If you read last month’s blog, you know we finished off the month visiting Rob and Bridget in Deer River, MN. I met them back in 2007ish when I started off-roading and met them through the jeep club. As with many, we drifted apart until he called me one day when I was the Commander at GateWay Community College. He started working for me as non-sworn safety officer until I retired and then they moved to MN to realize their dreams. They have a really nice piece of property and large visions of what it will be in the future. We had a wonderful visit and then we were off to our next stop.

The drive to the next stop, Detroit Lakes, MN was a rough day. We had winds averaging 12-22 mph with gusts up to 30 mph from the south. Of course our journey had us going west and south so we had crosswinds and headwinds the whole day. It was a bit of a white knuckle day as we got pushed around on the road. Fortunately it was a short day of only about 4 hours driving.

We noticed as we continued west through Minnesota that the dense forest started to give way to large open areas of agriculture where there were large corn fields and hay fields and another crop that we were unable to identify. The landscape was primarily rolling hills with no significant climbs or hills.

We spent a day walking through the downtown area of Detroit Lakes. This is a very cute downtown with 2-3 story buildings that rise above the 2 lane road with parking on either side of the road. The stores range from boutique clothing and keepsakes to coffee shops and a hardware store, a bicycle store and a couple bars. Yes, I spent some time in the bicycle shop. Another day saw us touring the countryside scouting fishing holes. We drove about 100+ miles checking out locations that had been identified for us however their current dry climate has left the rivers low on water and just not suitable for trout this time of year. There are a multitude of lakes in the area which seem to be great for bass fishing from a boat and water sports but not for fly fishing.

One morning Teri took off for a 6 mile walk that had her scouring through a swap meet at the half way point while I went to the local ski area for a mountain bike ride. There are 2 types of trails at the ski area, cross country trails with natural terrain (my style) and downhill/gravity which has numerous man made obstacles and features that are beyond my ability and willingness to test. It was fun to try out new types of trails however. We stopped in the downtown area of Rapid Falls for lunch. Another quaint little town with a wonderful looking downtown. In this case, the center turn lane of Main St had been turned into a parking lot as cars were parked angled on either side of the road and double parked side by side in the center turn lane for a 1/2 mile leaving 1 narrow lane to drive each direction. Those shops were very similar to the shops in Detroit Lakes downtown.

One morning we woke to rain but it stopped early so I headed to Maplelag Ski resort to ride. A couple of days earlier we had met the Johnson’s at the RV park. Tracy, Kayla and their daughter. They were there to race at Maplelag. I was a bit disappointed that I hadn’t known about the race previously. I didn’t feel comfortable racing without having had the opportunity to pre-ride the course. So, I made it a point to go ride the race course a couple of days after the race. The markers, directional tape and signs were still in place so it was easy to navigate the course. It was an amazing ride. I hit the course between rain storms so the trail was sticky dirt and the tree canopy blocked any rain. It was so much different than riding in AZ. I compared my riding time to the race results. I would have finished 44 of 49 overall and 4th of 5 riders in my age group even riding it blind. The other interesting fact of Maplelag is that it is a winter play area. They provide lodging in cabins and train cars that have been moved onto the property and converted to condos. The trails are open for cross country skiing and snowshoeing in the snowy winter. This is not a downhill ski area as there is no mountain nor a ski lift. They are in the process of rebuilding from a devastating fire which destroyed some of the main buildings about a year ago.

We learned of the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion going on in the area so we had to check it out. This was much like a county fair with a huge display of tractors and agricultural equipment (threshers). There must have been 100 tractors of all shapes and sizes in the parade through the grounds. The drivers of these tractors appeared to range from about 10 years old to 80ish. There was a huge steam powered locomotive that pulled several remodeled cattle cars around the perimeter of the event and we jumped on that just to see the entire event. The side of the cattle car had been cut off and there was football stadium style bench seating along the length of the car. Throughout the venue there were steam powered tools and equipment. The ingenuity employed to build the various machines was astounding. Log splitters, table saws, butter churns, you name it, you could probably find it and all were steam powered. We grabbed some lunch at one of the food vendors. Teri had a hot dog and potato salad. I had a hot dog, hamburger and baked beans. The distinction of the foods we ate will become apparent. We sat on picnic tables along with about 50+ other people all enjoying the activities and the sunshine. Soon it was time to leave and continue west. The sun was shining on the day we left. As we reviewed the stopover, we realized we had stayed a bit too long. There wasn’t enough to do to keep us occupied as we don’t do well just sitting still. Sarge liked to wander so we were constantly tracking him down but we got tired of the flies and bees. Next stop, South Dakota.

