Small House, Big Yard

I really wish I’d invented that phrase, but it’s the motto of many homeless wanderers like us. We’ve met a few of them now and they’re definitely a breed unto themselves. Most have been into it two or more years, some by choice and a couple I’ve met by necessity. An organization called Workamper keeps them in semi-regular employment and they’ve actually found it cheaper to live mobile than with a fixed address. Who knew?



Over the Big Mac and on our way!

The U.P. blew right by. We expected to spend another night in Michigan but by the time we decided to pull in, we were north of Green Bay, Wisconsin, near Sturgeon Bay I didn’t even get a second chance for a pastie for dinner. Good thing I insisted on them for lunch. Pasties just don’t taste the same out of the U.P. Liz found a likely campground that the GPS swore was only 19 miles away. It didn’t mention the 19 miles was across the bay. An hour later we finally pulled into a nice little private campground. Since we planned on only spending the night we didn’t even unhitch the truck. We’ve discovered it doesn’t pay to hit the road until 9 or so after the morning rush is past. It’s also a really good thing to be off the road by 5 or so.



Fueling, once again

The only stop we made in Wisconsin was a truly weird thing. The farm country we were passing through was indeed beautiful. Problem was, that’s all it was. No rest stops, no tourist attractions, almost no gas stations. Not even a small town along the road, just pretty farms. Near lunch time we finally saw a sign advertising a geologic marker. Geologic, not historical? Okay, can’t be far. It wasn’t all that far, just 4 or 5 miles, with a turn to the right or left every mile or so. Finally saw it. A tiny fenced-in area (no wasting of good land here, by golly) enclosing a sign commemorating the crossing of the 45^th parallel of latitude and the 90^th parallel of longitude, a quarter of the way around the earth fromGreenwich, England. Significant enough, open the cooler and beach chairs and have lunch, then off again.

Afternoon found us crossing into Minnesota. Rush hour was nearly upon us and there was no sense crossing through Minneapolis in thick traffic. Good old GPS found us a Walmart. I’m actually no fan of Walmart (They’re killing the Mom and Pop stores in small towns and nearly all their merchandise comes out of China, not to mention some odious employment policies.) but they’re known to welcome RV’s in their parking lots overnight. Oddly enough, this time it was the local Sam’s Club that was welcoming. As a camp site, parking lots are a little lacking in amenities but the price can’t be beat. Proximity to shopping is nice too. We even jumped on our bikes and looked the area over. I expect this will become a somewhat regular thing, since our 5^th wheel can go

for days without access to electricity, water or sewer.

Wednesday was just a short hop across Minneapolis to a delightful little KOA campground. KOA is a bit pricey but mostly pretty nice full service establishments. The 26 bucks we spent for a membership will probably pay for itself pretty quickly.  Minneapolis is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country. Strange when you consider they’d only be good for 4 or 5 months a year, but true. We threw the bikes into the back of the truck and headed downtown. Once there and unloaded we could possibly have ridden for days without retracing, As it was, we stuck to the paths along the Mississippi which had plenty of parks and a few museums. We couldn’t hit them all so chose the Mill City Museum. Really good choice. Minneapolis had a lot of things going for it from the mid-1800’s on but flour milling was probably the biggest due to harnessing the mighty (nearly 20 feet) waterfall, just right for overshot waterwheels. Kansas City took over the jobs later and the mills were all closed by 1965. The museum enclosed one of these old mills which had burned in 1991 leaving only the sturdy stone walls. Anyway, we had an entertaining afternoon and sweated off a few ounces besides.



Dam and hydro plant, Minneapolis



Spanish tourists in Minneapolis



I just like steam engines

Liz had been working on reservations in the Black Hills and working up a good case of frustration. The 4^th of July was fast approaching and Rushmore is a prime site. The Badlands looked like a better bet but the very nice lady on the information phone warned us that camping sites were first-come, first served and the prime site had only 21 hookups, electricity only but dump and water station close by. Objective; cross most of Minnesota and South Dakota before enough people got out of work and into the national park to fill it up, figure 2 P. M. Friday. Someday I’m going to have to recross this area and follow up on the provocative signs for the tourist traps we missed. One we didn’t miss was the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. We pulled into the Mitchell Walmart around dinnertime as part of a quickly growing community of freeloaders just looking for a little rest off the road, semi’s and motorhomes mostly. This time we unhitched and went looking for the Corn Palace. No problem, it would have been difficult to lose sight of the signs directing us there. The Corn Palace is, frankly, a bit corny. It’s been around on various sites since the 1880’s for the express purpose of drawing in tourists. It’s also a good size theater where many big name artists have performed and the perennial venue for the state basketball championship. The city puts a lot of work and civic pride into the palace and its murals. Definitely worth a couple of hours if only to check it off the list.

Hundreds of windmills on the plains.



Typical Minnesota farmland.
Always neat as a pin and prosperous looking.
Garrison Keillor country.



The Corm Palace. All murals are natural products and refreshed annually.

This time, we hitched up and headed out within an hour of waking. Racing across the plains (Over 60 mph on a 75 mph road, I’m still wary of the tiny tires on the trailer.) and into Mountain Time Zone. Made it with a couple hours to spare. Truth, two hours later the camp was full. And man, is it pretty! Okay, maybe that’s the wrong word. How about striking, amazing, hypnotic, fascinating. Aw heck, just look at the pictures, trot out your old National Geographics. This is unique in the country. I’ll probably be saying that a lot as we hit the national park system and every time I’ll mean it. Trees are pretty rare in this area so our little home is open to the sun. Good news, our air conditioning works just fine. The site we’re on has only electricity so every few days we’ll have to hit the dump site, just over a hundred yards away. Break camp, hook up, move a hundred yards or so, perform the needed services, refill water and go back to our site to set up all over again. Beats mowing the lawn.



Crossing the Missouri River.
Several dams, hundreds of miles of reservoir.

View from our back door.

Sunset from just outside our front door.

Yesterday we hit Wall Drugs, yet another well-established tourist trap fortuitously on the Badlands Loop, the 60 mile local scenic drive. Absolutely should be on the Bucket List. The whole thing began during the Depression with the canny owner offering free ice water on billboards outside town. The ice water is still free and coffee is a nickel. Unless you’re a veteran. Then coffee and a donut are free. I went back twice. The store has grown to a city block with several sub-stores. We found a couple of items in the camping area (a good sharpening stone and a wire rack toaster, suitable for campfires or gas burners) that had proved hard to find. I was fascinated by a large display of cap and ball revolvers for sale in the knife shop. The place abounds with exhibits and children’s play areas. The restaurant serves a really good hot beef sandwich. For the price, it had better be! Other than that we took the geology hike and hit the archeology site in the park. Fascinating stuff, presented by very personable, knowledgeable and presentable young rangers.

3 views at Wall Drug.
Not onlyis it the biggest store around,
for some things it's the onbly source in 100 miles!



Ranger Lydia at geology hike.

Typical view in national park

We’ve decided to spend the next week here. There is a lot more to see and even a rodeo and fireworks on the 4^th in the little town of Interior just a couple of miles down the road. We’ll be without Internet and the phone service really sucks but it looks like a great place to wait out the crowds over the holiday.

Sign in local gas station. If you're cow isn't pregnant, she's beef!