Bismarck, North Dakota

The drive from Fargo, ND to Bismarck, ND was very interesting. I did more driving of the RV which went well. Still no tricky turns or maneuvers, however! The topography along I-94 went from flat to hilly with tall grass blowing in the wind! Just what you imagine the pioneers must have seen! There were farms, ranches, and fields of sunflowers the whole way! We were also lucky because we managed to see the world's largest buffalo, holstein cow, and sandhill crane! We're still looking for the largest ball of twine!!

Our campground, the Bismarck KOA, was really nice! The first night we were there they had a cowboy cookout and we had some of the best ribs ever! The owners of the campground had horses, 2 of which were in a pasture behind our campsite! It was fun to see them when we were outside or looking out our back window!

There was a lot of history in the area, which included Lewis and Clark, General Custer, the Mandan Indians, and the riverboats which traversed the Missouri River. We visited Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park which is where Custer spent time before Little Big Horn. The government had reconstructed the fort, including the house where Custer had lived. Once in the house, our tour guide, dressed in a soldiers uniform, talked as if we were back in 1875. He also warned us not to touch anything in the house, and promptly broke the lid to an antique chamber pot he was showing us! Art had just asked if anything had gotten ruined during the tours. The soldier replied, "now you have your answer"!

Other fun things we did were riding bikes along the Missouri River, visiting the Lewis and Clark interpretive center, and taking an evening pizza cruise on the Lewis and Clark riverboat. Art wasn't really excited about visiting North Dakota at first, but so far there seems to be lots to do! Tomorrow we will be leaving for Medora, which is a town on the western side of ND. We hope to do more sightseeing, but also need to spend some time catching up on everyday things!

The Twin Cities to Fargo, North Dakota

We arrived in Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota the evening of 8/17/09. Traffic was bad as we got close to the cities and we almost ran out of gas!! Never a dull moment in the RV!! The campground we stayed at was a small one on the Minneapolis side in Savage, Minn. We only stayed in this area 2 days, but managed to do some sightseeing and visit some relatives.

Tuesday we did some biking by the Mississippi River! We biked across the Ford Bridge from St Paul to Minneapolis over the river. The area was beautiful- well kept parks and homes. Across the bridge were the Minnehaha Falls which we stopped to see, and also the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway. This is a 32 mile loop around Minneapolis that goes around parks, lakes, and the urban areas. You can bike, walk, drive all or part of it. Art and I biked a few miles, and then got lost! The direction signs weren't really clear, or maybe it was us!

Wednesday we had the pleasure of visiting with Art's cousin, Don, and his wife, Bits, and Don's sister, Joanne. They had a wonderful lunch for us and we had a great time! I had never met them before, so it was nice to get to know them! Following the visit, Art and I made a short trip to the Mall of America. I don't think Art was nervous about taking me there, because I can't buy much since there is no place to store it!!!!!! At least it was good to get a look at it!!

Today we are in Fargo, North Dakota. We are going to spend our first night in a Wal-mart parking lot! The store manager said it was OK, as long as we parked toward the back. We found an empty curb by Sam's club, so it should work out. When we got here, the Blue Angels flying team was flying over us, with 6 planes in formation! I think they were welcoming us!!!!!

The last week in Madison

The time in Madison really went by fast! The last Friday we were there we were able to spend time with The Coutures. We went to breakfast at a great place in downtown Madison, Monty's Blue Plate Diner. It is housed in a old car service station and had delicious food. That evening I was treated to a homemade fish fry, while Matt and Art went to the Ho-Chunk casino. Sandy met me at the door dressed like Julia Child!! We had just seen the movie. What a hoot!! And by the way, Art and Matt came back poor!!

Saturday Matt, Art, and I took a trip to Milwaukee and toured Miller Brewery and then attended a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game. It was really a fun time!! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that day!

About an hour after we left Madison, the traffic was not bad, so Art asked if I wanted to drive the RV. I got brave and took him up on his offer! It was a little scary, but I did OK. I just pulled in and out of rest areas, so I didn't have to make any sharp turns! Thank goodness!! I'll try that another day!

More Fun in Madison

Carol and Rick left today. They are on their way to Springfield, Illinois to visit some friends. The weekend before they left, we all had a great time together with Matt.

On Friday, we got together with our friends, Sandy and Dennis. We started out with a Wii boxing and bowling tournament. My sister, Carol, knocked me out during boxing, and Matt wasn't kind to Art. I, however, won the bowling match!!!! After the tournament, Sandy and Dennis treated all of us to dinner at the Avenue Pub, a favorite place in Madison. We had a great fish dinner, and appreciated the Coutures generosity!

On Saturday, Carol, Rick, Art, Matt, and I made a trip to the "House on the Rock". The house is a famous attraction near Madison. It is hard to describe! A man built a house in a rock that has a structure that juts out 75 ft about 150 ft above the ground. After the house was completed, he began an eclectic collection of stuff, which included dollhouses, model ships, miniature circus models, antique mechanical instruments, etc. The collections are housed in 5 large warehouse areas. It takes hours to walk through! Carol and I enjoyed it, but Matt called it the "House of Junk"!

Sunday was a trip to the Wisconsin Dells. We had lunch at a famous burger place, Monks, and then visited the museum of torture, house of mirrors, and took a ride on a Wisconsin Duck, which is a WWII amphibious troop-landing boat. They go on land and water. We tried to get Ricky to sit in the back where you get wet, but he didn't fall for it. He saw them wiping off the seat before he got on!

Madison, Wisconsin

We arrived in Madison on 7/31/09. Even though we tried to go around Chicago, traffic was heavy, and there were quite a few times of holding our breaths as we traveled!! The narrow construction areas and the big semi trying to cut us off were harrowing! We are staying at a KOA about 10 miles from Matt. Originally he said that was "too close". Ha! Ha!

The first weekend Matt showed us around Madison. It's a great city, home of the University of Wisconsin, and also the capitol of Wisconsin. On Sunday, we had our good friends, Sandy and Dennis over to see the RV and have a cook-out. They live in Sun Prairie, which is about 5 miles from the campground. We had a good time and are looking forward to spending more time with them before we leave!

Carol and Ricky made a trip to Wisconsin and arrived on 8/5/09! They had to drive over 800 miles to get here, so we appreciated the visit! While Matt was working we visited the Ringling Bros. Circus Museum in Baraboo, Wisc. They not only had the museum, but live circus acts going on during the day. Very interesting and lots of fun! Carol and I even rode an elephant! Poor elephant! He'll probably never be the same!!!!!