As we pulled into Sioux Falls, SD our first stop after parking the motorhome was Urgent Care. Teri had developed some intestinal pain that had progressed over several days along with some other symptoms we’d rather not talk about. Suffice it to say, she was in pain. After a couple of hours at Urgent Care, they strongly recommended we go to the Emergency Room. We did. Several hours later she was released with instructions to monitor various bodily functions. This was on Thursday. On Saturday we were back in the ER and they strongly advised that she be admitted for observation, tests and IV. She had become extremely dehydrated as she was unable to eat or drink and anything she did consume was evacuated. The hospital staff and specialists determined she had a type of e-coli and colitis but they weren’t sure what strain it was. What they knew was that this was releasing a toxin in her body and if they had tried to treat with antibiotics, the toxin would have entered her blood stream and severely impacted her kidneys, possibly shutting them down. A very nervous and scary time for us. While Teri was in the hospital, I stayed busy. Before you get all bent out of shape, I was acting on Teri’s instructions. I took care of Sarge, kept the coach cleaned up, fixed meals and rode my bike when I wasn’t at the hospital. I toured the city by bike riding the Sioux Falls Bike Path which encircles the city and I also tried out their singletrack park. It was very disappointing that we weren’t able to see the sights and engage in the activities we had planned even though Teri suggested I go see some of it. It just isn’t as fun without her. We’ll get back at another time to do the sightseeing. The nursing staff assigned to Teri were fantastic. Sierra was her RN who was also training Jade as a new RN. Madi was a tech who was attending college and studying to be an RN. The hospital was a University Health Hospital and also a teaching facility. As I said, her staff were amazing. Dr Nick Daane was the Gastroenterologist who was also very friendly and very informative. Unlike so many doctors we have known he introduced himself as Nick and he took the time to explain what was happening in terms we could understand. Teri was released on Monday, again with instructions to monitor various symptoms. On Tuesday we were back on the road.

As we rumbled west the trees of Sioux Falls gave way to flat grass and agricultural lands. We could see the foot high brown grass bending in the wind with not a tree in sight for hours. That’s not completely true as there were a few trees, but it appeared they had been planted and grown up around homes and ranch homes and appeared as oasis’. As we cruised along I-90 we saw a huge horse and the head of a bull in the distance. There were totally out of place in this flatland. We decided we had to see what it was. It was the Porter Sculpture Park. Gary Porter had worked with his dad in the blacksmith shop for many years and then he put his skills to another adventure. The horse and the bull are made of 30# plates welded together. The horse weighs 25 tons. I don’t remember all that he had to go through to get the horse moved to its current location. Suffice it to say he had to use a huge crane and an oversized truck to haul it to it’s current location. He has built a walking path through all his sculptures and has placed signs with poems to describe the sculpture. As my hip was particularly bothersome this day, he offered us the use of a golf cart to tour the property. That was a wonderful hour marveling at his skilled work. We arrived in Wall, SD ready to take on the Badlands.

