Piper arrives; We hit the ROAD!

Piper arrives and there are a few hiccups!

Prior to Piper leaving Texas one of our Harvest Hosts messaged me to let me know they were ‘underwater’! Literally! And would I like to cancel my reservation? Unfortunately the message arrived when I was at the Music in the Park with Sherry, Nancy and Jerry and I did not see it until the next day. I looked for other HH’s in Fargo, ND , but there was none with availability. So we decided to wait it out and see what happens. We had three days, they hoped, as we did too that the water would recede! So the first obstacle has presented itself. Let’s hope this is the worst or only!

Duluth here I come! I gave myself a bit of extra time to get a bit organized and do some cleaning before I have a guest in the van! Text dings, ‘Flight delayed’. Oh well, extra time to organize before she joined us in the van! We pulled into the tiny airport parking and used our time well. A little bit of walking around and some light ‘van’ keeping! And she’s here! We have been planning this for so long, yet we kept running into decision issues. I am feeling like we could have done a better job. There are so many things to fit into a short amount of time!

The van is all stocked up! Sherry and I made a trip to Trader Joe’s when I was with her. (And again, the parking lot was tiny and full. Literally, that is a running joke with everyone. Does TJ’s find a tiny parking lot and say, ‘Yes, let’s put a store here!’?) So we had food, wine, water, beer and some N/A beer. I had tried some along the way and they are quite good! It’s a quick drive to our first stop at the Floodwood Municipal Campground . Our spot is on the river, it’s a small, quaint campground and the weather is comfy! Perfect!

First stops in Minnesota and first BIGGEST statue!

As we walked Lambert and checked out the area we saw a man down by the river with an alligator head. WTF? Okay, it’s a fake motorized one. He has friends that are floating down the river and he is planning to scare them. Apparently there is a rumor going around that there’s an alligator in the river. We wanted to stay and watch but the floaters were still a ways away, so we continued our walk and planned to loop back and watch the show.

SHOOT! We missed it! He was still there, without the head. I guess the trick failed. OOPS! He came by a bit later to ask if we found a cell phone. Seems the whole adventure went sideways. We enjoyed a relaxing evening with pasta and salad for dinner, then early to bed! Quite a drive tomorrow. Though we had good news, our Harvest Host is available! The water has receded, though the weather app says it’s still in a flood zone. So we are going to drive that way and see how things look. The sky is bright and clear; fingers crossed!

The drive to Mapleton ND, (near Fargo) was beautiful! We also ran into ‘one’ of the biggest Paul Bunyan statue and had to stop for a photo! (Who knew there are multiple!) Our original plan had been to spend more time in this Minnesota lake area. Though we had to change plans to make it to the South Dakota parks and have enough time to do all we had on our list! There are lakes everywhere, for sure a place I would love to come back to and explore.

The Harvest Host dilemma; wine in North Dakota?

We made it to Mapleton and noticed some water over a few roadways and fields, but all in all it looked good and the sun was shining! When we pulled into 4e Winery it was water free! It was a very cute place and the host met us to discuss where to park. Normally they allow people to park in the fields, but because of the flooding they kept us on the drive. There was a nice private area next to a barn and provided a great view! We set up our little outdoor area and then walked over to the winery. I warned Piper not to get her hopes up! She mentioned that she’s been wine tasting in Texas, so she gets it! HAHA

Piper did a white wine tasting and I did a red, so we could share. They had a great snack menu too, all fresh from their garden. We ordered some hummus and veggies, dip and crackers. The food was wonderful! The wine was okay. Piper bought a bottle of white and we took the rest of our snacks back to the van to relax and play some cards! We have another long driving day tomorrow with reservations at a campground in Medora.

Back on the road; more BIG things!

On the road again! Lambert hasn’t been to a dog park in a couple of days so that will be the first stop today! There is one in Jamestown, ND. My parents lived here at some point, so I called to confirm. Yep! They moved to Jamestown right after they married. And my mom told me the World’s Largest Buffalo is in Jamestown. Now we have to stop! You can see the buffalo from the freeway! After Lambert got his running around done at the park we started for the buffalo. 

