Aug 18, 2019 - FMCA Rally, Minot, ND

2019-08-18. FMCA Rally, Minot, ND We made it to Minot, ND and the FMCA (Family Motorcoach Assoc.) rally along with 1000 other RVs, mostly motorhomes. It was a pretty impressive sight to stand on one of the hills and look across the North Dakota State Fairgrounds at a sea of motorhomes. Imagine the organization that it took to park all these vehicles and the tow vehicles as well into designated spots. You could purchase a site with 30 or 50 amp electric but, that was about it. If you needed water or needed to be pumped out, you could pay for...

Aug 18, 2019 - Minot, North Dakota

Helena, Montana, to New Salem, North Dakota Our trip east from Helena was interesting, frustrating, beautiful, and enlightening. The first night out (August 6) was spent at Cowbelles Corral at the County Fairgrounds in Roundup, Montana. This campground beside the Musselshell River was a very pleasant surprise with huge cottonwood trees sheltering mowed lawns with a few picnic tables scattered around. We knew we wouldn’t have hookups, but the setting was quite lovely, and the price was right – freewill donation. We intended to make a...

Aug 17, 2019 - FMCA Minot Rally

100th rally for Family Motor Coach Association. Got to visit the Air Musuem, dinner at the Habachi restaurant, hung with friends. Mary got to go to Pizza Ranch while I had a meeting with my local Club Brothers. We signed up for security and guarded the exhibits. And then got together with the Full Timers Group again for Sweedish Meatballs at the Grand Hotel . yum. Serious rain issues with sites flooding and muddy. But it finally dried out and the sun is shining. Went to some seminars relating to RVs, saw a magician, bands and an excellent...

Aug 12, 2019 - Dale and Martha Hawk Museum Farm Show

2019-08-12 The Middle of Nowhere - Wolford, ND What is the difference between Kansas and North Dakota? Both are flat in the plains; both are major producers of corn and wheat and both have vast tracts of farmland interrupted by the occasional town and monster silos preserving the harvest. What is the difference? Water! They don't call Minnesota the land of ten thousand lakes for nothing and northern South Dakota continues that pattern. We passed lake after lake, both small and large, peppered with bobbing ducks but I couldn't identify any...

Aug 5, 2019 - Minot

Short drive to Minot and pre-rally is at Roughrider RV. People keep rolling in to this rock parking lot until the big FMCA Rally begins at the Fairgrounds this weekend. Hung out with friends, visited the Scandinavian Heritage Park, mall and other sites. Drove north to the Canadian border to visit the International Peace Garden. Plenty of flowers, trees and even a cactus display. It's located between the US and Canadian crossings, so we had our passports to "re-enter" the US.

Aug 2, 2019 - Medora ND and Teddy Roosevelt Park

Had a good 4 hour plus drive to Medora ND. for some of the trip we had smokie skies from fires in Canada, but when we got to Medora it is all clear. It's an interesting place next to Roosevelt National Park that is known for its' Musical. The Musical was an excellent show, with musicians, singers, dancers, horses and a magician. Had a great seat and a fun night. Drove through Teddy Roosevelt Park and saw a bunch of buffalo, prairie dogs and an antelope. No elk of wild horses this time. Beautiful country here and so much wildlife. Hit the...

Jul 27, 2019 - Morden to Fargo

July 27 and 28, 2019 - Left Morden this morning and drove to Fargo, ND to spend a couple of days with our friends Ron and Linda Wolfe. They have a park model in VVV, so we usually see them in Mesa. Enjoyed spending time with them and seeing where they live the rest of the time. Had fun playing sticks!!

Jul 24, 2019 - Teddy Roosevelt Nat'l Park

Hi Everyone, So not every camping stop has to be fabulous. Mike and I were anxious to get to Theodore Roosevelt National Park after hearing many great things about it. So here is our experience. It is a campground with no electric, water spigots scattered throughout and no dump station. That is fine, we don’t mind that kind of camping and we’re prepared. It is about 110 square miles and has about 24K buffaloes in it. We drove about 150 miles visiting remote sites in the park (there are 65 miles between the south and the north units) and...

Jul 9, 2019 - Lake visit and Storms

The unpredictable thing about the Dakotas is the weather. Been warm, but also some serious rain and wind days. There's plenty of flooding and when the high winds kicked in we got pushed around a little. Been humid due to all the rain, and to add to that, we've been on tornado warning. You really feel the weather in a bus. But no damage, except small hail mark's, and nobody hurt. On a positive side, we haven't been idle. The Thomas family (Daughter Amanda's inlaws) were gracious enough to invite us to a gathering at their lake cabin. A...

Jul 4, 2019 - Fargo...

Good drive to Fargo. Had an appointment at Cummins for the annual oil change and lube. $600 and three hours later we headed to our campground behind the Days Inn Hotel in Casselton ND. Same place as last year. Its basic, but has a gym and indoor pool with a slide. We set up and boom... no power. I assumed they disconnected something to change the oil and filters, but all the power disconnects were not flipped. So I call Cummins, but its after 5. I call Cummins in California since its earlier, but they are no help. Finally while chatting...

Jun 17, 2019 - Buffalo Chips

The BBB's (my college posse) hit the road for the neighborhood to the east and spent the day exploring North Dakota's Medora. The Badlands are a spectacular setting for the historic town and nearby Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We did justice to the tourist mecca that is Medora before taking in the Medora Musical, the famous outdoor show dedicated to Teddy's time in the Badlands. The local bison refused to pose for photos before the show but the resident elk were happy to oblige. The bison, however, did offer up some words of wisdom via...

Jun 8, 2019 - The first main reason for this trip - Bismarck, ND

Often, when we find ourselves in a new group, someone suggests telling the others one thing no one would know about yourself. For years, I have been able to use the name of the town I was born in. That, likely, ends with this post. I was born in Bismarck, ND. My father was attached to a local Army unit for almost three years. They lived downtown in a pretty swank, for its day, hotel. The hotel was originally named the McKenzie by Mr. Patterson. That was later changed to Patterson after it was found out what a low life politician McKenzie...