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3= Front of Moss Mansion, Billings, MT. 4= Solarium & garden of Moss Mansion.

Day 129: Saturday, August 10 We drove from Bozeman, Montana to Billings, MT today. The route was ordinary in that we followed the interstatethe entire trip. Sally had been repeatedly calling one campground that we thought was the least expensive of our other choices. Though she leftseveral messages over two days that were never returned, we chose to stop there just in case. We found that the managers had left the propertywith notes on the door to notpick a site, even though there were about 7 sites open. Now what?

After lunch we chose to camp at Billings Village RV Park a.k.a. Trailer Village RV Park located at 325 S. Billings Blvd, Billings, MT 59101. This isanother very nice park with good management and terrific neighbors (thats the most important part!).

(A little sideline) The first incident is an example of what occurs when some businesses or entities do not keep their telephone messages up-to-date. In the first case, the business could have changed their message to, We will not be able to take visitors this coming weekend. A secondexample is churches. We call every weekend (starting Thursday or Friday to ensure theres someone in the office) to determine that churchs timeschedule on Sundays. In about 40% of the cases the times on the telephone announcement does notmatch the actual times of summer servicesthey change times in the summer but never change their recording. Visitors arrive late or an hour or more early when they could have gone toanother church to meet their driving & travel schedule. The purpose of mentioning this is for groups, churches, businesses, etc. to realize theimportance of the message they accurately communicate (or dont) to their consumers or visitors. It takes less than a minute to record an accuratemessage. Enough said.

Day 130: Sunday, August 11 This morning we drove to Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Billings. Not more than a mile from our campsite wejoined the adult class, which had a husband-wife team talk about their involvement inCPT: Christian Peacemaker Teams. Their role (volunteers) is to go along with people in

foreign countries where the citizens worry about being harmed or even killed due toviolence in the area. That violence can be from guerilla-army groups or governmentforces or both in some countries. In this case this couple was helping people inColumbia. This was an hour that enlightened us about the problems in certain countriesthat we dont fully understand. Our prayers are now with these folks who are riskingtheir safety to help others to work toward peaceful solutions to their problems.Following their presentation we joined the congregation at Bethlehem Lutheran in theirSunday worship. The childrens sermon was a puppet play that was verygood!

After that we had lunch (Pizza Ranch) and then took a tour of the Moss Mansionin Billings. This turn-of-the-century home was owned by one of the wealthiestcitizens of Billings. We learned of their family and wealth as we toured this old,stately home, which had a telephone even before New York City because of theinfluence of Mr. Moss. This home had the first dial-phone in Montana also.

Day 131: Monday, August 12 Chris made a special breakfast for his bride crumbled cheese biscuits mixed with egg &milk and fried on our electric griddle. Yum, yum! From there we hopped in our car and drove to MetraPark in Billings, MTfor the MontanaFair, which is different than the state fair. Arriving we expected to pay the senior price ($8) but discoveredMonday was Senior Day so we were allowed free entrance. We felt a little herded like cattle as we walked amidst theother oldies but goodies as we all headed toward a huge arena-type room. The hallway leading to this huge room had anentry where personnel from Humana Health Care were taking tickets. We told the man at one of the ticket-receiving tablesthat we didnt have a ticket, so he gave each of us one. We found out that Humana was giving us a free luncheon! Wesat with some other nice seniors and gabbed until they announced the lunch line procedure. Turns out we were at thered table that got to pick their food first. I estimate there were about 500 or more folks dining. Lunch was your choice ofbratwurst or hamburger, roll, cole slaw, BBQ beans, bag of chips, and bottled water. After lunch we were encouraged to go

outside to enjoy the country-western band and

3= Front of Moss Mansion, Billings, MT. 4= Solarium & garden of Moss Mansion.

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1= Children watch puppet sermon 2= Worship at Bethlehem Lutheran

5= Table setting, part of 4-H students project displayed at MontanaFair

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A Travel Newsletter Devils Tower was our nations first National Monument Issue #10: August 10-23, 2013

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get some cups of free ice cream, which we did. The rest of the day we enjoyedlooking at 4-H booths, contests, animal judging, musical groups, and many of thethings you see at state fairs. Arriving at 11AM we stayed until 6PM and left happy buttired from all the walking and things to see & do. Back at camp we talked with severalof our RV neighbors, took showers, and read until bedtime. What an exhausting butfun, fun day. Thanks, Billings, Montana, for making us feel so welcome!

