First stop (bubbles) - Day 861 (Yr 3, Day 128)

Sisseton, SD

Plans made in bubbles - the truck wasn't ready until 12:30 and by the time they tested it and we checked out, got back to the campground to hitch up, it was 1:30 when we finally pulled out.  I suppose in the scheme of things, that should be the worst problem we encounter on this journey!  They fixed a lot of things and found a whole bunch of loose or missing nuts & bolts from the last repair at the Ford dealer in Peoria.  We hate Ford dealers!!!  I feel confident that things will be ok for a while, until the next item breaks down (although they told us the signs to watch for).  Almost $5,000 later....

We arrived at Camp Dakotah at 4:30 pm and were all settled in by 5.  This is a very, very lovely little place that I wish we had a little more time to spend.  Not a lot to do in the area as it's in the middle of nowhere, but the campground itself is very charming.  We had amazing weather today as well - in the high 60s and sunny.  Even had a beautiful sunset.  After a quick dinner, I took a walk around the campground and shot a few photos, which I share with you below.  It would have been a nice evening to spend outdoors in front of a campfire, but Mitch was too tired and I agree it would have been a lot of work pulling everything (the fire pit and wood) out of the basement/garage.

Campground entrance.  Note the background.  This is what most of the area is like (desolate):



A lovely sunset:



The back of the office and playground:

  

A glimpse of some of the sites:



A lovely little sculpture garden:


    


Some of the items on the front porch of the office (I love the girl on the swing above the door!).  Inside the office were lots of pictures of bison (what else?!)

  

Another cute sculpture:

 

There were even some horses! (and the barn)

  

Getting ready to rock & roll - Day 860 (Yr 3, Day 127)

Jamestown, ND

Quite literally, as I recall most of the US highways are under construction or in really bad shape.  Either way, lots and lots of bouncing.  The airbags only do so much.

Hopefully this is the last time in a while (or ever) I post from Jamestown.  The city itself is nice, as "anywhere USA" goes, but I never want to see this campground again!

Of course, our plans are already experiencing bubble popping.  The truck was not ready on Friday - they promised Monday morning.  We're hoping they finished it before closing time on Friday so we can get it first thing, but we won't know for sure until the morning.  It needed to have the fuel pump and fuel injectors replaced - a cost of about $4500, which once again is depleting the savings.  Really blessed and grateful we're both working, although it's kind of scary to think about what will be when we're on a fixed income.  But hopefully that won't be for a while.  And for those of you who argue that this was a big mistake -- it's still a lot less expensive than a mortgage plus utilities.  Plus one would own a car anyway, which always has things breaking down, as well as appliances in a home.  All things mechanical (including our bodies) break down sometimes and need maintenance or repair and we just need to be thankful that we're able to do that.

Anyway, although our pull out time will be delayed a bit (with any luck, if the truck is ready first thing, we can pull out by 10:30.  Mitch will still need to stop at UPS to drop off his tank, fill up with gas, disconnect the water and electric --we'll unhook the sewer today, and probably won't reconnect until next Thursday, as that's the biggest hassle--fill up the airbags, and hitch up.  All that should take no more than an hour.  Sisseton, SD is about 180 miles, so we expect a 4 hour drive.  I've committed to doing another client training session in the afternoon, so hopefully it won't be too late when we pull in.

Wish us luck!  I'm not sure if I'll have the time to post every day along this journey, or if I'll land up doing a summary at the end when we reach Raleigh.  I'll do the best I can.  It all depends on the work load and how travel goes.

Making plans - Day 856 (Yr 3, Day 123)

Jamestown, ND

First, no news yet on the truck.  The mechanic drove it for about an hour yesterday and listened to it like a doctor listens to a patient's chest (he has about 25 years working with this type of engine).  He suspects it could be another faulty fuel injector (he was even able to predict which one of 8), but he needs to do the diagnostics.  Unfortunately, his loaner truck wasn't available, so we couldn't leave our truck with him yet.  Hopefully by the end of today.  At least I do feel very confident that he knows what he's doing (unlike the Ford dealers).

