Back in North Dakota

WHERE ARE WE?  Bismarck North Dakota

I quite often have trouble coming up with stories on moving days.  No different today.  I would take scenery pictures but the screen on the side window gets in the way and the bugs on the windshield don't make for nice photos.  See what I mean?

Yup thats where we want to go

For all my farm friends.  Do you remember all the wiggly lines in the field before auto steer?  This guy must have been drinking.

We needed propane so we stopped at a place and they filled us from the truck.  Gotta love small town America.  

We did buy a shower curtain rod to put up to block the dash off so Archie can't go up there.  He does get in the way when we are in cities and navigating corners and such.  We left it up when we were out of the MH and when we came back he was sitting in Sues seat peeking over the dash looking so distraught.  I don't think he likes the bar.  

It was only a little over 300 kms to go today so we had lots of time to spare.  We were only going to Bismarck today.

We stopped at Costco to get gas at $3.09 a gallon.  Then we parked and went in to the store.  There wasn't much for free treats so I went back out to the MH and hung around with Archie.

When Sue was done at Costco, we headed over to Walmart for the night.  I caught a nice sunset over the city.  Good Nite!!

The Big Dick

WHERE ARE WE?  Pierre South Dakota

It was a beautiful morning in McCook when we woke up this morning.  We took our time getting going because we only had 500 kms to go today.  While I was packing up and getting water Sue went off to play with Archie.  She had his tug toy and was throwing it for him.  Woops she threw it up in a tree!!  Now what?

So there was a stick close by so she tried throwing it up after it.  Well guess what?  Yup, the stick ended up in the tree as well.  Now what?

So off I went to get a big stick to get them down.  Sue was laughing as she remembered our daughter Karalee when she was just young playing in the bushes next to the soccer field where Kaitlyn was playing soccer.  Of course there were lots of parents around and all of a sudden, Karalee comes out of the bushes sporting a big dead branch.  "Look Mom, I got a big Dick" she hollered at the top of her lungs.  Everyone had a good laugh at her expense.  Sue reminded me that I had fetched a "Big Dick".

I did succeed on getting both the stick and the tug down.  Then I had to put the big dick back in the woods.

We saw a lot of open country today.  Actually the drive was quite pretty in its own way.  

Archie kept a keen lookout for cows and horses along the way.  Most of the time he controls himself but every once in a while he just has to bark his head off.  Yes he gets to ride on the dash.  He stays on Sues side and most of the time he is laying down.

We had to stop for fuel half way through the day and guess what?  My credit card got stuck in the pump and wouldn't come out.  I always fear that that thing might happen at one of the fuel stations that are not manned.  Oh well, until it happens, no sense worrying. 

We arrived at our destination in Pierre about 5 today after an uneventful drive.

We are Wally docking again today.  We are just overnighting so I have no problem with parking here.  

We were about 1/4 mile from Menards, so after supper we went for a walk to check it out.  The store has changed a bit.  They now have groceries which doesn't seem quite right.  Oh well, it killed an hour or so.

We did see the duel of the floor washers.  One machine was manned by a teddy bear and the other had a human on it.  They happened to meet in an ally and instead of the human backing up and going a different way, the guy got off and rerouted the teddy bear!  Oh well I don't imagine either one had a college degree!! lol

We hung around the store long enough to miss the actual sunset.  The aftermath was quite pretty as we walked home.  

Buffalo Bill and Anne Oakley

WHERE ARE WE?  McCook Nebraska

Sometimes I get to wondering if people view us as that little old couple that go down the highway looking around and slowing down traffic.  My dad used to do that and I must admit that there have been times when we see something interesting on the side of the road, that I look down and my speed has dropped by 20 kph.  Then I look in the mirror and realize that there is a small line up starting to form behind me.  It's real folks, and if you haven't done it, you will.  

Kansas and Nebraska are big cattle and milk producers along with many crops, some of which support the cattle.  We see lots of cattle roaming in the hills along the way, but every once in a while there will be a feedlot.  By feedlot, I mean cattle in pens for literally miles.  This particular one was at least 2 miles deep by 2 miles long.  Probably hundreds of thousands cattle housed there.  I can't imagine the work to keep them fed and clean.  There were 3 semi cattle haulers backed up to the chutes with a few more in waiting in the yard.  Lots of steaks there!

And lots of huge dairy farms.  Hard to get a picture when your driving because I tend to slow down and hold up traffic!!

The crops here are just getting a good start and there is lots of irrigation going on.  

We stopped in Oakley Kansas today which is the birthplace of Buffalo Bill Cody.  He and Anne Oakley are noted legends in this area.  Buffalo was a noted buffalo hunter, hence the name, and Anne Oakley was just a renegade!!!  The town has built a beautiful interpretive center with a big monument to Buffalo Bill.

Today was a short travel day and because the weather was fantastic, we picked a little city park in McCook to park in.  24C is the temperature we seek as we travel along and that is what we got today.  They obviously water the grass and it is lush and thick and soft.  Archie loved it after walking in grass with "stickers" in it for the last couple days.

A beautiful sunset in a very relaxing place.  We will see what tomorrow brings.  Good Nite!!

Another Day on the Road

WHERE ARE WE?  Liberal Kansas

We had a good night at Walmart in Abilene TX.  Sue was having a tough time getting up this morning so I told her just to lay in bed and watch the TV!!! Get it??  The TV!  The one on the bed!!!  Lame joke! 

Its always good to catch up on the shopping so we have supplies for the road and I had to go back in this morning for some things we forgot.

We had a good drive today.  Here is where we went!

As soon as we crossed into Oklahoma there were hundreds of wind turbines churning away.  They sure do clutter up the view. We went by lots of oil stuff in the pastures too but it seems like lots of them are abandoned or at least not active.  Interesting country.  Even a dinosaur on a hill near the town of Canadian!!

We stopped at a nice little park for an hour to let Archie run around.  He has been couped up for a few days now and deserves a run.

Just a little update on my Starlink installation on the back of the MH.  It works very well and only take a minute to set up or take down.  Small pat on back!!!

We made it to Liberal Kansas about 5:30 and headed over to the fairgrounds for the night.  There is no charge for dry camping and it is a nice quiet place to hang out.  Good Nite!!

We Wasted a Rainy Day by Driving

WHERE ARE WE?  Abilene Texas

We turned our travels north again today.  We have Abilene TX as our destination.

We jumped on 83 highway and will stay on it until we arrive in Virden Manitoba.  Double checked and the Jeep is following along just fine.  

It was a lovely morning but soon the temperature started to drop and the rain started.  We got to drive in the rain for about half of the trip.  This part of Texas is very pretty and the wild flowers along the ditches are amazing.

There is a lot of history in this part of Texas as well.  Lots of the old buildings have date stamps of 1880's.  And a lot of the houses are built in the southern style.

One thing that tugged at my memory today was going by a bunch or almost ripe winter wheat fields.  When I was in my late teens, I used to come south with a custom harvesting crew and we always started in Texas around the first week of May.  I still remember how exciting it was to come all the way south to Texas to begin our summers work.  We would work our way home and arrive in early September.  That's my nostalgia for now.

At one point today we actually had to turn the heat on and of course the windows all fogged up.  I had forgotten how that happens when it rains and is cool.

Sue was having a wee nap in the back when we arrived in Abilene so I just quietly drove to the Hobby Lobby parking lot.  Then I went back and woke her up.  She didn't spend much time in the store at all.  I don't think she was in the shopping mood.

We headed across the street for the night.  Did a little shopping, watched a little TV and called it a day.  Good Nite!!