Minnesota on the Mississippi

We left our quiet North Dakota meadow in the early morning while the mist was still floating above the streams.  We drove down the gravel road out of the state forest and turned right and followed the straight road.  Then we came to an intersection of gravel roads.  We turned and went for a ways.  Then we came to an intersection of gravel roads.  We turned and went for a ways.  Then we came to an intersection of gravel roads . . . . .   All the roads were in between corn fields and all of the roads were straight.  Luckily we have a compass in our rearview mirror or we would still be driving on a straight gravel road in the corn fields.

If you would like to see this cabin, take a straight road in a corn field in North Dakota somewhere . ..    We do know that it was build in 1879 by a norwegian immigrant and that he and his wife raised nine children in it.

We entered Minnesota shortly after leaving the gravel roads and I swear, the minute we entered this land of 10,000 lakes, there were lakes everywhere.  Big ones, small ones, ponds and puddles.  This of course led to the questions, when does a pond become a lake and when does a puddle become a pond.   We drove all day across Minnesota, through Minneapolis and over to the Mississippi River where we camped at the Frontenac State Park close to Red Wing, MN.  (Yes, they do make the shoes in Red Wing.)  Driving across Minnesota is flat.  A gopher mound would stand out as a big hill.  Driving through Minneapolis reminded me of Seattle only deflated.  Again, flat.  But green, relatively clean and friendly.  While driving, I only had to turn on my blinker and all traffic in the lane I was aiming for would back up and let me in.  (Or maybe I am just scarier than I thought.)  We again saw lots of fields of sunflowers, but the farther east we went, the more corn we saw.  We have seen so much corn growing in the Dakotas and Minnesota that I am left wondering, are we Americans addicted to corn?  What do we do with so much corn?  I know that there is corn on the cob, corn off the cob, corn meal, corn oil, corn flakes and corn starch, but even after making those products, I am sure that mountains of corn remain.  How much corn do cows eat?  Is our government stockpiling corn for some secret purpose?  We have a right to know you know!

Sunflower processing plant.

Another observation while driving across the northern rural states is that about half of the rural housing in these states is manufactured housing.  I may need to buy stock in these companies because I think the extent of their market is an unknown reality and I could get rich!  Maybe even quickly!

The campground that we are camped in is quite large and on the banks of the Mississippi.  This section of the Mississippi is also called Lake Pepin.  While now it is damed, the lake name predates the dams and comes from the river being naturally wide in this section.  This area caters to tourists with lots of motels/hotels, B&Bs, campgounds, golf courses, etc.  It also seems to have a fairly large retired population much like Whidbey Island.  Many of the streets along the river are lined with large old houses fronted with screened porches.  The landscape is as green as Washington so must get much rain, but we have had tempuratures in the upper 80s and it has been pretty humid. 

The woods we are in are largly oak, with some other deciduous trees mixed in.  The ground is littered with acorns and wherever you walk, you feel and hear the crunch of the acorns you step on.  The smell is very different from the woods I am used to.  Rather than the sweet smell of  pine and fir trees, the air has an almost savory smell.  The racoons are a much deeper brown than Whidbey racoons and the bugs are loud.  There are crickets at night, some cicada-type sounding bug in the days.  And BIG dragonflies everywhere.  The pamphlet provided by the park warns of rattlesnakes, but states that the chances of encounters are low.  The pamphlet also states that the fishing is excellent forWalleye, northern pike, crappie, bluegill and channel catfish.  It also warns that the fish contain PCBs and says that consumption guidelines can be obtained in the park office.  What do you suppose is a safe level of PCBs to eat? 

America - beauty and BurgerKing

Huge kiln left by Red Wing Pottery

Farmer's market

Red Wing station

Beautiful old barn

We backed the trailer into our campsite, unhooked the truck and parked it alongside the trailer.  Last night a ranger informed us that we had to repark the trailer or move the truck because we were not "lined up" in the site.  We chose to park in the overflow area.  This is my first ever camping experience where the vehicles are to be lined up!   What happens if they are not?

We have also noticed many ice fishing shelters standing on the sides of many people's property.  I can't look at them without thinking of the movie, Grumpy Old Men.  I have seen many fishermen in boats on the river, but the huts we have seen far outnumber the boats.  It would almost be worth returning in the frozen times to see the ice fishing take place. Do PCBs freeze?

Many fishing shelters lined up on the edge of someone's property

We visited Red Wing, and went through an old Red Wing Pottery museum.  We tried to go through the Red Wing Shoe Museum, but it is closed on Saturdays.  Oh well.  We settled for an enticing farmer's market and a wonderful art gallery showing the results of a plein air open, instead.   We had a nice relaxing stroll down the river.  I have actually stuck my toes in the Mississppi just because;  just because I can, just because I have made it this far, and just because I know that Tom Sawyer was a real boy and  I want the traces of his DNA left in the river to wash over my toes.

North Dakota

This is the border between North and South Dakota.  Right where the road changes color!

Harvest time

We left our bluffs and crossed over into North Dakota.  We traveled through farm country, much like South Dakota and did see a few oil wells and coal trains. Lots of corn, sunflowers, wheat and hay. The wheat harvesting that is currently happening looks so easy compared to the hilly Palouse!  We also began seeing lots and lots of fields of dry beans (pinto, navy etc.) We went to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and camped in the only campground in the southern section of the park. We took a walk to explore but didn't last long in the near 100 degree weather.  Much of the park is more bad lands.  Further north, on a gravel road and after fording some rivers you can get to the original ranch T. Roosevelt started.  The story goes that Mr. Roosevelt came to the area to hunt buffalo but was very dissappointed how few were left.  Instead he began ranching in this area and was inspired to continue his conservation efforts that led to many national parks.  Later in the evening I took another walk and discovered that the little Missouri River was near the campground and it was very nice and cool.  Bernie thought so too.