Anyway, I've been working diligently over the past month figuring out our route from Jamestown to Raleigh, not wanting to drive more than 200 miles (4 hours) in a day, so that I can settle down around noon and put in at least 1/2 day's work.  Here's what the route looks like, and I'm just about finished making the campground reservations after some very extensive research.  Once again, it's too bad we're on a schedule because there are some places we'll be in or near that I'd love to spend a little more time at.  Maybe we can take a few hours if the workload isn't too much on those days.

Jamestown, ND
Sisseton, SD
Beresford, SD
Pacific Junction, IA
Independence, MO (staying there Thurs to Sun for Shabbat)
Jonesburg, MO
Marion, IL
Lebanon, TN
Kodak, TN
Asheville, NC (staying there Thurs to Sun for Shabbat and to meet up  with old friends)
Raleigh, NC

That's 11 stops.  11 is a lucky number for us, so hopefully and G-d willing, it will be an easy and uneventful trip.

Mitch's brother (who we stayed with during my hip recovery) also just bought an RV and they will be taking it on their first long road trip to Raleigh.  Can't wait!!!

Still nothing firm regarding where and when Mitch's next assignment will be.  Rumor was Houston, TX, but now they're saying it may only be until the end of the year (they need to wait and see if the contract will be renewed with that utility company).  There's a strong chance if Houston doesn't work out, it may be Oklahoma City to northern Texas, perhaps as far as Dallas.  Mitch wants to request Utah for the spring.

And the good news... Day 854 (Yr 3, Day 121)

Jamestown, ND

For the last week, we've been hearing a humming/motorized every time we run the hot water.  We were presuming there was a problem with the hot water heater.  Many of our peers online suggested a check valve (what is that???).  We had an RV mobile tech come out today to diagnose.  He concluded that the sounds was most likely due to the water pressure because he couldn't find any other symptoms that would tell of a problem (and he tested for a quite a few things).  That was the good news.

We also noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust of the truck.  We found a diesel mechanic who not only does a lot of 6.0L engines and has parts in stock, but offered to give us a loaner truck so he can work on ours, which is a humongous help.  We have an appt to bring it in tomorrow.  Fingers crossed that we get the same type of diagnosis!

Frontier Village and other stuff - Day 853 (Yr 3, Day 120)

Jamestown, ND

On Friday, Mitch only worked until about 1:00.  I had all the cooking pretty much under control and got my workload down to a reasonable point, so that we were able to take a little time off -- from 3:30 until 5 -- to go down the road and visit Frontier Village and the World's Largest Buffalo.  Unfortunately, the herd of buffaloes, including the rare albino one, were not around; probably moved to a warmer location for the winter.  The stagecoach rides and Wild West shootouts was also closed for the season.

Frontier Village is a replica of a town that would have existed in the pioneer days.  Although the town itself is a replica, the buildings are real and were moved here from various locations around the state.  They were all closed, but you could peer in the windows and see that they were set up exactly as they would have been during their time.  It's unclear whether the doors are open during the summer or if they're always closed.  Here are some of the buildings.  Other than the fire house, we weren't able to get any good pictures from the windows.  Oh well.

  
 

Photos from inside the fire dept (old time equipment):

  

 More stores in the town:

               


Jamestown is known for the statue of the World's Largest Buffalo, and it is indeed large.  Here is a photo taken from a distance, and then right next to it: one of Mitch standing next to it, and me on my urb-e under it.  You can probably see it from Google Earth (or Google maps, satellite view)



      

Also caught a photo of my cutie:




There was also the National Buffalo Museum, which I suspect is all things buffalo related.  The cost, however, was $8 per person and there was only 10 minutes left to closing (they were still going to charge us), so we decided to pass.

The town itself was rather small, although there was a lot of walking between areas, so we rode our urb-es.  It was an ideal place to do so.  Unfortunately, something happened to mine (we're troubleshooting today; there may be a loose connection to the battery), so I had to walk mine back to the truck.

