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One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets
the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart!
At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!
Wed, July 1 We both usually have a coffee-only breakfast upon
arising so that we can enjoy a nicer lunch and keep our calories
lower. This morning was a break from that tradition in that I
cooked homemade waffles (from a mix). Our reasoning was that wed be
at the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and there
are literally no restaurants from I-94 to and through the park. The
drive took almost 1.5 hours as the North Unit is about 68 miles
from the South Unit where our trailer is camped. The North Unit has
some geological features that are similar to the South Unit, yet
looks different enough for a visitor to realize he/she is in a
different part of the park. We took two hikes. The first left the
campgrounds adjacent picnic area and was 1.2 miles in length. A
pamphlet explained features along the path with numbered posts
corresponding to the numbers on the handout. While hiking we
could see a herd of 16 bison grazing about a quarter mile from
our path. From there we drove further into the North Unit and took
a 2-mile trek into the midst of a prairie dog town. We were amazed
they allowed us to be in their immediate presence less than 15 feet
away and not run from us. Our slow, steady movements and total
silence must have made the difference.
Contest: What are those gray things in the photo on the
right? See rules below
on this page.
Summer Trip 2015
#7 : July 1 -July 12, 2015
1: Bend in the river provides beautiful, tranquil view. 2: Sally
marvels at the rugged terrains beauty. 3: Prairie dogs have several
commun-ities within the national park. Theyre fun to watch. 4: We
were amazed when we just happened upon a herd of 16 American
bison.
Look at the banner photo at the top of this page. There are at
least six gray things with humps on them. Can you guess what they
are? Ill give you a BIG hint each
one is on a double railroad flatcar. That ought to give it away!
Send your guess to: [email protected] We will randomly
select one winner from all correct responses to win a special
prize, plus get your name printed in a follow-up issue of this
travel newsletter. Dont delay. Send your response in by July 31,
2015.
Photo guessing contest
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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
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Our treat upon returning to camp was a nice supper of some of
the leftovers from our previous nights steak fondue. It still
tasted great. We also had a nice conversation with the campers in
the site next to ours: Connie and Jim from Detroit, Michigan.
Thur, July 2 We awoke, packed up and drove eastward, back toward
Bismarck, ND leaving behind the Red Trail Campground in Medora (250
E. River Rd. S., Medora, ND 58645, 701-623-4317). During the drive
we listened to the eight-cassette (not eight-track) murder mystery
audio story weve been chugging through for more than a month. Today
we reached the climax and Sally was right the good spy saved his
girlfriends life and accomplished his goal! We enjoyed listening to
the narrators voice as he changes characters many times each
episode. How does he do it? We only listen to audio stories when
weve got several hours of uninterrupted driving, and these audio
stories (on cassette) are plentiful and inexpensive in thrift
stores.Having gotten an early start we arrived in North Dakotas
capitol city and enjoyed a pizza buffet at Pizza Hut. We were
surprised at the excellence of the pizza at this location. Every
pie was good and the dessert pizzas were the best weve ever had. We
are camping at the Bismarck Journey KOA (800-562-2636), the same
campground we frequented just four days ago. A few days ago we
chose to change our travel plans and skip driving through
Saskatchewan and Manitoba provinces in Canada. Instead we are
headed back east to visit some family and friends in the Midwest.
The closer we got to Bismarck the more we noticed gloomy skies. It
wasnt rain clouds, so we thought it might be a haze from some type
of climate inversion. We found out the night that Canada, from
Regina to past Winnipeg, several hundreds of miles, was having
forest fires; it was smoke from those forest fires that was
covering the skies.Prior to arriving at the KOA we chose to visit
several thrift stores. We were pleasantly surprised that we found a
few items that made our driving round town worthwhile: a charging
cord for our portable cassette player and a ceramic party serving
set. Along the way I spotted an electronic billboard promoting the
136th annual Mandan* Rodeo (*Mandan is a city on the west edge of
Bismarck, ND). Following our thrift store exploration I asked Sally
if shed like to go watch a real western rodeo. Wow, youd have
thought I asked her if she wanted to fly to Hawaii. So we drove to
the rodeo location in Mandan, SD and watched about seven different
rodeo events from 7:30-10:30pm. To say that Sally loved the rodeo
would be a dramatic understatement. We both enjoyed the
evening.
