Back on the road-At least for a short time

We are back out in our coach if only just for a few days. After sitting home since July 31 it was time to get moving. We left yesterday and headed south to Sulphur, Oklahoma. This is the weekend that our local RV club, the Birds of a Feather, have their monthly meet. The actual meetings are scheduled for Friday and Saturday but, like several of our members, we like to come in early. That is the benefit of being retired and not having set schedules.

We were the only ones to come in on Wednesday, which was kind of surprising. Two other coaches arrived this morning. Ten are scheduled for the get together. Joanne got up early this morning to go shopping. She said since we were this far south she wanted to go to Gainsville, Texas, just south of the Oklahoma state line, to the Outlet Mall. Her favorite store, Bonworths, is located in that Mall.

We'll be here until Sunday before returning home. After that we'll not be back out on the road until the first of October when we head to a Monaco America rally in Claremore, Oklahoma.

Northern Exposure--Day 60--Home

Our adventure came to an end today. After our evening in Mitchell, South Dakota, on Tuesday we headed south, spending Wednesday night at a small RV park on a lake just south of Salina, Kansas. Although that made Wednesday's drive rather long by our standards, about 425 miles, that put us relatively close to home.

Everything seemed fine at the house but the heat and humidity will take some getting used to. We spent the afternoon unloading the coach but finally got too hot and decided we'd finish tomorrow. The coach and car will also get a well needed bath since they are both covered with dust. After two months, 2800 miles and nine states it seemed time to return to Oklahoma to check out the house.

Now, it's time to start planning our next adventure.

Northern Exposure--Day 58

Our latest adventure has continued as we have moved on to another state. This morning we left Grand Forks and headed south to Mitchell, South Dakota. In laying out our route for our return to Oklahoma we are still seeking out places and things that one or the other of us have never seen. Although Joanne had been through Mitchell some years ago with her parents I had never been here to see the Corn Palace. The first Corn Palace was built in 1892. As the people became aware that a larger building was needed the original building was replaced in 1905. That second building was replaced in 1919 with the current structure. The building houses a theater stage, a basketball court and arena seating. Each year the Corn Palace is redecorated sporting a new theme. The decorative materials for the Corn Palace are all native corn, grasses and grains of South Dakota. The new theme is selected each year by the Corn Palace Committee. The exterior of the building is not the only part that is decorated. There are numerous murals inside. This building is used for live shows and the local schools play their home basketball games there.

In addition to touring the Corn Palace we also hit the many gift shops that have located in the area. Here Joanne stops to visit with Zeke outside Zack & Zeke's shop.

Northern Exposure--Day 57

Since the city of Grand Forks did not offer much in the way of sightseeing we decided to take a drive down Interstate 29 to Fargo, a distance of about 70 miles. We were headed to Bonanzaville USA, a park operated by the county historical society. They have acquired many historic buildings from around the area and moved them to a site adjacent to the county fair grounds. Although we have been to other similar parks this one was one of the best. They have done a great job of restoring these buildings and furnishing them with period pieces. To the right is St. John's Lutheran Church which was chartered in 1898. Another building they have is the original Cass County Courthouse. The interior has been completely restored. A good example of how they have acquired period equipment and furnishings is the interior of a dry goods store.

In addition to the old buildings there are very large collections of restored vehicles and farm equipment. One large building held well over 100 restored tractors and another held other restored farm equipment. One building held a large collection of restored, vintage cars and trucks. The picture is of a 1935, left hand drive Rolls Royce that came from the Lord Mayor of Manchester, England.

Following our tour of Bananzaville we stopped off to see the Fargo Walk of Fame. This was started by a local music store owner who started getting celebrities to put their hand and foot prints in concrete squares, similar to Graman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. He originally had these in the sidewalk outside of his music store but as the collection grew it was moved to a plaza outside the Fargo Visitor's Center. Pictured here are panels by two Oklahoma boys, Toby Keith and Conway Twitty.

Northern Exposure--Day 55

Our time in Duluth has come to an end and it is time to move on. The plan was to leave out around 9:00 AM and head west toward North Dakota but that did not happen. As has previously been mentioned, we were parked in a working boat yard, which was very fascinating to me. Yesterday, the owner mentioned that first thing Saturday morning they would be pulling one of the Vista boats out of the water for repairs. The Vista Fleet are the boats that are used for the harbor tours. The Vista Queen can hold about 40 passengers for a tour. Well, we just had to hang around long enough to watch them take her out of the water. Once they got her up and ashore they were able to work on one of her screws that had a bearing going bad.