Wall Drug is advertised for hours on billboards prior to arriving in Wall, SD. Folks had told us it was a must do. It was less than we expected. It is a tourist haven, again all souvenirs and that just isn’t our style. The main street is cute but loaded with cars during the day. Our on-board computer directed us down Main St to get to the RV park. That was a huge mistake. There was about 1 ft of clearance on each side of the motorhome from the cars that were diagonally parked on the street as we inched our way through and the people walking on the wood sidewalks gaped at us. We noticed that most of the shops are food or tourist items. Wall Drug has almost anything you would need from clothes to trinkets, jewelry, and shoes but it appeared to us that it caters to the tourist. We took a day to drive through the Badlands NP. We started on the paved Badlands Loop Rd and ended up on the Sage Creek Rim Rd which is gravel. We were so glad we had selected a Jeep to be our towed vehicle for our travels. Along the way we sighted numerous bison on the plains within the park. Then we stopped at the Prairie Dog Town. Prairie Dogs galore. They were standing up near their holes ready to dive in, others were playing tag and just running around. We finished off the day by walking through the downtown area of Wall which is the time we experienced Wall Drug. Later that afternoon I headed out for a bicycle ride on the gravel bike. I retraced our driving route but going in the opposite direction. The wind had kicked up and I was headed into the wind for the 1st 1/2 of the ride. The gravel road had so much washboard that at times I thought the handlebars were going to shake out of my hands or the bike was going to rattle apart. As I rode past Prairie Dog Town I kept hearing a whistle that sounded like birds chirping. I kept my eyes on the sky as I looked for the birds. There weren’t any. Then I realized it was the prairie dogs announcing my arrival. As I approached the entry/exit ranger station I saw a line of cars stopped at the exit. There was a bison positioned on the right side of the road, near the road. At first it appeared to be a statue, but then I saw its head bob. I stopped about 100 ft away then started looking to see where I was going to shelter if it decided to charge. There was nowhere for me to go. It was all open. I saw it moving forward and back while it’s legs remained still. I couldn’t figure out what it was doing. Then I saw the short poles standing vertically about 3 ft high nearby. I realized it was rubbing it’s belly and side against the pole. Finally it moved away from me and the cars moving down the road and stopped in an open clearing on the other side of the Ranger stations a bit further off the road. Finally some of the cars started to drive past and it showed no interest in them. As a car came alongside me, I asked the driver if I could ride alongside for a short time. He looked at me as if I was crazy. I asked if he had seen the bison and he said “No. Oh my gawd”. His wife quickly pulled her camera out. I used the car as a shield as we moved past this little fella then I started pedaling to get clear. What a rush that was. As I rode, I looked to my left and saw about 20 bison just hanging out on the prairie. There was no fencing to keep them from the road. I’m just glad they didn’t have any interest in me. I finished the 27 mile loop and found the largest wood carved sculpture I’ve ever seen in downtown Wall. The Badlands are an interesting and amazing sight. I find it hard to describe. The land has been carved by wind and rain creating deep canyons across the plains is the only way I can describe it. It is a must see if you are in the area.

Since Wall turned out be less than we had expected we packed up 2 days early and moved on to Rapid City, SD. Teri is slowly recovering but she is weak and constantly cold and still struggling to eat. We’re concerned about the outcome. She can’t hike or walk for long and becomes fatigued very quickly. We did make it to Mt Rushmore and Custer SP. Mt Rushmore was truly an amazing sight. Reading about the design, architecture and eventually the work involved to create this piece of art is astounding. We skipped the Crazy Horse monument and worked our way into Custer State Park. The road from Mt Rushmore into Custer SP is one of the most narrow, twisting roads with amazing views as we have ever driven. Don’t take your RV. The wood bridges are low and the tunnels that are cut through the rock are only 9 ft tall and 9 ft wide and only handle one vehicle at a time. At one of the tunnels some folks decided to walk through the tunnel toward us. I had to come to a complete stop to ensure I didn’t hit one of them the tunnel was so narrow. Throughout the park there are historical signs to provide the history of the building of the road. If you know me, you know what I had to do before we left the Rapid City area. I headed to the Hanson-Larsen Memorial Park for a mtb ride. The trails climb to the top of the hill that overlooks the entire city. On my way down, I rolled into a bike park area with jumps and berms. There were a group of people riding and I met Zack and Steven who were riding. Zack is local and has participated in many trail work days to maintain the trails and the bike park. Steven is military assigned to the base in the area with his family. We all had a great meeting before it was time for me to mosey home.

