Dem Dry Bones

As we left Flaming Gorge, we dropped down into Utah where we caught US Hwy 40 at Vernal and took it east across the state line into Colorado.  We made a quick stop at Dinosaur National Monument to check out the new facility.  We had been there in 1989, I think it was, and I was interested in what they had done to it.  The bones still looked the same.

We camped at the Yampa River State Park.  Another nice park and another nearly empty park.  Running late in the season certainly has its advantages.

Past Steamboat Springs, we took State Hwy 14 toward Walden, Co.  Coming down on the east side of the mountains, we encountered a rancher and his cow hands moving his herd down from the upper pastures for the winter.

If you will notice, the yellow hoodie cowboy is a cowgirl.  Since we weren't going anywhere soon, I struck a conversation with her.  She is how I knew they were moving the herd to winter pastures.  She was also how I knew they had another herd about the same size a mile or two down the road.  Oh well, I always did enjoy staring at the rear ends of young heifers.

Once we got through the black stampede, we drove on through Fort Collins and to Jackson Lake for the night.

Ain't It Grand

Having completed our tour of Yellowstone, we headed out the south entrance of the park toward the Grand Tetons.  My puny photos can't possibly do the Tetons justice and more professional ones are available all over the place, so I'll just post a few to show we were there because we were...there, that is.

The Tetons were hidden in the clouds when we first got there but began to clear as we drew alongside.  We did not make any side road trips, but the view from afar was still breathtaking.

Continuing on south on US Hwy 89 through Jackson and on to Thayne, Wy. where we stopped for the night at a private campground.  It was just a plain campground, nothing fancy, but it slept good.

We had an interesting camper next to us.

This is a Mercedes Unimog (I believe that's what it is called).  The campers were a youngish couple and their little kid - looked to be about 2.  The guy was busy checking out his vehicle while the woman sat and entertained the kid on a blanket spread on the ground.  The kid kept escaping and mom would chase him down and then try to occupy him back on the blanket.  She was not very successful.  After all, the kid was 2.

The following morning I hauled out the water hose and squeegee and was washing the windshield when the next door neighbor came out.  I spoke with him and as it turned out, they were a German family and had brought their vehicle over by ship.  They had landed in Canada and had worked their way across Canada and had turned south through the U.S.  They, like us, had just finished Yellowstone.  However, we were about to head east toward home.  They were heading for Mexico!  What a trip.  That kid will be ready for school by the time they get back home.

We continued on south on Hwy 89.  It took a slight jog across the state line into Idaho then back into Wyoming and picked up US Hwy 30.  Taking Hwy 30 on toward Kemmerer, Wy., we came upon Fossil Butte National Monument...never heard of it, so we decided to look around.  It was an interesting side trip.  Fossil Butte is an area "where some of the world's best preserved fossils are found".  We toured the roads around the park then stopped at the visitors center.

Interesting, but I had forgotten to pack my geologists tools, so we headed on down to Manila, Ut. and the Flaming Gorge KOA for the night.  Flaming Gorge KOA is a nice RV resort, but we were there one day before it officially closed for the season, so it was pretty empty.  It was a relaxing stop.

Back On The Road

It was difficult to leave Ashton this morning.  We have had such a wonderful time and those babies are such a treat.  We love 'em all.  But, we have to get home sometime this month.  The postal service is holding our mail until the 28th.  After that, they'll start returning to sender.

We headed back up to Yellowstone through the west entrance.  When we came to Ashton, we just cut across the park and didn't do much sight seeing.  So, since we're here...  We entered the park and drove on down to Old Faithful.  Had a short wait, but watched her spout off at about 5:15 pm.  Actually, I almost missed the show, but here's proof we were there.

We had no reservations anywhere, so I checked with a Ranger at the info desk at Old Faithful Visitor Center.  He said about our only choice was Lewis Lake campground, which was great because we were heading that way (south) in the morning, anyway.