Day 132: Tuesday, August 13 Having finished our visit to Billings, MT wedrove on I-90 east toward Devils Tower, WY. With about an hour spent atlunch in Sheridan, WY our total driving time was about 7 hours a longerstretch than desired. We encountered heavy rain several times, some of thelittle rain weve experienced during our trip. The rain ceased as we drovenorth on I-90 from Moorcroft, WY onto Route 14 to Devils Tower, and thistwo-lane road was a much nicer than we expected. As the sun started to setChris got some photos of this rock that was our nations first nationalmonument. We also found that our campground is within sight of DevilsTower, so we can view it right outside our camper windows. Cooool!

Day 133: Wednesday, August 14 I made Sally a special breakfast this morning, one of her favorites egg burrito (scrambled egg w/ salami &cheese in a warm, tomato-basil, soft tortilla). That gave us the energy to tackle Devils Tower National Monument. We originally expected to walk

around the big rock and maybe see if there was a visitors center to peruse. Arriving at 11AMwe found we had missed the 9AM ranger-led hike. Checking in the center we discovered a talkat 1PM on animals of the region. Instead, we hiked the short trail of about 1.8 miles around thebase of the Tower. The views changed at every turn, plus we saw two groups of climbers goingup the sides of Devils Tower. Tourists gathered and watched the climbers work their way up thealmost-vertical face. I took many photos with my telephoto lens. I didnt hear a single tourist saythey wanted to do a climb; most of them described the climbers as crazy, and I guess Idagree.

Back at the visitors center the 1PM ranger talk was well on its way but we preferred to eat ourpicnic lunch. From there we drove to a meadow and ridge known as a special spot fophotographers who want a different view of the Tower. We enjoyed walking through the thin,hip-high prairie grass and enjoyed this unique spot. Then we journeyed back to our car anddrove back to the visitors center to attend the 3PM ranger talk on the climbing of Devils Tower

The ranger, who had been a climber in her earlier years, gave interesting statistics about both

recent and historical climbs up the Tower. Her talk was very interesting. She passed aroundclimbing rope, photos, charts, posters, and climbing gear for everyone to see and handle. Thismade her talk come alive. Following the presentation we took another look at displays insidethe visitor center, then drove toward the parks exit but stopped along the roadside to takephotos of the parks prairie dog colony. Just outside the park gate we stopped for ice cream. Wethen drove less than a mile to our campground. It was almost 5PM whew, where had the daygone?

Here are some interesting facts we learned about the climbing of Devils Tower: Devils Tower is asacred location for several Native American tribes. For this reason there is some doubt thaIndians would have climbed the Tower, but theres no evidence that they didnt either. The firsrecorded climb was in 1893 by two men, Willard Ripley and Bill Rogers, who were both ranchers

A recession was in progress and they were trying to find a way to make some income, so theyconcocted a plan to hold a climb up the Tower and get an audience to watch. They sold food and

other things to make money. Both men had climbed the face earlier and installed a crude woodenladder to reach the top. This stunt was done on July 4th, 1893 with about 500 people present.Since that time there have been about 1,500 climbs to the summit. The oldest climber was 80years old; the youngest was oooow only 6 years old, and the youngsters climb was facilitatedby an expert, older climber, probably a relative like a father. Over the years there have beenabout 5,000 climbs by about 2,000-3,000 different climbers. (Note: If the same climber does 2climbs during the same time period in the park, its recorded as 2 climbs by 1 climber.) TheTowers summit is 867 feet above the Visitors Center with some 200 different routes having beenused to reach the top. Most climbers ascend the South & East faces and, on average, take 4-6hours to reach the top. The fastest time was 12 minutes for a person to free solo to the top.(Free solo means (free) to climb without climbing gear and (solo) climb by oneself.) There have been multipleinjuries to climbers and only 5 fatalities with one woman dying when she repelled down the face and ran out ofrope, falling to her death. Devils Tower was made even more prominent by its presence in the movie, CloseEncounters Of The Third Kind. If you travel this direction, we encourage you to stop & visit Devils Tower. You

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1,2 = Sally & I made bracelets by lacing yarn through soda can tabs. Chris thinks theywere lightweight because they were made with Light Beer tabs. 3= Stopped for photoat Wyoming-Montana border. 4= Devils Tower at sunset. The sight was made famousin the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind (mashed potatoes!).

