Memorial Weekend

After an inch and 1/2 of rain on Mon night I washed the motor home in 35 mph winds and 50 degree temp on Tues. morning, it had to be done but wasn't much fun. We then picked up our things at city hall and moved to Hazen Bay to set up for the summer. The winds remained 35-40 MPH all day long with gusts to 60 mph reported, what a welcome to North Dakota.. Wed was nice temps in the mid 70s and calm winds. Nancy got her office organized and cleaned and I started on some maintenance and cabin cleaning. Eddie had mowed a lot before we got here and continued with the mowing. Thur. saw more rain in the early morning but the day turned out pretty nice. Fri. was nice with temps in the 80's. They had delivered our new mower wed. eve. so I mowed about 3 hrs. in the AM. WOW going from a 6ft. cut to an 11ft. cut sure makes a difference. It looks like a couple day a week will now keep the RV park, the golf course and the Frisbee course all looking pretty nice. We are about 1/2 full this weekend. We certainly enjoyed making new acquaintances and renewing old friendships. Nancy got done with check ins about 8 PM and we then sat around our neighbors campfire until nearly 11PM before going to bed.

Hazen, ND

This morning after fueling up at the Flyingj we headed north under cloudy skies on SD-79 bypassing around Rapid City we continued on north through the Black Hills to Sturgis, ND. Continuing on SD-79 the terrain became semi flat rolling grass covered hills dotted with cattle and occasionally a flock of sheep. The further north we went the less inhabited it became. We encountered a lot of road work and it became very misty and foggy with poor visibility. We then traveled east on RT 20 and eventually we started seeing a few ranches and farms headquarters and an occasional small town. We then turned back to the north on SD 73 and as we entered North Dakota it became ND 49. As we continued on north we entered into the farming
regions of ND passing through small towns until we arrived at Beulah ND where we turned east on ND 200 a few miles to Hazen, ND. We decided to stay at the RV Park in town as it had rained last eve and drizzled all day. Tomorrow after washing the motor home we will drive out to Hazen Bay and get set up for the season. The motor home is covered with dirt and mud. We still have the cloud with us as it has rained for the last two hrs. and the temp is only 56 degree's.

Hermosa, SD

After spending four days visiting friends and relatives in SW Nebraska and NE Colorado and being parked in my sister Gloria's beautiful landscaped yard we departed Grant, NE we headed north on US 61 through the level farm lands of SW NE. At Ogalalla (home of boot hill) we turned west on I-80 through the Platte river valley. Near Julesburg, CO we entered the rolling hills of the NE panhandle passing by many fields of winter wheat and pastures with cattle grazing the green grass. At Sidney, NE we stopped at Cabela's to look for a pair of shoes which we didn't find. Sidney is where the first Cabela's store was and is also the home of their corporate offices. We turned north on US 385 crossing the North Platte River at Bridgeport, NE on toward Gering, NE passing many fields planted to sugar beets and the many trains loaded with coal. Just to the south of Chadron, NE we passed through the through
the Nebraska National Forest in the pine tree covered Pine Ridge area. Continuing on north as we entered South Dakota found us driving through the long rolling green grass covered hills of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland. At Hot Springs we continued on North on ND 79 enjoying the grasslands to the right and the tree covered Black Hills to our left. We stopped in Hermosa, SD at the Heartland RV Park for the night. I guess we still have the cloud over us as it rained in the night and the forecast is for rain today. The first two days in SW NE also were rainy.

Grant, NE

Today we made the trek across NE on I-80 that so many of our friends talk about being the longest stretch of nothing that they dread driving through. Personally I can't understand what why they hate it. As you drive west toward York you pass the flat corn fields that will produce the corn needed to fatten the beef, pork and chickens that we are all so fond of. Passing through Grand, Island and on toward No Platte & Ogallala you enter the great Platte River valley with the trees on one side and pastures full of black angus mama cows with their young babies by their side. For most of the way you can see for a couple of miles to each side and you don't go up and down hills or round and round curves. However upon departing the motor home at my sister and brother-in-laws south of Grant we immediately became aware of the western NE wind. We will be here until Sun. morning visiting friends and relatives in the area.

Mon. Evening Gretna,NE

The past 4 days have been at a leisurely pace visiting relatives on Nancy's side of the family. We enjoyed watching great nephew Talon play baseball on Sat. For a six years old he appears to have a lot of athletic ability. Yesterday while visiting brother Duke and family we also saw her 1st. cousin Roger that we had not seen for several years. Today we visited niece Kim and her 4 children in Carter Lake Iowa. We had not seen her for several years and really enjoyed reminiscing about old times when she had visited us on the farm as a child. We got to become acquainted with her 4 children and also enjoyed the newly hatched ducklings swimming in the canal in their back yard. We also had a surprise when son Dan came from western, NE on Sat. and we were able to visit with him. Also bumped into the Schram's (our farm tenants) while eating pizza at Big Freds.

Gretna, NE

Last night it rained and rained and we heard one of the loudest booms of thunder I have ever heard. After being jarred awake by it at about 1;45 I looked out to see if the building that we were parked next to had exploded or maybe one of the motor homes next to us. This morning some of the others parked on the other side of the building next to a propane tank thought it had exploded but luckily for us all it was just thunder very close to us. After the work was done on the motor home we left Moscow about 10;30 headed west on I-80 with Gretna our destination. From Moscow to Des Moines we saw many fields partially under water and many streams running bank full. From Des Moines west occasionally we saw some fields with water on them but no streams swollen by runoff. All across Iowa the corn either had not emerged or was only a couple of inches high. We arrived in Gretna about 2:30 under sunny skies and 60 degree temps.

