Lewiston, MT

This morning we left Hazen Bay around 8 PM. After stopping in Hazen for fuel, propane and a stop at city hall we were on the road at 9:30. It was west 8 miles to Beulah and then south on us 49 to I-94 where we turned west traveling into the badlands of western ND. At Glendive, MT we crossed the Yellowstone river and turned onto US 200 west traveling through the vast Montana prairies where we didn't see a town for 40 to 60 miles at a stretch. from Winnet on west we began seeing pine trees in the coulees. A little east of Lewiston we gained 1500 ft. in elevation and started seeing a lot of pine trees. The Yellowstone river that we crossed at Glendive is the major source of water for Lake Sakakawea along with water from the Missouri River that comes through Fort Peck Dame in Montana. We hadn't planned on traveling so far today but found out there aren't any camp grounds out in the prairies.

Another season ended

Fall is in the air and another season here at Hazen Bay has come to an end. The leaves on the trees are starting to change color and the geese that have been here all summer that have been flying noisily over head for a couple of weeks getting their young ready for the trip south have disappeared. The farmers are nearing the completion of the harvest of the earlier fall crops such as wheat & barley.
We had a very busy Labor Day weekend with 116 total camping units here. The weather was warm and very little wind. On Fri evening Friends of Hazen Bay had a Fleishkuekla fund raiser to raise funds to pay for the playground that was just installed. The event was a great success as they cooked 784 Fleishkuekla. There was also cotton candy provided by one of our campers along with many baked goods.
What is a Fleishkuekla you ask? Well it is a this very flat piece of seasoned hamburger wrapped in bread dough that is then deep fat fried. It is of Russian origin being brought to this area by the Russian Germans when they immigrated to this area. We have never seen them in any other part of the country but really enjoy them as they are very tasty.
We have enjoyed our 4th. summer here at Hazen Bay doing what we really like to do and doing it with people that we have came to consider as family and in an area of the USA that we really like. One can't ask for any more than that in their retirement years. We are so blessed to be able to do this and enjoy relatively good health. As soon as a package that we are waiting on arrives we will begin our journey back to our home in Sebring, FL hoping to arrive in time for Thanksgiving.

Sun set On Lake Sakakawea

Last night we got to enjoy a sunset by boat on Lake Sakakawea. Mike Retsin one of our seasonal campers asked if Nancy & I and Paul & Mary would like to go out on the lake for the sunset. Of course we said yes the lake was pretty calm as we had not had much wind yesterday. It was a very enjoyable evening. One does not realise how huge this lake is until you go out on it especially in the evening. Lake Sakakwea is about 80 miles long and up to 5 miles wide and 150 deep in the old river channel. They say if it were drained it would cover the state of North Dakota with 6 inches of water.

New Salem Sue

On Mon. of this week friends Paul & Mary Osborne from Kentucky arrived to spend a few days with us. On Wed. afternoon David & Beverly Simmons from Arizona, whom we had met at Perry, GA this spring called to say they were on the way to spend the afternoon and evening with us. We had a very enjoyable but short visit with them. Thur. morning Mary, Paul & I decided to go to New Salem so they could see the giant Holstein cow that sits on a hill about 30 miles west of Bismarck. New Salem Sue stands 50 feet tall and weighs 12000 lbs. The New Salem Lions club along with the area dairy farmers erected her at a cost of $40000 back in the 80's.

Meyer Wedding at Hazen Bay

Sat. Aug 15th. at 4 PM Hazen Bay Recreation Area was the setting for the wedding of Jeff & Michelle two of the our seasonal campers. They had planned to have the ceremony on the point below the cabins overlooking the bay but high winds and the threat of rain caused them to have the ceremony in a large tent that they had put up in the grassy area behind the c-store. After the ceremony they had a reception dinner for invited guests. The whole park was invited to the wedding dance that lasted until 11PM.
I am guessing that this is the first wedding ever held at Hazen Bay.

tour of the freedom minePlant

Our son Dan arrived on Mon. for a short visit. Wed. we toured the Freedom coal mine the Antelope Valley Power Plant and the Dakota Gasification Plant. Freedom coal mine supplies coal for the power plant and the gasification plant both owned by Basin Elec. Power cooperative. The power plant has the capacity to generate 900 mega watts of elec. The gasification plant produces enough synthetic natural gas to heat 400 thousand homes all year long. The gas is of the same quality as regular natural gas and is put into a pipe line and co mingled . They also produce Anhydrous ammonia, xenon, argon, krypton as well as co2 that is piped to Canada and injected into the oil fields to nearly triple their daily production. The coal mine returns the land to the original topography as well as restores all wet lands and is better land production wise when they are through with it.

Hazen Bay

We arrived back at Hazen Bay last Mon. late afternoon. It seemed good to be back after nearly four summers hear it seems like home to us. This week has been a rather strange week weather wise. It has been coo, but early in the week it was really dry so spent a lot of time watering grass and trees. By Wed. PM it had become cloudy and we received some rain. Thur. afternoon I was able to mow for most of the afternoon and Fri. was cool windy and showers just kept rolling thru every 2 or 3 hrs. All in all I think we got 1/2 in. of rain for the week. This weekend is the archery tournament that the local archery club hosts every year the first weekend in Aug. This year it is a state shoot so they expect 200 or more to go through the course as compared to most years when it is a regional shoot with about 150 going through. They hold it at our lower tenting area and the targets are out in the hills and brushy coulies in an adjoining farmers pasture. This evening we will go the the big barbecue. We also have a family get together here this weekend so we are fairly full again this weekend.