Beginning our vacation - Day 800 (Yr 3, Day 67)

Bowman, ND

Well, we started out one day earlier than planned.  We were going to leave on Thursday and drive all the way to Hermosa - about 400 miles.  But since Mitch worked on the rig for the past 2 weekends, it only took a few hours in the morning to get everything packed up & hitched, so we decided to leave early and go to the halfway point, which is Bowman, ND.

It was an extremely boring ride, which actually makes it kind of difficult because it's easy to get tired when there's nothing but farmland to look at.  For the most part, the road was a 2 lane highway, and then a single lane road.  Quite a few cars and trucks passed us.  The only "exciting" thing we saw was a huge statue of a cow in New Salem, ND, although it was a bit far away.  You can probably zoom in on the picture to get a better look.  I later learned that this is Salem Sue.  You can read more about her here:  http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2716.



We are staying overnight in the Butte View Campground, run by the Bowman Parks & Recreation Dept, which is actually a county park, although a very strange layout, in that it's a clover leaf with 5 loops, and you pull through in between the loops.  It's pretty empty, so I'm not sure how getting around would be when it's full It has a dump station and water spigots in the middle of each loop, and the sites only offer electric (30 or 50 amp).  Each site has a picnic bench and some spaces have trees & shade.  The camp host is also very helpful and pleasant.  We passed through the downtown area and it looks very quaint and fun, but we don't want to unhitch to go into town, since we're only here as a stopover.

It took us about 4 hours to get here, with 2 stops to change drivers.  We're also now on Mountain time (an hour earlier).

Not sure what time we'll be leaving tomorrow as we have another 200 miles of single lane boring terrain to cover before getting to Hermosa.  We may rethink our plans for the weekend.  We were going to do all the driving back to Bismarck on Tuesday, but we may need to cut it short and break it up again.  I guess we'll see how we're feeling on Monday.

What's new? - Day 793 (Yr 3, Day 60)

Bismarck, ND

Not a whole lot, even though it's been 2 weeks since I posted last.

Let's see... still planning our trip to the Black Hills (I love planning and research!).  I did discover that there is a better route, which is mostly a US highway (not an interstate), but it runs through more areas of civilization and has complete cell coverage.  It takes us about 50 miles out of the way, but I'd rather travel the extra hour and have the peace of mind knowing we're not in the middle of nowhere if we got stuck or just need to pull over to rest or change drivers (which we always do after about 1 1/2 hours).

Meanwhile, we need to make sure the truck is in tip top condition for towing, so we brought it to a local diesel mechanic for the oil/filter change and full maintenance service.  They discovered that the previous mechanic (Ford in Peoria, IL) left a rag in the engine and forgot a gasket.  Reason # 952 of why we hate Ford dealers!!!  They also need to flush the transmission fluid and install new filters, but didn't have the time, so we'll be bringing it back in on Friday.  Costing a small fortune, but since this has to safely carry our home, better safe than sorry.  Of course, as has been seen before, you can't always predict when something might go wrong, but we do try to do as much preventative maintenance as possible.

This week, Mitch had a small change in job areas.  He got really nervous last Friday when his boss called him in the morning and instructed him to stop working immediately and wait for his call (Mitch was convinced he was going to get canned, although had no clue why).  Turns out there was an emergency situation in a few towns about 50 miles north of here (Turtle Lake and Underwood), so he was being pulled off of Bismarck to take care of those areas.  It's been a while (Asheville) since he's had to commute more than 5 miles away from home, but at least he gets paid for time and mileage.  Then again, it means filling the gas tank more often.  This should only last about a week or 2 anyway, then it's back to the Bismarck area.  Still no word about when we'll be able to leave though; all they can say is "before the winter."

