Big Old Elephants

I saw on last night's news that the Seattle-Tacoma area had 100 plus degree temps. I lived there for almost 30 years and can't ever remember 90 degree days, though I'm sure they had them. Most people in that area don't even bother to have air conditioners. There are only a few days a year when you might need them.

Well, here in the Custer area, we are having temps that dip into the 40's at night. This morning it was in the low 50's in the trailer and I had to turn the furnace on to cut the chill. It was supposed to be cool all day. I'm glad I'm not on a motorcycle right now. It has got to uncomfortable for most of those guys.

Columbian Mammoths and Woolly Mammoths lived here at the same time.

I let the cool weather determine my destination today. I headed for an indoor place in Hot Springs, the Mammoth Site. It is in an area that once was a sink hole. While developers were clearing an area for housing, they came across a tusk. A paleontologist investigated and determined it to be from a Columbian Mammoth and there was evidence of more.

Eventually, the City obtained the land, and built a pavilion over the site. It is an active dig and will continue to be one until the entire sinkhole has been studied. They estimate the bone yard is 75 feet deep. It will take another 23 years to excavate it.

One of the volunteers at work on a bone as a tour looks on.

Though most of the 52 mammoths found so far are Columbian (this is the first time I knew there was another mammoth other than a Woolly), they found bones of camels too. The only carnivore found in the pit was of a giant short faced bear.

The bones of the bear they found. Check out that paw!

The scientists think the sinkhole was flooded with water and the edges were of slick shale. The animals slipped in and couldn't get out because of the way their feet were shaped. Carnivores have claws and can claw their way out.

Gabriel with a jaw bone.

I chose to take one of the tours for $8.00. They run about every ten minutes and they are almost full all the time. By the way, all monies made from the tours and gift shop go back into the dig and the museum. Our tour guide was a university student Gabriel, studying paleontology. Part of his curriculum is to guide tours. He knew his stuff and could talk a mile a minute!

Stoneage Bone hut.

In addition to the dig site, there is a museum display area of some interesting stuff. They have recreated a bone hut, one of many found in the Ukraine using mammoth bones. A local family has a large artifact display they donated to the museum. They collected their finds within a 100 mile radius of Hot Springs, over a 30 year period.

The museum is located within the city limits of Hot Springs. This is one of the only towns founded in the Black Hills that wasn't because of Gold mining. There are warm mineral springs here and spas were built around them. I've learned from other warm spring spa areas that warm mineral springs was an important part of the culture in the early 1900's. People thought that mineral springs were a tonic to help cure just about anything.

This town has a lot of the original sandstone buildings still in pristine condition. I wish I knew about this before I arrived. I would have budgeted more time to explore the town itself.

As it was, it was getting late in the day. It's only a 30 mile drive back to the RV park. But, my refrigerator is bare and I need to make a grocery run.

Harney Peak

My plan for the day, if you can call it that, was dependent on whether it was raining or not. If we had rains like the day before, I would drive to Hot Springs and tour the Mammoth Archeological site there. If  there wasn't any rains at all, then I would do a hike. If it was intermittent rain showers then I would do a driving tour of the Needles highway, or the Wildlife Loop in the park, or both.

Well, I puttered around most of the morning and there wasn't a drop of rain. The morning was supposed to be the rainy part of the day. There were some foreboding clouds, but they didn't release anything. So I opted for a hike. I have some information on a trail that winds through the woods for a mile and ends up at a place called Little Devils Tower.

On the trail.

I packed a few snacks and sunflower seeds - my only bad habit! I grabbed my camera and drove the short distance to the trail heads. The trail head is off the Needles Highway. Boy, talk about people! There are hundreds of people all over the place. There wasn't any parking available anywhere near the trail head. I new of another trail that leads to one of the peaks. That trail head was at the Sylvan Lake Lodge. I drove by it to get to the Little Devils Tower trail head and it looked like it had a large parking area.

I turned around and headed to Sylvan Lake. I did find a place to park, but it wasn't at the trail head. I parked about a half mile away along the road. I felt lucky to find a spot at that! It's amazing how many vacationing people there are in the area!

On the way up.

This trail ends at Harney Peak. It's a 3.5 mile hike to get there and then retrace the trail back to the trail head. It's a longer hike than what I was looking for. I haven't done any hiking since I left Arizona and I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew. What the heck! It's noon, no rain, the woods are inviting and it is a beautiful area.