Today is being spent on various projects.  One, of course, was troubleshooting the urb-e, and the other is taking down the sukkah.  We probably should wait another day, as today is the final day of sukkot, but since Mitch will be working all week from 6am to 6pm (and with his walking 5-10 miles a day, he's beyond exhausted when he gets home), and next Sunday is the day before we pull out (hopefully-see below) so we need to use that for road prepping, today is really the only day we have to do it.

While driving around town on Friday, I noticed a lot of white smoke coming out of the exhaust while we were driving (the engine was warm).  Not sure if this is something serious, so we need to bring it in to a mechanic before we tow.  Again, because of Mitch's schedule this week - and he cannot take time off - I have no clue when we can bring it in.  Probably Friday afternoon, and they can work on it Saturday, but it may not be ready on Monday so I'm already anticipating a delay.  Oh well.  It is what it is and we can't tow 1600 miles with a potential problem.  Better to check it out now.  We'll still have a week before Thanksgiving so barring anything else, we can still get to Raleigh on time.  We could also push the driving schedule and do more than 200 miles and stay in rest areas.  Only problem with that is that I still need to work at least 1/2 days and I need electricity to do so, although as long as we have enough propane, we can probably run the generator a few days as we can be self contained if need be.

Update as promised - - Day 851 (Yr 3, Day 118) # 2

Jamestown, ND

Thanks for your patience!  Here's the (long) update I promised to write.

First - our holiday challah.  It is traditional to make it round during this holiday season to symbolize (1) God is acknowledged as our King, so the shape is like a crown; (2) it is the beginning of a new year, thus the continuing of a cycle of years and seasons; (3) a reminder that the ability to repent is never-ending.  Because we wish for a sweet new year, we bake it with raisins and dip in honey.




Yom Kippur.  We left here around 11:00 am on Tuesday, 10/11 and arrived at the hotel around 12:30.  This time we stayed at the place where services were held so we didn't have to walk the 1/4 mile back and forth several times during the day.  It was also a very lovely hotel (Baymont Inn-a Wyndham property), with a great indoor pool/hot tub/sauna and restaurant.  We enjoyed the pool and hot tub when we arrived.  Since Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a very solemn day and a day of fasting and depriving ourselves of anything pleasurable, we knew we could not enjoy the facilities until after the holiday.  There was no communal dinner, so we had pizza in the restaurant before services started at 6:30.

Once again, services were very delightful and inspiring, with more sermons and explanations.  It is a very spiritually uplifting time, but admittedly very grueling!  After services, we heated up the leftover pizza in the microwave, but were still hungry an hour later.  We went downstairs to the bar, hoping to have a beer, but they didn't serve any food at that hour, so we went across the street to a lovely bar & grill (Sickie's Garage) and had a beer and some vegetarian appetizers.  On Thursday morning, we partook of the free breakfast in the hotel and hit the road at 8:30 am.  We got home at 10:00, where I immediately went to work, again completely inundated with over 50 actionable client emails.  It is now Friday and I'm just about caught up.

We also started the Sukkot holiday this week (Sunday night, 5 days ago) which I will write about in a separate post.

More about the campground.  I am still very unhappy with this place, although some of the views aren't too bad if I don't look out my window at the truck junk yard.  What I dislike most is that there are few tourists or overnighters; most folks are here for local work (like us), but they live in small, dilapidated trailers with rusted junk all around the outside.  Plus there are a lot of loud, barking dogs.  At least 3 owners refuse to have them on a leash; one actually left a pile of poo at the back of my trailer!  Too bad I didn't see which dog or owner, or I would have returned it.  The person next door has a huge white dog that looks like a polar bear.  It was sitting outside on a leash, but the leash was so long, that when I walked around to the side (to empty the black tank), it came running up to me - growling fiercely - and came within inches, that I had to run backwards and yell to the owner (who was inside his trailer) to come and get his dog so I could do what I needed to do on my own property.  Sigh.  Only 2 weeks to go.