5= Sally at Devils Tower National Monument. 6= We hikealong the path. 7= Sally shoots prairie dogs with herphone-camera, and then enjoys (8) raspberry-whitechocolate ice cream with raspberry-center chocolatecandies. Note candys shape like a miniature Tower.

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9= Arrows point to two climbers wholook like ants on face of DevilsTower. Top climber in photo #9 isseen close-up in photo #10.

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might even want to watch the movie to get a taste of this unique stone wonder. Devils Tower has campsites withinthe park but none of the campsites have electric power. These sites are $12 per night, or $6 pre night with aNational Park Senior Pass. Other commercial campsites run around $35 & higher with electric & water. We wentto bed with a beautiful view of the setting sun. Wow! 1= sunset near Devils Tower

Day 134: Thursday, August 15 We were up early like roosters this morning so wed be ready to join in theranger-led walk around the base of Devils Tower. Arising at 7AM we were packed with the camper ready-to-roll by8:05 and in the national park parking lot by 8:30AM. Yesterdays ranger was again our guide and took us on thesame trail as we walked ourselves yesterday, just in the opposite direction. She stopped several times along the1.8-mile loop and gave us in-depth info about the terrain, habitat, animals, plants, climbers, and other assorted topics. Much of it we had heard

yesterday but it was still fun to learn a few new things plus get to see this amazing rock formation one more time before leaving.We hit the road around 11:15AM heading east toward Sundance, WY and then south to Newcastle, South Dakota where we enjoyed pizza for lunch.From there we drove to the Legion Lake Resort campground, part ofCuster State Park (South Dakota). Weve been encouraged many times byfellow campers to visit this park, but this was our first opportunity. After setting up our trailer we drove south to Wind Cave National Park, south ofCuster St. Pk. We were able to get there in time to join the second last tour of the cave for the day. There are three cave tours but only one wasavailable at that time of day. The tour was 1.3 hours and got us down to about 270 feet below the surface. Our volunteer guide, a student from FSU:Florida State University, was an excellent speaker who did a great job leading our group of 40 cave-hikers.

Wind Cave was discovered in the late 1800s when air was seen coming out of a 15-inch hole in the ground. Wind Cave is quite unique in that it hascaves due to an underground, acidic water lake eating away the limestone, rather than an underground river dissolving the limestone away. This

action formed the unique honeycomb-looking features in the ceiling of the cave.Wind Cave is also the longest cave in the USA with over 125 miles of tunnels, plusa new tunnel was found just a few days ago. Another unique aspect of Wind Caveis that visitors ride an elevator up 250 to the surface at the end of the tour. We

rarely get this treatment after a cave walk.Heading back to camp we took the same road as far as a turn-off in Custer St. Pk.where we drove the Wildlife Trail. We actually saw more wildlife on the first road,but both had interesting sights. We saw deer, prong-horn sheep, bisons, coyote,wild turkey, and free-range donkeys that Sally hand-fed (someone gave her some

carrots). It was a long, active day. We were happy to hit-the-hay after our showers.

Day 135: Friday, August 16 We originally thought wed take two of the loop roads through Custer State Park (So.Dakota) and be done about2-3PM, but as always we found ourselves so involved in our travel enjoyment that we didnt arrive back at camp until about 5:30PM. We started our

day driving from Legion Lake campground north on Hwy 87, the Needles Hwy, anarrow, twisty, two-lane road through the park. This scenic drive has many pull-offsfrom which to look at the Black Hills, though they looked like mountains to us fromthe flatlands. A big tourist point in the park are the various tunnels through themountains. These are narrow and low, so many campers cant make it through them,plus the roads are so windy and dotted with sharp curves I dont know why anyonewith an RV would want to drive this route. And all the tunnels are single-lane, too. Wehiked a trail toward the Cathedral Spires but didnt hike the entire path. The tunnel at

Needles Eye was fun; people parked nearby and walked back to see the cars drivethrough the tunnel.