The trail is a well maintained wide path through very wooded terrain. Occasionally there are breaks in the tall pines that afford a view of the surrounding valleys. It wasn't long before I happened upon a deer feeding next to the trail. I was only ten feet from this buck when I saw him. He didn't even bother to interrupt his lunch until I got by him. Then he raised his head and gave me a classic pose. Amazing!

The trail is littered with thin scraps of mica. Sometimes, when the sun hits the trail just right, it looks like broken glass.

The hike to the summit took two hours. At the top of this mountain, the CCC built a lookout tower in 1938, to watch for forest fires.

 The CCC built steps through a tunnel to get to the top of the granite pinnacle.

At 7,242 feet. The peak is the highest point in the US east of the Rockies.

While I rested and ate my snacks, I could feel a cramp forming in my right foot. Cramps usually occur because of a lack of fluids. Sure enough, when I grabbed my stuff out of the truck to begin my hike, I forgot the water! How dumb.

Looking over the top of the Black Hills.

The first mile of the hike back was quite painful. Eventually, my foot became limber again and I could walk normally. I didn't see anymore wildlife other than the busy little chipmunks here and there, skittering back and forth. When I got back to the truck, I figured I hiked about 8 miles total. That's a little more than the 2 miles I was planning on. It was great, though. I had a good time and I'm sure I won't have any trouble falling asleep tonight.

Rain all day and more to come!

I woke up to the sound of rain on the roof. It makes a 'plinkie' sound when it hits. Not a 'tink' like you would hear on a tin roof, not a 'thunk' like you would hear from a three tab tar roof, but a 'plink' because it bounces on my rubber roof. I like the sound. It makes the trailer feel cozy and snug.

The rain stopped as soon as the coffee was made. I took a walk around the park for the first time during this sun break. It is a real nice place. I am only staying for three days but would like to stay here longer, if I can. I felt lucky to find a park with an opening because everything is booked for the Sturgis Rally. I saw the manager and said if she has a cancellation, I would like to extend my stay. She did, and I did! I'm here for the week now!

The sun ducked behind a cloud and the sky opened up with another down pour. It remained that way for most of the rest of the day. I finally realized this will be a day long storm and took the truck out to the visitor's center in the park. The park fee is $6.00 for a week long pass. Since it is a State Park, my national pass won't work.

I loaded up on information of the park and the area. There is a tremendous amount of things to do in the area. The forcast is for more rain through Wednesday. I'll have to do a couple of plan 'B's in case it does.

Custer's Gulch

My over nighter in Murdo wasn't without peace and quiet. The park is behind a Motel. It was a very nice park with concrete, level slabs and away from road noise. The down side is, it was also located behind a Steakhouse and Saloon, and it was Saturday night. I had to tell myself I used to be one of those people inside, letting loose and whooping it up. What goes around, comes around...!

I didn't bother unhitching when I set up. I was leaving as soon as I could get up and get my bearings in the morning. I pulled out at a reasonable time. Not too early, not too late. I took my time driving and when my gas meter read a half a tank I pulled over to a truck stop to top off and do a potty break. They were selling Sturgis Tee-shirts at 3 for $20.00! I was tempted to buy, since Tees are my current standard dress (gotta love this retirement!). I need a wardrobe make over! Maybe later!

I passed a sign that told me I was now in Mountain Time. I forgot about that. I was way ahead of time as it was. That prompted me to stop in Wall, SD and visit the Wall Drug Store and kill a little time. Wow, I didn't remember this as such a huge ketchie, glitzy place. It was a little past noon, 90 something degrees, and people were all over the place. I did a quick tour, found a Subway Sandwich for lunch, and hit the road again.

My directions from the RV Park's web site instructed me to get off at exit 61. My GPS device told me to get off at exit 60. I took the web site's instructions and drove off into the wrong direction. It was a brand new freeway exit, that must have replaced the old one (that's my excuse!) and I was fast tracked onto highway 79 South! I needed to find highway 16 someplace. Anyway, I finally found the road to Custer's Gulch by driving the State Park from the East. The opposite direction from what I intended.

I am always skeptical of woodsy parks. My experience is that they are normally older, tighter with room and some what seedy. It takes a lot of upkeep to develop and maintain a park in the woods. I wasn't expecting much. After all, this was the only park I could find with a site during a time - the Sturgis Rally - when all others didn't want to deal with me.

What a nice place! I was bowled over! Wide open sites; grass lawns, fire pits, picnic tables, laundry, a club room, a setting in a small valley meadow where Custer once bivouacked his Calvary unit. I will put Custer's Gulch in the top 4% of all parks I've been to. The price is no more than what I've been paying in Minnesota. I also can get a great signal on my cell phone, I get a great Internet signal, and DirecTV works too!

