in the wilds

Here are a few pictures from around our campsite.

the view from our front door

 Our campsite

 just a few steps away

 

We do have over-the-air television of the three networks but it is not strong, comes and goes.  I think that I can find a place for our satellite dish and will try to get that hooked up tomorrow.  I did drive into Sulphur, OK this afternoon and found a WM supercenter so did get re-stocked on a few items.

This campground has filled up today with families, both rv's and tents, and I assume it is for the weekend and expect that Sunday afternoon there will be a grand exodus.  There has been a lot of bank fishermen in the cove right in front of us but we haven't seen any stringers of fish being taken away.

very week signal

Their web site was correct as we don't have hardly any cell phone signal here in camp.  I did get an email on my phone this afternoon so if anyone needs to get in touch with us first try the cell but if that doesn't work then send an email.  We will get into Ardmore at least a couple of times while we are here and I can send and receive calls, post a blog message, or send/receive emails from there where the signal will be good and can respond to missed calls.  I do have a faint data signal this evening that wasn't there this afternoon so hope to get this message out.

We have a beautiful site with a great view of an arm of the lake out our front door.  The site isn't very level and our jacks are extended to the max on the front but it is level enough inside to work.  When we do get into town I will post a picture of our campsite.

travel'n

On the road again for our October outing.  It was a drizzle of rain this morning as we were loading the final items after breakfast and we used the wipers all the way to Lebanon where the sprinkles stopped.  We had a brief visit with Wilma and then was on our way to Joplin.  By the time we made it to Joplin around 2:00 the sky was clear and the clouds all gone.

The extended forecast for our location near Ardmore, OK this next week looks like all sunny days with highs in the low to mid 70s and lows of upper 40s to low 50s, we like those numbers.  The web-site for our campground this next week says "no cell service" but our provider coverage map shows that we should be okay.  If it doesn't work or is too weak you may not hear from us until the following Wednesday when we relocate to a site near Tulsa.

back at the Martin Manor

We backed in a little after lunch time so just had our travel type lunch snack in the trailer before beginning the unloading of dirty clothes and such.  This was a little different kind of trip with a lot of service shop time but it ended well and I feel more comfortable with pulling our "motel on wheels" around for another several years.

We are here now for the next three weeks leaving on Oct. 14th for two weeks of "camping" in a couple of national campgrounds in Oklahoma.  I'm calling it "camping" because we don't have plans for excursions and may just relax at the campsite for those two weeks.  After that we will stop by the NuWa factory for annual routine maintenance on our trailer.

See you then!

back on track

We're back on the planned trip and headed toward the Manor.  Tonight we are in Casey, IL in a small KOA with a big corn field on one side and a large bean field on the other.  This is our 4th time at this campground and the family that run it are great folks.

The good news is that we are back in our comfortable time zone.  I don't like the eastern time zone and the way that it effects the television schedules.

back and forth

This morning we got up early as we had an 8:00 appointment at the shop that made our automatic leveling system, Quadra Big Foot.  They updated our system and repaired some non-working switches (at no charge).  Then as we were getting ready to leave they saw a puddle of brake fluid under one of our trailer tires.  When they got onto a creeper and rolled under they saw that it was coming from one of our brake connections.  I got on the phone and called the shop that worked on our wheels over the past couple of days and they told us to bring it back to their shop so they could make the necessary repairs.  Since we didn't have any brakes on the trailer I was glad that this part of the country is relatively flat with no mountains to make a down grade.  On the drive back the 20+/_ miles with just the truck brakes it was still difficult to stop so I had to drive slow enough and give myself enough time to slow down for stop lights.

They made the necessary repairs (at no charge) and by noon we were on our way back to our campground.  Now we will rest for the remainder of the day and tomorrow morning head toward Missouri with one overnight stop in Casey, IL.

finished early

It was a different experience being in the shop last night.  They forgot to tell us that we would be inside a manufacturing facility that worked three shifts so we had loud hammering, air tool buzzes, grinders, and equipment noise.all night long.  Shortly after 6:00 am lights began to come on and workers started in the service bays where we were.  By 6:30 our mechanic was getting ready to start just as we were finishing our breakfast and closing up our slides so he could get at our work.  We then went to the customer lounge for coffee and television.  About 8:00 they came to tell us that our work was done and we needed to pull our trailer out of their shop so they could move another one in.  After we paid our bill they gave us two tee-shirts with the company logo and we were on our way.