The buffalo is in Frontier Village. (Funny, when I lived in San Jose, as a kid, there was a Frontier Village near us. I loved it! So, I am already excited!) The ‘village’ area was a little lame. I am sure it is fun for young kids, but we walked through it to get to the BUFFALO! You can read about it, but it is 26’ tall and has been there since 1959! (My parents married in 1958… Hmmm; did they live here long enough to see the buffalo built?) We meandered through the village a bit and stopped for some Kuchen. I remember my grandma making Kuchen. ( I made it once!) I think it is likely a North Dakota staple. Piper thought it was so-so, I thought it was good. It’s just kind of boring, as far as cakes go! (FYI, Kuchen means cake in German.)

Back to the van to finish the drive. Medora here we come! And what do we see along the way? A massive cow statue on a hill near the freeway. Now we have to find as many large things as possible! HAHA!!

Finally in Medora! After settling in and walking the pup, we went into town for dinner. There are quite a few places that allow dogs, so we chose one with a screened in patio. It was a good choice! Lambert enjoyed his chicken! The town is really cute. They have the ‘famous’ Medora Musical, The Greatest Show in the West; unfortunately there are no shows on Mondays, so we did not get to enjoy the show. Anyone that has seen it says it is really fun, so maybe I will be back!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

Our main reason for coming to Medora is to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The Medora campground is very close to the entrance; our plan is to be on the road early so we can see animals! I didn’t know that Piper had never seen a buffalo! (We kept seeing signs in the park about Buffalo and Bison, so which is it? In America we have ‘American Bisons’, not Buffalos. It seems so strange that they don’t update all the signage to Bison!) We stopped at the Ranger Station to get the lay of the land, and of course, the maps! One of the bad parts about visiting National Parks in the summer are not only larger crowds, but construction! There was a road closure in the park so we couldn’t do a drive through. We will have to go in and out on the same road.

Prairie Dogs and BISON!

First stop Prairie Dog Town! Named Prairie Dog Town because that’s what it is! A vast spread of land filled with Prairie Dogs. There were so many and they’re so freakin cute! They make a little noise, likely to warn each other of danger. Once they are comfortable they just pop out of their dens and stand up to look around. Some are lazier and just lounge about, and a few are a bit crazy, getting way too close to the road. So you have to drive slow! They are everywhere. But we need to see some Bison!

Piper is navigating the maps and I am driving. We decided to stop at everything on the right now and then the left on the way back, but we made a quick decision to head towards Elkhorn Ranch and what do we see??? BISON! There were so many just hanging out and pretty close too, so we stayed in the van! We continued through the park stopping to see more Prairie Dogs and pretty views. We were about to turn around when we thought we spotted another Bison, and we did! There were actually two of them, though one kept trying to hide. I have seen lots of Bison but since it was Piper’s first time, it made it exciting! Sadly, it was time to leave the park and get to South Dakota. We still have a four hour drive ahead of us!

Next state South Dakota!

Man, is that the most BORING drive ever! Every time we went down a valley it was…okay, will the road have any curve when we see it again…NOPE! We stumbled upon many beautiful sunflower fields and were able to pull off and enjoy a snack and a walk near a couple of fields. Sunflower fields are in both the Dakotas but South Dakota is the top producer in the US and they made the drive happy! You can’t look at a field of those happy flowers without smiling! FINALLY we see a small town or two, yes, there is life out here! Then we drive through Deadwood and it’s like a mini Vegas. I did not expect that. It would be a fun place to come back to and visit, we didn’t have the time to stop.

We find our campground, Roubaix Lake, it is very quiet and serene. The lake is in the Black Hills, which was on our list of things to see. Yea! Lambert needs a walk and so do we! Lots of car time today. UGGHHH! The lake is small but beautiful. There are swimmers and beachgoers hanging around, definitely a great place to stay; wish we had more time. Our campspot is huge and we are in the woods. Real camping is so fun, the privacy and the quiet, and no cell service. Some food, wine and cards round out a great day!

More SD, what to see?

Our time together is flying by. Only one more stop, but thankfully we will be there for two nights, so less driving, hopefully! In the morning we remember, no service, so time to pull out the road atlas and try to figure out which way to go. It feels so adventurous looking at the atlas, but as soon as we had service we went back to Apple Maps.