 I got a kick out of watching this little guy play in the fountains at Wall Drug.

I can't wait to look around.

Halfway to the Blackhills

I'm posting from Murdo, SD. It's halfway to the Badlands and the area I plan to make my next stay. I chose this area because it is practically the only area that has vacancies in the campgrounds. It is the farthest South from Sturgis that is still in the tourist area.

The anual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally begins this Friday. My stay will end on Wednesday. I originally thought of staying a week in the Blackhills. I really like this area. But, I can adapt. I'll do a short visit and travel on into Wyoming. At least that explains the many motorcycles on the road and in trailers.

Also a note on my cell reception. It's extremely weak, which supports my internet connection. I suspect it will be the same during the coming days. It's all I can do to get this post online.

Pipestone National Monument

This RV Park is convenient to just about everything you would want to do in Pipestone and the area. It is the only RV Park around. It surprised me that a site would rent for $25.00 when far lesser parks, with competition, charge over $30.00. Then, this morning, I tried to take a shower in my trailer. The water pressure was adequate and I lathered up. Then it went down to no water at all and after a few minutes it would come back up to normal again. This cycled over and over until I was able to finally rinse off and call it good.

Apparently they have a plumbing situation here. If somebody is using the facilities in the main restroom/shower, then water is cut from the campground, or at least my site. Sheesh! Anyway, I am only here for two nights. That's just enough time to check out the National Monument and tour the town. Which is my plan for today.

Bird berry.

I mentioned the park is across the street from where I am staying. I drove over to the visitors center by 10:00. The day was beautiful, perfect temps in the low 70's, no wind, slight humidity, and the sun was out with high puffy clouds.

 Sumac. Some of the pipe stems were made from these plants.

The summer time in the prairies are something to be seen. There are wild flowers everywhere. The prairies surrounding the pipestone quarries are being restored to what they were before the settlers extensively farmed the area.

Prairie Rose.

Anyway, I picked up a pamphlet for a self guided tour around the quarry. There is a 1 mile walk on surfaced paths that course through the formations of Sioux Quartzite that sandwich the small seam of pipestone. Pipestone is actually a type of shale. It was a red clay at one time that metamorphosed into the red pipestone that is mined today.

This fellow pulled the slab of pipestone at the left just before lunch.

I should mention, the park was formed to protect these quarries and allow the Native Americans to come here and mine the stone. They use the old hand methods to quarry it. I talked with a fellow who was working a spot and he told me that they once tried to use dynamite. They abandoned that when the found the shock from blasting cracked the pipestone to unusable pieces.

Leadweed.

Back to the trail. It started out at Pipestone Creek, crossed a bridge and went past a pond called Lake Hiawatha. Across a part of the surrounding prairie and then among formations of Sioux Quartzite. This is hard, hard rock. 

There are signs of the pioneers who carved their version of graffiti. The first white to ever come through here, Nocollet of the Nicollet expedition, carved his name in 1836. Anderson here, carved his name in 1886 - with a backward "N".

They exist right above the water falls. A neat little water fall called Winnewissa Fall is at the turn point on the trail. 

Pipestone Creek.

There were many, many petroglyphs carved into the Sioux Quartzite. They have been remove over the years for various reasons. Some of them were removed by the remaining Native Tribes and some removed by the Park Service and are on display in the visitors' center.

The Visitor's Center contains a Native American gift shop, with Indian artisans crafting pipes and effigies for sale. There are a tremendous amount of pipes on display. I never saw an example of a genuine artifact, though. All carvings appear to be modern.

I couldn't help myself and I bought a pipe head made by Big Eagle for $38.00, which I thought was quite reasonable, considering my experience with such things selling in Arizona.

Tomorrow is moving day. I'll be getting to the Black Hills area soon.

Pipestone, Mn

I chose to make Pipestone my first night back on the road. It is on my way West and is a town I've always wanted to visit. The Indians quarried local rock to make pipes. They were traded throughout the US and are found at archeological digs everywhere. I knew there was a park protecting the quarry site but didn't realize it was a National Monument.

I left Rochester this morning at about 10:00. The 235 mile trip here realized only 9.5 mpg. I am beginning to expect more out of the truck. It has over 45,000 miles and is always kept up to date, maintenance wise. Everybody who owns a Dodge Ram tells me they will get great mileage once broken in. I'm still waiting on that!