Fri, July 3 Today was another driving day taking us from
Bismarck, ND to Alexandria, Minnesota. Our travel was uneventful
but Sally made it interesting and comfortable by starting a new
novel by murder mystery writer Nevada Barr. Along the route we had
a late lunch at the Fryn Pan Family Restaurant in Bismarck, ND (302
Main Ave., 701-293-9952). I mentioned this great eatery in the
previous issue. By early evening we arrived at the Alexandria
Shooting Park and set up for the night. With our original plans
changed by not driving to Canada, we found ourselves with a very
limited selection of campgrounds on the 4th of July weekend. The
Shooting Parks rates are low and they said they had room Friday and
Saturday, but not Sunday (an event was scheduled). We always remind
camping friends to pre-register for campsites on holiday weekends:
Memorial Day, July 1st (Canada Day), 4th of July, Labor Day and any
other days when local events or celebrations may load up
campgrounds. (Guess we should have listened to our own
speeches!)
Sat, July 4 Leaving the Alexandria Shooting Park we reminded
ourselves about why we love Florida we dont have mosquitoes like
this in Florida! Last night we (electronically) swatted about 30+
mosquitoes before going to bed. The only positive aspect of this
adventure was that we confirmed we have a gap in our
weatherstripping / gasketing, so the buggers could buffet on us via
the seam between our roof panels. Sally did a mountain climbing
demonstration and balanced on our trailers countertop to reach the
seam at the roof and stuff paper towels in the 20 long gap. It
worked as a temporary fix.
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8 7
Mandan Rodeo 5: Cowboy leaps from h o r s e o n t o c a l f ,
then 6: pulls calf to ground. 7: Cowboy ropes calf, flips it on its
back, then ties legs together. No animals are injured. 8: Exciting
chuck-wagon race.
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Smartphone Sally Says Lets Have Our Fingers Walk Some More
(White Pages Part Two)Sally Mendola is an avid novice smartphone
devotee, who enjoys sharing her experiences and expertise on using
smartphones while traveling. If you havent read her previous
articles go to our website www.thriftytravel.info and read her
helpful hints and instructions. Though Sally uses an iPhone, her
content can be applied to most smartphones whether Apple, Android
or Windows the steps may be just slightly different.
In our previous newsletter (Issue #6) I discussed several ways
to use the WHITE PAGES app: finding the phone # and/or address of a
Person or Business; finding Nearby Stores or Nearby People to the
business or residence selected; saving this aforementioned info to
a new contact in your phone; getting a map to that location; how to
share this info with others via Mail, Message, Facebook or Twitter;
visiting the business website; and other features of this free
smartphone application. If you want to review what was previously
discussed, go to: www.thriftytravel.info and click on Newsletters,
then open 2015 Summer Trip Issue #6.In this installment Im going to
share other features of WHITE PAGES that you may find useful while
camping or traveling. While driving daily we try to maximize our
time by planning where well eat our big meal lunch. When I say plan
I mean: What cuisine would we like to eat today? Are one of our
favorite eateries nearby? When (time of day) do we want to eat?
Before or after the venue well visit? In what city will we eat? How
far away is this restaurant and will it meet our timeline? How
close is its location to our route? Heres how you locate this
information to make your day more productive, reduce excess
driving, have more FUN, etc.Open the WHITE PAGES app. [To download
the White Pages app go to your App Store (iPhone) or similar
location for Android or Windows operating systems.] Once downloaded
onto your phone, open the app. (See Fig. 1) Tap Business. (See Fig.