We called the campground that we had reserved for this evening and found that our site would be available early so we drove the 20 miles and are now going to enjoy a relaxing day.  Tomorrow we have an appointment with another RV service shop just a few miles north of here in White Pigeon, MI which should only take a few hours so we will be back in this campground tomorrow night.

an evening in the shop

And I mean "in the shop" because they came to us at closing time and gave us a key to the shop so we could occupy our trailer for the evening.  They had this work scheduled for two days and I assumed that they would do half (one axle) today and the other half tomorrow so we could pull the trailer out and hook up to their campground facilities.  The workers are all gone now and we have moved in.  We do have an electric connection so the microwave will work but there will be no television tonight.  Like last night we will use our on board water supply.  After the work is finished tomorrow we can move to a campground with full hookups and a potential for a shower.

a day in the shop

They took our trailer into the shop at 7:00 this morning and we moved into their customer lounge.  They have coffee, soda, water, and a few snacks along with television and free wifi.  They even took our lunch order and brought it to us for free.  They are a good bunch of folks to have working on our trailer and I'm sure that we will pay for our lunch and snacks when we get the bill.

This afternoon Jo and I took a short drive to the RV & Motor-home hall of fame and museum.  It had exhibits of RVs from the beginning of time and it was quite interesting.  Some of the early house-cars were very unusual.

heart of the RV industry

Tonight we are in Elkhart, IN which is in the heart of the RV manufacturing industry.  It would be safe to say that an extremely large percentage of all RVs are manufactured in this area of Indiana.  We are parked in a side lot of Mor/Ryde industries where we have service scheduled for tomorrow and Thursday on our suspension system.  What we have now on our trailer is this companies product that was installed by our trailer manufacture.  The reason for this service is to replace the bearings.  The bearings we now have are known to have defects and cause problems and we are having them replaced with a more serviceable bearing.  To fix both axles will take two days but we will have our trailer out of the shop each evening for us to stay in.

Grrrr I-70 traffic

We have confirmed our decision to not use I-70 for our trips to Baltimore.  Our route using I-64 has much lighter traffic especially trucks and is more scenic.  Since we are headed to northern Indiana this had to be the way.  Tomorrow after we get around Columbus, OH we head across country (non Interstate) toward Ft Wayne and then Elkhart.  Wednesday and Thursday our trailer will be in the shop but we will have it back to spend out nights in our bed.  We'll have to see what mischief we can get into during those two days.

a good day

It was another very nice visit with both of our daughters.  We met Tammy (Phyllis' best friend and our adopted second daughter) for lunch.  After lunch it was another card game with both Jo and Phyllis letting me win one.  After a bit of playing with the kitten it was time to head back to the campground.  Tomorrow we head back eastward.

nice visit

Today was a very nice visit with Phyllis and our grandkits.  This morning we helped her take her bicycle to a repair shop and then did some grocery shopping for our stay.  Jo had put together a large pot of soup this morning in the trailer and that went well for lunch.  This afternoon we had a couple of games of cards and Phyllis was so mean to her folks that she didn't let us win either one.

One of her favorite meals when ever we are around is Missouri Ozarks deep fried cornmeal catfish.  We had brought the fish from home and Jo also brought her baby fryer to do them in.  The menu for this evening was home made coleslaw with dressing, cooked kale, catfish, and honey dew melon, yum.

Here are a couple of pictures of the grandkits.  The first one shows them together and Phyllis said that this is the first time that they have taken naps this close to each other.  The second picture is Jo getting real acquainted with the new kitty.  They are both rescue kittens.  Rosie was apparently abused as a kitten which is why she is shy around strangers.  Louise is so cute and full of kitten liveliness.

hello kitty

We got to meet our newest grandkit this afternoon.  We made it to our campground around 3:00 this afternoon and then after getting the trailer all set-up headed to see Phyllis and her cats.  4:00 pm on a Friday is definitely not the time to drive the highways around Baltimore with two factors, number one it was quitting time for the worker bees and number two was that the Baltimore Orioles had a game this evening against the NY Yankies.  It took us over an hour to drive that 20+/- miles.

