RV Sold - The End of an Era

Nine years in a row we have camped in this site (or one nearby) on beautiful Audubon Lake in North Dakota. We have met some great locals here over the years, and we have enjoyed returning each year to visit them. However, 'the time has come, the walrus said', and we realised that we needed to sell our RV to enable us to pursue travels to Europe and the UK in the coming years. We know we will miss our American friends, so I can see us returning to the USA at various times in the future. 

Once we all got together at the lake, it was only to be expected that the dominoes would come out - we really enjoy playing together as it gives us a chance to catch up, and also gives Milt a chance to 'go out' 8 games in a  row!!

Nancy and I at the Hawaiian party in 2008

We had paid the campground up until Sunday 28th July, but at the end of last week, Nancy and Laurance, friends we met at their Hawaiian party during our second year camping at Audubon (2008), saw our 'For Sale' sign and mentioned it to their son Mike and his wife Talesha. They have 5 children and had been looking for an RV for a few years. On Monday, Nancy and Laurance brought out Mike and Talesha to look at the RV The next day, Tuesday, they brought out a cheque to pay for it. Done deal. By 5 pm Wednesday we had cleared out of the RV and moved into a hotel, as they wanted to take their new RV camping on Thursday. Phew. It was as big a move for us as it was for them - 9 years of living to clear out of the RV for us, and shop and pack up for their family for Mike and Talesha! But we did it. Whoo hoo.

Second last dusk in the RV

Thankfully this storm shed just pea-sized hail

So 9 years after Murray got handed the keys from Lazy Days salesman Rod, it was time for Murray to hand the keys over to the new owners.

Murray with Talesha and Mike

Mike driving off in his new RV

Before we knew it, it was time to farewell our North Dakota friends. We had a night out with Avalyn, Wes, Kathy and Milt, but sadly Frieda, Lenny and Irene were not able to make it. Frieda was in hospital and Irene was on a Mary Kay weekend in Dallas. Our ranch friends were busy winning the Reserve Champion prize for their steer at the North Dakota State Fair. Congratulations Taylor, and team Filipek. 

Before we said our final goodbyes to Kathy and Milt, we went over and caught up with her mother Helen, sister Carrie, and niece Hannah. I  showed them this beautiful red cardinal fleece that Kathy had made for me for my birthday. How special is that! She arranged to have it made in Florida while she was down there, and brought it back up to North Dakota for me. Thanks very much Kathy and Milt - it will be with me until my end!

It was likely to happen - we had one suitcase of 'stuff' too much, and some fishing rods that we physically could not take home with us. We arranged with Avalyn and Wes to store the items at their home, and we called out there today to say our goodbyes, and leave proof that we intended to return! While we were there we visited Wes's son Rick and his wife Janet next door. They have created the 'Apple Creek Winery' and hold tastings at their newly built facility. Janet took us on a tour of the winery tasting room and the 'distillery'. They donate 100% of the proceeds to a local charity. What an amazing contribution to make to their local community.

Raccoon Hunting Dogs

After touring the winery we visited Rick's hunting dogs (he takes them 'coon hunting). Before you get upset, the dogs hunt the raccoon until it runs up a tree, and then Rick pulls them back and starts a new hunt. No raccoons are harmed in the process (well, if they are, it is a very rare occurrence). Their little dog house is heated, so nice and cosy for them in the winter when there is snow all around.

Tomorrow we drive to Omaha, Nebraska in a rental car. Our RVing days may be over, but we have 9 years of fabulous memories to fall back on. Thankfully I can pull up the blog at any time and re-live our RV adventures at any time. Farewell North Dakota - for now!

Jen and Pete Visit USA 2015 - Part 2

The Duluth waterfront on Lake Superior, Minnesota was a flurry of activity during our visit on July 3rd, the day before American Independence Day. Everything was getting set up for the big event (fireworks, bands etc) the next day. The Aerial Lift Bridge in this photo is the major landmark in Duluth. The bridge can be raised to its full height of 135 feet in about a minute, and is raised approximately five thousand times per year. We watched it lift up (counterweights on either side) to allow boats to pass under, and then minutes later be back to allowing cars and pedestrians to cross over it. We chose to walk under it instead. The photo on top right is us after walking under it to the other side. The photo on the bottom right shows people out and about at dusk - taking horse carriage rides, riding dual-pedal cycles, walking dogs and with the backdrop of the downtown buildings on Lake Superior. 

The Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior is considered to be one of the prettiest in the US. It was a grey day when we visited, so the photos weren't fabulous. Unlike our visit to a Christmas Shop nearby - always a fun visit! But for a taste sensation, on the recommendation of my friend Andrea, we visited Betty's Pie - what a popular place that was! The pies were amazing - although a tad rich for our Aussie palates. Murray took a photo of Jen, Peter and I climbing on these huge Adirondack chairs. I still laugh when I see this photo - reminds me of how silly we must have looked up there!

On our last day in Duluth, we took a drive up to visit the Enger tower built to honour a Norwegian immigrant who left a huge part of his estate to the city of Duluth - including the beautiful golf course that Murray and Peter played on one day. It gave a nice view over Lake Superior (pity about the fog) and it had a pretty Japanese garden. We thought of you Chris and Mandy. 

During their trip we had several campfires - some a bit smokey, but worth it! We toasted marshmallows, threw our peanut shells into the fire and generally enjoyed the ambiance. Sometimes we ate out, and other times we ate at the RV site. The weather was obliging.

After we left Duluth, we drove to check out the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Nowhere near as majestic as how she looks at St Louis, Vicksburg, or Memphis, or where she meets the Gulf of Mexico in New Orleans, but special just the same! 

After 2.5 weeks of RVing we arrived in North Dakota - Jenny and Peter's final destination before flying back home to Australia. Our visit to the Badlands was fantastic. Such an impressive landscape - my photos just do not do it justice. Peter and Murray played golf on the picturesque Bully Pulpit Golf Course in the Badlands, while Jen and I drove the 60 km (36 mile) loop of the Theodore Roosevelt NP - we stopped along the way to watch the prairie dogs, check out the bison and wild horses, and just absorb the view. It took us 2 hours to drive the loop, and we could have spent a lot longer, but we knew we needed time to check out the shops in town before the guys rang us to pick them up after golf! 

Albino bison, stag, yellow finches and a prairie dog

We had an opportunity to introduce them to some of our North Dakota friends at a steakhouse at nearby Mandan, just over the Missouri River from Bismarck where we were staying. 

Roy Rogers, Irene, Wes, Avalyn, Milt, Kathy, Jenny, Peter, John Wayne, Trish, Murray 

On Jenny and Peter's last night, we drove out to Clint and Amanda's ranch, about an hour NE of Bismarck. Amanda had marinated some beef from one of their own steers, and she also marinated some chicken. Clint cooked them on skewers on the BBQ. It was very hot when we arrived, but it soon cooled down enough to sit outside, but still too hot for a campfire. It was great to see their four daughters, Taylor, Hayley, Emilie and Macey, and meet Amanda's mum Cheryl who was visiting fro Tasmania. Hayley took Jen and I for a ride on the four wheeler to get some sunset photos, while Clint drove Peter and Murray to a nearby field to take dinner to two neighbours cutting hay. The neighbours had to keep working to get the hay baled before it rained - we left the ranch about 10 pm, and the neighbours were still out in the fields working under lights. We got Jenny and Peter back to their hotel just before 11pm. A late night for all! 

It may not look like much of a distance on the map, but during this RV trip Jenny and Peter passed through 10 US States including Washington DC, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and travelled over 3218 km (2000 miles). Not bad for a 20 day road trip! We thoroughly enjoyed showing them the USA through our eyes. 

Over 2000 Miles (3218 km) and 10 US States 

Jen and Pete Visit USA - 2015 - Part 1

This is the 3rd year that Jenny and Peter (our Australian friends) have joined us during our RV travels in USA. Murray and I were staying with our American friends Jan and Dick in Frederick, Maryland, when Jen and Peter arrived, and Dick kindly drove me into the middle of DC to pick them up and 4 of us could spend a night with them on their 8 acre Frederick property. Dick cooked us up some delicious steaks for dinner, and afterwards we enjoyed an early evening stroll during which we saw a deer, and literally hundreds of fireflies. They were magical. 

The next morning we said our goodbyes to Jan and Dick, and drove 1.5 hours to the Cacapon golf resort in West Virginia. The Course is rated as 'one of the 130 best-designed courses in the United States'. The guys spent several hours on the well manicured course, while Jen and I watched some ground hogs nibbling on the grass, had lunch in the resort dining room, and downloaded our photos. The chimney you can see us standing in front of is on the putting green, and is the last remnant of the original farmhouse that stood on the property: the chimney is featured on the Cacapon merchandise including the golf shirt and cap that Murray purchased. We had dinner in the lodge restaurant and later took a pleasant after-dinner stroll to see the chimney - and caught the deer nibbling on the grass. 