Picking up Route 87 north we took 244 east to Keystone, SD, arriving inearly afternoon. We found the Post Office had already closed, so we heldour mail until Monday and stopped at DQ for a treat. From Keystone wedrove the Iron Mountain Road (16A) southeast. At one lookout we saw theside of Mt. Rushmore with Washingtons head visible. Along this route wedrove through three more tunnels. Stopping at one we discovered that youcould look through the tunnel and see the faces on Mount Rushmore. Wow!

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2= Chris attempts a climb up Devils Tower. Chose to climb up 5and then decided not to attempt the other 862 ft. 3= Rangerexplains original entrance to cave a 15 hole in the ground.4= In the depths of Wind Cave National Park we explore thenatural beauty underground. There are over 120 MILES of inter-connected caves down here. We never knew this park existed.

5= We saw a herd of free-range donkeys in Custer State Park.After Sally fed them some carrots they confided in her andwhispered some confidential comments between fellow females.

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6= Proof of strong winds bent tree was snapped. 7= Mt. Rushmore can beseen in the distance through tunnel opening. 8= Sally stands in fissurebetween two large rocks. 9= View of Rushmore from another angle showsnewest carving yet to be finished on opposite mountain.

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Turning off 16A we took the Playhouse Rd. southwest to Rt. 87 south back to our campsite. Along the way we passed the Black Hills Playhouse, asummer live theatre venue. Wondering how we were going to spend the rest of our evening, Sally suggested we consider going to the playhousebut we had no idea of times, show or prices. She couldnt roust much info via our smartphones as not all websites responded from our rural locationBut Sally was victorious and made reservations. Within 3/4 of an hour we were back in the car and driving the 15-minute path back up to PlayhouseRoad. The play was a spoof adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Hounds of the Baskervilles. It was hilariously comic with slapstick andfunny lines throughout. And the most amazing part was that about 15 characters were played by the three actors who comprised the cast. We left thetheatre with our funny bones suitably tickled.

Day 136: Saturday, August 17 Chris made waffles this morning, a treat for Sally (and himself) especially as Chris always does the clean-up. Wewere very sad to leave Custer St Pk (see photos 1 & 2 left). It has many things to

do within and next to the park: hiking, boar rentals, cave tours, swimming, fishingand much more. One of the neatest things about the Legion Lake campground isnot its excellent beauty and location, but a person, not a place. Ranger RalphHarrison is a volunteer camp host who is totally dedicated to his responsibilityRalph comes by at least once or twice a day to see how youre doing and see if hecan help in any way. Chris personally thinks Ranger Ralph is the reason LegionLake is such a popular campground! Keep up the great work, Ralph.

We then hit the road and drove north to Rapid CIty, SD, about an hours drive up Route 16. We stopped long enough in Custer, SD to send out somepackages to fellow campers. Arriving south of Rapid City we set up our camper in the Teepee RV campground, which is directly adjacent to the FortHayes Old West Town and Dinner Show. (We had reservations for tonights show & dinner.) After set-up we drove to a Subway (lunch) to split a 6tuna sub as we expected a large meal tonight. Next a yard sale sign diverted us from our planned route and we bought some parts for Chris stashin the garage. (He couldnt resist the low price!)

Its so hard to know which local attraction to visit when you have no prior knowledge of its

reputation. Someone told Sally that Bear Country USA wasnt worth the visit, but she stilwanted to visit it. We had been to good bear encounter in Wyoming two years ago aftervisiting Yellowstone National Park, but we werent sure how good this attraction would be. Bothof them said you drove your car through open areas with the wild animals roaming free aroundyour vehicle. And, we hadenjoyed the one in Wyoming, so we got in the looooong line ofcars entering Bear Country USA. We were immediately pleased that the senior price wasabout half of the adult admission ($13 per senior). Driving in the 2-mile long loop road we sawmany animals we hadnt seen in the other attraction. And the bears? There were A LOTMORE

