2 by way of a Farmers Market that had just opened in the parking lot and bought some fresh vegetables that we didn’t need, but looked too good to leave there. We then set course for Madison, WI and cousin Mimi whose home we have never seen. We arrived at Mendota Park and Campground by noon, slightly frazzled by a dispute between Hal and the TrailerLife Campground Guide, at polite way of saying we got lost. I Stopped and Asked for Directions with no coaching from Carol!!

By 2 PM we were showered and had lunch prepared for Mimi and her friend Kate. Both of Mimi’s homes are in a state of turmoil as she is finishing preparing one to move into the other is being taken apart for moving out of. Kate’s home is also in a state of remodeling so Gee 2 became the venue. Since we were situated on a lake (hard not to be in Madison) they brought a long a kayak and we got the new boat out and had out third outing on it. This is a bigger lake with power boats and waves and the PaddleSki responded well enough and was not excessively disturbed by the waves. For those interested in campgrounds this one would be an all ‘round 10 if had had water and sewer on site. As it is it is mostly 30 amp electric and the water and sewer are on premises but not at the sites. There are shaded sites and sunny sites and there is ready access to the lake and Madison is just around a bend in the lake. Gravel pads and nice grass for the camping areas made it very comfortable. Reservations must be made 10 days ahead and do call during “ normal business hours,” there is no on site staff and registration is DIY. There was a very nice host present when we were there. We greatly enjoyed our visit with Mimi and Kate and concluded it with a fine meal at Edo’s and very nice Japanese restaurant where Carol and I were delighted to be Mimi’s guest.

After a too brief night’s sleep we got our act together and were rolling by 8:28. We are still rolling as I write this at 4:15. We expect to arrive in Cedarville CG by about 6:30 to hook up with Norm and Shelley Topf who we first met in Perry, GA and most recently spent a week with in Minot.

Hmm, it is now Aug 24 and I am not sure what has even been posted. I will start from where we entered the fairgrounds on Friday morning. This was very early. The actual convention gets under way on Monday afternoon with people arriving until Monday noon. We are in an area that will be served with electricity on either Saturday or Sunday morning depending on who you believe and the ground under us is sand. We will not have ready access to empty holding tanks or fill with fresh water until the following Friday. We are on strict water conservation in most coaches. That means any meals taken on board will be consumed on paper or plastic and meal preparation will be very limited to avoid significant use of water for cleanup. Grill it or order it in. Showers become a very brief event in a manner that only a US Navy sailor from WWII might understand. There is no readily available laundry so we will make do with what is on board, this not a major hardship as most of us can last a week between laundries anyhow.

Carol is excited about giving her Seminar on photo composition on Wednesday, but we have other things to do before that day arrives. We have agreed to be volunteers, on the Security Detail as it turns out, as part of attending with the Chai Chapter. Carol and I drew three stints of four hours at the entertainment venue for the “Big Shows.” Tuesday was New Odyssey in the Grandstand, an antique outdoor venue best used for watching demo derbies, which is its main use. Preserving any semblance of security became a joke. We had fun welcoming people, being sure they had their badges and ignoring the few who had forgotten theirs. The banter was lively and we enjoyed ourselves enough that we looked forward to the following night with Roy Clark. We had a fine time again, but he was well beyond any ability to entertain. I am not sure if it was recovery from hip surgery six months prior or the pain killers he kept talking about or maybe just age.

Given the weather, oh yes it had rained on Monday night and everything was a sea of mud, they decided to move the third night, The Lettermen, into the indoor arena. This turned into a nightmare for Carol and me. The arena had been used as a meeting room throughout the convention and many people were aware of the back way in to get to the main floor as a result. Unfortunately, that entry was not going to be available because it went right through the area reserved for the entertainers’ dressing rooms. We had to welcome people and guide them to the stands and prevent them from entering the main floor by the easiest route. Even worse this meant there was no apparent entry for those unable to negotiate stairs. To make it even worse we were not given directions to tell people how to get to the main floor without taking stairs. At first we were sending them into the area where the exhibitors were trying to dismantle their booths. Then we sent them into oblivion the other way. After we had misdirected several hundred people we finally got a route that was essentially “leave, walk around the outside of the building and come in from the other side.” Needless to say, many people were not at all happy with us. One man told me to “be nice and just let the man on the scooter in” I put my Security Hat on his head and told him “if you want the job, be my guest!!” That was the last I saw of him and I still have the hat.