2) In the first white box enter the word restaurant. In the second
white box enter the city & state where you plan to stop for
lunch. Sometimes the name of the city & state will appear in a
list. Click the correct location. Click the Search button. Either
an individual entry will appear or, more often, a list. Most data
displayed is correct but some data may not be current (phone # has
changed, company now out of business, address changed due to
relocation, etc.). (See Fig. 3) Phone numbers for Businesses are
usually accurate. Just tap the phone # on the screen and your call
is activated! Always call to confirm days & hours of operation
and location.You can use this same method to locate other
categories of businesses, such as auto repair shops, bakeries, post
offices, grocery stores, Walmarts, etc. Just remember the word you
place in the first white box (see Fig. 2) MUST appear in the title
of the name of the business youre trying to locate. Example: If you
type in buffet, any restaurants that do not have the word buffet in
their title wont be found; the smartphone looks for the exact word
in the businesses title!BONUS: Have a phone number but dont know or
remember whose it is? (See Fig. 1) Tap Phones on the first page of
White Pages. Enter the phone # and search for info. Have an Address
but need to know whats there? Same process here. There are many
more features in White Pages but Ill leave that for you to mine
(dig up). Realize the app is funded by advertisements, its only
slight drawback. This free app it is a very useful tool that
travelers will relish especially when looking for a place to eat.
(Pun intended. Thank my husband!)
Fig. 1 Fig. 3 Fig. 4Fig. 2
http://www.thriftytravel.infohttp://www.thriftytravel.infohttp://www.thriftytravel.infohttp://www.thriftytravel.info
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Our trip today was about 4 hours in length and we arrived in
Minneapolis, MN prepared to eat at a Famous Daves BBQ restaurant.
Sally even called to make such they were open on Independence Day.
Yep, they were except when we got there in the uptown big city we
found we had to pay for parking at $1.50 per half-hour plus walk
four blocks. We chose to drive further and had a lighter lunch at
Little Caesars Pizza: 4 slices of Sicilian pizza + 20oz. bottled
soda for $5. And it was large enough for us to split.We arrived at
Arlene Dammel's town house in Owatonna, MN around 4:30pm. We were
all so happy to see each other. Arlene was a member of our Ocala
church for several years until her hubby passed and she moved back
to be near family. After gabbing for a while we walked a few blocks
to enjoy a (donation-only) Independence Day supper of: pulled pork
sandwich, BBQd beans (fabulous!), chips, root beer (on tap), and
watermelon. Following supper we walked home to take care of Sophie,
Arlenes dog, then when darkness arrived we walked back 2 blocks to
watch the fireworks displays (see photos #9 & 10). Wow, what a
great way to spend a day: good friend, good food, and good
entertainment.
Sun, July 5 Arlene made a superb breakfast; we often have coffee
as our morning meal. Following breakfast we attended worship at St.
Johns Lutheran Church, Arlenes home congregation. A guest preacher
presided and delivered a very good sermon. After worship Arlene led
us on a tour of the churchs gardens. Back at her home we enjoyed a
very nice homemade lunch of various soups, sandwiches, salad and
key lime pie. Our afternoon involved looking at family photos,
discussing computers and electronic tablets. We then drove a few
miles to what had been the Minnesota State School, which operated
from 1886-1945. The actual title is the Minnesota State Public
School for Dependent and Neglected Children. This was an
interesting place with much to learn about. Especially
disheartening was the cemetery signage that said over the years 300
children died under state guardianship and 198 whose bodies are
buried in the cemetery, unclaimed by family. Most deaths were due
to illnesses and other health-related issues that might not occur
today, such as diphtheria, measles, TB, anemia, etc. The depression
of the 1930s also saw a considerable rise in children being left in
orphanages. Minnesota was an early leader in the care of such
children. Back at Arlenes house we enjoyed a light supper,
conversation, a walk with Sophie, Arlenes dog, followed by Chris
giving Arlene a lesson on the use of her smartphone. This was a
VERY nice day!
Mon, July 6 Our nights sleep was thoroughly interrupted when a
WINDY thunderstorm woke us at 3:55am. Smartphone Sally checked her
iPhone just before retiring and announced the morning rain had been
rescheduled for before dawn, in fact, 4am. As you can tell, the
weatherman wasnt too far off. The wind came first to introduce the
squeezing of the sponge. It was the wind that had me jumpy. The
trailer began shaking off and on, though it felt more like on. I
prepared to evacuate to Arlenes house if our trailer felt like it
was going to transport itself to Kansas. But the winds lasted only
10-15 minutes, then it transitioned to rain, thunder and lightning.