bears here roaming around; all of them were black bears. Also roaming in different areaswere reindeer, elk, mountain goats, bison, and even a few mountain lions but they wereinside fenced areas for everyones safety. (Though told to keep windows always closed,folks still opened their car windows to get a better photo.) Chris was especially amazed atthe mountain lions. He saw one climbing on a limb of a tree. It jumped from about 8-10feet off the ground and landed like it was no task at all. Whew! Think how easily a

mountain lion could jump down on unsuspecting game! After about 45 minutes we left theroad and entered a parking lot. We were almost ready to drive off thinking thiswas just the souvenir shop, but we chose to park. Glad we did. We discoveredan additional zoo-type portion of Bear Country USA with bear cubs, grizzlybears, weasels, badgers, porcupines, beavers, raccoons, and bunches ofother animals in open areas but behind rock walls with deep moats. We weredefinitely happy we visited Bear Country USA, south of Rapid CIty, SD.

Sally did some laundry and then we walked next door to the Fort Hayes Old West Town and Dinner Show. This attraction also has the buildingused as a set in the movie Dances With Wolves with Kevin Costner. Theres an old town near the music hall where visitors can roam and see whaold western buildings looked like. Patrons sit at long picnic tables and eat BBQ beef brisket (big portions) orbaked chicken beast, baked beansbiscuit, baked potato, butter, spice cake, and iced tea, lemonade or coffee. The music & entertainment was very good, we just wish it would havebeen longer than 50-60 minutes, it was so good. They even had a magician do some stuff involving kids from the audience. It was very entertainingWow, another good day out campin.

Day 137: Sunday, August 18 Well, senior citizens, heres another cost savings to note if youre in theRapid City area We mentioned that we enjoyed the Fort Hayes Old West Town and Dinner Show lastnight. This morning we took advantage of their 99 all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. There was anadditional charge for (optional) sausage, biscuits & gravy, coffee, milk, etc. but the prices were veryreasonable. We had intended to go to Rapid City for Sunday worship but saw a sign indicating Fort HayesOld West Own was having a gospel service / cowboy church so we thought wed praise the Lord in adifferent location and manner this morning. The service had Roy sing & play several old gospel songs withguitar & harmonica. In the final few minutes he invited some children from the audience to sing JesusLoves Me, and a 7-year-old and 3-year-old did a fantastic job, knowing every single word! see photo #7 >

Driving to Rapid City we spent a few hours touring The Journey Museum. Unsure of what to expect we were very impressed with what we saw. TheJourney Museum journeys through the geological formation of the earth and then centers on the Black Hills region (the museums location) andjourneys into the events of the region, especially the Native Americans and the settlers, gold miners, famous folks and their times. This museum

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3= Ram strolls down road. 4= Black bears line the road throughBear Country USA, south of Rapid City, SD. 5= Grizzly bear basks insun and his personal water pool, lazing back & enjoying the view ofhumans. 6= Mountain lion who jumped from tree limb 8-10 feet tothe ground like it was so easy. He can surprise game; hes so quiet!

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Scary AdventureWell, we had an "interesting" day! 'Bout caused me to have a heart attack!

We were hiking in the mountains here in South Dakota and saw a deeeeep hole. (Some of you know I'm deathly afraid of heights. Sally's notscared at all, but)

We were afraid to get too close to it because we couldn't see the bottom. There are old mines in this area and apparently not all of them areboarded up, so you can fall into them. (I'm amazed there'd be one so close to places where people are.) Well, Sally grabbed a rock and threw itin to hear how deep the hole was. We couldn't hear it hit bottom. "Whew that must be deeeeeep!" we said almost in unison. So we got togetherand got a rock so big it took two of us to throw it in. We didn't hear that one hit either.

Now that had me really worried as to how deep the hole was. Sally saw a ratty, old railroad tie lying behind some rocks, so, being themore adventurous of us two, she conned me into helping her throw the old rotten railroad tie into the hole. We heard it hit the sides of the hole butdidn't hear it hit the bottom. All of a sudden a screaming goat ran out from the woods directly toward Sally. I yelled at her because I thought itmight knock her in the hole. I grabbed her just in time and the GOAT fell in the hole. It scared us almost to death!

We had hardly recovered from the fright when an older man ran up from the woods and yelled, "Have you seen my goat?"

