South Dakota 2014

Welcome to our campground 'find' of the season - Cedar Shores Resort in Oacoma, South Dakota. We had initially planned to spend several days at a Golf/RV Resort in Wentworth, SD, but unfortunately it didn't quite meet our expectations. So after 2 nights (at least Murray got in one game of golf), we made our way further West to the Missouri River, and found this gem of a campground right alongside the river. As well as the unbeatable location, the campground has full hook-ups, cable TV, internet throughout the campground and a laundry. All for $35 per night. The campground is part of a resort complex, and campers are welcome to use the resort facilities including indoor pool, hot tub, gym, office with computer and printer, bar and restaurant. So far we have made use of the bar (fabulous margaritas) and the restaurant (great steak)! There is a golf course nearby - the campground host dropped Murray at the golf course the day after we arrived, and picked him up afterwards. The resort also sells fishing licences, and fisherman catch our favourite Walleye right here on the banks, but sadly the weather has been a bit cold and windy apart from the day we arrived, the day Murray played golf, and Anzac Day, when it was a glorious 25 C/ 77 F. A few of you will have seen the photo (see left) of our RV at the current campsite on Facebook. 

During the day I can sit at my laptop and look out over the Missouri River, and at night, we can see the night lights of the town of Chamberlain across on the opposite bank. Very pretty. The photo below was taken in the resort restaurant.

On the way to this campground we passed through the town of Mitchell, SD, home to what is advertised as the world's ONLY Corn Palace. The exterior of the building is covered by murals designed by a local artist, using corn and grains sourced locally. If you click on the photo and take a closer look at the two designs in the top left hand corner (one a wind farm and the other a man on a tractor), you can see that each item is constructed by corn cobs of various colours. Quite amazing really. The corn exterior is changed every year at the end of summer (except in 2006 due to a nasty drought), once the corn has been harvested and replaced with fresh corn and new designs. The palace attracts around half a million visitors a year. 

On Monday 28th April, my sister-in-law Joy celebrates her 70th birthday. On the weekend, her 7 children (all present in the photo) arranged a special dinner for her in Brisbane, Queensland. Happy Birthday Joy! Joy and my brother Tracy have raised one of the nicest families around - in competition with the Duffy and Ryall families of course. Perhaps I am biased, but I have got the best nieces and nephews in the world! In the photo, Joy is on the right hand side of the table, 4th up from the front of the photo.

This morning once again, the campground host helped us out by giving us a lift to Mass across the river in Chamberlain. At first I was a tad dismayed to realise it was a First Holy Communion Mass, where dozens of young boys and girls, around 7 years old, make their First Holy Communion. These Masses can be quite tedious and drag on for ages, however, we were pleasantly surprised as it was a very family-orientated, down to earth Mass. The priest gave a very well crafted homily addressed to the new communicants, and it was cute to see the girls all tizzied up with their dresses and veils, and many of the boys wore suits, but took off the jackets to reveal their smart white shirts underneath. I thought it was wonderful how the priest invited them all up to join him on the altar (see above) for the consecration of the bread and wine. I am sure it is a day they will never forget. After Mass, the campground host and his wife picked us up, and the four of us had coffee and warm apple pie (with cinnamon ice cream) at Al's Oasis. A neat place that has numerous shops (restaurant, saloon, grocery, gift, jewellery stores) all under the one roof. See photo below. It also has a campground at the back which doesn't open until 1 May. Interestingly Al's Oasis/Campground and the Cedar Shores Resort/Campground where we are staying are owned by the same Company. 

Today was a rare day in the history of the Catholic Church. Not only were two Popes canonised (made saints) during the same ceremony for the first time in history, but two living Popes were in attendance: Pope Francis, the current Pope, and the Emeritus Pope Benedict XV1. The photos below were sourced from the Guardian newspaper. The top photo shows Pope Benedict with the two Popes that were canonised: Pope Pope Paul 11 on the left, and John XX111 on the right of the photo. In the lower photo is Emeritus Pope Benedict with Pope Francis. Newspaper reports say that half a million people were in attendance in St Peter's Square in Rome, while an equal amount had also made their way to Rome, but were watching the ceremony on huge screens erected around the city centre. 

Easter in Topeka, Lawrence and Omaha 2014

Gosh it is less than 2 weeks ago that I wrote my last blog entry, but we have done so much in that time, it seems like it should be so much longer than two weeks!