Moscow, IA

Mon. we visited my Aunt Inez who will turn 101 on May 17th. What an amazing woman she doesn't have a wrinkle on her face and doesn't look more than 75 or 80. She is still able to be up and about with out the aide of a wheel chair unless she is leaving her room to go to events at the manor. Her memory is sharper than mine. She can tell you exactly where anything is and what drawer and where in the drawer or closet anything in her house is and she hasn't been in her house for a couple of years. She related many events of her childhood to us. We had a very enjoyable 3.5 hr visit with her. On Tues we visited cousin Bea in Troy, MO. We parked in cousin Gail & Chris Ball's yard so spent many enjoyable hrs visiting with them and watching the birds. We also ate to much as they don't want anyone to go away hungry.
This morning as we headed north on IL 96 the Mississippi river bottom farms became bigger and bigger as the bottom widened out. We crossed the Mississippi River at Hannibal and continued north on US 61 through the rolling farm country of MO. Just before entering Iowa the rt turned to US 27 which took us north through the rich rolling to farmlands of Iowa. At I-80 we turned east about 30 miles to just north of the small community of Moscow where we are parked for the night. In the morning at 7AM we are to get some maintenance work done on our leveling system.
We still seem to have the cloud over us as it rained while we were at Pleasant Hill and we drove in light rain today and have had a couple of pretty good thunder showers since arriving here at about 2;30.

Pleasant Hill, IL

Sat. morning about 10 AM we left Edwardsville traveling west on IL 143 through the rolling hills to Alton where we connected with IL 100 traveling north with the Mississippi river on our left and the tree covered rocky bluffs on the right. What a pretty drive this was. At about Grafton we started to move away from the river where the the rocky bluffs began to turn into rolling hills and to our left were the fertile Mississippi bottom farms with corn fields in various stages of growth up to about 12 inches. At Hardin we crossed the Illinois River and proceeded north to Kampsville
were we turned north on IL 96. We knew we were supposed to turn at Wild Cat Holler just after we crossed a bridge and just after we had gone past a certain cattle farm we missed it and continued on into Pleasant Hill so we could turn around. We called Gail and he said to come back 7 miles and just after crossing the 4th bridge to turn left and sure enough about 3/4 mile up the holler there was Gail & Chris's house. The road sign was no where to be found I suppose somebody needed it for their den.
Gail fixed some very tasty pork steaks on the grill which along with deviled eggs, potato salad, Baked beans and chocolate cheese cake made for a very delicious mothers day meal. In the afternoon we enjoyed visiting and watching the humming birds feed at the 3 feeders attached to the patio. I have never seen so many humming birds at one time. Just before dark all three feeders were just covered with them. They have to fill the feeders everyday.

Today we along with Cousin Burt & Michelle went into St Louis to visit the arch. I didn't know before but this is one of our National Parks. We didn't take the tram up to the top as I understand it to be very crowded & cramped. They have an extensive Louis & Clark exhibit and a great, big screen move of the expedition. There is also a very interesting movie on the building of the arch.


The Arch is over six hundred feet high and took about 4 years to build in the early 1960's. It was a very interesting day and a great way to spend my 70th. birthday. The Red Barn Rendevous RV Park that we are in is a very neat and well decorated park. Other than the RV park in Missoula MT I would say it is the tops. This week while here we have visited friends and relatives in a 100 mile radius of the RV park. We have seen some of the best farm land in the nation here in IL and some of the most beautiful wooded rolling hills in MO that can be seen any where in the Nation. We have watched the farmer next to the RV Park till and plant the field that is about 100 ft. from our motor home.

Our week Cousinin Campbellsville

Some of the things we did while in Campbellsville. We saw the Old Fort Herrod at Herrodsburg. This is a recreated fort that was the first settlement west of the Alleghenies established June 16 1774. It is a living history facility with various craftspeople demonstrating tasks such as weaving, broom making, blacksmithing and many more. The oldest cemetery in the state is also here as well as a museum. The cabin that Abraham Lincolns parents were wed in is also at this site protected by a large brick structure that they call the Wedding Chapel. While there we had lunch at the Historic Beaumont Inn. We also visited Constitution Square at Danville were the Kentucky constitution was signed.We watched Paul & Marys grandsons ball games and also had the annual Derby Day Party at Paul & Marys. Many an evening found us playing a couple of games of 3-13. We received over 6 in. of rain on Sat. & Sun. On Sun. we spent a rainy day in Louisville visiting cousin Barbara Wheeler and also visited my 88 year old Uncle Gerald who resides at the Masonic Nursing Home.

Edwardsville, ILL

This morning After fueling the motor home and saying good by to Paul & Mary We stopped by the computer shop and picked up our computer that had been being worked on since Thur. because the Verizon card wouldn't work They finally decided the card was defective and are sending a new one to us while we are at the Red Barn Rv Park just north of Edwardsville. We left soggy central KY headed north from Campbellsville on KY 210 through the lush green rolling hills. At Elizibethtown we turned north on I-65 to Louisville were we crossed the Ohio river headed west on I-64 toward St Louis. After Passing through the Hoosier National forest the terrain began to level as we entered the flatter farming areas of Indiana & Ill. We passed many soggy corn fields that were either just emerging to a few that were about 5 in. tall. We also saw a lot of fields covered yellow mustard that looked to be last years corn stalks. I imagine when they dry they will be planted to soybeans. Just east of St Louis we turned north on I-55 and are parked at the Red Barn RV Park where we will be until Sun. While here we will visit Family and friends in the surrounding 100 mile area. This evening My cousin Burt Ball and his wife Michelle picked us up and we went out for supper. After arriving here I got on the Park wi-fi to try to catch up on some things and finally gave up as it was slow like molasses. I decide to try the Verizon card that didn't work and low and behold it works here. I guess when the new one arrives tomorrow we will send the old one in anyway. On my next blog I will try to fill you in on last week.