I said, "Yeah. It about ran into my wife and knocked her in that hole. That's where your goat ran to."

He said, "That can't be mygoat, I had him hitched to a railroad tie!" (shah-boom)

should be nominated for AAA GemSite status for the quality & diversity of thexhibits. < #1= dinosaur exhibit; #2= old town buildings After a stop folunch and some grocery shopping, we went back to our camper and plannedour travel destinations for the next week. Following that exercise we droveabout 40 miles back to Custer to enjoy an evening magic show at GrandMagic on the grounds of the Flintstones attraction complex (422 West MRushmore Rd., Custer, SD 57730, ph: 406-291-2004). Sally treated me tothis performance and, in her usual style, got us front row seats! The showwas very well done with good illusions. Even I was surprised by some of the

tricks. (Some folks may not know that I am an amateur illusionist.) This is a good show for family-style entertainment. We really enjoyed it!

Day 138: Monday, August 19 We both agreed that our time in the Custer State Park / Rapid City, SD area was a LOT of fun, so we feldisappointed that we had to leave today. There are many neat things to seein South Dakota!Our drive from Rapid City eastward was interrupted only bya stop at the Club for Boys Thrift Store located directly opposite The JourneMuseum. Prices were good with a very nice selection, plus the managementioned they are moving to an even bigger location. And there are seniodiscounts every day. Back on the road we drove a scenic highway, Route 44east from Rapid City toward the South Dakota Badlands, but we couldnfigure out why it was designated scenic; this drive was not particularlyscenic. We did find the Badlands loop road (Rt.240) to be VERY scenic

despite the fact that we had driven it 7-8 years ago. Sally was especially excited about the beauty of thiregion: rock formations, rock coloration, the vastness of its expanse. There are many viewpoints fromwhich to watch and photograph this immense beauty (and I think we stopped at most of them!).

Our drive from the Badlands via Rt.240 intersected with the Interstate-90 at Wall, SD. Those unfamiliawith the town of Wall will not understand the significance of this famous location. Every area of the USAhas some venue that is advertised via billboards that seem to repeat themselves countless times alongthe roadsides. Those of us from the South may remember the South-of-the-Border billboards that weremore frequent than McDonalds signage. Well, Wall Drugs, in Wall, South Dakota, is such a location. Thistore (?) puts Walmart to shame. Covering an entire city block and more, Walls is like walking into an oldtime five & dime store, except there isnt much thats either a nickel or a dime in price. The adjacenstreets are lined with cars, trucks, campers, RVs, and tour buses. The stores aisles are loaded withshoppers from probably every corner of our nation, and countries on every continent. Now, dont get mewrong, Wall Drugs (or should I say, Shopping Emporium) is a really cool place to do gift shopping foloved ones or yourself. Need a gift for a hard-to-buy-for friend or relative? Its got to be on some shel

here at Walls. The interconnected buildings in this complex are divided by the type of product being sold. There are stores for leather goods (TonLama boots & belts), candy, at least two dining establishments, clothing, souvenir items (a LOT of them!), mineral samples and items for your livin

room end tables, toys, crafts, and the list goes on almost endlessly. We even amazed ourselves we definitely did our share of shopping here alsoBe sure not to miss the T-Rex that comes to life every 12 minutes at the rear of Walls. We stayed more than once to watch the expression of kids. never thought the human eye could get thatbig! Little kids stared while big kids stepped backward more than once, it was that realistic!

Back on the road we found that the distances between towns in South Dakota can be rather vast. And you want to monitor your fuel gauge if yourea budget-fuel buyer. At some point the price of fuel will pale against the idea of having to push your car another 15-20 miles to the next station. Res

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3= Scenic Badlands of So. Dakota. 4= Astream of tourists through the So. DakotaBadlands. 5= Wall Drugs in Wall, S.Dakota

has everything you want & some you need.

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Give me

a break

You guys remember the story of theKing's New Clothes, where he's too

proud to admit he can't see he doesn't

have clothes on? Well, here's a really cool

idea for a restaurant Invisible food!

Way cool!Im in.

How much?

