A week late - Day 698 (Yr 2, Day 353)

Bismarck, ND

As the subject says, this post is one week late.  We did do quite a bit over the Memorial Day weekend, but it has been such a crazy, busy week at work during the day; and in the evenings, after making dinner and cleaning up afterwards, Mitch and I like to unwind together by watching some "tv" (via Amazon Prime or stuff we've downloaded over the years) before going into bed by 9:00 (need to wake up at 5:30 am).  So this morning's plans (Sunday) is for Mitch to do a few chores such as a thorough cleaning out of the lint filters in and behind the dryer and fixing the screen on the bedroom window which isn't sitting quite right in its track.  While he's doing that, I am sitting down to get this post done!  Then I will clean the breakfast dishes and we will visit the State Museum and Heritage Center downtown.  It's a beautiful day, so hopefully we'll be able to go for a swim when we return and before making dinner (as an aside, since we gave up on the charcoal grill and bought a portable gas one, I've been enjoying grilling much more, since it's a no-brainer to get the fire going!)

Yesterday - Shabbat - was very pleasant (looking at the 5 day forecast, it's supposed to be in the high 70s and sunny until Thursday, when it will get into the mid 90s!  Welcome to summer!)  The weather was nice so we were able to use the pool and sit outside to read.  A large group came in who are with a travel agency tour doing the Lewis & Clark trail.

Now, without further ado:

Memorial Day Weekend: Days 689-692 (Yr 2, Days 344-347)

Thursday night - at first, it didn't look like we were going to do the campfire, as Mitch was really exhausted by 6:30.  After watching a little tv, at 8:30, he suddenly got a 2nd wind and insisted on making one!  We didn't get to bed until about 10:30 (I had a conference call at 8:00, so although he could sleep late, I had to get up early).  Still, it was a very lovely night to have - no wind and a clear sky, and warm (short sleeve t-shirts were just fine).  Kind of disappointed that, although the campground is relatively full, there was no one to share the fire with, as everyone is very self contained - doing their own thing with their own families.

Note: it's almost 9:00 in the photo below.  See how bright the sky still is?

Friday - I had a bit of work to do but hoped to stop work by 10, make the challah for Shabbat, put up the soup in the slow cooker and go out and adventure by 11.  It was finally 1:00 that we were able to leave.  We were thinking of attempting what we did a few weeks ago -- parking near the downtown area and riding our urb-es around to explore.  We had a few stops to make en route: Best Buy to pick up batteries Mitch ordered online and buy me a new tablet (mine died en route to Bismarck and we were waiting for a good sale, which we finally found); Ace hardware to get some screws for the gravity chair; and the supermarket for some last minute stuff Mitch forgot to buy yesterday (milk, mushrooms and celery).  While we were driving, we passed by the state capitol area, where there are many lovely parks.  I saw a walking/bike path around one of the parks, so we decided to spontaneously park and ride our urb-es there instead of going downtown.  Turns out that we were riding around Centennial Grove, which was created in 1989 by George Bush in honor of the 100th anniversary of North Dakota's establishment.  The grove has trees and shrubs planted from every state in the Union.  I especially liked the Colorado spruce.  Perhaps I'll have a chance to go back with the camera at some point.

We returned home about 3:30, where I proceeded to braid the challah, put up the soup and do a little more work, while Mitch roots my tablet so I can start downloading all my programs after Shabbat.  Also did a little more work.  I expect Saturday/Shabbat to be quiet and peaceful.  Maybe we'll meet some folks on our walk around the campground?  Pool opens tomorrow.

WE MADE NEW FRIENDS!!!!  Roger and Kathy moved in next door to us.  They are "retired," but he's in construction and is working on a big project here with his son who works in the area.  They'll be here well into the winter (which is no big deal for him, as he grew up in ND and knows about the extreme cold, although he's never done it in a rig before).  From the 20 minutes I spent talking with them (they were still setting up), they seem extremely nice and I'm looking forward to spending lots of time with them.

(as of this writing, a week later, this talented construction worker is building an amazing porch for his wife so she can get in and out of the trailer easily, due to her knee problems).

Sunday
The plans for the day were to visit Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, which is known for 2 historical sites:  General Custer's house and military buildings, and an Indian village once belonging to the Mandan tribe (after which the city is named), and afterwards going on a riverboat cruise.