It was a good brief visit with plans for more time tomorrow.

familier route

We have made this exact route so many times (this is our 14th visit to this campground) that Jo didn't pull out a map until I took a detour near Louisville.  This morning as we were getting close to L'ville we came around a curve to find all red tail-lights ahead in both lanes, "oh no, how long will this delay be?"  It just happened that as we slowed down I saw an exit to the left for I-265 which I knew would take us to I-65 south into L'ville and then on to I-64 and back on track.  At least we kept moving and missed all the aggravation that an accident delay can cause.

We have experienced off and on showers all day just about like yesterday and also our GWF was still by our side with help during all stops, breaking camp, and setting up here tonight.  Settled in now, watching tv, and making this post while it is raining outside.  Thank you GWF!

heading East

Left the Martin Manor this morning on our way for a visit with Phyllis.  When we leave her house next Monday we are headed toward Elkhart, IN for some work on the trailer.

Today we passed a milestone in our trailer travels as somewhere around St. Louis this morning we rolled over 150,000 miles with a trailer in tow.  Also our GWF was doing her good deeds today.  It had rained during the night at home but was not while we were packing the final items for travel.  We weren't gone 10 miles until I needed to turn on the wipers and they were on until we crossed the Indiana border.  She also caused a pause in the hard rains whenever we pulled in for a pit stop or for lunch.  Thank you GWF!

back at the Martin Manor RV park

Backed in a little before 2:00 this afternoon and really didn't enjoy the outside temperature between the trailer and the house as we unloaded dirty laundry and other things.  This was a very nice relaxing trip that included some very nice days of cool weather but it's always good to get back home.

We are here for a little over two weeks before heading eastward for some trailer maintenance work and a visit with our daughter and our two grand-cats.

against the wind

Today was totally southbound and all against the wind which didn't do our fuel economy any good.  It is that wind that is bringing these high temperatures to the central USA and we probably should have turned around and "gone with the wind" back to the northern climate.  We are now in Newton, IA which is just a bit East of Des Moines and the temp is 92° but I see that at home it is 99°.  I believe that the forecast for tomorrow when we arrive back home it is supposed to be much cooler with a forecast only of 97°.

mission accomplished

Our goal for this trip was to spend some time in much cooler temperatures than was happening in mid-Missouri.  It has been very pleasant the whole trip but several days in northern Wisconsin was without need for any AC and even the use of our heat pump kept it comfortable at nights and early mornings.  We (or I should say I) did sample Wisconsin cheese and Wisconsin beer with good experiences for both.  There weren't a lot of excursions but the relaxing cool days were great.  Today we crossed into Minnesota and tomorrow we head south through Iowa toward the old Martin Manor corral.

fractional addresses

After reading our last post my sister sent me an email saying that she has a friend living in Chetek, WI with a fractional address.  I pulled up a close up of that area which was right where we saw the sign and there are many streets and avenues with fractional names.

relocated

A slight change in plans today as we have moved southerly out of the north-woods.  Where we were we didn't have any other tourist things to do.  The most favorite thing there was to take an ATV, or a snowmobile in certain seasons, and explore the back woods trails.  The biggest problem was that they were rented at $90/hour plus gas with a two hour minimum.  We were afraid that we would get lost and really wasn't interested in a bouncy ride over hill and dale although the scenery would have been great.  We could have just sat there and relaxed for two days but the town was so isolated that there wasn't any over-the-air television signals, the campground didn't have cable connections, and with all the trees no satellite TV.  Our RV is on wheels so we made use of them today.

We are now in Oakdale, WI and don't have any exciting thing to go see, but at least we have cable television to help pass the time.  One interesting thing today as we were driving along US-53, beside all the rain, was that they have all the crossroads named with highway signs giving their name.  That is not uncommon around the country but today we saw one sign that got our "Did you see that" comment.  It was a sign giving the cross street name as "29-3/4 Ave".

something fishy

Our outing this afternoon was to visit the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum, located in downtown Hayward, WI.  It was quite interesting as they had many collections of fishing lures, outboard motors, tackle, and boats as well as trophy mounted fish of all kinds.  They have posted the names and information about record catches of all kinds of freshwater fishing.  The grounds were very well kept with many flower beds and giant fish sculptures.