More about the place: it is called Frontier Fort and is actually part of Frontier Village -- a replica of an old west town in the pioneer days.  The office is actually a large souvenir shop downstairs, with a bar & grill upstairs (no food we can eat there) and a few bison in the back that you can feed through a tube.  The bison seem to be in the same condition as some of the trailers -- I think they've seen better days.  There is also a museum filled with cases of taxidermied animals and birds, and a large showcase of antiques.  The lighting is horrible which makes the place seem very creepy, and the antiques are all piled together so it looks more like a hoarder's room.

Anyway, here are a few more photos of other parts of the campground.

Wide open field on one side of the park, as well as a tractor and bales of hay:

  

Can you find the horse at the far end of the corral? (there's only 1 horse there).



This large building that says "Chuckwagon" may have been designed as a restaurant in frontier times, but now there's nothing but floor to ceiling, wall to wall storage (again, another hoarder's paradise):



Here are some photos of the office (souvenir shop and restaurant), as well as the bison in the back.

  



On another storage shed type building between the Chuckwagon and office, there were some pretty paintings on the wood:

  


Let's see... what else do I have to add to this post?  I am very grateful and blessed that God has provided me with a livelihood and that my business (www.AZAdminSolutions.com - sorry for the plug!) is doing very well.  I'm not complaining, but work has kept me so extremely busy that I haven't figured out a way to enjoy life yet.  I suppose I can work at night, but that's the time that me and Mitch get to spend together, usually just watching tv shows that we've downloaded and I don't want to give that up.  So far this week (and probably until we leave), Mitch is working 12 hour days so that he can finish up as much as possible, since we do have a drop-dead deadline of 10/28 as his last day, and 10/31 pulling out of the campground (egads - I still need to finish up the route plan -- I'm still in MO, 1.5 weeks out!).

Not much else.  Other than running a few errands to big box stores on Sunday with Mitch for shopping, I haven't had much of a chance to explore the area.  From what I can see, it is very much like Bismarck - a lot of new development of stores and malls and apartments/homes, surrounded by farmland.  At the very least, I'd love to visit Frontier Village (close enough to ride our urb-e's to).  Maybe I can carve some time on Friday?  Postscript - that's today.  It's almost 1:00 and Mitch isn't home from work yet.  He will be tired, will have at least an hour's worth of paperwork to do, he likes to braid the challah and maybe even decompress for a bit.  It's looking fairly slim that I'll be able to get out and visit the Village and giant buffalo statue.  But we shall see....

Sukkot - Day 851 (Yr 3, Day 118) # 1

Jamestown, ND

This holiday starts 4 days after Yom Kippur.  One of the main highlights of the holiday is that we're supposed to build and live in a sukkah.  Simply put, it is a booth that we are commanded to live in for 8 days.  It is outdoors and it's roof must be made of materials that grow from the ground and you can see the stars through it. There are many symbolic reasons.  The two most common: our ancestors lived in booths while traveling in the desert after leaving Egypt; and it represents that we leave the security of our homes and live in an environment in which we put our full faith in God that he will protect us (you can Google this and probably find many other interesting insights).  Although the commandment is to "live" in it, it's ok to just spend as much time as possible in it - if it's nice out, sit there and read; have as many meals in there as possible; sometimes even just sit in it for a few minutes.  We've never personally slept in it.  The very minimum command is it sit in the sukkah, even if just for a few minutes.

For many years, we always built a sukkah.  It measured about 10' x 20' and was large enough to hold several tables and chairs.  We often had family and friends join us for meals.  This photo from 2013 shows the sukkah before we put the walls up.



Obviously, we couldn't build such a sukkah in a campground.  The last few years, we've been fortunate to perform the mitzvah of sitting in a sukkah at the synagogues we visited (Cary, NC in 2014 and Asheville, NC in 2015).  Unfortunately, since the closest synagogue is 100 miles away (Fargo), we wouldn't have the opportunity this year.  What to do?

We did a little research and found a company that makes small, traveler models.  In fact, the one we found had been designed to be built on a mountain top.  See this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KnmqT-67P8  Here it is all built.  Certainly a far cry from what we used to have.  Yes, the roof should be flat, but it's been incredibly windy and I think it got lifted up slightly.  At least it's tied down tightly enough that it didn't blow away!  And next year I plan to allow myself enough time to put up some decorations.