While we were still at the Old Red Barn campground in Missouri, we were evacuated (along with everyone else in the campground) to the laundry to wait out a nasty storm that was headed our way. I took a photo as we walked to the laundry (red building in photo). Thankfully the storm passed us by with just a bit of rain, and without the 75 mph/120kph winds predicted. Sadly the next day we read where 30 RVs were overturned due to winds in Mississippi. Yikes. 

Two days later we got to experience the Lunar Eclipse of the 15th April - they didn't call it a blood moon for nothing. My girlfriend Kathy in Florida was chatting to me on the phone and alerted me to the impending eclipse that night. I wasn't even aware of it - in the USA it was going to be visible starting around 1am and peaking at 3am. Well, unusually for us, we were asleep by 1am, but I awoke at 2am and resisted my body's efforts to stay in bed (it was -4 C outside) and braved the elements. It was worth it to see the sight. Unfortunately, I didn't own a tripod at the time, and set my camera to 'Night Portrait' scene, and once I increased the magnification, the camera was shaking even though I tried holding my breath. As you can see from the photo below, the camera shook too much to get a good photo. The very next day I went and bought myself a small, lightweight, tripod. There was a more compact tripod for half the price, but it felt to be about 3 times the weight, and it wasn't flexible - it could only be used in one position. I'll be ready for the next total lunar eclipse on 8th October. 

If you are looking for a lightweight (weighs 45gm/1.6 oz), flexible tripod for a small digital camera, I have been very impressed with the versatility of the Joby Gorillapod. My nephew bought one a few years ago in Australia, and my daughter has one as well. It was just under $20 here in Walmart. You can get other versions for SLRs etc. Anyway, what I like about this tripod, is that if you have no flat surface to rest a regular tripod on, this one can wrap around a tree, a ladder or whatever you can use so that you can get the camera into a suitable position to take the photo you are after. In the collated photos on the left, I took the top photo to give you an idea of the size of the tripod next to my compact digital camera. The bottom left photo shows the tripod clinging to a tree, and the other photo shows it on our RV ladder. 

At our next stop in Topeka, (capital of Kansas), we were warmly welcomed back to the campground by host Mary and her husband James. Mary kindly dropped Murray off to play golf, and picked him up whenever he rang - same as last year. She took me shopping and although I told her I had nothing I needed to get, I wasn't banking on her taking me into a Dollar General store. My goodness. We had fun. Every single thing in the store is $1. Yes Bev, even Microfiber Dish Drying mats! Remember the fun we had in the same store in Oklahoma City last year Jen? Mary was busy preparing an Easter Sunday lunch for 12 people - folks that she had invited from the campground who had no family to be with. She was cooking up a storm - baked ham, hot and cold salads, and a cake for dessert. It was a shame we weren't able to be there, but Omaha was calling. On Good Friday Mary and James took us to Mass with them - a very moving service about the Passion of Jesus. 

Mary commented on the nasty winter they had in Topeka this year - seems to be the same story all around the country. I asked her how she kept her water hose from freezing, as we had to remove ours whenever the temperatures dropped below freezing. She showed me the contraption she puts over her water pipe and hose - insulation wrap (must have electrical wires inside them) is wound around them, then they are plugged into power, and they are kept warm continuously. 

While we were in Topeka last year we met a couple, Shelliann and Luke, in the laundromat. We chatted to them for a while and had planned to meet for dinner on that trip, but her mother got ill and they weren't able to make it. Once we knew we were heading back to Topeka this year, we contacted them and they were free to join us for dinner - what's a year later between friends? After our first dinner at a restaurant together, they invited us to their place for dinner on another night. So on Easter Saturday, we left Topeka and had a short drive to a State Park in Lawrence, where Shelli and Luke live. It is a College (University) town, and has two universities - the Kansas University and the Haskell Indian Nations University. The historic Oregon Trail passed through here in the mid 1800's. Shelliann cooked up a storm while Luke came out to the campground and picked us up at 2pm. We had several enjoyable hours chatting and eating (and drinking a glass or two of wine) before returning to the campground at 8pm. As we left the house, Shelli presented us with a traditional 'Easter Bread'. It is a sweet dough that is baked with a coloured raw egg in the centre. You don't eat the egg, but the bread was delicious with a cup of tea for Easter Saturday supper back at the campground. Thanks Shelli and Luke!