And lastly, so far this week I've been suffering through the start of bronchitis / upper respiratory infection.  This always happens to me when the weather changes from hot to cold.  Lately, the weather has been crazy - literally in the 90s one day, 70s the next day, then back up into the 90s and back down to the 70s.  I think my body just got very confused.  This kind of infection is like a bell curve - it slowly gets worse until it reaches its peak and then slowly starts to get better.  In all, it can last at least a month.  I do hope to shake it before we go away next week.  As of today, I haven't reached the peak yet, although I feel close -- maybe by the end of the week when I'll be coughing up yellow phelgm and perhaps a lung.  Right now, it's just very hard to do anything that involves breathing (talking, moving), which sets off coughing spasms.  I am taking Dayquil (or Nyquil), drinking a lot of water and tea, and resting as much as possible.  Spoke to the doctor, who said it just needs to run its course; keep doing what I'm doing for comfort, but it's not the kind of thing that warrants antibiotics.

Planning next vacation - Day 779 (Yr 3, Day 46)

Bismarck, ND

Reservations have been made at the next campground.... we are planning to spend Labor Day weekend in the Black Hills of South Dakota, visiting Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Custer State Park (to see all the wildlife); maybe Wind Cave Park and /or some local towns in the area such as Hot Springs, Hill City or Rapid City; depends on timing as we'll only have 2 extra days (we'll be taking a guided tour to the first 3 on the same day -- it's an all day tour).

My only real concern is that of the 350 mile drive, about 300 of it is on a desolate stretch of one-lane county roads with nowhere to pull over (no shoulders, no stores, no exits with towns; the roads go thru farmland or just nothing) AND no cell service.  I feel like we are tempting the fates here.

But then again, it's now or never.  Mt. Rushmore was on our bucket list, and I think this is the closest we'll to it for a long time (if ever again), so if not now, when?

At least there are no mountains to drive over, which is a worse fear.

This is an overview of the campground we'll be staying at (Mt. Rushmore in the background)

Apologies for last post

Although I didn't see it, it was brought to my attention that a political post was made here, no doubt by Mitch.

This blog is intended strictly to record my travel and living experiences (Chapter 1 was devoted to the trials & tribulations of preparing for this lifestyle) and political discussions are strictly off limits.

So if you did happen to receive an email of that post, please accept my apologies.

Interesting visitors - Day 777 (Yr 3, Day 44)

Bismarck, ND

I wonder if today has any special significance (777)? LOL

We got a special visit from Yossi and Menachem, who are known as "Roving Rabbis" (here they are with Mitch).  They are only 19 and 20 years old.



Chabad has a special program of sending rabbinical students out to communities worldwide, to find places where there aren't large, or existent Jewish communities and visit with them -- helping them perform mitzvahs (good deeds and commandments), learning, pretty much anything for any level of observance -- from newbies, wannabees or advanced (like us).  They learned about us from Rabbi Grossberg who is the rabbi that we visited with in Fargo.  I guess they were staying with him and he remembered that we were very isolated so he sent them 250 miles into Bismarck to spend a little time with us.  They also had a bunch of other meetings, so they were only able to stay a little over an hour, but it was a very enjoyable visit.  We shared stories of our lifestyles, and they gave us words of Torah.  Tisha B'Av (the 9th of the month of Av) is coming up.  It is a day of mourning for the loss of the two Temples (and many other catastrophes that happened on that day), so their words were about that.

PS: I updated yesterday's post to include some photos of Cabaret: http://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2016/08/last-weeks-highlights-day-776-yr-3-day.html

Last week's highlights - Day 776 (Yr 3, Day 43)

Bismarck, ND

Roger and Cathy returned from their trip back home to Oregon, after having been gone for about a month.  They brought their cute little dog, Pogo, with them (not sure of the breed; I'll have to find out and take a photo).  We haven't really had time to hang together yet though.