The extra large Muskellunge had stairs inside that we climbed to look out of its mouth.  Jo stayed up there while I came down to take her picture.

 view from the fish's mouth

 Jo about to be eaten

 we have Uncle Bills glass minnow trap like this one

 World record Muskie

relocated

Moved today just a little over 100 miles westward to Hayward, WI.  Still in Wisconsin, still in the north-woods, still surrounded by lakes, and still in cool climate.  Although a short drive it was a beautiful drive mostly through National Forest and on local roads with almost no other traffic besides us.  There were signs that warned of elk crossing and even lowered the speed limit down to 45 because of that event but none sighted by us.  We did see a couple of flocks of turkeys, one small flock just beside the roadway and the other larger flock crossed the road right in front of us.

Don't know what kind of mischief we can get into while here but we'll see, perhaps just loaf and enjoy the cool weather.  No AC required at all yesterday and so far looks like today is another without AC needed.  Here at 2:00 it is only 67°.

great day on the lakes

This area is covered with many lakes.  While today is forecast to be scattered showers all day, just like Saturday, yesterday was beautiful.  The afternoon was clear skies with temperatures in the low to mid 70s so we took a pontoon ride on two local lakes.  It was a little over two hour tour that included sights of many vacation mansions, eagles, and loons.  There were only four other passengers and one dog so it was a very personal tour.

After the boat ride we did a little bit of shopping and then found a very nice place for dinner.  It was the Minocqua Brewery and they had a nice selection of beers plus the food was very good.

 

This is a major vacation area for folks from Chicago.  One of the mansions on the lake is owned by the Anheuser Bush family.  The third picture is the Minocqua Country Club and a former member was Ike Eisenhower who liked to vacation here. 

Sunday exodus

 This morning we have been watching all the weekenders pack up and move out.  We are now the only unit in our loop of the campground so now we have an uninterrupted view of Patricia Lake.  The sites aren't too close together but I think the campground was full the past two nights.

nice rain

It has been raining off and on all day but no storm or winds so it's a nice shower.  The area around our trailer doesn't have much grass but it is sandy so the rain just soaks in and it's not muddy.  The campground is quiet without any RR tracks nearby and nice spacing between sites so not too much people noise even tho the campground is full.  The campground is on a small lake with a swimming beach and has boat rentals for fishing, neither of which will get much use by us.

Into the trees we go

Today we moved northerly from farming land into the tall timber.  We're about an hour and a half north of Wausau and our campsite is in the deep woods so no satellite television.  We do have a cable connection with a ton of channels so don't have to just twiddle our thumbs.  This area is in heavy timber with lots of small lakes everywhere.  We'll look in out information and see what kind of mischief we can get into these next few days.

calm day

Today has been a restful day with just a brief trip to the grocery store for a few restocking items.  We did stop at a post office on the way back for some stamps and a fuel stop to fill the tank for tomorrows drive.  Tomorrow we head north toward north central Wisconsin.  I apologize to the tourist attractions here as we just couldn't decide on which ones we wanted to spend our dollars on so passed them all by.  It really was an easy decision and we just drove past them on our way to the store and PO.

decisions, decisions

The town of Wisconsin Dells is a total tourist trap area.  The only thing that we might have been interested in is the boat rides on the Wisconsin River through the Dells (rock formations along the river) but we did that a few years ago on a previous trip to this area.  Some of our other options are Ripley's believe it or not, the museum of torture devices, horseback trail rides, or one of the many amusement parks.  Since Jo is just now over her dizzy spell, thank goodness, I don't think a ride on the tilt-a-whirl would be advisable.

By a vote of 2 to 0 we are just going to relax and enjoy this beautiful weather and listen to the trains going by every so often.

Quiet day

Since we have been driving for the past two days we decided that today was  going to be a fairly quiet day.  We did drive to near-by Oxford, WI for lunch at Maggie Mae's Cafe.

