Mitch's new assignment; campground - Day 675 (Yr 2, Day 330)

Bismarck, ND

Mitch has been meeting with his team since Monday; predominantly just one person who he is shadowing/training with (Bill).  So far, the team has not begun any actual work; they are still getting prepped and we're told there's a good chance this will run into October.  We still have not received the replacement phone or GPS, so it's a good thing Mitch is tagging along with Bill for now (although so far they have only met at a restaurant for breakfast or here at our rig to review things).  As an aside, Bill says his wife, Phyllis, is "a hoot" and wants the 4 of us to go to dinner together.  I think he's just as much of a hoot and I'm looking forward to this tomorrow night.

We arrived on Sunday to a windy, but otherwise beautiful weather day.  That was the only one so far this week.  It rained all day yesterday, and today is cloudy and windy, as it will be for the rest of the week.  Temps won't go above 60, and there's actually a freeze warning for the night times.

I walked around the campground taking photos, but before sharing those, here are a few I took while driving through the mountains of TN.

Beautiful mountains

Fog over the mountains

Winding mountain road

And now for photos of the campground (Bismarck KOA).  This is the first time we've stayed in a KOA (Kampgrounds of America) park.  In general, they have a pretty bad reputation for being old, run down and overpriced.  That is definitely not the case here as it is a very lovely park.  Currently there is a lot of wide open space but that's because the park is almost completely empty.  There are a lot of sites, so I can imagine how crowded it will be when it gets busy.  May as well enjoy the serenity while it lasts!  The owners, Mark and Kate, are very friendly and helpful.  We met 2 neighbors so far, but only very briefly -- not enough to get their names, where they're from or their stories.  There's still time for that.

Our back yard - overlooks the tennis and basketball courts and a field beyond that.  We have a picnic bench on our site (as do all the sites):

The front yard (faces another row of sites which are currently empty):

The road in front of our site (row):

The playground:

The dog park (love the teeter-totter and climbing board!)

"Kabin" area: (in case anyone wants to come visit us, there's a place to stay)

The office and pool (obviously, the pool isn't set up yet):

And a few more shots of the campground: