Saturday, September 15, 2018

A little History in our lives.


Reluctantly, VERY reluctantly, we packed up and headed over to Fargo, North Dakota, and added another State to our list of states visited.

We had no previous knowledge of Fargo, I had seen that the Elks had a large parking lot and traveling Elks could park there. So off we went. The lodge was very welcoming and not only provided us with a free drink but pins and T Shirts too!

We set off to explore, Fargo appears to be a booming town with lots of new shopping centers and industry. They have several local Breweries and we sampled most of them! Fargo and Morehead are twin cities straddling the border between North Dakota and Minnesota, Morehead is home to a couple of very interesting Norwegian related objects. A Viking ship that was built by a local gentleman and sailed by his son's across the Atlantic to Norway, and a replica Stavkirk, the traditional Norwegian wooden church.
The Viking ship replica that sailed across the Atlantic

The Stavkirk
Fargo has an Air Museum but it was closed for most of our time there due to a special event. The website said it would reopen on Sunday but when we got there they were still working to clean up. One of the volunteers kindly opened the museum hanger for us and let us wander around for a couple of minutes.

Interior of the Stavkirk

All hand carved by one man
We were dry camping at the Elks and we've had a problem develop with our generator where it would fire up but die again. It got worse and now we couldn't recharge the batteries so we checked into a city campground for a night so we could get everything charged and dump our tanks.

The next day we did a dreary 200 miles of I94 which is dead straight and dead flat for most of the way. We took our customary break after 2 hours at Jamestown ND, which just happened to be the hometown of our friend from San Diego Loretta Armstrong. When she saw we were heading this was she told us we had to stop and see the giant Buffalo and the general store she used to hang around when she was younger. 

A 60 ton concrete Buffalo, well why not?
There was a Walmart to park at, a Tap House for lunch and the Buffalo was a mile down the road so we had good break. We bought some DVD's at a Goodwill and snacks at Dollar Tree too.

The day ended at the Bismarck Elks Lodge, again dry camping in a huge parking lot. The Lodge here is proud of it's bar. It dates from 1880 and such dignitaries as Teddy Roosevelt and Tom Mix have taken refreshment at it's counter during it's many travels around the Dakotas before it found it's present home in 1966.

Fiddling around with the generator and calling local stores to see if they had a fuel filter for it had me stumble on a free online Owners Manual for it. When I read the trouble shooting section they listed our condition, fires up but dies. Their corrective actions showed low oil as the first thing to check. And that was it! There is an oil pressure sensor and if the oil pressure doesn't get up to spec in a couple of seconds it kills the ignition. When I added about a pint of oil it ran just fine! DUHHH.

The generator, works great when you add oil!
Bismarck and Mandan are “Adjoined” towns. (like Minneapolis/St Paul). Mandan is also the name of the Native American Tribe in the area. Thru this area runs the Lewis and Clark Trail.

Mandan winter house
So where am I going with this??

Life is full of circles and coincidences.

When we moved to San Diego in 2006 it was to work on a new class of supply ships for the US Navy the T-AKE class. Classes of ships are named after the first ship in that class,

USNS Lewis and Clark
The first ship in the T-AKE class? USNS Lewis and Clark!
The second ship? USNS Sacagawea

OK here's where I have to address US History for our European friends and relatives.

In 1803 Thomas Jefferson, the President at that time cut a deal with Napoleon the French Emperor to buy the “Louisiana Territory”. This Territory wasn't just the current State of Louisiana however, It included just about all of the current USA west of the Mississippi!


In order to explore this vast new territory and to find a way cross country to the Pacific Jefferson organized an expedition named the Corps of discovery led by 2 army captains. Merriweather Lewis and William Clark.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition set off from St Louis Missouri and followed the Missouri River by boat and on foot until the winter got near.