T h e B i r t h o f V e n t u r e C a p i t a l i s m

stops are distant also. And though the scenery is repetitive, the views across the expanse of the Great Prairies is astonishing; the human eyecant seem to fathom the continuous rolling plains that were once dotted by tens-of-thousands of bison amidst millions of acres of grasslands.Woooow. We spent the night at a campground behind a motel in Murdo, SD total population less than a thousand in the least populated countyin SD (according to a summer-working employee from Florida).

Day 139: Tuesday, August 20 We enjoyed a very light continental breakfast courtesy of the campground-motel: toast, mini-donut, orange-flavored drink, and coffee. Just enough to get our human motors running. We packed up the camper and drove across the street to the PioneerAuto & Antique Town, another venue with signage for milesalong I-90. With over 40 buildings we found ourselves busy forover 3 hours. The 2nd-generation owner greeted us like long-

lost friends and gave Chris a souvenir post card. As the ownersaid, this complex is not a museum but more like a hugecollection. There are buildings filled with antique cars of alltypes, most in unrestored but nice condition. The collectionsare vast: lunch boxes that either you or your kids had inschool in the 60s & 70s. Bicycles, motorcycles, mineralexhibits, clothing from the late 1800s, music machines, an oldbarbershop, train depot, old trucks, tractors, snowmobiles,toys, model trains, a 1920s motor home that was driven around the worldby a couple who made a million dollars in the gold rush days, and the listgoes on longer than this issue of ournewsletter. As we began to leave we thoughtabout where wed find lunch along I-90 with itssparse towns. The Pioneers diner, the GTO

Diner, seemed a logical place to at leastperuse the menu. We had a terrific andreasonably-pricedlunch here. They had a dailyspecial that was good food at a great price,though we chose to split two other meals andfound ourselves stuffedwhen we left. Yes, thePioneer Auto & Antique Townin Murdo, SD is another must-see location but expect to spend 2-4 hours or more roaming through its collections!

Our resting spot for the evening was at the fairgrounds RV park in Sioux Falls, SD. Due to the vast number of days we spend camping eachsummer trip, we look for low-cost campsites. (Think about it: If we can save $10 a night for 190 nights we can save $1,900!) Our camping fee in aprivate campground just south of Rapid City was $25 a night, which is good as most sites run $28-$38 or more. The Fairgrounds fee was $25also, but we would notencourage our traveling brethren who travel without a bathroom in their RV to stop here the restrooms are sad. Now,weve camped at several fairgrounds and found them to be comparable to some average campgrounds, but the fairgrounds in Sioux City aremuch further down the ratings list due to the restrooms conditions: dirty, chipped-paint floors, trough urinals that are fine except no water for theflushing wasnt able to be turned on, one shower, and the lock on the door worked, its just that there was no latch to secure it, plus you need towash before dark cause theres no light in the shower, just a small window for moon light (if theres a moon that night). The fact that theres noshower curtain to keep your belongings from getting wet adds to the disarray, and none of the five toilet stalls have privacy latches either. WhoaIm getting a bit carried away. Final comment if you dont have bath & toilet facilities in your RV, I suggest you find another campground. Oh, thecampground host was VERY NICE & cordial and we thoroughly enjoyed his personality.

Day 140: Wednesday, August 21 Last night we chose to campbeneath a large tree to take advantage of the shade. Wediscovered this morning that the birds above must have eatenbird seed tainted with school glue & chocolated exlax thedeposited all over the cars roof and drivers door. It took 8quarts of water to wash it off. Guess they must have been upsetabout yesterdays comments about the restroom. But, honestly,this has nothing to do with the fairgrounds nor the birds. Theyre

just doing their business. If you camp here, dont camp under atree.

Our cars battery had to be jumped yesterday after we camefrom the Pioneer Auto & Antique Town. I finally determined thatthe trailers battery was not holding a charge and was drainingthe cars battery. After charging the trailer battery all last night Idetermined this morning that it needed replacement. The local

AutoZone didnt have a battery of that size in stock so we drovealong I-90 and then some rural roads toward Mankato, MN wherea new battery was reserved for me. Along the way we saw morefields of sunflowers on both sides of I-90. This was the third timewe had seen acres and acres of sunflowers, all of them lookingtoward the sun. This is the way these flowers grow.