Did I mention a sea of mud? There were outlying parking areas on grass that had several large coaches mired up to their bodywork, had they listened and stayed put there would have been no problem. We did not try to move until Thursday. It started to sprinkle again and we had to have the coach in place to be weighed at 9 the following morning. We moved Gee 2 to a front row spot, vacated by an early departure, just a few tens of feet from the paved road. We slept better that night. Our weights were just fine. The left front is 50 pounds heavier than the right. I told Carol that we could fix that real easily; have her do all the driving!

You will have to ask Carol about the seminar. I was there and thought she was brilliant and by far the best seminar presentation I had ever attended, I even stayed awake all the way through it. But then I might be accused of bias. It was well attended and she received many compliments.

We needed some time to ourselves by now. We set off to Hazen, ND. That is as close to no place as you are likely to get. You could look it up; it is on ND 200 30 miles south of Sakakwea Lake (that is NOT a misspelling, at least by me) and 80 miles or so West of Bismarck. The most important thing we did there, besides laundry and a lot of clean up, was to try out our new boat. Doesn’t every second home need a boat? We bought a 13 foot inflatable Kayak made by SeaEagle. It is in the form of a double pontoon boat with place for two seats on the fabric between the pontoons. It inflates in about 5 minutes with included foot pump and turns out to be a delight on the water. We found a spillway impoundment below Garrison Dam that had little current and was set below the dam and surrounding landscape so as to be sheltered from the wind. There we inflated and launched the boat and had a grand time exploring the rather small area and our new boat. It is a wonderful toy. It takes 15 minutes from car to water and a little longer to stow because it needs to dry for 20 or 30 minutes. Whenever we venture out where that might be water and time the kayak will be in the back of the car.

It was time to explore western ND. We headed for Theodore Roosevelt National Park at the extreme western end of the state. It features the ND Badlands and Grasslands as well as Medora. We had plenty of water and no reservations were available in the area so we headed for the National Park Cottonwood Campground. Arriving a little after the noon checkout time we found a glorious, huge site that claimed to be right on the Little Missouri River. I eventually did get to the river, but it was a bit of a walk. By five in the afternoon there was no place even in overflow for anyone to park. Our neighbor recognized us as having been at the Minot Rally and offered us a coupon that we had misplaced to the Musical at Medora. We trundled into town and picked up tickets to the musical and to the Pitchfork Fondue and Buffet that preceded the musical. From there we returned to the park and did a rather hurried circuit of the 30 mile loop road to get a feel for the place. Along the way we saw plenty of Black Tailed Prairie Dogs, some turkeys and several herds of Bison. At one point we had to stop because the Bison were taking their time crossing the road or doing whatever it is they are doing when they walk along the road.

We returned to Gee 2 and showered and got ready to go to the Pitchfork Fondue, well you may ask “What is a Pitchfork Fondue?” There was a very nice buffet line with plenty of salad and veggie to satisfy Carol and at the end of the line the staff was cooking steaks speared on pitchforks in huge drums. Better description: the staff was overcooking steaks. . . It was a lot of fun the music was country and Bernie and Marlene turned up to sit with us. They were attending a Spartan Chassis Rally in town. (For the non Rvers – Spartan is a manufacturer of Diesel chassis used by a number of different Coach manufacturers and they have clubs for owners just like the coach manufacturers). The musical was very elaborate. The amphitheater must have been 5 stories high and the backdrop, when the stage wagons were rolled back was the North Dakota Badlands. The production was really high end college level. The singing was good and we really enjoyed ourselves. The featured attraction was the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats! Their act did nothing to forward the story of the history of Medora, but it was great fun. The show ran two hours and there was a five minute intermission, barely time to get to and from the restrooms, much less make use of them. The finale was TR riding horseback over the ridgeline in the distance followed by the National Anthem. It was very stirring.