Rather than driving to the Park, we decided to indulge and take the trolley. The railroad tracks were built almost 100 years ago, and the trolley car was restored from one of the originals used on the line.  After about WWII, the line became obsolete and unused, although a portion of the tracks -- from the depot to the Park -- remained (sort of).  That portion was cleaned up, the trolley car restored, and made into transportation (and a tourist attraction).  We left home at 12:15 to catch the 1:00 trolley.

Some photos of the trolley:

Here are some views of the tracks, the landscape (mostly farms and the river), and some cool old bridges:

 

  

  

  

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We were told that at the last stop on the route, there would be a "people mover."  To me, a people mover is something they have at the airports -- like a moving sidewalk.  Very interesting concept for a park, I thought.  Here is the actual people mover - an enormous tractor pulling a cart!

To show just how huge the tractor is, here is Mitch standing next to the tire (Mitch is 6' tall).

The people mover does a loop around the entire park, with many stops along the way, including the trolley depot, Custer House, Indian Village, Visitor Center, and the RV park that's there (personally not one I'd stay at).  It takes about an hour from end to end, but guarantees to arrive at the depot on time for the next trolley out.  We decided to stay on the trolley for the scenic route around the park, and then figure out what we wanted to see.  Unfortunately, since we were on a strict time schedule (trolley only runs every hour), we didn't have enough time to visit everything.  We decided to check out the Custer House first and then if there was time, the Indian Village (which there wasn't).

Sadly, it turned out that the House itself is only accessible by tour, which had already started.  We could purchase tickets and join the next tour, in 1 1/2 hours.  Oh well, that wasn't going to work.  We strolled around the grounds, and decided to walk to the trolley depot, take the 3:30 one back and instead of staying at the park, to check out the area where the riverboat would depart.  It's in the plans to visit the Park again, but take the truck so we don't have to worry about the time.

Here are some photos of the Custer House grounds (barracks & house):
  

We arrived at the area where the boat departs and discovered a popular and very different park of Bismarck -- the Missouri River section.  There is a lovely stretch of park, called Keelboat Park, that runs for several miles and includes boat ramps, a beach area, and a few sculptures.  Through it runs a bike path (where there were also joggers and skateboarders).  We had over an hour to spare, so it was a great opportunity to take the urb-e's out and ride the path along the river.

Some views of the river:
  

  

Some of the sculptures:

  

  

 

 

Mitch on his urb-e:

After a nice ride, it was time to board the riverboat, which offered a 90 minute ride down the river.  Below are photos of the boat and some more river views, including some of the awesome homes along the banks.

  

  

 

The boat had a drink bar (soda -- they call it "pop" here), beer & wine, and chips.  They also offered a "dinner" cruise, which was pizza brought in from the local pizza place, which is what we booked (figuring the cruise was around dinner time, and we probably wouldn't have time to stop for a bite to eat beforehand).  Unfortunately, by the time we went to the food area to hand in our tickets and pick up our pizza (only 10 minutes after the bar opened), there was none left that we could eat!!!  There were no veggie pies (didn't really expect any), but all the cheese slices were gone and all that was left was the pepperoni and sausage slices, which we can't eat.  So we enjoyed our 3 beers each and ate out at Denny's after we disembarked (and the riverboat line refunded our money).

Monday - The plan was to visit the State Museum in the morning, and then find some spontaneous outdoor stuff to do in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, the forecast was for rain in the afternoon, so we decided to take a nice swim in the morning and then go to the museum in the afternoon (since that's indoors).  Before going to the pool, Mitch emptied the tanks and was backflushing.  Unfortunately, he forgot to turn the hose off before we went swimming, so we returned to the rig to find water pouring out from underneath, and a huge flood in the bathroom and part of the bedroom.  So much for our plans for another nice day out.  We got out lots of towels, the mop, and our neighbor (Roger) had a wet/vac that we borrowed to suck up as much water from the carpet as possible.  Fortunately, it all dried in about 3 days and so far, no calamities or major damage; just a lot of inconvenience.

It also turned out that the tablet we bought on Friday had a bad wireless card, so rather than going to the museum, we returned to Best Buy to return it.  They didn't have another one in stock, so we just went home, where Mitch finished reading his book, and I made dinner and puttered around.

All in all, a nice 3 1/2 day weekend.