Murray, Luke and Shelliann

Easter Bread - it looks like it has icing on it, but it is only a glaze

On Easter Sunday morning we were up early and drove the RV to a nearby church for Mass. The choir had an 'English Handbell' section, and it was superb.  Certainly put us all in the glorious frame of mind for Easter Sunday. He is risen! After Mass we drove north to Omaha (about 4 hours), and after a stop off at a lake for lunch and a detour due to roadwork, we finally arrived at our campground at around 3.30pm. It was perfect timing as we had arranged with my girlfriend Jan's daughter Jess, husband Mike and young 16 month old son Charlie to call in on us at the campground at 5pm. Initially we had planned on a picnic in the campground, but there was a chance of light rain showers, so we went out to dinner instead. As luck would have it, the Mexican restaurant they had planned to take us to was closed (as were many shops and restaurants on Easter Sunday), but Outback Steakhouse came to the rescue. Mike thought it was funny us going to Outback seeing as I grew up in the actual outback!

Charlie with his Australia Koala and his mum Jess and dad Mike

Five of us at Outback

We only stayed one night in Omaha, and then headed north for South Dakota. We have never ventured north this early in the year before, usually it is summer when we drive this part of the country. Instead of seeing fields green with wheat, corn and other crops, we saw lots of empty fields. Some just had corn stubble in them, while others looked tilled and ready for new crops. Last night it got down to freezing overnight, so I guess the farmers are waiting until the end of the frosts before they dare plant new crops. 

These fields are usually rows of corn as far as the eye can see

We continued north into South Dakota and arrived at our campground in the SE of the state. It is attached to a 9 hole golf course, so despite the freezing overnight temperatures, Murray had his breakfast, unhooked his bike from the back, pumped up the tyres, put his golf clubs on his back, took a banana and water bottle, and he was off. I haven't seen him since…I'm guessing he will be keen to tuck into blueberry scones and coffee on his return.

Carthage, Missouri

We are at the 3 week stage of our current trip, and this is where we are camping at the moment. The Big Red Barn RV Park in Carthage, Missouri  - about 2 hours south of Kansas City. It is also only about 25 minutes NW from Joplin, where in May 2011, an E5 tornado came through and killed about 156 people and injured around 1200 others. Nasty business these tornadoes. In the Joplin case they only got 20 minutes notice of the tornado. Last year with Jen and Peter we drove though Moore, Oklahoma, just one week after an E5 tornado killed twice as many people - they only had 10 minutes warning.  

We discovered the Big Red Barn RV park last year, and it has good wifi and cable TV. The Golf Masters is on at the moment, hence the need for cable TV! Some of the trees have spring buds on them, and I saw my first red cardinal bird of the trip. So they are in this location which is a bonus, and I look out for them constantly. 

We have had a slower start than usual this trip, owing to the fact of needing to get the new tyres balanced (see previous blog) before we could do much driving. We did go to a Ford place in Bentonville, but they weren't capable of balancing tyres as big as ours - 19.5, but they did decide that we had a cracked radiator and a leaking water pump while they were at it. Murray had noticed some leaks under the rig, and asked them to take a look. Uh oh, in the shop for another few hours. Thankfully they offered us a courtesy car and we were able to check out some shops and restaurants, and we even got to visit the cinema and see 'The Monuments Men'. We really enjoyed it. The waiting room in many of these larger car dealerships can be very comfortable - big, flat screen TV, free wifi, clean toilets, hot coffee, and this one even had freshly made biscuits (cookies). Very nice indeed. In the photo above you can see Murray checking his iPhone for aussie football reports. However, as Ford couldn't sort out the tyre balance, they referred us to a Truck Service centre in Joplin, and they sorted the problem out quickly for us. We only had time to eat a leisurely breakfast at a cafe next door, and it was done. Great service, and at no charge to us. Thanks Ford. 

Before we made it here to Carthage,  we stayed at a Golf/RV Resort in Cave Springs, Arkansas. A nice little RV Park, that we discovered last year, and which is a very convenient way for Murray to play golf. He just walks out of the front door of the RV, takes a few steps, and he is at the Golf Club house. While we were there for 2 weeks, our dear friends Sandy and Joe Bill from Fordyce, Arkansas came and visited us for a few days. They booked into a nearby hotel, and we were able to spend the days together - the guys even played 9 holes of golf which gave Sandy and I time to check out a beautiful bakery cafe selling mouth-watering pastries. Delicious. Once the menfolk joined us, we went back into Bentonville and checked out the Walmart/Walton Museum - we visited it last year, but Sandy and Joe Bill had never been there. It is amazing to see the story of how Walmart started from a simple five and dime store. If you check out the blog entry that I wrote about it last year, you will get the story. 

Walton/Walmart Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas

A visit from Sandy and Joe Bill

Thankfully, despite being so far away, Tony and Yudian send me regular photos and videos of Jackson, so I keep up to date on how he is growing. Such a happy little boy.