The next day, Sunday the 21st, we decided to visit the site of the Elkhorn Ranch which was TR’s home ranch in ND in the late 1800’s. The site is now a couple of hundred acres located halfway between the North and South Units of the park. Access to the site is more difficult than most national park areas. There is nothing left to see as the buildings were scavenged for material when TR abandoned the ranch in 1890 or so. We called the Rangers for guidance and directions. Here, in short form, are the directions we received. “Go north up East River Road which will become 702 for about 25 miles on good gravel. When you come to the abandoned school house there will be signs for two left turns and one right turn, take the soft left to the Mosser Ranch and proceed about ¼ mile until you see an abandoned white school van in the brush, park and wade across the river where you will pick up a double track. Follow that until you see a NP sign (white on brown) pointing the way to a mowed path.” He did not comment on the quality of the last stretch of road – unimproved would be a kindness. He did not say that there would be only one sign and it consists merely of an arrow pointing to the right with no indication of what it points to. We did as directed and eventually found a gate with a visitor log for us to sign in. The log was a single lined page and the entry on the first line was dated 11/04 and the last entry before ours was dated 9 days previous. We tramped around the area startling some turkeys and many other small birds. And we eventually arrived at the home site which is fenced off by the archeologists who worked the site in the 1960’s. We returned to the car and had a picnic lunch while we marveled at having experienced the place that was so important to TR in his recovery from the death of his mother and first wife on a single day. The lack of buildings and the relative difficulty of getting there made this a special spot for us too. If you are in the area, do make the effort, Carol and I found the hiking not too strenuous and the drive was great fun, the car is still filled with dust from the road after a week and a couple of washes.

On to South Dakota and the Mt Rushmore Memorial and the Chief Crazy Horse Monument. I hope I can get that written and posted soon as we are now in Mitchell, SD, the home of the Corn Palace. Go figure.

Some time far later. Actually, Sunday night Aug 14. I had best write this before I forget it altogether. After touring the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore we got back in touch with the Jim and Barb and headed for their cottage in Interlochen. This is the home of Interlochen Music Camp which is quite a huge facility with many campers who are gifted in music and various other arts. It turns out their cottage is just across a rather small lake from the camp and it is very lovely. After touring the cottage, Barb took us on a tour of the camp. Needless to say we were very impressed. We were so impressed that we want to begin discussions about the possibility of Josh (our eldest grandchild) attending next summer to explore his interest in flute more deeply. This is the first his parents are hearing about this (I think). After the tour We returned to their cottage and we had a delightful dinner on their pontoon bout out on the lake. This was capped off with an evening of bridge (an early evening on their part as we had miles to drive and are much earlier people in any event. The bridge was fun and Carol got back into her game better than she expected. I am very rusty but have always loved the game.

Our return to Timber Ridge found stragglers still at the campfire, but we quietly settled in and were soon asleep. In the morning we set off with no real idea where we would get to as we traveled up the peninsula toward the Upper Peninsula (hereafter U P) past Petosky and over the Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Bridge. We crossed the U P rather more quickly than I had anticipated as there was little for us to do in a day. We don’t fish or hunt so it is really lost on us. That night we found ourselves in Bayside Campground 16 miles outside of Escanaba, MI. The buildings at the campground could do with renovation by dynamite, but the camping area was very nice. The people we met were very friendly and we made friends with Jean and Garret Mulder who were also on their way to Minot. Jean mentioned, almost in passing that she would like to join the volunteer organization when Carol mentioned that we would be doing that at the Rally. We parted ways the next morning with intentions of seeking each other out once we were in Minot.