We both fell back to sleep about 4:30. Awaking at 7:40 we were glad
to see just drizzling rain. Our wind protection devices kept us
safely together; the roof and walls were intact, just as wed seen
them before we went to sleep last night. Arlene greeted us with a
nice breakfast. Following that we worked in increasing rain to get
packed up and on the road to meet friends in Rochester, MN about 45
minutes east of Owatonna. We regretted our short stay with Arlene
and she was also sad to see us go, but we had a schedule to
follow.
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11:Front of St.Johns Lutheran, Owatonna. 12: Rear of church. 13:
With Arlene Dammel in church garden. 14: Arlene shows garden to
Sally. 15: Arlene & Sally read pre-1945 tombstones at State
School.
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The roads were rain-slicked but careful driving paid off and we
arrived safely. Visiting with Carol and Don Heuton is lots of fun.
They have many interests common to us both. Following lunch they
drove us on a tour of the city. We saw some interesting homes and
drove past much of the Mayo Medical Clinic, then we actually drove
to one of the parking ramps and they walked us through various
buildings. The Mayo complex is HUGE. They estimated the staff at
about 30,000 employees, if not more. The facilities were very
impressive and they have an extensive reference room where
pamphlets or DVDs on health issues may be taken for FREE! Wow!
Returning to their home we chatted and had ice cream with Dons
homemade maple syrup that he makes himself. (I had to have some of
that cause Im a sap for sweets!)
Tues, July 7 Having thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Don &
Carol Heuton, we left with good memories and looked forward to
their winter stay in Florida, hoping theyd visit us again. We had
to make haste to reach our 1:00pm tour of the John Deere
large-tractor assembly plant in Waterloo, Iowa. At an intersection
we encountered a Detour sign adjacent to the route number we needed
to travel. We were unsure if the detour pertained to our particular
road so we drove ahead. When we go to our next turn 3 miles down
the road our discomfort rose as the road was blocked. Asking a
local gentleman the shortest way to Waterloo he detailed a return
to the detour sign, then just a few miles further to an alternate
route. This delay was causing us to run close to our expected
reservation time for the tour. Keeping our speed legal we followed
the signs and actually arrived 5 minutes early.The tractor tour was
very enlightening. The tractors assembled at this John Deere plant
are the largest four models they build, with the biggest being some
90,000 pounds in weight! Its a huge, 8-wheeled behemoth with tires
about 6 feet in diameter, plus its articulated in order to steer;
the wheels dont turn like a normal vehicle. The cabs are
air-conditioned, with comfortable leather seat, computers, GPS, and
many other assorted features that are almost beyond belief. We were
told of the tremendous amount of technology that goes into building
these workhorses, such as tools used in assembly that interact with
the robotic transporters that move each tractor to the next work
station. If a nut is not properly torqued, the computer is told by
the tool and movement is interrupted until corrections are made.
Wow! The tour is open Mon-Fri by reservation, and presently occurs
a 9 & 10am, and 1 pm, though times may change. Wed encourage
our readers to take this free tour as a fun activity and terrific
learning experience.A late lunch was taken at the Route 63 Diner
(3030 Marnie Rd.) near Waterloo, a location suggested by a John
Deere employee. We could see why. The menu is quite extensive;
beyond what one normally sees at a restaurant. Prices were
reasonable, and portions were very good. We shared a baked French
onion soup, and then a half-order sandwich of sliced beef on bread
with mashed potatoes and gravy. The normal side was French fries
and we first thought to ask for a substitute but declined and were
we happy. These were probably the BEST French fries we have ever
eaten!
Wed, July 8 We had a great view from our campsite last night,
but the water in this area is high in iron so the showers had a
slight odor (see photo #19). Arising
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1716: Sally, Don & Carol tour Mayo Clinic, a huge complex
with buildings all over Rochester, MN.17: Another clinic; one of
many.
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18: Largest tractor John Deere builds. 8-wheel drive. Arrow is
height of Sally. Cost? Over $100,000. Over 425 horsepower.
