Wall, SD and the Badlands

The trip from Mandan to Wall was uneventful except that on the only two hills between Mandan and Wall the clutch started slipping. Not a lot but it is definitely not something I want to go to Yellowstone without repairing. Our stay in Wall will be followed by two or three days in Rapid City while a stronger after market clutch is installed.

We got to Sleepy Hollow Campground on Friday evening with time to visit "downtown Wall" and Wall Drug.

Picture Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge two blocks long.

Our plan was to just relax Saturday. We did that. We also did laundry, watched PSU beat Kent State and attended Mass at St. Patrick's.    

We got up early Sunday and headed to the Badlands to catch the morning sun. Carol took 195 pictures. I will not share them all. But they are all good enough to share ! Remember, if you "click" on a picture it will open full size in another window.

We had planned on going back this evening for sunset pics but thunderstorms eliminated that. Maybe tomorrow.

Regular readers know about "Inbetweens", those little moments of joy, peace, memories or happenings that make you look up and say, "Thank you God. I know that was you."

In the summer of 2008 a big one happened and I blogged about it. Click on this link and scroll down to August 14th to read, "A Big Musical Inbetween".  I have remained friends with Karen and her mother. I enjoyed following Karen through her degree from Colgate. She is now in Boulder, CO where she has completed her Masters and is close to completing her PhD. She got married two months ago today to Alex Crawford, a fellow PhD candidate that she met while at Colgate..

I txtd her last week and said that we were heading West and asked where she was for the summer. She said, "Boulder" and I told her we'd have to put off meeting because we weren't going by there on this trip.

Yesterday she posted on Facebook that she and Alex were taking the long holiday weekend to make a whirlwind trip through Wyoming and SD, including a stop at Wall.  A couple of phone calls later and we met her and Alex at Wall Drug today.

We had a wonderful visit. She is still playing the Hammered Dulcimer and is close to releasing another CD. Check out her Facebook page by clicking here.

What a wonderful surprise.

Hoping for good weather tomorrow to enjoy another day in the Badlands.

Headed West - Finally

August 25, 2016. We are finally on the road. The first three days were simply drive, drive, drive so we could get to ND and visit Carol's relatives. The first night was Deer Ridge Camping Resort in Richmond, IN.

At a rest stop we saw these trucks with REALLY BIG somethings on them. We're guessing they're part of the towers for wind turbines. We had already seen three over-sized load trucks carrying ONE blade each. I was going to go ask what they were carrying but they were stopped because one of the trucks had broken down and no one looked like they were in the mood for questions.

Temperatures were forecast to be cool the second night so we stayed at a WalMart in Tomah, WS. A bit longer day than we had planned but the Walmart in Wisconsin Dells doesn't allow overnight parking. The WalMart national policy is to allow parking. But some localities, usually tourist destinations with lots of commercial campgrounds pass local ordinances prohibiting it. Which is OK, I guess. They do pay local taxes. But I sure hate to pay even $20. to park overnight without hooking up to anything.

Finally, the third night we made it to Grand Forks. East Grand Forks, MN that is. All of our relatives are in ND but the closest campground was the Red River State Recreation Area across the river from Grand Forks, ND. It's a beautiful place in a greenway created after the tragic flood of 1997.

On the way from Fargo north to Grand Forks we hit some of the heaviest rain I have ever seen. 30 mph on the Interstate with our blinkers on. I was afraid to pull off on the shoulder because our aluminum Airstream disappears in fog or heavy rain. I was in the RV park grumbling about the extra hour it took us to get to Grand Forks. On what was already planned to be our longest day on the road. Then another RV pulled into the adjacent spot. They had come the same route from Fargo just an hour behind us and hit golf ball sized hail. Everything on the top of his RV was destroyed, the roof was cracked, the front window was cracked and his brand new truck had lots of dents. And he had stopped along side the road because he was afraid the hail would break his windshield if he kept driving. That sure put our hour delay in perspective. A favorite phrase of Mary Ann's, "Yes we had some bad luck. But we're the luckiest unlucky people we know."

We got there late in the afternoon and Aunt Gail said, "I bet you'd just like to chill. We'll meet you at St. Michael's tomorrow morning."

 

 

This is the Church where Carol's parents and Uncle Bill and Aunt Gail got married.  We enjoyed their hospitality for two days. Got to visit a lot. Saw the Hockey Stadium. I told them Penn State had an NCAA Hockey program now. Gail said it would be a while before we "worked our way up" to the level of UND but they'd be happy to compete with us ....... someday.

 

This picture of us with Aunt Gail and Uncle Bill was taken by their Grandson Carter who started 7th grade while we were there.

This is Grandma and Grandpa Schmisek's house where Carol's Mom and her SIX siblings were raised. Gee, maybe this is why Carol is so happy in a double-wide and our Airstream.

The next stop was Bismarck and Mandan, ND where more of Carol's Aunts and Uncles live. Another State Campground built on a flood plain but this one is also an historic site. Ft. Abraham Lincoln State Park.

At the confluence of the Missouri and Heart rivers, it is a beautiful quiet place. A village of about 1000 Mandan Indians flourished here for almost two hundred years from about 1575 until a small pox epidemic hit in 1781. The Mandans were a sedentary agriculturally based society that lived in earth lodges as large as 40 ft in diameter. The village has been reconstructed on its original site.

It's a really beautiful place.

 Signs of a beaver who tried to bite off a little more than he could chew. He succeeded in killing the tree but I think it will be a while before he drops it.

 One of three reconstructed block towers from the original fort with a view of downtown Bismarck. The large building is the State Capitol and the white spire is the Catholic Cathedral.

 The park was recontructed by the CCC in the late 1930's. Aunt Nancy always said that this statue looked like Grandpa Schmisek.

 For my geologist son, some concretions. They are so numerous that an area and a creek are named "Cannonball." These are medium sized ones. About 2 ft in diameter.

 Uncle Clarence, Carol, me, Aunt Peggy and Uncle Dan.

Carol's brother-in-law Bill passed away last December 22nd. Her sister Bobbie visited ND earlier this summer and brought the last of Bill's favorite Scotch for the family to share.

We wanted to show the world that at least the bottle is still standing. Uncle Dan and Uncle Clarence are still sitting.

Next stop - Wall, SD.

God is good. Every Day.