The next night we made it to Saginaw, MN. The Saginaw CG has everything possible against it. It sits at a major turn in US 2, between both legs of the highway with a major rail line as its back property line. Across the street is a gas station/saloon/package store. The people we met were very nice. The owner dropped off a large load of firewood in out fire pit for no charge!! And the neighbors, as usual, were friendly. Traffic on 2 is actually quite limited and even the trains were few in the night. We slept well and were ready for an early departure in the morning. This day was nice drive to the Bemidji, MN area followed by a horrendous battle with an unnecessary detour. We had selected Hamilton’s Fox Lake Campground for its Passport America discount more than anything else. (For those new to this blog and not RVers, that is a 50% discount from normal price). We had three distinct sets of directions, two in the campground guides we carry and the third provided by HAL. We discounted the HAL route since the route numbers seemed to indicate improved dirt roads. The other two routes made life confusing. Having selected one, we ran into a “road closed three miles ahead” sign. We had no idea whether our next turn was in more or less than three miles. Fifteen miles later we returned to the closed road to find we could not go back to where the campground turn was and there was no other access to civilization for some distance. There was no way to turn around even if we unhooked the car. I zoomed in the range on my GPS and located some back roads that appeared to provide an “around the block” turn around albeit a several miles long further detour. Finally we got back to the original road closed sign and proceeded though it to find almost immediate access to the turn we wanted. With gas prices high and rising, 30 miles or more out of the way is far more frustrating than usual especially since we would not have time to explore Bemidji. If you wonder why you know the name, it is the home of Paul Bunyan and his great Blue Ox Babe and frequently the coldest place in the US. The campground is delightful. It sits directly on Fox Lake with sites in three rows facing the lake. There is water access and boats to rent and nice level grass sites for the motorhome. We had full hookups and could clean off the bugs and make ourselves ready to join the throngs in Minot.

Wednesday, August 10 found us up early facing our longest drive of the trip so far, 330 miles. In a car that may not seem like much, but by the end of that day we would have covered 1091 miles (detours included) in four days. This is not our usual mode of travel. We got up early and set out for Minot. Somehow both of us were ready for shorter driving shifts than usual and we found ourselves stopping and changing every 90 minutes or so. I took the last shift and extended a bit as I did not want to stop until I saw a gas station with $2.349. It took me a bit to figure out that the high test was cheaper than the regular because it has 10% ethanol. I have 45 gallons of the ethanol loaded fuel to burn off when I leave here and prices are much higher and climbing as we sit. I can easily see a $150 fill up in my future.

We pulled into Swenson’s RV on route 2 in Minot to join our friends from Chavuarat Yehudim in the pre rally get together. Swenson’s is an RV Dealer/Campground that does not know what it wants to be when it grows up. The campground is brand new – carved from a field in May of this year, and it really amounts to a gravel parking lot with side by side hookups. It is not the greatest, but it was available and we were all parked together. The location, five miles from our lot at the fairground, was also pretty good. We joined up with the Elowskis, Topfs, Singers, Dobrins, and Ploessers. The latter couple are not members of Chai, but met the Topfs in Alaska and became close friends. We had dinner together outside the Topf’s coach each bringing our own dinner. We all got into a frenzy of cleaning. I had to make the exterior as clean as I could get it without a ladder while Carol was busy scrubbing the interior. Our friends likewise were busy getting rid of the dirt of travel, in some cases several months including travel in Alaska. By Thursday afternoon the coaches were all clean and the refrigerators and food files were well stocked. We were ready to go into the fairground and we went out to Chinese buffet at the China Star. A couple of us were not real well that night. By drive time in the morning I was feeling much better.

At 9:00 sharp we rolled out of the campground in an impressive caravan of 6 clean coaches and 15 minutes later we were pulling into our assigned slots at the fairground, five miles away.

We set out on Tuesday August 2 at 3 in the afternoon with our usual well planned itinerary. It read “stop in Hamilton, ON for two nights to visit family; drive to Minot ND by Friday the 12th, by way of Canada, Michigan, Minnesota, sot of and then find ourselves in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON for Labor Day Weekend. Well thought out and clearly workable, but lacking some details, so what else is new.

Crossing the border at Lewiston felt like the old times; “Where are you going? What is your citizenship? Who long will you stay in Canada? Have a nice day! We continued on toward Hamilton’s Confederation Park along the lake. We have driven by this park so many times without noticing its existence over the years. The 88 exit off QEW just before going over the Burlington Skyway Bridge leads right into the parks, well almost, we did miss the actual entrance because it looked like an amusement park no indication of a campground and after our recent stay at six Flags Darien Lake with our grandson Josh, we were not anxious to go to another amusement park, but I digress. . . so what else is new.