1= Elvis Harley Davidson . 2=Chris stands near 1921 Whitemotorhome driven round world.3= Town buildings in Pioneer

Auto & Antique Town. 4= Sallysmiles next to Porsche (tractorbuilt by Porsche in Germany;see name below #4 on tractorshood. Pretty fast tractor?

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7/30/2019 2013 Summer Trip NL #10

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Wow, someone somewhere must really buy a lot of sunflowers!

We got a new battery in Mankato, MN where we also enjoyed lunch and visited two thrift stores, then drove about 40 or so miles to visit a very goodfriend, Arlene Dammel in Owatonna, MN. Arlene was a member of our church when she lived in Ocala. We will spend two nights here visiting. Ispoke with our niece, Sandy, from western NY state who just happens to be about 90 miles north of us vacationing. Wow, small world. Unfortunatelyher timeline and ours wont afford us visiting each other.

Day 141: Thursday, August 22 Arlene prepared us a very nice breakfast of pancakes, sausage,coffeecake, juice, etc. This got us off to a good start. The girls then washed dishes as I lubricated

Arlenes electric garage door mechanism and the door itself. Then I diagnosed her inoperable doorbell. When the dishes were done we drove to Arlenes church for a tour, then a hike around a localpark, followed by a visit to a local thrift store. By then it was time for lunch, so Arlene graced us withsandwiches, salad, etc. We were stuffed. Arlene then drove us to the quaint city of Faribault(pronounced FAIR-ih-bo), Minnesota where we sampled cheese at the Cheese Cave, followed byperusal in the adjacent thrift store. I noticed a small sign on the stores community bulletin boardannouncing a cookout at First English Lutheran Church in Faribault. We walked two blocks to thechurch and I treated everyone to homemade pie with ice cream. We enjoyed the company of thoseat our table on the shady church lawn.1= Sally & Arlene enjoying breakfast together. >

Day 142: Friday, August 23 With Arlenes hospitality we decided to store ourtrailer in her driveway an extra day. After breakfast this morning we elected to drivenorth to St. Paul, MN to attend the Minnesota State Fair. We had done so severalyears ago on a similar summer trip and reallyenjoyed the state fair atmosphere &excitement. Arlene is already scheduled to visit the same fair later in the week on abus tour, so we did it alone. We arrived at the fair about 11AM and spent 15-20minutes searching for a free parking space on the city street, rather than pay $10-$20 for parking near the fair. Our walk to the entrance was about a half-mile. TheMinnesota State Fair is big; its much bigger than the Florida St. Fair. The crowdtoday was also HUGE. A rough guess would put about 100,000 to 150,000 or moreon the grounds. We saw several music & comedy shows, visited many buildingswith exhibits and vendors, ate fair food and walked & walked & walked. When we left at 6:30 our legs were about worn off. We shuffled our way toour car and enjoyed the rest of a 1.5-hour drive back to Arlenes, despite road construction that had us moving at about 25 MPH on the InterstateWas it worth it? You betcha, by golly! ! And our day wouldnt have been so successful without the help of our dear friend Arlene.

Thoughts to ConsiderI was cheap before cheap was cool What doesnt kill you makes you stronger? Then Im Super Woman My kids think Im an ATM

Do Not Wash This vehicle is undergoing a scientific dirt test This car is a status symbol: It symbolizes me being poorSarcasm: Just one more free service I offer Laugh at your problems, everyone else does Clear the road, Im sixteen

Officer, will this sticker saying SUPPORT LAW ENFORCEMENT stop you from giving me a ticket? Stealing my identity is pointlessWorking toward retirement one lottery ticket at a time Be spontaneous, but think about it first Hang up and DRIVE

My road to success is under construction If things get better with age Im approaching magnificentFACEBOOK: Share pointless stuff with friends you dont know I had a handle on life but it broke

One example of many acres of sunflower fields dotting I-90 in South Dakota and Minnesota

2= Chris shows his love for SPAM. 3= Huge crowds wereeverywhere, attesting to the quality of the Minnesota State Fair.

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While touring Wall Drugs for over an hour, I viewedsome bumper stickers that I found funny?interesting? prophetic? unusual? You decide!