I'm here for two nights, then onward west. I'll be taking my time, I hope. The National Park is across the street from this RV park. There is a replica vintage Minnesota army fort built down the street. The town has a lot of restored old buildings as well. I'll be exploring in the morning.

The Itch to Move

I've been in the Rochester - Winona area for four weeks now. I've chosen this time to relax, visit friends, relatives and take a break from the blog. I haven't even had my camera out for two weeks! My batteries are charged up and I am looking forward to continue my travels. I know some of you are wondering where I have been.

I got a call from a fellow fulltimer and friend I met in Deming, NM last year, Jack. It's good to hear from the folks I've met. He was wondering about my absence and gave me some info I might look into. He just purchased a system to monitor his tire pressures in real time, while driving. It saved him from a blow out last week. With the $700.00 + cost of my blowout, I just might bite the bullet!

All sysytems are ready to go. My rig is back to top condition. My oil is changed and my tires have been double checked. I'm heading West again. If all goes right, I'll be posting from Western Minnesota or Eastern South Dakota soon!

The Melancholies

Every time I'm in my home environment I get lazy. You can tell by how little I post on the blog. Last year I only had a few posts for the entire month of June and July. It looks like little has changed. I, for some reason, get the melancholies when I'm in the area. It's my home turf and there are a lot of memories to look back on.

I think I mentioned I would post when I got to Winona. Well, here I am. I'm in my home town now. I'm a week late. There is a good reason for that. I traveled here with my trailer and found the camp ground full. They had no spots. There is another RV park here, but the bang for the buck at that place just isn't there. I checked out a place near Bluff Lands State Park. It's a private farm with about four or five hookups behind their barn. The Park itself has tenting only sites.

Access to the park was skinny but I think I could manage. They have no water of sewer, or dump station. I told the lady I would be here on Wednesday. She charges $25.00 per night with no break for a weeks stay or months stay. I can't believe how high fees are around here! Unfortunately, I changed my mind when I discovered the road leading down the bluff to Winona was closed due to construction. The detour was almost as far as it would be for me to drive from Rochester.

Okay, I stayed a night in the parking lot of the Elks Club in Goodview. Then I drove back to Rochester and stayed there until today. The park in town (Prairie Island) now has a lot of open spots. I guess last week was too close to the 4th of July weekend. RV Parks in this part of the country are monopolized by locals. It must be the long Winters. People want to be in the good old outdoors when they can. I don't blame them.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of my old buddies and maybe playing a round of golf. Who knows!

In the mean time I found myself driving out to the old farm my parents lived on when they were in their twenties. The old barn is the only structure still standing. The farm house has long since burned down and the remaining farm buildings gradually disappeared. The road, or really a country lane, has been renamed Cox Drive in honor of the homesteaders that lived at the end of it.


I wasn't there for three minutes when a car came roaring up the gravel drive to check me out. What was I doing there, he asked. I told him I just wanted to visit and my folks once lived here. He looked surprised and after he understood my dad was Tom Cox, he introduced himself as George Martin. He knew Dad and has lived down the road for 83 years! We chatted a bit as he interjected little stories about the barn.


It was the largest barn in the county at the time. The current owner tried to have it re roofed, but it can't be done these days without a structural engineer's okay. George remarked that he remembered my uncle Francis painted it and had to swing from a rope fastened to the roof to paint the peak. The last time I saw this barn I was in grade school.

I bid George a goodbye. It's nice to see neighbors being neighbors. He was watching out for the property of the current owner.

The Winona County Fair was on. It's held each year at the fair grounds in St Charles. The old farm and St Charles are only 12 mile apart. I stopped in for a quick walk of the fair grounds. It amazes me. My memories of the county fair are of hot, hot and some humidity thrown in for good measure. That was today too! It was sticky, tough to draw a breath. But the fair goers were out in numbers.

I munched on a corn dog. I bought an ice cube tray from a Tupperware vendor. I stopped by the Fastenal booth and talked with the people there. They have a portable display with a CMC machine turning out can openers, golf ball markers, key chains and other souvenirs. I mentioned I always spec'd out Fastenal Products on my drawings whenever I could, during my work years. They gave me a hand full of everything they were handing out!


I always enjoy the farm animals and displays. I watched as judging was going on in the 4Her's pavilion. A little guy with big glasses won First Place for his rabbit. He was quite excited!

I hope I get over my lazies and post again soon.

Broccoli Salad

This is another recipe I borrowed from Lynda Payne of RV-Dreams.com. I've made it several times and it is always a hit. It's perfect for a pot luck. I've never brought home left overs.