On Thursday (10/21), we had an amazing surprise visit from Rabbi Grossman and his family (from the Fargo shul) with a "sukkah mobile" (traveling sukkah in the back of a pickup truck).  They were going to Minot and then to Bismarck and needed to pass through Jamestown.  They called about 10 minutes away and asked to stop by to see our sukkah and give us the opportunity to do the mitzvah of waving the lulav (4 species, representing Jewish unity and other mystical reasons.  I highly recommended Googling this).  Mitch was working about 10 minutes away, so he came running home for a little while.  It felt so absolutely wonderful and uplifting to be able to do this and I'm very grateful to Rabbi Grossman for giving us this chance.

Here we are, holding the lulav, and then the Rabbi and his eldest daughter sitting in our sukkah.

      

Some arbitrary notes... this week and next, Mitch is working 12 hour days (6am to 6pm) plus some hours on Friday so that he can finish the assignment as much as possible before we leave here on Monday, 10/31.  I don't envy his starting work in the freezing cold and dark (it doesn't get light until about 7:45).  Yesterday, he had a 2 hour delay due to a flat tire.  Weatherwise, it's been mostly in the low 50s (30s at night) and windy and cloudy, so not very enjoyable for walking.  Of course, this is a heat wave compared to the expected temps in a month or so.

I know I owe a post ... Day 846 (Yr 3, Day 113)

Jamestown, ND

So no one thinks I've dropped off the end of the earth, I promise to update my blog!  I need to write about Yom Kippur services, about building our sukkah, and more photos and descriptions of the campground.  Things have just been so crazy busy with work that I haven't had the time to devote to updating this blog, particularly since I have numerous photos to upload.  I was hoping to accomplish all of this today (Sunday), but other things (such as helping Mitch build the sukkah and paying bills) took precedence.  It will be a several hour endeavor to write the blog post the way I'd like it, so I appreciate your patience.  

Jamestown, Rosh Hashanah - Day 836 (Yr 3, Day 103)

Jamestown, ND

On Sunday, we left Bismarck at about 10:30 am, after packing and hitching.  It was hard to say goodbye to Kathy.  The plan was to drive to Jamestown - about 100 miles and 2 hours away, drop off the RV in a pull thru site (5 mins), have a quick lunch, and head to Fargo - another 100 miles/2 hours away - arrive at our hotel by 2, have a quick nap, change clothes and help the rabbi set up before Rosh Hashanah services.

Things started out as planned; we got to Jamestown around noon.  However, we did not have a pull through site and it took us - with help from neighbors - a little over AN HOUR to back into our site.  It is very narrow, with a lot of cars around and very little room to maneuver.  I will tell you now -- I HATE this place!  The only scenery to look at are either old, dilapidated trailers of long term residents or a truck junk yard. The fact that the few trees have no leaves (winter approaching) just makes the sites that much more depressing.  Usually I like to keep all my shades open to let in the light, but it's hard to look out the windows at the junkyards that surround me.  Oh well -- what I need to do is remind myself there's a reason G-d sent us here; we are blessed that we have jobs, and therefore it should be easy to ignore the material aspects of the looks of the campground.  Not to mention this is the ONLY campground in the area that's open past Sept. 30th.  Hopefully time will pass quickly and we'll be on our way to Raleigh (not that I'm looking forward to the drive).  Here is the view out of my window:

Anyway, we finally got settled into our spot around 2:00.  We had a quick bite to eat.  Didn't "set up house" at all - left everything on the bed and couches (in travel position) except for the kitchen, and hit the road by 2:30. We landed in Fargo at 4:00, checked into the hotel, changed our clothes and walked to the place where services were being held at 6:30 (1/4 mile away).  By that time, most of the set up had been done, although I was able to help set the tables.

As always, I find this time of year to be very spiritually uplifting, yet extremely grueling, as we sit in worship services for about 6-7 hours.  Services were very lovely and inspiring, as were the awesome meals which included some very interesting sermons & words of wisdom (I was also thrilled to eat some kosher meat after 5 months!)

