Medora

On Tues. of this week we took a day off to journey to Medora, ND. Medora is home to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the De Mores State Historical Park also the Medora Musical and Pitchfork Fondue take place at the open air amphitheater.
The Chateau De Mores was built in 1883 by the Marquis De Mores a French aristocrat and was used from 1883 until 1886 as a summer residence for the Marquis and his wife Medora and their children. The town of Medora is named after her. The Marquis had this idea that it would be cheaper to slaughter cattle in North Dakota and send them in refrigerated rail cars to Chicago that to ship the live cattle to Chicago for slaughter. He built a packing plant, bought cattle and land, started a stage coach line to Dead wood and built most of the town. The plant was capable of processing 150 cattle a day but due to drought in the area and finding good quality cattle it never processed more than 80 cattle a day. After losing nearly 1 1/2 million dollars by 1886 his father in law the banker closed it down and they returned to New York.

Medora the Musical and Pitchfork Fondue are held at the outdoor amphitheater atop a hill overlooking Medora and the Chateau De mores. The Pitchfok Fondue consists of rib eye steaks cooked in hot oil while stuck on the tines of a pitchfork. This makes for a very delicious and tender steak. The musical is a 2 hour production held in the outdoor amphitheater.

Theodore Roosevelt National park is located in the badlands of ND. There is a 30 mile loop drive through the badlands where you see very pretty scenery, a buffalo herd, a herd of wild horses and many prairie dog towns. Teddy Roosevelt came to ND after the death of two close family members in 1883. He fell in love with the area and established two cattle ranches in the badlands of ND. He said that he would not have become president if not for his experiences in the Bad Lands. While here he became aware of the needs for conservation and thus became known as a great conservationist while he was president.

July 18th. Hazen, ND

Here it is the middle of July and we are at the half way point in our stay here at Hazen Bay. It hardly seems possible, my how time flies when you enjoy what you are doing and where you are at. We continue to have the camp ground nearly full every weekend and seem to be having a few more people here during the week than in the past two years. I did a count over the 4th. of July weekend we had 85 RV camper units and 7 tents. The RV park is being discovered by more and more people every year. Nearly all of them comment on what a peaceful undiscovered gem it is and nearly everyone of them return. We are also listed in several discount camping books and get such great comments from those travelers also. The fishing has really been slow this year, but as you can see by the picture on the left it has been pretty good the last couple of days. Some of the seasonal campers have put up light displays this year. The picture shows one of the more elaborate ones done by one of the really energetic and talented ones. It is directly across from our motor home and you will find us most weekends sitting around their campfire.

Hazen Bay

We have been here at Hazen Bay for 6 weeks. It has been a busy time as it seems that this year the Army Corp. of Engineers has picked Hazen Bay as the place to harass, so Nancy has been spending a lot of time tyring to resolve those issues after their weekly inspections. It has been a cold summer here to date. Two weeks ago we finally broke 70 degrees and then a day later 80 and on tues. of this week 90 degree's and it is a cool 55 degree's as I write this at 9AM. The nights are still cool however. The pictures at the left was taken about 9 last evening. Our weekends have found most of our camping spots in use. This weekend July 4th. we are full to capacity. The fishing has been very slow until about 10 days ago, but now the fisher people seem to be doing pretty good. The lake is rising at a very fast pace. It has risen 10 feet since our arrival and they talk like it may rise another 8 ft. That means that the Hazen Bay may be about 1/2 full by the time it quits rising. It is already higher than we have ever seen it since we have been coming here. When you stop and think that this lake is 70 miles long and 3 or 4 miles wide in places that is a lot of water.

Hazen bay, ND

We arrived at Hazen Bay on May 19th. Unlike the last 2 years upon arrival the grass didn't need mowed and the trees were just budding. It seems like winter was having a hard time turning into spring and now spring just doesn't want to let go for summer. Yesterday was one of two nice warm days we have had so far. Today it is rainy with temps around the mid to lower 50's, however the wind isn't blowing. Memorial weekend was cold windy and wet with most of the campers staying inside. The fishing has been very slow with most anglers struggling to catch 2 or 3 fish a day.

Grant, NE

May 3rd. we left Branson MO. for Omaha NE. After spending ten days in the Omaha, NE area visiting relatives and taking care of some business there we drove west to my sister Gloria & Ron Patrick's and are currently parked in their driveway. We arrived here on Tues afternoon (May 13th.) and will be leaving on Sat. (May 17th.) around noon for our final two day drive to Hazen Bay, ND our final destination until after Labor Day. While here we have been busy visiting old friends, relatives and taking care of some of the farm business that our tenant isn't able to do for us.
Driving across NE the other day on I-80 I got to thinking about all of the people that say they hate to go across NE because there is nothing there and it is boring. Well I decided that I would much rather drive across NE than the vast desert and wastelands of Calif. Ariz. & New Mexico. I guess it is just a matter of where one grew up and what they perceive as nice scenery.

Kountry Klub Region 3 Rally

On Wed. morning we departed ABC RV Park and went across town to the KOA RV Park to attend the Newmar Kounrty Klub Region 3 Rally. It was real change of pace as we went from being constantly scheduled with activities to a much less busier schedule. Thur. evening was a buffet meal at the Rails restaurant next door to the RV Park and then we spent the evening playing pegs & jokers at the community center. Fri we enjoyed the lunch Cruise on the Branson Belle. We had a very delicious noon meal along with a great variety show. Unfortunately the winds kept us tied to the dock so we didn't get to cruise Table Rock Lake. Then Fri evening we attended The Pierce Arrow Show. This show is 5 men and 2 women that sing a variety of country music with a heavy emphasis on Gospel. The bass singer of this group is the worlds lowest bass singer according to the Guinness book of records. It also has several comedy acts done by one of the best comedians I have ever seen. The ten days spent in Branson have added many more people to our list of new friends, we also were able to spend 5 days with our good friends Paul & Mary from Kentucky. Aren't we so blessed and lucky?

Branson Day 5

Dick Clark's American Band Stand Theater was our afternoon and evening destination after having a free morning at the RV Park. The afternoon matinee was an enjoyable hour listening to Dave Sommerville the lead singer from original Diamonds. Their hits included "The Stroll" and "Silhouettes" and much much more. The second hour was the 3 remaining members of Bill Haley's Comets whose hits included "Rock Around the Clock," "Shake Rattle and Roll," and "See Ya Later Alligator". They included the original sax player 73 years old the original drummer 84 years old and the original bass player 74 years old. The drummer still plays a mean set of drums, he was featured on a drum solo that must have been 5 minutes long. Next was a tour of 57 Heaven. That is a collection of nearly 70 beautifully restored 1957 cars all owned by one person. After touring the museum we enjoyed the dinner theater featuring Bob Anderson's musical tribute to Frank Sinatra & Friends. He is a fantastic singer and it was a very enjoyable show. All in all it was a very nostalgic afternoon and evening.