Salad:

• 3 Stalks Broccoli, cut small - florets only, no stems
• 1/2 Cup Green Onions, Chopped
  
• 1 Cup Salted Sunflower Seeds
• 1 Cup Raisins
• 9 Slices of Bacon, fried crisp and crumbled

Dump all into a large bowl and mix.

Dressing:

• 1 Cup Mayonnaise
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Mix all ingredients and add to salad just before serving.

If you don't think you will use all the salad the day of preparation, hold some of the dressing back before adding and refrigerate. The salad and dressing will keep a few days separated, but not combined.

An Award and Cleaning

The Rochester water tower. Image by jonathunder via Flickr

I'm still relaxing in Rochester, Minnesota. Yesterday, my sister, Kristi and brother in law, Joe came down from Line O Lakes for a visit and treated Mom, Dad and me to lunch! It was good to see them again. Their family is doing great. They recently had to put their dog to sleep. After thirteen years, it can be a sad time. I can relate because I lost my buddy Emily last month.

My time has been spent largely of cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I had the carpet done. I scrubbed the outside of the trailer. I even washed the walls! (Cathy's suggestion) After two years, this is the first real cleaning I've done. It needed it. That's behind me now. I can get back to focusing on fun.

I also got my taxes filed for last year. I know, I'm a little late. Remember when I lost my mail in April? Well, some of my tax information was in that delivery. I had to file an extension while I waited to have copies resent. I made hardly anything last year, yet this is the year I'm having the biggest hassle with my taxes. Sheesh!

I woke up this morning and noticed an email from "Tripbase.com". They are a travel related web site. They have selected my blog for an award. Sometimes I wonder if anybody reads what I write. Then all of a sudden, out of the blue, I get an award for it. I am doubly flattered because some of the award winners appear to be professional. That is the badge they gave me at the top of the side bar. Cool, huh!?

I think my next destination will be a travel of 40 miles to visit my home town, Winona. 'Til then...

I Broke the Budget in Minnesota

I've been in Minnesota for about a week. I've had the chance to stop by and visit with my parents just about every day. It is really nice to see them again. I think so much of them. Both are in their 80's. Both remain active. Dad likes to take his scooter out for a 'walk' for a couple of hours each day. Mom is driving again. When I stop in, she is usually out doing grocery shopping or getting her hair done. Her flowers are her pride and joy. Even though she swears she won't be growing them again, I would be surprised if they weren't in full bloom again next year.

In between my visits to my folks, I've been taking it easy. The only thing I've been doing to date is to work on the trailer. I had it in to the shop - Lesmeister's - to have all the problems fixed that resulted from the blown tire last week. They estimated a few hours time to do the work, but it stretched out over two days. Lesmeister's changed out the tires. Yes, I bought four new ones. I asked about the quality of my tires. They verified they were Chinese tires and recommended I change them out to something more dependable.


They also fixed the crumpled trim, added a new support beam, and reattached it to my wheel well molding. They thought it would be better if I took my problem with the broken propane lines to an RV specialist. They had no problem with fixing the lines. It's just that if there is a problem with the appliances they hooked into, then they would have to get a specialist involved anyway.

They coordinated with a nearby, long time RV shop, Curtises RV. Okay, the work Lesmeisters did was one day. Then the work Curtises will do would be the following day. That's the way it played out. When I brought the trailer in to Curtises, I remarked to Ron, the Customer Rep (and repairman), about playing golf someplace while they were fixing the trailer.

Ron told me about the Stewartville Municipal Golf Course eight miles down the road. They are having a summer special; 18 holes and cart for $25.00. Can't beat that price! It was a morning of golf while the work was going on. The golf course is not regulation length. It is a shortened par 64 with a lot of little narrow openings and layup shots to hit. It required a lot of local course knowledge, which I didn't have. But I hit the ball remarkably well - again. Though my score didn't show it, I had a lot of fun!

Here's the breakdown of the costs of a high speed blowout on a trailer as a result of cheap tires:

Repair Side Trim: $ 42.00
4 E Rated Tires: $ 390.00
Mount Tires: $ 70.00
Replace Spare: $ 5.50
Shop Supplies: $ 1.74
Gas Line Labor: $ 200.00
Parts: $ 25.00
Tax: $ 29.65
Total: (Ouch!) $ 763.89

Moral: Make sure your tires are of good quality, in good shape!

Cathy called last night. She is having a great time in Idaho. We will soon be making plans to join up again. I sure miss her!

Have a happy 4th! I'll post again on Monday.