Eventually, we did get on the road and headed west. Since we had been across most of the western part of the state on previous trips to Minnesota we did not plan to stop to see any of the sites, except for one. On our list from the RoadsideAmerica.com website we looked for "The Big Fish" in Bena. This is adjacent to a supper club of the same name. The fish is actually a building that originally housed a hot dog stand. While we were stopped we visited with a couple of girls that were part of a group who were crossing the country, via bicycle, on US Highway 2, going from New Hampshire to Vancouver, Washington. These two were stopped at their "chase vehicle". In all there were twelve of them plus a guy driving a van with a trailer with all their personal gear.

Our last stop before leaving Minnesota was in East Grand Forks, right on the state line with North Dakota. In a tourist guide we saw that the Cabela's store had a large statue of two moose fighting was in front of the store. (Cabela's is a chain of huge sporting goods stores throughout the northern part of the country.) Since I had never been in a Cabela's we decided to check it out. On the back wall was the greatest display of trophy animals. We also saw a bar and grill, named The Blue Moose, nearby. We had to stop to take pictures of the blue moose on the lawn.

We finally crossed the Red River of the North and drove into North Dakota. We drove through Grand Forks and out west of town to the Grand Forks Air Force Base where we set up camp in the base campground. This is an old Cold War base that was mainly used as the support base for the many missile silos that were scattered over the Dakota's, Wyoming and Montana. This base now is home to an Air Force refueling squadron. We did attempt to do some sightseeing around Grand Forks but there was not really anything to see in this small, military town.

Northern Exposure--Day 53

As has been been typical of the weather in Duluth we woke up to another change this morning. It was overcast and chilly. We experienced rain all morning long so it was a good day to stay in and take care of things here. Around noon we decided it was time to get out of here so we started out for lunch. Even though it was noon I decided that breakfast food sounded good so we went looking for the local Perkins Restaurant. As it turns out the one in the northeast part of town was no longer there. We were not sure where it had moved so we backtracked and headed to the what is called the west end. This is actually a few miles south down Interstate 35. On our way back to the coach after eating I turned off Interstate 35 a mile too early and wound up on Interstate 535 and crossing the bridge over the St. Louis River, which separates Minnesota and Wisconsin. We wound up in Superior, Wisconsin. We took the occasion to drive to Barker's Island and look around and stop at one of the gift shops to pick up some more stuff for the grand kids.

We finally made it back to the coach to find a sick dog. Buddy, for some reason had thrown up his breakfast on the rug and in my recliner. He was also very anxious to go out to potty and did not even wait until I could get his leash on him. After doing his business and taking a little walk out in the cool weather he seemed to be okay. We have no idea what caused him to be sick. After relaxing for a while we headed up "over the hill" to the west of town to meet Joanne's brother, Roger, and his wife Marilyn for dinner at Applebee's. We had a good dinner and visit with them and it even turned out better when Roger insisted on paying the bill.

Northern Exposure--Day 52

Today we decided to explore some areas where we had never been. Got on Interstate 35 and headed south to the town of Moose Lake. Joanne had read that they had an Agate Museum there and since she likes agates we decided to go have a look. Although the museum was disappointing, a small room in the welcome center to a state park, the town of Moose Lake was kind of interesting. It is always refreshing to see these towns that have maintained their downtown areas. We did stop at the Chamber of Commerce office to get directions to the museum and Buddy took a rest on their bench. Also, they had a big moose statue in front of their building.

This evening Joanne's aunt and uncle, Pat & Dennis, came over. We took them into Canal Park to Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que for dinner. We have seen Famous Dave's all over the south but have never been to one. Had to get up north where Bar-B-Que is not a staple of the diet to try them out. After dinner we all came back to the coach and played cards.

Northern Exposure--Day 51

More wandering around and seeing the sights up here in the north country. Today on the beach, just a little farther down on Park Point, was an activity they call building sand models. Groups from the different parts of town competed in building designs in the sand. We spent a little time walking the beach checking out the different designs. There appeared to be about 20 teams doing their designs.