They met a band of friendly Indians the Mandan's who helped feed them thru the winter.
Charbonneau, Lewis and Clark
The Expedition hired a French hunter trapper Toussaint Charbonneau. He had an Indian wife who was related to several other tribes along their prospective path and spoke several native languages, her name was Sacagawea.

The ships in the T-AKE class were named after Americans who were first in their field. Hence Lewis and Clark. The legend of Sacagawea taking the lead and translated for that expedition led to the second ship being named for her.

So there is the circle, my working life in shipbuilding, the move to San Diego, and our arrival in Bismarck/ Mandan with it's connections to Lewis and Clark.

Naturally we had to visit Fort Mandan, which is a recreation of the expeditions winter quarters, and to the Mandan Village National Monument.
Entrance to Fort Mandan
With so many coincidences and links going in, it was hardly surprising that when we got to the village there was a special event for school children going on and we were welcomed by the rangers and told to join in wherever we wanted.

Although Tipi's are associated with Indians, the Mandan didn't use them

Beautiful artwork on Buffalo hide.
As we made to leave I spotted a gentleman in Native Dress and we walked over to talk to him. He turned out to be Keith Bear a flute maker, player and songwriter of renown who has played with orchestras all over the world and has been nominated for a Grammy! We were treated to a talk about his flutes and songs and a sampling of his beautiful music.

Keith Bear

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Bena MN


That turned out to be a great decision and we enjoyed the trip and the company of a young couple who shared our table while celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary.

Overall a great stop on our trip, next we must head West.

So where could we go next? West is the direction but how far?


In stepped fate and we learned that our great friends Karen and Paul are not too far away in Bena MN for several weeks. The place they are at has an opening on Labor day after everyone else has left so we head across there.

We bump into Karen and Paul a couple of times a year and they stay at the same place in Casa Grande for the winter as we do, in fact they came to greet us the very first time we stayed there way, way back in time!

When we checked in at the office they said “Oh yes you're near Karen and Paul. The Lingren's will be arriving tomorrow” SURPRISE! Ed and Ruthanne who also stay in the resort in Casa Grande will be here too. They are the couple who told us about things to do in the UP and who we were going to stay with for a couple of nights before the area got flooded and they sold their place . What a happy time this was going to be. 

Then another surprise, Al and Marie who we had met in Casa Grande last year when Karen, Paul, Barbara and I went to a Neil Diamond tribute concert, live in this park for the summer!

Party time was right now!!

Meals out, happy hours, road trips, dinners at Al and Marie's place, Diary Queen. It was soon one long party and the 2 days we said we'd stay became 4 really quickly, and would have been a couple of weeks if we hadn't been determined to get on the road again.
L to R Me, Paul, Karen, Ruthanne, Ed and Barbara
We took one nice trip to Itasca State Park where the Mississippi River has it's source. A beautiful park and you can walk across the Mississippi on stepping stones or a log bridge.
Stepping stones across the Misissipi

Karen, Ruthanne and Barbara on the log bridge

Al and Marie are fanatical fishermen (Marie being the better one). Al is always looking for an excuse to go out in their boat and all the visitors gave him a perfect one.

Al and a Nothern Pike

Al said my fish was a "Rock Bass" I thought it was a Crappie
Soon we were out catching Perch, Northern Pike, Walleye, Crappies and “Rock Bass” in a local lake. They have a favorite tavern nearby where you bring the fish you catch and the restaurant prepares it for you. Fortunately Al and Marie had a freezer with enough fish for 8 as, despite catching lots of fish, we had only Paul's 4 keepers at the end of the day! The restaurant rolled the fish in flour and panko crumbs and cooked it to perfection.
Al and Marie on the right.

And great fishermen.

We staggered out of there stuffed to the gills so to speak!
Great name for a great restaurant.