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and packing up quickly we had no problem reaching the John Deere
factory in East Moline, IL where the harvesters are built. The tour
was 90 minutes in length preceded by a 7-minute video. Most of the
tour was via a tractor-drawn tram with an occasional walk on
catwalks to view the cleaning and painting processes. This is one
of the best quality ours we have ever taken, in part due to the
skill of our guide, Garry, who was a John Deere employee for 43
years! Pay special attention to the photos, not only for the size
of these behemoths but also to their cost.After the tour we were
able to meet up with friends Bud and Marylou, brother and
sister-in-law of Betty Dean, our close friend in Ocala. They drove
over from their farm in Illinois to Dixon, IL to treat us to lunch
at a very nice Mexican restaurant. We had a great time renewing
acquaintances and sharing stories. An Aliner owner called while we
were dining and asked about our kits. Turns out he was several
tours north, directly on our route to our next campground. Boy, was
Art surprised! We met him and provided his kits, which saved him
S&H charges. From there we drove to Culvers Frozen Custard for
a snack before setting up at the Fish Lake Beach Campground near
Volo, IL, located about 3 minutes from tomorrows venue a car museum
we had visited a few years ago but one I (Chris) wanted to see
again.
Thur, July 9 Sally, seeing that the campground had a heated pool
and a heated jacuzzi tub, remarked we should have used them last
evening before going to sleep. Well remember this location if were
in this area again. It has 56 campsites for overnight guests and
several hundred for seasonal renters. Fish Lake Beach Camping
Resort (32223 N. Hwy 12, Volo, IL 60073, 847-546-2228,
fishlakebeach.com) boasts a pond, rowboat, paddle boat & kayak
rentals, lake with beach & swimming area, campers boat storage,
two fishing piers, heated pool, kiddie pool, hot tub, laundry
facilities, pavilion, volleyball court, beach volleyball,
basketball court, teen rec. center, mini-golf, movie area, adult
rec. center, 2 playgrounds and a tot lot, softball field and
several bathhouses. (Whew Im exhausted from typing all of
that!)
Our drive to the Volo Museum Entertainment complex (27644 Volo
Village Rd., Volo, IL 60073) was short, probably less than a mile.
The museum complex is mainly the Auto Museum but also includes the
antique barns, of which there are six with up to four floors in
some barns. The auto museum is another five buildings, plus cars
that are parked outdoors and several ancillary buildings
containing
military vehicles, weapons and other collections. To say this is
an experience is surely an understatement because we spent 6.5
hours at the Volo complex including lunch. There are about 450
antique booths in the barns. The car museum had a Duesenberg
collection, two garages (about 40-60 cars per building) with 50s,
60s & 70s cars & customs, a building with pre-WWII cars,
and a building with celebrities cars & special vehicles (e.g.
Ghostbusters; Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Tony Curtis,
Princess Di, James Dean
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20: John Deere harvester with front-end belt pickup device to
mow down & collect plants with grain. 21:Side view w/ Sally for
size comparison. 22: Arrows show diesel engine and its
supercharger. 23: Belt pickup costs about $50,000 and the combines
retail price is $547,008. (Includes A/C!)
24: Buffalo Bills golf cart. It didnt work well either. 25: 33
Duesenberg speedster. 26: 1955 Chevy custom. 27: Three custom cars:
James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Cinderellas hot rod carriage
(background).
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cars, Batmans car and others cars). Many autos also had videos
playing with interesting information. If I explained everything
thats there wed run out of megabytes! Suffice it to say this is a
really special place to visit and this is our second time here, we
like it so much!Being only 46 miles from Dave & Margos house
(Sallys brother), we chose to drive there for the night. We had
planned a visit anyway, but didnt want to arrive too late. Their
daughter Emmy, who lives a few miles away, was visiting with her
daughters Ellie and Emma. Her hubby, Erik, was working. More on the
family as time progresses.
Fri, July 10 Several errands were on our schedule today. We went
rummaging (yard sale-ing in Wisconsin semantics) looking for a
cabinet we could convert into a moveable kitchen work island. We
finally found a suitable start for the project at a Habitat For
Humanity Restore (see photo 28). Between that and a bunch of other
errands we finally found ourselves home for a late-afternoon
dinner. The kitchen work island project should take 3-4 days and
will be a challenge in that were trying to keep the cost to a
minimum.