We arrived at the campground just at dusk and went looking for a site.  Actually, there were plenty open sites, but we needed a level one to make things easier.  We latched onto site B-14.  By then it was dark...deep forest dark...lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  Well, there were bears shi, uh, hiding in those woods, anyway.  Joyce fixed some dinner while I walked Ditto and shortly after that, we hit the sack.  No bears had accosted Ditto or me.  We had decided to tour the park again rather than head south for the Grand Tetons right away and it had been a long day, our first day back on the road.

We just about froze Monday night.  The furnace quit on us in the middle of the night and being a National Park, there was no electrical power available to run our electric heater.  When I got up, it was 32 degrees.  The furnace would not light and the cooktop wouldn't even stay lit.  Something was wrong with the gas, probably the regulator.  Joyce was really upset and I wasn't far behind.  If I couldn't get the gas to work, our vacation was over.  But, as the morning sun started warming things up, the cooktop lit and stayed on.  Eventually, the furnace did, too.  I guess there was moisture in the propane regulator that froze up and when thawed out, everything worked normally.  Maybe we can finish our vacation after all.

We visited Yellowstone in July of 2014.  It was not a pretty sight.  I think half of China was there along with Los Angeles and portions of the rest of the world.  The crowds and traffic made it totally "unfun", so we just scooted on out the other side.  This time, being the early part of October, the scene was totally different.  Oh, half the crowd was still Chinese (or, at least Oriental), but we could see actual gaps in the traffic flow.  Nowhere did we have to jockey for parking.  Heck, it was nearly empty!  Except for the occasional roadblock.

We visited Yellowstone in 1970, too.  I took a photo then of Joyce and the boys sitting on a bench in front of the Yellowstone Lower Falls (Dusty is in the photo, but not yet visible).  Joyce couldn't make the walk to the same spot this time, but I did.  While there, I got a fellow visitor to take my photo on that same bench...45 years later.  How cool is that?

A Rose By Any Other Name

We had planned on leaving today.  But, the Kerr siblings decided it was a perfect time to give Millie a surprize birthday party.  Actually, her birthday isn't until Wednesday, but what the heck?  We were here.

Joyce and I needed to do some stocking up for our continued trip, so we borrowed Kensey's little Kia sedan, a 5-speed stick shift.  I hadn't driven a stick in several years, but it came back quickly...except for the narrow footwell and my big fat Crocs.  I had a little trouble fitting both feet down there at the same time.

We went to St. Anthony for groceries, but the one and only grocery was closed, Sunday, you know.  So, we went on to Rexburg.  We found an Albertson's and both took a cart.  When we checked out, I remembered I was driving a small Kia.  I wasn't real sure we could get it all in.  But, we did and headed back.  While at the store, Joyce had picked up a single long-stem rose for Millie.  Now why didn't I think of that?

We got home and unloaded the car and Joyce had me present the rose to Millie.  I felt a little, uh, like I was stealing since it was Joyce that had bought the rose.

To manage the surprize party, we had to get Millie out of the house so the girls could decorate.  Sky, Millie, Joyce and I - oh, and baby Pennie went for a drive.  The "reason" was so Sky could show us where he worked.  He extended the trip by running up into the foothills where he had done his student teaching at an outdoor classroom camp.  The drive was amazing.  The rolling hills of farmland, horse ranches and hay fields in the most wide open land I've seen.  In the near distance, the open range land and pine forests.  Another great drive.

We came back home to a houseful of excited kids and sisters and surprised Millie.  We had ice cream and brownies and popped balloons between our bodies in a most interesting and maybe a little vulgar way.

Grandma Joyce did some babysitting during the melee'.

It was fun, but the evening was passing and Joyce and I were heading out in the morning.  Goodnight all.

Boondockin'

A nice day...no, a great day.  Skyler wanted to take us all up to Teardrop Lake to show us where they camp.  A picnic was in order.  Sky packed up some port steaks and a bunch of fixin's, plus Smores parts and pieces (marshmallows, Graham crackers, and Hershey bars).  We had to take two vehicles as Millie's Suburban is a big vehicle, but it couldn't handle ten passengers, especially since five of them required car seats.  So, Whitney took her Chevy sedan as well.