We are only an hour from our next stop, such a relief, but there are many things to see along the way. Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Cosmos. We go back and forth, debating whether or not to go to Cosmos. We see the sign and take the turn. Google says ‘closed today’, though their website doesn’t. Since we are already on the road, we continue down the dirt road and it doesn’t look closed. I go in to ask and they are open; dogs are welcome! The next tour is in 20 minutes, so we have a quick snack and go up to the ‘gift shop’. (I learned of Cosmos from a couple at Sno-Valley Senior Center, they thought it was really fun, so why not!)

Monuments, to see or not to see

Monuments, to see or not to see

So, I am not going to say much about Cosmos, it is interesting. You likely have to see for yourself, so if you’re in South Dakota, you may want to check it out! Lambert did NOT like Cosmos; so we dipped out a little early and were on our way. Neither of us really regretted stopping, but you only have to go once in your life! Next stop is Mount Rushmore. Both of us have seen pictures of ourselves with our parents at Mount Rushmore, but we were both too young to have any memory of being there, so we are both excited!

And WOW, not a good wow. You drive up and see a huge concrete parking structure, not very welcoming. Also, there is a fee to park and they don’t honor a National Park pass, because they are a National Memorial. AND dogs can’t go past the columns. Okay, we will take turns. Piper starts toward the monument and flags and I follow dog prints to a ‘dog friendly’ viewing area. We get a good picture, wander around a bit and head back to the meeting place. Piper is walking to us and she does not look impressed. There was no visitor center, no museum, just a food truck…weird. I had a good look from the dog area, time to be on our way.

Next stop Crazy Horse. The two sites are less than 30 minutes apart, that’s convenient! Okay, another gate and parking area situation. After the Mt Rushmore let down we were pretty skeptical. We likely took up too much of the attendant’s time. He politely answered all our questions. Was this worth the money ($35)? To walk up closer for a better view? We decided against it, after the disappointment of Mt Rushmore. In hind sight we should have done Crazy Horse and NOT Mt Rushmore, next time! Time to get to the park, Larsson’s Crooked Creek Resort and relax!

We see the park along the way, but head into the town to get some groceries. It looks like a cute place, lunch tomorrow? The park is nice and clean and people are very friendly. The space is nice and fairly private, even though the park is kind of crowded-in. We have a little deck with our fire pit and a fence on two sides, the front looks out onto the river. Good Job!

More animals and one last BIGGEST!

It’s so nice staying in one place for more than one night! Our last full day together we head to Custer State Park for another animal viewing day! And what a day it was! Animals GALORE!! Bison on all sides; literally surrounding us!. Maddy had called right then so we face-timed to prove it! AND we fed wild (but tame) Burros. Piper got carrots out of the vans and had friends for LIFE, kind of scared the shit out of me. She is much braver than I am!

We see the park along the way, but head into the town to get some groceries. It looks like a cute place, lunch tomorrow? The park is nice and clean and people are very friendly. The space is nice and fairly private, even though the park is kind of crowded-in. We have a little deck with our fire pit and a fence on two sides, the front looks out onto the river. Good Job!

After a few hours in the park we decided to treat ourselves to lunch out in town and some shopping. We kept seeing billboards advertising a Handbag Store, so we had to check it out. And, believe or not…. The largest Smokey The Bear is in Hill City, SD… this is a must see. (Especially since Piper’s someday-to-be daughter-in-law, Alyssa, is a huge Smokey The Bear fan!). Lambert got in on this one too, photo op! 

We lunched at a German restaurant,The Alpine Inn. My salad was amazing, sad to say the shopping was not! We trekked back to camp; laundry, packing and our last campfire. It was a beautiful night. The next day we took our time leaving the site to meander our way up to Rapid City. We have a few errands to run and hope to find a place near the airport for lunch. HAHAHAHAHA – the airport is tinier than Duluth. We park the van in a gravel area and make some sandwiches for lunch. It’s been a great trip! Thanks for coming to share some of the experience with me. It meant a lot!! XOXO