The next night the four of us stayed at the historic Michael Cahill Bed and Breakfast in Ashtabula, Ohio, right beside Lake Michigan. The home was built around 1887 and has 4 bedrooms for guests' use, each with an en suite. Not only did our bed have a canopy, but so did our bath tub/shower (see in photo below). Very quaint. The home is owned by Pat and Paul Goode and they served us up a delightful breakfast to send us on our way the next morning. Also staying at the house were a couple from Georgia, Page and Bruce. They are in the photo with us at the breakfast table, and they joined us in a stimulating discussion over breakfast. Our travels are not only about the places we visit, but also the delightful people that we meet on the journey.

Across the road from the bed and breakfast, we came across the Hubbard House - The sign accompanying the photo gives a snapshot of its history, but here is a summary of the Underground Railroad for my Aussie family and friends who may be unfamiliar with the term. "The 'Underground Railroad' was the term used to describe a network of meeting places, secret routes, passageways and safe houses used by slaves in the U.S. to escape slave holding states to northern states and Canada. Established in the early 1800s and aided by people involved in the Abolitionist Movement, the underground railroad helped thousands of slaves escape bondage. By one estimate, 100,000 slaves escaped from bondage in the South between 1810 and 1850. Aiding them in their flight was a system of safe houses and abolitionists determined to free as many slaves as possible, even though such actions violated state laws and the United States Constitution." (http://www.historynet.com/underground-railroad). Amazing to witness a remnant of this history.

Jen caught these young Ohio Amish lads taking hay from their field to the family dairy up the road

Amish buggies everywhere

The next day we drove in grey, drizzly weather to have morning tea in Michigan before driving back south to Shipshewana, Indiana, where we witnessed a strong Amish culture. The town attracts over 1 million tourists every year and is the only Indiana location listed in '1,000 Places To See Before You Die'. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,000_Places_to_See_Before_You_Die). Despite the rain on the windscreen, we were able to get several photos. The Amish people were first officially documented arriving in the USA in 1737, although some were already in the country following persecution in their original home of Switzerland, and their 'new' homes in Germany and the Netherlands. They initially established farming in Pennsylvania, and later moved west to Ohio and other USA states and to Canada. Amish children usually cease school in Grade 8, and while the females generally help in the home with cooking, sewing and minding the children, the males help in the fields, dairy, furniture building and so on. Traditional Amish families have no motor vehicle and use only horse drawn carts. As most Amish object to having their photographs taken, we had to be sensitive when taking the photos above. The youths in the yellow framed photo waved to Jenny as she took their photo.  

After Indiana we continued westward (felt a bit like Lewis and Clark) through the state of Wisconsin, passing by its oldest city of Green Bay. Known as 'America's Dairyland',  Wisconsin is one of the country's top dairy producers, especially renowned for their cheese production. Every where you looked there seemed to be dairy farms, and the countryside was lush and green. So beautiful. While passing through this state we learnt about 'barn quilts'. It is not a quilt made of material as we know it, but a 8 ft x 8 ft block of wood or metal, painted to look like a quilt, and hung on a barn (usually). The latest cult to paint and hang barn quilts started in Ohio in 2000 (wiki), although decorations of barns is a centuries old tradition. Once we heard about them, we saw them everywhere. 

'Quilt Trails' can be found in 43 of the 50 US states: you drive or cycle a route following a trail (map provided) where you see quilts hanging on various properties along the route. The photo above shows just a few of the ones we saw. 

Iceland

Never in a million years could I have dreamt that I would find myself in a car being driven around Iceland, yet here we are. We have thoroughly enjoyed our 4 day stopover en route from Copenhagen back to Washington DC. The weather has been cold, but as I am typing this, there are blue skies and sunshine outside my window - it is 10pm the night before we fly back to DC. Most days we have been lucky enough to catch some blue skies, and fortunately the few drops of rain we have encountered have occurred when we were in the car and not out and about. 

We arrived at Reykjavik at 9am, had the hire car picked up before 10am, and had checked into our bed and breakfast (private studio apartment attached to the owner's home) around 11am. We dropped off our suitcase and drove into the city to have lunch at The Perlan (Pearl) - see top photo. From there we got our first view of Reykjavik. That was enough to lure us into the tall spire we could see in the distance. It was a Cathedral where for about $USD6 (everywhere seems to take Euros, US dollars or Icelandic Króna) you could catch a lift (elevator) up to the top for a great view of the city and environs. From the Cathedral we could see the Perlan where we had lunch, and look out to the glaciers in the East, and the coloured roof tops below. Very pretty. We couldn't wait to see further afield.

Rooftops seen from the Cathedral

Top map shows route from Copenhagen. Left lower map is route on Day 2 and 3, and Day 4 on right.