The drive was beautiful, climbing into the foothills of the Teton Range.  We drove up past Warm River campground and just kept going.  The road turned into one I was a little dubious Whitney's sedan should attempt, but she hung in there.  Eventually, we came to a beautiful lake.

Actually, Whitney had beaten us there because Skyler had taken us up to see their "secret" campsite, waaay back in the woods with the deer, elk, and bears.  Bears!  Funny story.  Sky had taken his sister Kensey along to camp there a few weeks ago.  He had done such a good job of describing the hazards of meeting with the local bears that Kensey was a bit more than concerned.  Sky volunteered to fire off a shot or two from his pistol to make sure the bears kept their distance.  I guess it worked.  Kensey is still with us.

Anyway, we caught up with Whitney at the lake.  The best picnic spot was across a little stream that was the overflow for the lake.  It didn't look like much sitting in Millie's Suburban, but we weren't sure about Whitney's Chevy.  But, Sky said he had a tow strap in the back and just charged on across the stream leaving Whitney to fend for herself.  She did and came rolling up behind Sky at the fire pit.  We all jumped out and started setting up chairs and dragging out picnic stuff.

It didn't take long for us to realize the light jackets we had worn weren't going to be sufficient.  Sky started building a fire, so we decided we might be okay.  But, our Jeremiah Johnson was a little slow at getting a decent fire going.

Most of us were beginning to shiver and hiding behind trees to block the wind.  That wind!  It would have been plenty warm enough without that wind.

The big decision came down fairly quickly.  It would be Smores only.  So, after several burned tongues, sticky fingers and marshmallow wads on shirt sleeves and blue jean knees, Sky poured water on the small fire he had started, we packed up and headed back.  On the way, we were blessed with a good view of a moose strolling in a roadside meadow.

After traveling across North Dakota, much of Montana and through Yellowstone, we finally saw a moose just a few miles from Ashton.  It was a fine finish to a fine day...except for that sharp wind.

Inbound

Addey was off to work early in her new long-sleeved shirt she had bought at the D. I. store and Skyler off for his 5th day on his new job.  Skyler’s oldest sister, Whitney and her three kids were coming up from Salt Lake City to stay for a week.  After a few fits and starts, Whitney called to let us know she would be in around 6 pm.  Joyce, Millie and I had a late breakfast and we did some laundry.  Then Skyler came home early.  Sky and I goofed off with Rosie in the TV room and before we knew it. Whitney rolled in around 7.  The noise level immediately went up several db.  Whitney has a five year old girl, Pepper and a four year old boy named Kade and a beautiful little 6 month old girl, Emree.  To say Kade keeps things stirred up is to put it mildly.  He’s a handful.  His big sister is not big enough to keep him from doing his “deeds” on her.  Alone, he’s a sweet little boy.  Mix him in with Rosie and Pepper and his spots seem to change right before your eyes.  It’s going to be an interesting week.  We did some more catching up with Whitney and her kids (we had met with them in early September in New York when we visited her daddy, our oldest).

Home Alone

Skyler went off to work.  Addey took the day off  and the girls all went to the D. I. store (Desaret Industries, sort of a Goodwill type store) in Rexburg to see what bargains they could drum up.  I was left home alone.  It sure was quiet.  I managed to finish Skyler’s laptop (updated it to Windows 10) then went to the local visitors center and dumped the RV’s waste tanks.  Just as we arrived in Ashton on Tuesday, the DEF warning light had come on, so I stopped at an auto parts store and bought a 2.5 gal jugs of it.  When I got home, Skyler was there, home from work.  He helped me park on the leveling blocks again and I topped off the DEF and fresh water.  Empty waste tanks, full fresh water tanks and DEF topped off.  We were set for a few more days.  When the girls got home Skyler and Millie cooked up some delicious chicken fajitas and that about finished off the day.  Millie took Joyce to her salon to cut her hair and give her a pedicure.  Addey drove them and Rosie went along for the ride.  Skyler and I watch The Bourne Identity and babysat Pennie.  Dollie (the dog) helped by keeping watch on Pennie in the bedroom.  She would come in and jump on Sky’s lap for a few minutes, only to return to the bedroom to resume her baby watch.  Good little watchdog.