Our satellite TV is connected through Dish Network and one channel they provide that we like is RFD-TV.  They have a lot of rural programming and also quite a few country music programs.  One of those programs is Midwest Country from Sandstone, MN.  Last year we made that a stop on our Minnesota trip and enjoyed the show from the theater.  Quite often on their show they have Maggie Mae as a guest performer and she does a good job with old time country tunes with some yodeling thrown in.  She sometimes is in her Cafe singing but not today.

Wisconsin Dells

Arrived in our campground a little before 2pm this afternoon.  It's a nice level site just outside the main part of downtown Wisconsin Dells.  We drove up here on a previous trip and took a boat ride on the river so we'll see this time what we might find to do.  The boat ride was good then so may just do that again.

Here are a few pictures that Jo took this morning as we were leaving our campsite below the dam at Coralville Lake near Iowa City, IA.

Wisconsin bound

Headed out this morning on our way northerly toward Wisconsin.  We don't have anything in specific that we are looking for except for some cool weather, tree shaded campsites, cheese shopping, and relaxing.  Tonight we are near Iowa City, IA at a Corps of Engineers campground just below the dam on Coralville Lake.  We found our site without passing a check in station.  The post at our site confirmed our reservation so we pulled in and set up.  I walked to the restroom/shower  building and there was a bulletin board telling me that I needed to go to the check-in station at another campground in this complex.  I hadn't unhooked the truck from the trailer so now I needed to, not a big deal.  I drove to the necessary check-in station and then came back and hooked up again so tomorrow it will be an easy exit.

Here is a picture of our rig hitched up and ready to go this morning.

And here is a picture of Jo's chorus line of naked lady lilies.  It's hard to see but there are many just now pushing through because of the rain we have had the past few days.  The few already up and blooming started to rise after Jo watered the area last week.  This whole line across the full picture will be very pretty this week.

Martin Manor RV park plus Bed & Breakfast

We have reservations here for the next two and a half weeks.  We have really enjoyed this past couple of weeks except for the last two days temperatures.  At least here we can keep the trailer plugged in and the fridge running.  We can also keep the AC on a mild setting to keep the inside from becoming an oven.

Y'all stay tuned as on August 10, 2014 we head out again northward toward Wisconsin.

completed the big loop

This morning we completed the big loop around the Dakotas with a fuel stop in Sioux Falls.  Now we are backtracking on our way back toward the homestead.  We started this trip with this overnight campground in Nebraska City and here we are back again.  This is our sixth visit to this campground because it is a convenient distance from home.

Yesterday afternoon in Mitchell, SD the temperature was in the upper 90s with a heat index at 108°.  We had a few rain showers overnight with a front moving through that cooled us down very nicely this morning.  Now this afternoon in Nebraska City the temperature just a little while ago was 101° but the office says that a front is passing through this evening to cool us down a bit, we sure hope so.

In the past from here we would head East from St Joseph on US-36 to Macon and then down US-63 but this trip and future trips we will continue on I-29 to KC then East on I-70.  The reason is to stop at the Flying J fuel stop off of I-435 around KC.  We now have a Pilot/Flying J charge card that has several advantages so we try to use them as much as we can.  The advantages are, it will activate the truck lane pumps without a trip into the desk, there isn't any dollar cutoff amount so we can get a full fill up, It gives us an 8 cents/gal discount off of the cash price, and it doesn't put the large fuel dollars on our other card limits.

nice Sunday drive

Today we moved from Rapid City to Mitchell, SD on our way back toward the Martin Manor.  After two days of driving/riding we will take tomorrow and rest with just a brief trip to the local Walmart for a few supplies.  The Corn Palace is currently in stages of major renovation so there won't be a picture this trip.

Yea! we're now back in our comfortable time zone.  The hour that we gained a week ago was lost today but now we can enjoy our days like we know them at home.  My body clock hasn't changed in this past week as I have observed bedtime and rising time at my CDT schedule.

The views today still had a lot of haying operations going on with what looks like giant marshmallows everywhere plus there were some fields of wheat that looked about ready to cut.  We saw a couple of fields that had been cut and the straw baled.

ND to SD

Today's drive was from the badlands of North Dakota to the badlands of South Dakota, well almost.  I realize that Rapid City isn't in the badlands but we will pass through that area first thing in the morning on our way eastward.  Today's scenery was mostly various stages of hay production.  I don't think we have ever seen so many bales in the field both big round ones and a few small square ones.  Some were working native prairie grasses and others working huge fields of seeded crops.  They must get sufficient rainfall in this area as we didn't see any irrigation plots.