The next evening Marie prepared a mountain of Chili and the last night together she force fed us on ribs! Boy can she cook, and all of us kept stuffing ourselves silly.
Karen and Paul
But the days are ticking by, the leaves are starting to change color and they remind us that we have to move on.
The leaves are turning and it's only the beginning of September.
Reluctantly, VERY reluctantly, we packed up and headed over to Fargo, North Dakota, and added another State to our list of states visited.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Two Harbors, Minnesota


Thanks Sheri, Thanks David. See you, you muddy puppies!!

It was tough tearing ourselves away from Sheri and David's company, we're going to miss them but the year is winding down and we have to move on.

Our plan (HA!) is to go West to North Dakota then South until we get back to Arizona for the winter. We've never been to Minnesota before and have no idea what to expect. Tony and Dee Dee who we met in Sault St Marie went that way about a month ago and seemed to have had fun around Two Harbors on the shores of Lake Superior so we headed that way too.

Split Rock Lighthouse
The “no plan kids” struck lucky again, rolling up to a campground with no reservations and walking in to a nice spot about 3 miles outside Two Harbors. We explored the lighthouses and waterfalls nearby and had a day in Duluth.
Two Harbors Lighthouse (and Bed and Breakfast)

The bad news was that we hadn't made reservations for the Labor Day long weekend.
Two Harbors Depot Museum
This is the traditional end of summer in the US. The swimming pools close after this holiday and so do some campgrounds. Everyone wants to get in one last camping trip before the kids go back to school.
Walking the Two Harbors Breakwater
When we called around all the ones in the area were already full. Our go-to phone apps for camping are Rvparky and RV campground reviews. Rvparky shows casinos too, and we've camped at a lot in the past, but they didn't show one in this area.
Gooseberry Falls

Gooseberry Falls State Park
Driving around Duluth we saw a big billboard advertising the Black Bear Casino. When we looked it up it was about 20 miles south of the city. A phone call soon revealed that yes we could camp there free but there were no hookups. Perfect for a couple of nights. We added it to the database for Rvparky.

Our 3 days around here became 6 and we set about exploring Duluth. We were surprised how much there was going on there. At first it looked like an industrial town on the shores of Lake Superior, busy with railroads and iron ore. Ships being loaded and heading off across the lake. But beneath that, (and well hidden by massive road construction downtown!!) was a bustling scene with restaurants, breweries and tourist attractions galore.
Duluth Railroad Museum
The “big” attraction in all meanings of the word is the Aerial Bridge. Ships coming into the harbor from the lake enter thru the narrow harbor entrance and the bridge for road traffic rises vertically about 150' to let them thru. It opens about every ½ hour and there is even a website to tell you when a ship will be entering the harbor. We lucked out again and when we got there we just had time to walk across the bridge and down the breakwater when a ship came in. We had a great lunch at Grandma's bar and restaurant right next to the bridge too.
Close up to the Aerial Bridge

Laker going under the bridge

Laker coming in to the Harbor
Looking for something to do in the afternoon we found a guide book that showed the Skyline Parkway that ran from Brighton Beach south almost to the casino. What a pleasant find that was despite terrible signage (and none at all most of the time) and more road closures and diversions. 
Enger Tower on the Skyline Parkway.

Looking North

South
The road runs along the crest of the ridge west of the city center and gives great views over the city and a pleasant winding road thru the trees. At the very top is the Enger Tower and gardens.

One photograph, three lighthouses and the Aerial Bridge.

 We found the Railroad Depot and Museum next. A huge beautiful building now
re- purposed as an arts center, theater and Railroad Museum. During our visit we discovered they have a train ride too, the North Shore Railroad. Better yet they were having an “Elegant Dinner Ride” the following evening with Prime Rib or Salmon on the menu and exclusive access to the first class dining car and observation car. We signed up right away figuring that we deserved a treat! We ordered a bottle of wine with dinner too.
Railroad Museum Duluth
That turned out to be a great decision and we enjoyed the trip and the company of a young couple who shared our table while celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary.

The Aerial Bridge from Skyline Parkway
Overall a great stop on our trip, next we must head West.