After the girls got back home, Grandma Joyce was put in the hospital.

Kickin' Back

A lazy day.  We were pretty road weary, so we just stayed home and enjoyed the young’uns and visited.  Addey didn’t have to work until 4 pm.  I started in on Skyler’s new laptop trying to solve a problem he had with it.  Skyler got home from his new job as a juvenile boys correctional center instructor.  I can just here the boys calling out, “Toilet break, Boss?”  Oh, not really, but Skyler’s new job should be interesting for him…not to mention he will be getting a welcome pay check after a few years of stuffing college down his craw.  Anyway, after Skyler got home, Addey went to work waiting tables at Jud’s, a local restaurant.  So, we all packed up and went to Jud’s for a burger…and to pester Addey.

On the way back home, Skyler took us to watch a seed potato storing operation going on just up the road from their home.  Trucks coming in from the field would back up to a big chunk of machinery and dump potatoes into it.  The machine would spread the spuds out on a wide conveyor in a single layer so workers further down the conveyor could sort and pick out the dirt, rocks and bad spuds.  The conveyor then continued on to a second conveyor that would pile the spuds in a huge pile in a huge Quonset hut style building.  The potatoes raised here in the Ashton area are mainly raised as seed potatoes.  They are sold to wholesale potato farms who cut them up and plant them to raise potatoes for the market.  Since these were seed potatoes that would not be planted until next spring, they are stored over the winter to be sold in the spring.

Ashton Arrival

Stayed at a KOA just outside Red Lodge, MT.  It was an okay campground, but typical KOA over pricing, especially for a one night stand with electricity and water only.   It did have a nice doggy playground where dogs can be let off their leash for a while.  Of course, Ditto had to stop and crap right in front of the office before we got to the dog park.  I took her anyway and let her loose to read all the newspapers.  She walked nearly the entire perimeter of the park before a guy came with his huge dog.  The guy said his dog was still a pup and would not bother me or Ditto as he turned it loose, too.  Then a woman came up and turned loose her collie.  At first Ditto seem to think, “Oh boy!”, then as she approached the other dogs and saw their size, she had a change of heart and wanted to go home.

We got a fairly early start (for us) the next morning and headed on through Red Lodge and down the Bear Tooth Highway, U.S. Hwy 212.  We had come this way last summer, but from the opposite direction.  It was just as the big annual Bear Tooth motorcycle crush was going on and the highway was jammed with motorcycles from  Cody, WY up the Chief Joseph Highway and on up the Bear Tooth Highway into Red Lodge.  Red Lodge was spilling over with them (check the July 2014 timeframe on this blog).  It was different this time, though.  Red Lodge was nearly deserted and those that were there were mostly prepping for winter.  We took Hwy 212 on into Yellowstone Park via the northeast entrance.  This is a good time to visit Yellowstone as the summer vacation crowd is gone yet it is still not cold.  But, we were in a bit of a hurry to see Skyler and his little family, so we just cut through the park and exited at the West Yellowstone gate.  There we picked up Hwy 20 which took us the 70 miles or so on to Ashton, ID.  We pulled into their drive about 6 pm.

We parked up by the dog pen like we did the summer of 2014.  Skyler had upgraded his outbuildings by adding electrical power out there.  He plugged in a long heavy extension cord and we were set.  Our parking spot was even right next to his outdoor water faucet, to boot.  As we were setting up, out came little Rosie.  I don’t remember what she was wearing, but I don’t think it included shoes.  What a cutie she is.  We all went in and settled down for a pizza dinner and lots of catching up.  Besides Skyler, Millie, Rosie and the new to us baby Pennie, Skyler’s little sister Addey was there to contribute to the “catching up”.