Sat, July 11 All four of us took a trip to Home Depot looking
for casters and a wooden, butcher block countertop for the rolling
kitchen island. We found appropriate casters but no cutting board
in stock. A quick search through Home Depots website netted a
wooden butcher block of the appropriate size (swallow hard) for
just $280 ! ! We drove to Hobos, a discount building supply type
store with sink cut-outs, that is, the center holes left over when
a countertop has a hole cut for a sink. They had many colors to
choose from at $2 each. Hmmm. Just about right on the price. We
treated Dave & Margo to lunch at Olive Garden, then back to
their house to work on the cabinet while the women folk went to
thrift stores. Amazingly we had a lot of the cabinet built by late
afternoon. Dave and I then drove to Home Depot to check on moldings
for the edge of the countertop and found something that might work.
Sally & Margo spent their time searching thrift stores for
storybooks for Dave & Margos granddaughters.
Sun, July 12 Today was a very special day: the dedication* of
Emily & Eriks daughter Emma (*dedication is where a child is
promised by parents to be raised to follow the Lord). (Emily is
daughter Margo & Daves daughter.) We were so pleased to be in
town for this special celebration. Following worship we attended an
Adult Sunday School class annual picnic. Then Dave & I drove to
Home Depot to pick out some wood trim to finish the moveable
kitchen work island for a friend. Shortly thereafter Erik and Emily
arrived with their girls Ellie and Emma. While Margo & Dave
watched their grandchildren we took Emmy & Erik to Culvers for
a suppertime snack. We ended the evening with conversation with all
of us and Pastor Dave (from their familys church). Pastor Dave
lives at Margo & Daves house while his family is in the process
of moving to Milwaukee.
Mon, July 13 Our day began with attaching the work top to the
cabinet weve been working on. Trim pieces were also attached and
caulk-adhesive applied to fill gaps and better hold parts in place
beyond just screws. A trip to Home Depot by Dave and I furnished us
with lumber to fix their back steps and a color stick pencil to use
in filling nail holes in the trim on the cabinet. We enjoyed a late
lunch at Golden Corral and then drove to several auto dealers to
look at SUVs for purchase by Dave and Margo. We ended the day
viewing photos and videos of Margo & Daves recent trip to
Sweden and Norway.
Watch for Issue #8 in a few weeks !
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29: Asst. Pastor, Emily, Emma, Ellie & Erik at dedication
service. 30: Dave, Margo, Emily, Emma, Erik, Carol & Pete
Schmidlkofer (Eriks parents) and Ellie at dedication.
31: Cabinet with back attached awaits installation of
countertop. 32: Cabinet fully assembled with sink cut-out for top.
Chris applies color to hide nail holes.
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We revised our trip: Not going to Canada !
We originally planned to drive from Kansas due north through
Fargo, North Dakota, and then on to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Prior to North Dakota we discovered a car show, Back To The 50s, in
St. Paul, Minnesota at the state fair grounds. 10,000 cars were
expected, and we think we saw at least that many, plus some
50,000-80,000 attendees. We also found other fun things to do in
Minnesota (see Issues 5 & 6 of our newsletters). Once we
arrived in North Dakota we found it to be more interesting than
expected, so we ventured further west to Bismarck, ND and then
further yet to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND.
After reviewing our options for sightseeing and venues along the
Canadian northern shores of Lake Superior, and talking to fellow
travelers about driving to Canada via North Dakota roads through
oil pumping territory, we chose to eliminate our travel through our
northern neighbors lands. Instead, we drove eastward back through
North Dakota and into Minnesota where we visited friends and then
on to Wisconsin for further visiting with friends and relatives.
Were leaving soon for northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. The
route in olive drab green is our rescinded route. The route in hot
pink is our anticipated route. The lime green line is our new,
changed route. The dotted line is where we have already traveled.
We hope youll continue riding with us via our newsletters.
HAPPY CAMPING !
Dont forget to enter our
newest contest. See page one
for details. YOU could be a winner of a
terrific prize and see your name
in print! Oooooooo! Ahhhhhhh!