On this route there weren't any mountains to twist and turn around so the highways were mostly due north, south, east, or west.  There were many miles without the use of the steering wheel to the point that I hoped it wasn't frozen in position and would work whenever we did come to a bend in the road.

We have sure enjoyed our stay here

This has really been a good stop in our travels.  A little different topography than other places but really beautiful in its own way.  We couldn't have ask for any better weather, thank you GWF.  I think we have made good use of our time and not overdone to a point of exhaustion.

There is another trail ride outfitter here that offers a two hour ride.  We thought about it and then had another thought, this has already been struck off our bucket list.  Our bucket list is quite short as we truly have enjoyed our travels to date but aren't quite ready to hang it up just yet.  I have our August trip all reserved and we will see what we can find in Wisconsin, perhaps some cheese.  September is planned but modified from the original intent.  September will now be a visit with Phyllis plus some trailer service in Indiana.  We have to keep our home-away-from-home in top shape.  Our good neighbor thinks that the Martin Manor is our second home.

Tomorrow morning we start the drive homeward with a move to Rapid City, SD.

Chateau de Mores

Our tour this morning was this site that memorializes the life and activities in North Dakota of Antoine de Vallombrosa, the Marquis de Mores, who arrived in 1883 from France. Among his enterprises were a beef packing plant, a stagecoach line, a freighting company, refrigerated railway cars, cattle and sheep raising, land ownership, and a new town which he called Medora, in honor of his wife.

  

Chateau de Mores - This 26-room, two-story frame building was built in 1883 as the summer residence of the Marquis's family. The Chateau is now a historic house museum and contains many of the original furnishings and personal effects of the de Mores family. 

From the porch of the Chateau I took this picture of our trailer in the campground.  The ridge is just across the Little Missouri River and our trailer (if you zoom in) is right in the tree line.

our evening

Last evening started with a "pitchfork steak fondue" dinner.  They put several rib-eye steaks on pitchfork tines and then dip them in vats of oil for deep frying.  My steak was delicious.  Instead of a steak Jo had a cowboy buffet with bison roast as her entree.  These two pictures show the fondue process.

 

In the same location was the "Medora Musical" amphitheater where we enjoyed the show.  The group of singers/dancers were great as was the band.  The ridge of badlands behind the stage was also a part of the show.  As we were walking to our seats we saw a couple of elk  on that ridge.  A little before the show started a cowboy on horseback herded those elk down the ridge and out of sight.  As the show started a group of cowboys on horseback escorted the hostess of the show on to the stage.  Later in the show they enacted a battle and those same cowboys were Teddy's Rough Riders in the battle.  After a mid-show intermission they had a stand up comic but neither Jo nor myself care much for that kind of entertainment.  We much prefer the singing and dancing.  At the end of the show during the finale the hills behind the stage were illuminated with the colors of the American flag.

change of pace

After yesterdays outings we have spent the day just recuperating from minor aches and pains.

We have tickets this evening for a "pitchfork stake fondue" and a "cowboy cookout" before we sit down at the Medora Musical.  The musical is in an amphitheater and is supposed to consist of cowboy and western music, should be good.  I'll let you all know tomorrow about the cookout but I imagine it will be more food than we can eat.  The temperatures this evening are supposed to be mid 70s which will be nice.  This morning the low was 45° and for the past several days we have had our heat turned on for the over-night times.

This afternoon's experience

After lunch at the trailer we drove back into the park to the Peaceful Valley Ranch and took a 1-1/2 hour trail ride.  We were part of a group of 12 plus two wranglers and the trail took us up into the depths of the park and back out.  Jo's horse was "little Joe" and mine was "dude."  Jo was first behind the lead wrangler and I was next.  Other than getting on and off I think Jo had an easier time than I did.  My legs/hips complained all the way about spreading around that saddle.  We're just not as limber as we used to be.  They didn't allow cameras, purses, or cell phones so we just enjoyed our ride through the sage brush and prairie dog towns.  We did see a small herd of wild horses along the way but no bison.