I'm trying to catch up this blog after the hub-bub of visiting Skyler and gang.  There was too much going on for me to keep up the blog.  I have many photos I'd like to share, but still haven't downloaded from our cameras.  So, you might want to go back to this date (and the following days) on occasion to see if photos have been posted.  I'll try to remember to tell you when I've caught up.

Lunar Eclipse

First, I promised a few photos once I got them downloaded from my camera...if we had good Internet service tonight.  Well, we do, so here they are.

A shot of the road from Stanley down to Teddy Roosevelt NP.  It was heavy construction nearly all the way which is why we wound up staying at TRNP North instead of making it on down the the south park.

Then a shot of oil rigs pumping away.  There must have been hundreds of these things.  Actually, the road leaving Stanley had more than the area right around Stanley.

Taken in the North Teddy Roosevelt Park, the Little Missouri River and a CCC pavilion overlooking it.

A quickly fading sunset for the park.

The moon...just to prove there was one a few days before the eclipse.

Weird rock formation.  Could it be there was a graffiti artist there some time ago?

Someone knocked over the egg basket.

Teddy Roosevelt NP Badlands.

Park buffalo bison.  Before our visit was over we were surrounded by them after dark.  Kind of eerie watching dark hulking forms moving slowly in the moonlight.

Thousands of fat little prairie dogs put there just to make Ditto go crazy.

Another weird rock formation that caught Joyce's eye.

Today was a short travel day.  We drove maybe three hours.  Life is hard when retired.  We left Teddy Roosevelt NP South this morning just before noon.  As we headed out, we stopped to take on a load of fresh water and just beyond the watering hole was a herd of bison hanging out on and around the road.  A couple of campers on bicycles had stopped and eventually turned around.  The woman had noticed a couple of bison calves in the bunch and thought it might not be a good idea to get too close.  Joyce and I speculated the bison have been so close to so many humans in the park that a couple of cyclists would probably not be noticed.  But, better safe than sorry.

We have to eventually nose our way through the crowd to get out of the campground.  Then we headed for Medora, the little town just outside the park on I-94.  We had taken a quick look around when we had arrived yesterday, so we just drove on through the outskirts, stopping briefly at the site of a historical beef packing plant.  Oh joy.

We jumped on the Interstate and headed for Miles City where I had planned to stop for the night.  It was a short hop, but I wanted to get settled in early so I could get set up to photo the lunar eclipse this evening.

We nabbed a campsite at a clean little park called Big Sky RV Park.  After all, here we were in big sky country, so why not?  Of course, the fact that is was about the only thing around had something to do with it, too.

We got settled in and I took a nap.  No hurry, as it was early.  We ate supper and I watched a little TV (they have cable hookups here).  Watched the Pope leave...and watched the Pope leave...and watched the Pope leave.

I got a little nervous when I saw dark clouds beginning to drift in about dusk.  The eclipse was to start at 8:11 pm Mountain time.  Things were looking critical about 7 pm, but the clouds were moving quickly so maybe...

Maybe didn't happen.  I finally got my photo just as it began to sprinkle.

Regardless of the eclipse disappointment, if you have never visited Teddy Roosevelt National Park, I recommend it be added to your bucket list.  Joyce and I liked it about as much as The Grand Canyon.  It was nowhere near as crowded and the sights were beautiful, the critters great.  Of course, visiting in late September made a big difference in the visitor population, no doubt.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Woke up this morning to the sun sneaking through the gaps around the edges of the window blinds.  Pow!  Good morning (smiley face goes here).  It's like a puppy trying to wake you up in the morning by playing licky face.

We're still in the Teddy Roosevelt National Park (southern area).  It has a 20 miles or so loop road around the park which we took yesterday...twice, once one way then once the other way.  Things often look different when viewed from a different perspective.  This is a beautiful park, but the wildlife is the big attention getter.  I've never seen so many buffalo (okay, okay, bison) roaming free as I have seen here.  There may be more at Custer State Park in South Dakota, but I been there several times and haven't seen this many before.  Then there are the white tail and mule deer and, holy cow!, the biggest prairie dog town I've seen and with the biggest fattest prairie dogs.  They look more like groundhogs they are so fat.  Guess they're about ready for winter.