Later in the day we took a drive back over to Joanne's old neighborhood. The people who now own her maternal grand parents house are doing a makeover and she wanted to take some pictures of the changes to show to her mother when we get back home. We then drove a little farther out to visit with Vivian Hansen. This is a old friend of Joanne's mother. We have been receiving a Christmas card from Vivian each year but this is the first time I have met her.

After returning to the coach we decided to walk over to Canal Park again and take some daytime pictures of the Lift Bridge. We spent a couple of hours looking around this area and walked a ways down the Lake Walk that runs from Canal Park around the lake and up the north shore aways. Below are some of the pictures we took while out. Buddy really enjoys these walks and getting out among all the people.

Northern Exposure--Day 49

Continuing in our quest to see all the lighthouses in the world we took a trip up the north shore of Lake Superior. The first stop was the city of Two Harbors. They have a neat old lighthouse that has been converted to a Bed & Breakfast. Most of the buildings are open to the public and have been fully restored. Although the main building, that originally housed the Light Keeper's residence, is now the Bed & Breakfast the light tower is still open to the public. Two Harbors is a very nice little town that at one time was a larger shipping port than the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior. The second light at Two Harbors is at the end of the breakwater that was built to assist the shipping lanes. This one is more of a tower and a true lighthouse.

While in Two Harbors we sought out one of the sites listed on the RoadsideAmerica.com website. There is a big statue of the "Voyager" in a parking lot on the main drag. Since it's construction a motel name The Voyager has been added next door. He originally was holding a canoe paddle in his hand but it appears to be long gone. Also, no one seems to know why he is wearing leggings but no pants. Anyway, we have been able to mark off another of the odd and unusual tourist sites on our list.

From Two Harbors we headed on north to the Split Rock Lighthouse. This is listed as one of the most popular in the country. Split Rock was built in the early 1900's on a 147 foot cliff overlooking the lake. Since there were not roads into the area all the materials had to be brought in by boat and carried up to the building site. In addition to the lighthouse itself there are several other buildings. These include the fog signal building and three Light Keeper residences. One of the residences has been restored to the condition of when the light first opened. Another is currently used as the residence of the curator of the site, which is operated by the Minnesota Historical Society. There are some spectacular view from up where the lighthouse is located.

When we left Duluth this morning it was overcast and there was a heavy fog covering the harbor. Fortunately, as we drove north the weather cleared and we had a beautiful day. When we returned to the coach we experienced a heavy rain which did clear the air. Later I walked over to the Lift Bridge to take some pictures with it all lit up.

Northern Exposure--Day 48

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday the sun was shining and it was 80 degrees while we took our walk down the Point to the old lighthouse ruins. Today it is overcast and rainy and it is in the low 60's. That is what I have come to expect way up north here in Duluth. Lake Superior is very choppy with the wind coming in out of the north.

We decided to walk over to Canal Park for lunch. Canal Park is just east of old downtown Duluth and was a warehouse area originally. This area has now been turned into the local entertainment district and is next to the shipping channel between Lake Superior and the bay and harbor. While over there we took some time to give in to our passion for lighthouses. The channel has three lights and a huge lift bridge to allow the ships and boats through. On the south side of the channel are two lights, the South Outer Harbor Light and the South Inner Harbor Light. The inner light is more a tower with the light at the top than a traditional looking lighthouse. The north side only has one light, the North Outer Harbor Light.

We also had to cross the Duluth Lift Bridge to get to Canal Park. By this time the fog was starting to set in and obscured part of the top of the bridge. Each time we go anywhere in the car we must cross this bridge and in many cases it is up to allow a boat or ship to enter or leave the harbor and we wind up sitting and waiting. The lift bridge was built early in the century and originally carried traffic across the channel in a basket like contraption. It has been in the current configuration since about 1926 where the roadway goes up and down as needed.

On our walk back we moved off the main road, Lake Avenue, and came down to the street along the bay. There are some really nice houses there that face the bay. We met a lady checking out her flower garden that she and a neighbor had put in between the street and the bay. This is just across the street from their houses and they got tired of looking out at the weeds that grew on this small strip of land. They have done a wonderful job of turning their view into something nice. She was very proud of her gardens and invited us over to see her gardens she has put in all around her house, including her vegetable garden in her back yard. Soon after returning to the coach the skies really opened up and it rained the rest of the afternoon.