They Have Done Piggin'

Front row: Bob and Bobbi. Back Row Me, Margaret, John, Murray

After a very pleasant two weeks in South Dakota we headed to North Dakota, but not before one last night with our new South Dakotan friends. Margaret and John were the campground hosts, and their school friends Bob and Bobbi joined us for dinner at a local pizza restaurant in Chamberlain, SD. There we were introduced to chilled beer with stuffed olives in it. Interesting, and nice. At a steakhouse the next night, we were told that the drink was called a South Dakota Martini. I had one two nights in a row, so I guess I found them very enjoyable!

South Dakota Martini

After we left our Cedar Shores campground to head north through Pierre, SD, we saw the most wildlife of the trip so far. Mind you, most of them were dead as it happened! There were lots and lots of pheasants (too early for hunting season yet) right alongside the road until we got to the North Dakota border, then we never saw a single one - the pheasants must know that North Dakota is the 'Hunting State' and are keeping out of there. Ha ha. We saw various water ducks and birds, some skunks (dead), some deer (dead), a raccoon (dead), lots of cattle and some long horned steers. 

As we drove into Gettysburg, South Dakota to fill up our propane tank (it runs our furnace heater every morning which has floor ducts in every room including the bathroom - couldn't have survived without it), we noticed some unusual little tin huts in a paddock. When Murray asked a local chap what they were, he said they were pig pens. Each sow has a litter in there. But the comment the chap made was that ' they have done piggin' ' for the year. So all the piglets have been sold and now the sows can have a rest. The photo on the top left are the huts that we saw through the windscreen as we drove along, then the next photo shows a wider view. The lower photo shows two sows next to one of their huts.

When I was researching a campground between our South Dakota stop in Oacoma, and our next stop on our favourite lake in North Dakota, I came across a campground (Bob's Resort) to the west of Gettysburg in South Dakota. It was also on the Missouri river, but the reviews gave a favourable mention of a steak house that was at the campground. The river and the steak house were like magnets to me, and so we booked in there for a night. The campground was basic and nothing to speak of - too far from the river to get a view, but the steakhouse made up for it. The view from our table, as you can see from the photo on the left, was superb, the South Dakota Martini hit the spot and each of our steaks were cooked to perfection, very tender, and delicious. Murray ordered a 22 oz (625 gm) sirloin which came with unlimited salad bar and Texas toast for $19.99. We both had enough steak left over to heat up for a steak sandwich the next day. And the flavour was just as good and the steak was just as tender the next day. Unbelievable. I wished I had asked where they sourced their steak. While we were there we met a couple from Cheyenne - they drive up with their boat to fish there every year. Who knows, we might get to catch up with them when we visit Cheyenne in July. 

We arrived at Audubon Lake, about an hour north of Bismarck, North Dakota on Tuesday this week. Avalyn and Wes were the only other campers here. No wonder, it was pretty darn cold. Murray was desperate to put a line in the lake, so he rugged up and dropped his line in just in front of our RV. That is him on the left, rushing back to the RV after putting his line in.







Just to put it in perspective, this lake freezes up each winter. There was 48 inches of ice, which only melted two weeks ago. During the winter, people drive their pick-up trucks out on the lake, set up ice houses, drill a hole in the ice, and fish. In the double photo below, the top picture was a photo taken of Murray during a summer about 7 years ago. The lower photo was taken this winter,  in roughly the same location, and shows the ice houses and a truck or two on the ice. The electricity poles along the highway are the reference point to show the similar location.

On our first night at the lake, Avalyn bought over her dominoes set, and we had our first game of the season. It was still light outside, but it would have been just after 7pm when I took this photo. Sunset is currently 9.07pm. Usually we play with Kathy and Milt as well, but they are still sunning themselves in Florida! Come on you two - time to come north!

Today we awoke to a glorious, sunny day. I grabbed the camera and took some photos. The top photo of the collage below shows us all alone on the front rows. The bottom right photo shows Avalyn and Wes's camper, cars and boat, backing onto us - sort of. The bottom left photo is of the families of Canada geese. The nests and eggs must be close by - no little goslings yet - we are a bit early this year. By the time we return in July the goslings will be swimming on the lake with the adults.