On our second go round, it was dark by the time we got back.  So, it was dusk for a portion of the trip and the critters were out in force.  We even saw a herd of feral horses that thrive here.  It was getting pretty dark by now and as we were putting along about 20 mph, we picked out a dark form in the middle of the road.  As is came into view in the headlights, we could see it was a big old (I mean old) buffalo bull strolling right in the middle of our lane.  When I got too close, he grudgingly yielded the road and headed for the shoulder.  It was then we noted he was limping.  His right rear leg was in some kind of trouble.  Joyce made a comment about him gripping about having to leave the smooth road and walk in the rough roadside...with him bum leg.

As we approached the end of the loop the speed limit went from 25 mph to 35 mph, so I picked it up a bit.  Mistake.  Buffalo are very difficult to see in the dark and before I knew it, I was in the middle of a herd of 'em.  No, I didn't hit any, but they did surprize us.

Joyce and I both have a boat load of photos that I haven't yet downloaded from the cameras.  I'll try to do that and maybe make a special post of park photos IF we have decent Internet service next stop.

Boom Town

Interesting day today.  After seeing the monster coal drag lines and Mr. Peabody's coal trains hauling coal to wherever, we left the coal mining country and headed up to Minot and on to Stanley, ND.  This is the location of the Bakken shale oil fields.  A Cedarcreek friend has a friend who worked up here for a few years and the stories he carried back piqued our curiosity.  But, first, on the way there, we drove passed a large wind turbine farm with scores of huge wind turbines churning out electrical power.  A day or so ago, we passed a large group of buildings with their roofs covered with solar panels.  Last night we camped near a hydro-electric power dam.  And, now we were heading into the oil boom town of Stanley.  The range of different kinds of power sources in such a relatively small geographical area was impressive.

Actually, Stanley did not appear too much the wear for being the center of a boom.  I saw no saloons with girls dancing on the balconies, no bath houses offering a clean shave and a bath.  There was no shootouts in the street (at least while we were there).  Instead, we found a city park with some kids celebrating a birthday with a couple of little furry pups running around loose.  So, we stopped there for lunch and a rest.

We continued our tour of Stanley and as we became more sensitive to the sights that implied "boom" we began to see a larger affect on the community than first realized.  Especially, since the boom is on its way to bust now.  There were several multiple apartment dwellings under construction and several obviously on hold as the economy slows.  There were other things that showed, as well, that a boom had occurred, like five sets of siding rails, an over abundance of building material retailers, a seeming lack of churches in the numbers one typically encounters in a community this size.

Then there was the fringes of town.  It was here that the oil industry was still at work.  There were many oil pumps tilting slowly up and down with several large collecting tanks nearby.  Big pumps new pumps, not little old rusty ones like we commonly see in Oklahoma, for example.  Then there were the huge water trucks parked all around that carried water to the fields for fracking of the shale.  And, maybe that's the sign the boom is slowing.  The pumps were pumping and trucks were parked which meant the shale had already been fracked and the major employment processes were slowing down.  All that seemed to be left was the sparkling new pumps merrily humping away unattended.  Oh well, easy come easy go.

We headed on back down to Lake Sakakawea for the night.  We're now camped at a large but empty COE campground on the upper end of the lake.  Most campsites are out in the open, as is the one we're in, but this time of the year the sun is welcome as temps are running a bit cooler than summer time.  And, out in the open is good for satellite TV reception, too.  So, I'm listening to the incessant news coverage of the Pope's visit.

Tomorrow we head for Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

The Hurrieder I Go, The Behinder I Get

Yeh, well, so I'm behind with my blog.  What's new?

Okay, let's see, we landed in a little public park called Josie Creek Park near Tony, WI.  If you don't know where Tony is, it's just up the road from Ladysmith on US Hwy 8.  Got it?