Looks like I totally forgot to mention a highlight of 2 weeks ago, when we went to a production of Much Ado About Nothing, but on by a local Shakespeare troupe.  It was held on the State Capitol grounds and was extremely enjoyable.  Mitch and I really do like live performances, whether it be Broadway or small local community theater.  So last night (8/6) there was community theater performance held in a park (Sleepy Hollow) - we saw Cabaret.  Prior to the show, there were local awards given out and then a speaker who gave a synopsis of what the show was really about (Germany when the Nazis were coming to power).  Weather was beautiful.  This acting group is highly sponsored by local businesses so had much more professional staging and lighting than the Shakespeare show did.  Either way - very enjoyable.  Some photos:

       

There's a huge craft show at the Capital today, but it's already after noon and we have a bit of puttering to do, including filling a truck tire with air, fixing the urb-es (there was a recall on the bolts, so they sent us a new kit to install), need a few groceries and I must defrost the freezer again.  We need to troubleshoot why I need to keep doing this every 2 weeks; I'm certain the seals are loose and may need to be replaced (another thing we'll need to figure out how to do).

Mourning has broken

Mitch Says: RD 3.39 (August 4th 2016)

Yes, I REALLY, really do like MY date format.  Click On this line to see the explanation! 

 (and by the way), I really would appreciate comments from you (sparse, but faithful) readers, as to which date format you find MORE INTERESTING.  (post a comment below!!!)

OK. Three interesting Factoids from today:

One:  The post I did before on my cell phone at lunch got lost, so I am re-creating this post (on my pc this time).

Two:  This morning (remember it's the 4th of AUGUST--Summertime in the Northern Hemisphere), it was so  COLD here in Bismarck, that I needed to put on a jacket. About 50- 55 degrees, I'd guess.  Last night we had a tornado warning, and it was a pretty dry, but very much (distant) lightning around Midnight here.

Three:

(Background):  Cheryl recently had her first birding experience.  She kept on hearing the call of a bird, and with the help of a website, found the bird's sound, and then found the bird, and actually located it here by the campground.  It's called a Mourning Dove, and here's a picture

of one.

Well.  As I was walking in a residential neighborhood in Bismarck this morning, guess what I found??

A brood of doves.   (to me), Obviously a mama and a bunch of  babies walking around a house.

Now what is really intriguing about this was not that they were waddling around like a bunch of ducks, but that they waddled around the house from the front  of the house , UP the front steps, to the back of the porch , DOWN the steps, and then into the backyard.

Of course, Since I was searching for the gas meter, I also followed them, with my cell phone opened and camera aimed!

I was  so mean (or so I felt), chasing them around the house.

They actually made a full loop of the entire house, and went in one side, and out the other side of the gate.

It was interesting watching them waddle like ducks, all around the house.  And when they got to the front, they went into the neighbor's yard too!

What an interesting Morning!  Afternoon was routine, but that made my day!

Mitch

Highlights of the previous week - Day 772 (Yr 3, Day 39)

Bismarck, ND

The most "exciting" happening last week was getting a flat tire on the truck on Monday.  We were driving to the store when a truck driver on our left, at a traffic light, reached across to the passenger side, rolled down his window and told Mitch (who was driving) that his tire was extremely low; almost flat.  I find it very interesting that not only he went to the trouble to alert us, but even the fact that he was looking at our tires.  An angel perhaps?  The nearest gas station where we could get air was about 3 miles away, so we limped over there and put some air in.  The store was in that same shopping center, so we got what we needed and limped back home.  On Tuesday morning, we had to have our roadside assistance come and mount our spare (we don't have a heavy duty jack, and besides, we don't know how to change a truck tire and the lugnuts require a hydraulic wrench).  He then took the truck down the road to the tire place, and $350 later, he was back on the road.

We also met some interesting folks this week - Sarah and Ted, fellow RVillagers and their cute little mutt Penny.  They are a young couple (late 30s or early 40s) from Oregon and started full timing in March.  Sarah teachers zendoodle (google it!) and Ted is a professional, published science fiction writer (google Ted Fauster). We hit it off well, but sadly could only spend a little bit of time with them.

Lastly, I had my creative friend Denyse Walter made me an adorable 6" flowering cactus in a pot which looks lovely on my counter.  She previously made a mini turkey and corgi which I gave to Jessica.