As we neared Hamilton it started to rain, no it started to deluge with great bursts of lightening and wind. Carol had to slow way down just to see the road. Later we learned about the plane crash at Pearson which may have happened in that same storm a bit earlier. It was as violent as we have seen and the thought of setting up in it was not pleasant. By the time we reached the campground the storm had cleared, the sun was out and we could set up and enjoy the grounds. We took the bicycles down from the roof and set out for a look see ride. We turned onto a paved path that follows the lake shore. It is a major Ontario Hike/Bike/Skate way that loops around the lake from Hamilton to Toronto and beyond. It is not entirely complete and we certainly were in no condition to bike to Toronto, but we had a nice ride and went back for dinner onboard.

In the morning we took another longer ride before breakfast as our morning exercise. It was delightful. We then set off to visit Carol’s Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Mel in their new condo. We used maps provided by Stan and Susie, our neighbor’s, who as Canadians had good mapping software for Canada, a lack on my part I shall have to make up before we do this again. Dodo is the youngest of the seven siblings in her generation and is now 82. It is wonderful to see her still active and interested in all kinds of things. Mel is aging a bit more, but is doing fine. After lunch and lots of talking, we left them to walk to the AGH (Art Gallery of Hamilton) just a few blocks from their new home. We had a too brief tour before heading back up to get the car to head for Marilyn and Al’s in Dundas. We found our way with only one extra phone call for help and had a wonderful visit, lovely dinner and then they came out to the campground with us to see Gee 2.

We left Hamilton by 10 the following morning and had no real idea how far we were going. The software seemed to say we could make Traverse City, MI in one day, but we seldom push as hard as the software assumes (I never remember to build in an hour for lunch and other stops and we do like to be off the road by 5 at the latest. As we cleared the border at Sarnia, ON (Port Huron on the US side) with less trouble than we had entering Canada it became clear we were not going to continue all the way to Traverse City. With much indecision and changing of minds – at 60 miles and hour – we picked Herrick Park in Clare, MI as our stopping place. This county park had little to offer in the way of amenities and even water was not piped to the site, but there was electricity which would be needed to run the air conditioner to ward off the heat. As we neared Clare it began to pour. As we approached the park, once again dreading setting up in pouring rain, it cleared and the sun came out. This felt like déjà vu.

Later, as we took a short walk, the lady from the neighboring campsite stopped us to compliment Carol on the nice work she did backing Gee 2 into the fairly tight site. Not a lot of women traveling with men are willing to do close quarter maneuvering for many different reasons, not the least are feelings of inadequacy which can be encouraged by male browbeating. I don’t get away with it and she handles Gee 2 just fine under most conditions.

It happened as we were traveling toward Traverse City, that I remembered that we knew someone who spent part of their summer at Interlochen, just outside of Traverse City, and I had the phone number with me. We called Barb and Jim Present and arranged to get together at their cottage on Saturday late afternoon. Barb provided us with plenty of ideas to occupy ourselves in the area and the important things to see. A short drive on Friday morning had us ensconced at Timber Ridge Campground about 15 minutes away from the center of the city. This was a very nice campground with many amenities that we never did get to take advantage of as we left early and returned late each day. The only problem was created by a large family, actually two families I think, with more kids under ten than I chose to count. As late as we returned they were still up at the campfire no9t more than 30 feet from our left front corner. When we got up in the morning, there was already someone at the campfire circle, they must have slept in shifts and they were not particularly quiet.

Quick tour of Traverse City (hereafter TC). The action takes place on Front Street. Friday night was a street fair with plenty of bands and food and booths selling goods from the shops. First we drove up the Peninsula which divides the bay that TC sits on into East Arm and West Arm , all the way to Old Mission. This is 20 miles. We stopped at a couple of farm markets and bought cherries and then we stopped at Chateau Grand Traverse winery for a tasting. We actually bought two bottles of Chardonnay and two of a Riesling. Their reds were quite unexceptional. After this we found parking along Front Street and wandered for a couple of hours before zeroing in a dinner which was at 310 located uniquely at 310 Cass Street. Dinner was fine and we can recommend it if you are in the mood for dining outside on the river and the menu works for you. I had Ahi Tuna and Carol had a wonderful salad.

Saturday we decided to worship by seeing the wonders of the area and we set off for Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.

To be continued. . . I have an internet connection that is rather tenuous so I will post this from Saginaw MN (that’s right MN not MI) just west of Duluth. This is another story yet to be told.