There were 4 times over the 2 days where we went to services: Sunday evening, Monday morning, Monday evening and Tuesday morning.  We were supposed to return on Tuesday evening, but due to the long drive and the fact that Mitch had to get up at 5:30 and I expected a lot of work as well - not to mention we still needed to set up house - it was unreasonable to expect us to leave after services (which end around 8:00pm) and not get back until 10:00.  So we left after a lovely lunch and returned home close to 5:00 pm. (I did all the driving, which was entirely in the pouring rain).  We put everything away, I made a quick dinner of rice & beans, we watched a little "tv" and went to bed by 9.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was absolutely insane for me.  There were 75 emails in my inbox, at least 48 of them which required action and 15 which were urgent.  I didn't sleep very well (anxious about all the work) and landed up getting up and starting work around 5:30 am.  Finally, just now (Thursday at 1:00 pm) I have everything under control and the workload manageable again.  I am not looking forward to a repeat of this next week, when I will be off for Yom Kippur.  Although it's only one full day, it starts Tuesday night and ends late Wed. night.  This, unfortunately, is something we need to be there for during it's entirety, so we won't leave Fargo until Thursday morning.

(A note to my curious non-Jewish readers about the High Holidays, which begins with Rosh Hashanah (RH) ends with Yom Kippur (YK):  RH is often called the New Year because it commemorates the beginning of the year of creation (Rosh HaShanah is literally translated as "Head of the Year").  It is not celebrated like our secular new year.  It is a joyous time, but also a time of introspection.  The days between RH and YK are called the Days of Awe.  In effect, this is a time when we have a chance to reassess our goals, ask forgiveness from both God and our fellow humans, sincerely repent for our sins, and start over with a clean slate.  God is judging us now.  A High Holiday metaphor is that there is a Book of Life.  On RH our fate for the next year is written and on YK it is sealed: all based upon our actions during the Days of Awe).

I already described the campground.  What I didn't mention is that the office is actually a large souvenir gift shop with a restaurant/bar upstairs (nothing on the menu we can eat).  It's probably about 1/4 mile from the site to the office.  I understand that around the corner is a herd of buffalo which we can feed.  I'll have to check that out.  We're very close to "Frontier Village," which is a touristy place set up as an Old West town.  There lives a statue of the world's largest buffalo and one of the only very rare albino buffaloes.  Perhaps we'll have a chance to check that out on Sunday.  Other than that, there are a lot of big box stores and a mall nearby.  From the map, it looks like there's a river (the James River), so we'll have to see if there's anything interesting to do there.

As for weather, the last 2 days have been no more than mid-40s with very high winds.  This morning, I had the heat up to 76 with the fireplace and my small electric heater on!  It's too cold to take a walk without a winter coat, which I don't own and don't want to!

Final post from Bismarck - Day 831 (Yr 3, Day 98)

Bismarck, ND

Thursday night we had a lovely campfire with Kathy and Roger.  We thought it would be the last get together, but we invited them for Shabbat dinner and they excitedly accepted, so we had a really wonderful time last night (although I confess I drank too much wine -- if there's a such thing as too much wine! :) )

Friday, however, was such a stressful day that at one point I broke down into tears.  Not only the usual Friday stress of preparing for Shabbat, but having guests, and the extra work and anxiety of getting road ready again for our travels out on Sunday.  Plus the need to get all the laundry done and pack a suitcase for 2 days away (we pretty much will have enough time to park the trailer and head out to Fargo).  Not to mention that I needed to pick up my glasses.  And to top it off, adding the most to the stress level was work. Not being available Mon & Tues, my clients felt the need to give me everything they could think of that may need to be done for the next year (plus needing to clean out my ever-growing inbox).  I'm thankful that Mitch was there to help me with the cooking and errands and was my rock.

The weather was lovely today so we sat outside for a while.  We packed the suitcase this evening and will most likely procrastinate in packing up everything else until the morning, since there isn't all that much that needs to be done outside.  I think we can be ready in about an hour.

L'Shana Tova (Happy New Year)!