Spearfish, SD was next on the agenda and Chris’ Camp and RV Park is one of my favorite RV parks since we hit the road last year. It is family owned by Bryce and Lanna Christensen. Lanna explained that Bryce’s ancestors had immigrated to the US and homesteaded on the property in the late 1800’s. They had brought tree seedlings with them and planted an orchard, hence the property (I don’t know how big) is terraced on the sloping hill. They provided fruit for the gold miners who were working the mines up through Spearfish Canyon. Bryce’s grandfather had decided to build a bath house with showers and toilets to support the miners and eventually visitors. The building still stands today. It then developed into the park that it is today. One of the original trees is still standing behind the office as well. We had several packages mailed to the park prior to our arrival (with Lanna’s permission) to stock up on things we couldn’t get locally. By this time we had traveled 8,000 miles and it was time for an oil change on the motorhome. We contacted Carter, the owner of Black Hills Mobile Mechanic who came out to the park to do a preventative maintenance oil and filter service. We have had some amazing service from mobile repair businesses since we’ve been on the road. Lanna and Bryce are so friendly and accommodating and the camping spots have nice tree canopies that make this park so inviting.

We arrived on Sunday and again our first stop after parking was at Urgent Care as Teri still wasn’t feeling well. They said it would take a couple of weeks for her to start feeling normal and they didn’t find anything wrong with the tests. Monday was a workout day and grocery day. Tuesday we spent the morning fishing but just couldn’t find a good spot and we struck out, again. We did take a drive into Sturgis and walked through the downtown. Biker gear is the name of the game along with bars and restaurants. It’s a cute downtown but again, not up our alley. I can only imagine what this town looks like during the Sturgis Rally or any other bike event. I got out for a long mountain bike ride on the Big Hill trails and we discussed our options. Our original plan was to continue west into Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon before returning to AZ. Due to Teri’s illness, we made the disappointing decision to cut the rest of our travels and head back to AZ a month earlier than planned. It was important for Teri to get some consistent care and be sure that there aren’t any other issues going on. I think I forgot to mention that the specialist doctor from Sioux Falls had followed up with Teri. He said most likely her illness was food poisoning and most likely from something such as mayonnaise being left out or something of that sort. We concluded that most likely it was the potato salad she had at the festival as her symptoms started soon after that and generally we eat the same food. AZ Dept of Health Svcs had contacted Teri as they had initially thought she contracted the symptoms in AZ. When they learned it had been in MN, they were in touch with MN DHS. We have learned that there have been multiple reports of people getting sick after attending the same festival and it is being investigated by MN DHS.

As we ambled south through Nebraska we noticed all the rolling hills of grass, cows, farms and not a single tree for miles. We stopped for the night at Walmart in Chadron, NE. During the night we endured a severe thunderstorm with lightning lighting up the interior of the coach and thunder that rocked us. The wind was howling and I could hear noises banging on the sides of the motorhome, at least that’s what I thought it was. At one point I was dreaming that the wind had blown the metal steps up against the side of the door, which is impossible, then I realized that Teri was up and had closed a door. It’s amazing what your mind can do. We woke to clear skies and a slight wind and wet roads. The drive to Sterling, CO was without mishap. Except for a detour around a small town. I didn’t even see the name of the town. The Sheriff’s Dept had closed US 385 and detoured all traffic onto a dirt road around the town. As we drove past, we saw that there was a parade rolling down Main St (US 385). It looked like the entire town of several hundred people had turned out for the festival. After about 2 miles we were routed back onto the highway. US 385 is also known as the Gold Rush Byway and the Heartland Expressway. There are several Historic Markers along the route, but none of the pullouts were large enough for us to stop. I had to look it up on Google to find out why it’s called the Gold Rush Byway. At it’s peak, more than $200,000 worth of gold were transported by this road daily. The Heartland Expressway is easy to understand as it is rolling hills, large corn and hay fields, some tobacco fields and lots of ranching with cows and horses. It has it’s own beauty, much like the desert. It seems the wind blows all the time. Another night spent in the Walmart parking lot was quiet and uneventful. We don’t do a lot of parking lot boondocking, but it works at times. We make sure to patronize the store before we move on.