We arrived just about dark.  It was a bone fide fish camp with about 12 RV sites and maybe that many more tent sites.  You cross Josie Creek on a little one-lane steel bridge to get into the park.  A lane looped around down toward the boat ramp (that's a "must" for a fish camp, ya know) and circled back up to the bridge.  It was a full campground...except for the last one on the loop.  So, we nabbed the last one on the loop - J12, it was.  But, as I stopped in the lane and prepared to back into the spot, a woman and grown teenager came walking up alongside.  I rolled down the window and the woman said, "I can move if you want me to."  It turned out, she had the next site (J11, I guess) occupied with her car while she was visiting J10.  So, there were actually two open sites.  But, I liked J12 so I told her not to worry and we got situated in J12.  Then bang!, it was dark.  Ditto and I took a walk around the loop where other campers had roaring campfires going.  Some were busy drinking beer and telling about the fish that got away that day while others just stared at the flames.  I heard a guitar in one camp, but never saw the guitarist.

The next morning I took Ditto for a walk again while Joyce made breakfast.  In the daylight, I could see the trash dumpster across from us a ways.  There was a white 5 gallon plastic bucket sitting beside the dumpster.  It had written "Gus" on the side with black felt tip.  It was then I was certain it was a fish camp.  Someone couldn't spell "Guts" and where else would you have a bucket for guts...or even gus?

Working our way across Wisconsin, we made it to Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota.  It was my intention to stay at a Passport America park there, but I noticed a military campground just a little further down the road at Ft. Ripley.  Ft Ripley is a Minnesota National Guard training camp.  The campground was called De Parque Woods (what else?) and was located right on the west bank of the Mississippi River.  Actually, the Mississippi was bigger here than I would have guessed seeing as how the headwaters is not too far from here.

Moving on, we hit the road the next morning (Monday morning, 9/21).  We traveled Minnesota back roads and finally crossed into North Dakota at Fargo.  We went a little further in and made camp a Eggert's Landing on Lake Ashtabula.  We had been here before.  Back in 2010 in Old Pumpkin.  It has been raining cats and dogs when we got there after dark.  We grabbed a spot and hunkered down while Old Pumpkin leaked like a sieve.  This time, we arrived in the day and found the park almost empty...and dry.  Well, it did rain some last night, but not like it did in 2010.

These photos are of the same site, five years apart.  The park this time, though, was deserted.  The camp host was pulling out as we checked in.

So, we were the only campers in the park.  Only us and a young twenty year old summer job park ranger who took a liking to Joyce the second night.  Oh, did I mention we stayed there two nights?  It was so peaceful and quiet and we had been hitting it hard since leaving New York.  So, we spent two nights there.

This catches me up to today...I think.  Anyway, we left Eggert's Landing this morning about 11 am.  I dumped the waste tanks and topped off the fresh water and we headed out.

The town nearest Eggert's Landing is Valley City.  We drove through it going in to the campground and had to drive back through it to get back to the Interstate.  We had noted an interesting railroad bridge the first time, so Joyce took a couple of shots of it this morning.

We fueled up in Valley City and headed west.  About halfway along the way we managed to get right in the middle of a five truck convoy loaded with big "effing" tanks.

I pulled in behind the third truck back as they were pulling out of a gas station.  They were slow getting started so I passed the first one in front of me, but then they all got up speed and we wound up stuck behind the second one.  Oh well, they were doing the speed limit and it was interesting watching the oncoming cars and trucks try to dodge the huge extra wide tanks when they met.

The trucks turned off just before we got to Underwood which is near the COE campground where we are tonight.  Then we noticed the large fields of coal beds on our right.  It turns out Underwood is the location of one of the largest strip coal mining operation in the US, Fallkirk Coal Company.  Google them for some interesting info.

So, here we are at Downstream COE campground on Sakakawea Lake in North Dakota.  We're about to bed down after a feed.  Tomorrow we're off to Minot and Stanley to take a look at the Bakken Shale oil "fields".  Being a "boom town" area, we don't want to stay there, just pass through and see if it's as bad as we've been led to believe.  We'll take a look then head back down to Parshall Bay on the upper end of Lake Sakakawea for tomorrow night.