While driving to the park, I rolled down my window and stuck my camera out the window, only to have a bee hit my hand at sixty miles an hour and get mad.  She decided to sting me if it was the last thing she did.  And it was.  My hand started swelling.  By the next morning I couldn't bend my fingers or wrist.  I took some benedryl and slept most of the day while Mike drove.  He pulled into a campground in Hazen, North Dakota and told me that I was going to a doctor.  I complied, got some cortizone and sat around waiting for my hand to get better. 

 On Sunday, (8/22) the temperature hit 103 degrees.  We sought relief in Lake Sakakawea.  The lake is huge and was so refreshingly cool!  The lake is created by the Garrison Dam on the Missouri River.  It seems to be a popular place for boating and water sports.  While we were swimming and wading, a man with several beers under his belt gave me quite the lecture on epi pens.  

 We left Hazen on Monday and drove east.  On the map, there is a small indication of a North Dakota State Forest, Sheyenne Forest, in the Southeast corner of the state and we headed there.  It took a few loops through small, very straight roads, but we located the park and camped on a secluded small meadow.  We are now here for the third day, just enjoying the cooler sun and peaceful setting.  The woods are all oak, walnut and other deciduous trees.  It looks like an environment that I would expect in the east, and did not expect in North Dakota.  We have a small stream nearby, and lots and lots of frogs for neighbors.  We can't walk anywhere without seeing frogs jumping in every direction.  The park is only about one mile deep and 5 miles wide, and it does not seem to get much use.

Sheyenne River

Underbrush in the woods

This tree wasn't going to let a little wire stop it!

Ancient tree climbers.  (Ancient trees or people?)

Tomorrow we will head for Minnesota.  We will spend a few days in the Minneapolis area and then check out many of the numerous things to see in this large state. 

Bluffs

We had to go through Sturgis.  Mike has ridden motorcycles for 45 years (until he gave them up this year due to balance problems) and while we didn't want to deal with the hoopla of the rally, we still had to see Sturgis.  Mike had gone to the rally many years ago, but I have never been.  The town estimates that between 500,000 to 600,000 attended the rally this year.  With that many attendees, there were only 4 accidents and two deaths in the rally week.  Sturgis has approximately 7000 residents and I can't even fathom where they put the influx of people.  When we were there it looked like a normal sleepy town.  We did meet one family in a campground in Wyoming who lived near Sturgis and were praying for the souls of the attendees while running from the noise and commotion.    We did go to the motorcycle museum, but other than that, there really wasn't too much to see.  I expected the local Harley store to be huge, but it looked like any other Harley store.  I find it funny to think of all the "normal" old farts who put on their leathers and head for this event every year.  What a funny breed we humans are!  (I am not missing the noise of all the Harleys that traveled with us up to and shortly after the rally!)

Complete downtown Sturgis

We left, heading towards North Dakota without any plan for how far we would go.  We drove through agricultural land with crops of corn, hay and lots and lots of sunflowers.  We would pass fields that would go on as far as we could see with cheery sunflowers all facing the sun in rows.  What a sight!  We also passed many abandoned old homes.  I have learned on this journey that our country allowed for homesteading through the early 1930s, but changed the requirements a few times.  The early requirements mandated that eastern US farming techniques be used on prairie lands which failed and caused erosion and then were later modified to include ranching.  As I have looked at the more primitive homesites I have thought of the women who listened to the unending wind (which still hasn't ended!) and suffered through severe isolation.  I then started wondering about my grandparents.  I know that my maternal grandmother's family traveled by train from Missouri to Southern Idaho about 1910 so that my great grandfather could work on a ranch.  Why didn't they homestead?  I really don't know.  Was it too expensive?  What kind of house did they live in?  There were five children in the family.  Did they have a house similar to the very small houses of which I have seen so many?  What was my grandmother's childhood like?  I only know little bits about it.  I learned at her funeral (she lived to 101 years of age)  that she had been the sickly child of the family and not allowed to play as much as the other children.  What else do I not know?  Why didn't I ask more questions when I had the chance?  I so wish I had!  Which of course leads me to think about what will my grandchildren want to know.  Will they wonder what life was like without television, calculators, computers, cruise control etc.?  Should I write a book called Things I Want My Grandchildren to Know?  Who knows. What about my other grandparents and great-grandparents.  How do I learn more?   I am interested in other's thoughts on this subject!

No wrong turns here!

Sunflowers

Wild sunflowers

We occassionally see more "badland" type formations.  This one is called Chimney Rock.

                                                 Where the deer and the antelope play!

We saw a sign not too far from the North Dakota border that said campgound, 12 miles in the Custer National Forest and headed down the gravel road.  We came to a beautiful meadow on some bluffs over a valley.  No one was anywhere near there and we parked in a sunny place near the cliff.  Not a place I would want to stay with small children!  We enjoyed the sounds of mourning doves calling each other from bluff to bluff.  We watched mother nature's light show in the sunset and Mike enjoyed the sunrise. (I don't see many of those!)   I listened to a rattlesnake warning from a hundred feet below without having to worry about poisonous bites.  It was a beautiful place to camp!

The holes in these cliff rocks appear to have been carved by water at some point in time.  How did the water get to the top of a bluff?

I love these little flowers!

Grumpy talking head.