We stopped in La Junta (The Junction), CO for a couple of days. We were too early for the Tarantula Festival but we got in a workout and a trip to Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site. Our America The Beautiful pass saved us the entry fee again. This fort was a major stopping point for folks traveling the Santa Fe Trail from Missouri to Santa Fe. The fort was built of adobe and was run by the Bent brothers in 1833 and was built along the banks of the Arkansas River. The fort was abandoned and destroyed in 1849. This fort is call the Old Fort because one of the Bent brothers had built a new fort several miles east after this one was abandoned. The fort was reconstructed in 1976 based on drawings and measurements made back in the 1800’s taken by a Cavalry officer. As we rambled out of La Junta moving south, we found ourselves driving on the Historic Santa Fe Trail. As we drove, I looked out over the landscape. It was flat with brown grass for hundreds of miles. Off in the west I could see a very faint shadow of the mountains off toward Denver (I think it was Denver). The shadow had to be several hundred miles away. I could not fathom the thought of traveling across those plains in a wagon or on horseback. The 8 hours of driving was boring enough and I could only try to imagine what it was like back in the days of the settlers who would travel for days, weeks and months.

Our next stop was Las Cruces, NM. It felt like deja vu as this was one of our first stops when we started our summer trip. We had a pull-in site with the nose of the motorhome looking out over the Las Cruces valley. The lights at night and the morning sunrise were mesmerizing. We caught up on our groceries, I took a ride to the Dona Ana Trailhead and we spent an afternoon in Old Mesilla. We are definitely not acclimated to the 95+ degree heat of the desert. The morning I went out for my bike ride, I pulled into the trailhead parking lot as 1 of the 3 other cars parked there. A car pulled in next to me with a fat bike mounted to the roof. As the driver and I each exited our cars, we said hi and made small talk. He introduced himself as Rick Wellborn and offered to guide me around. It turned out to be a great hour ride. Thanks Rick. After an hour, he had to head to work but I went out for another hour on a different loop. The trails were crushed granite or crushed volcanic rock. The area reminded me of Lake Havasu as the trails dropped in and out of arroyos and Estrella Mtn Park as the longish steep climbs loomed ahead along with some rock step ups. The trails are high enough that you can look out over the Las Cruces valley in the daylight. Old Mesilla was a fun stop, again. Old Mesilla is a small Mexican historical town that was once a stop on the Butterfield Stage route. There were more shops open this time as it was Friday and not during the middle of the week as we had on our previous stop. We enjoyed some nice small talk with the shop owners as we perused their wares. The stores cater to tourists but have quality items, jewelry, hand made clothing and homemade fudge. We had an amazingly satisfying lunch at La Posta. The portions are huge and delicious.

After 2 days of activities and sightseeing we were back on the road and rambled in to our winter home in Apache Junction. If you can recall, I had seen Dr Adele Dixon, chiropractor, in Iowa back in June for my hip. The discomfort with my hip has not improved in spite of my workouts and the corrective exercises Kevin has prescribed. It has not severely increased however I have found that I cannot hike without severe discomfort or walk for long periods of time. I have no problem riding my bikes. I have been in touch with my Dr and will be evaluating the options.

Again, we thank you for traveling with us. We hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have. As we settle in for the winter, we are busy planning next years adventures. Stay tuned, as we won’t be sitting idle in AZ.

Observations and revelations. We found we really enjoy living in the trees close to mountain biking trails and fly fishing (trout) streams. We severely dislike big city living. The small town RV parks/campgrounds were our favorite type of glamping, away from the hustle and bustle of the city and the people are genuinely friendly, but close enough to a city to be able to get the groceries we need. The travel this year wasn’t the greatest for my training as much of our time was spent in flat areas with little elevation for climbing. We will use all this information to guide us on the next adventure.

Until next month.

Stay Safe.