The next day, map in hand, we headed north west of Reykjavik to the coastal town of Stykkishhólmur. We saw a red beacon on top of a hill, so we figured we needed to climb the stairs and check out the view. 

Icelandic Ponies

Scenes from Day 2

Geothermal area - similar to Yellowstone

Gullfoss Waterfall - 105 ' (32 meters)  double cascade

Only place on earth to see tectonic plates above ground: separation of Eurasia and North American plates

Although it was a cloudy day, we were thrilled to see the amazing blue colour of the crater lake in this cone volcano with its red volcanic rock. It is reported to be about 3000 years old.

Iceland has seen a lot of volcanic activity with 30 active volcanoes remaining today. Consequently there are many towns, like the one at left, that are built among the lava. I wouldn't want to be looking at that ugly landscape from my windows, let alone try to establish a garden! 

Blue Lagoon

I'll sign off this blog with one of our most memorable moments - seeing the Blue Lagoon - a geothermal spa that is the most visited attraction in Iceland. When it is freezing cold outside, well it was 8 C (46F) on the day of our visit, but with a brisk breeze blowing, it was such a delightful sensation to lower into the warm/hot waters. The water looks so beautiful against the grey/black of the volcanic rock that surrounds it. This area is only 40 km (25 miles) from Reykjavik, so very handy.

Visiting Kim in Copenhagen

My second trip to Copenhagen was so much better than my first. It helped that my visit was in June instead of March. Seeing the flowers blooming and the trees with green leaves was wonderful. However the reason we went there was to see my daughter Kim and to check out her first piece of real estate - a one bedroom apartment only a 5 minute bike ride from the university where she works. Her apartment ticked all the boxes - great security too, which pleases a mother!

Our friends Sandy and Joe Bill from Fordyce, Arkansas joined us in Copenhagen, arriving the same day we did. Despite our jet lag, the four of us followed Kim as she led us around her city. The last time Kim saw Sandy and Joe Bill she was a guest in their home, now she enjoyed showing them her home. Our first stop was to visit Kim's workplace and see her environment there - she operates with some amazing and complex technology in her lab. Then we took a bus for part of the way and walked the rest of the way to Tivoli Gardens, the second oldest amusement park in the world (opened in 1843), and had dinner there. The gardens are beautiful, especially when the lights come on - it's like fairyland. However, the jet lag won and we went home to rest up for a walking tour with Kim as our guide the next morning. We got to see the changing of the guard at Amalienborg Palace where Princess Mary (from Tasmania like Murray) was in residence. Next on the agenda was lunch at Nyhavn, the colourful harbour district. Postcard perfect! The central photo in the collage below was taken in Nyhavn. Sandy and Joe Bill had to be back at their hotel by 2pm ready to be collected and delivered to a ferry for their tour to Norway. It was great to spend time in a foreign city together.

That same evening Kim's boss Susan held her annual department garden party, so we were fortunate to meet about 40 of Kim's work colleagues. Besides a delicious feast, Susan offered the group a tour of her garden and then her husband took us all on a walking tour of their historic neighbourhood - we even saw thatched roofs and even remnants of Viking graves. Mind boggling. We arrived at the party at 4pm, and before we knew it, we were catching the 11.15pm train home - it was still light which made it seem a lot earlier. The photo at the top right was taken at 9.40pm while we were walking around hearing the history of the village church. The photo of the viking grave below it was taken 10 minutes earlier. My camera was facing the west, hence the brighter aspect. It was cool when we got back, so it was great to sit in front of the fire and enjoy the ambience.

Not to waste an opportunity, the next morning we jumped on a train and took a 45 minute ride to Lund, Sweden. The Lund Cathedral (founded in 1080) houses a magnificent anatomical clock (constructed around 1380) and it still works today. We were there for the 12 midday action when the doors open and the figures come out and the detail of it all is quite amazing. You have to see it to believe it. We also discovered a fabulous patisserie - the cakes were superb! We bought 3 different cakes, and cut them into three so we could sample each one. Bellissimo. 

Kim had a few handyman jobs that she needed doing, so Murray was No 1 in that regard. Where is Benn when you need him? Kim bought some timber from a nearby hardware store, and we had taken along 4 rolls insulating foam, and used them all - Kim had forewarned us of her need for that item. 

Our final outing was to the early Viking town of Roskilde, 30km (19 miles) west of Copenhagen. It was the hub of the Viking world in its heyday. From the 11th century until 1443 it was the Capital of Denmark (Wikipedia). We visited the Viking Museum where they have reconstructed 5 Viking ships retrieved from the sea nearby. An amazing feat - reminded me of the Arabia Steamboat Museum in Kansas City. We decided to walk to the nearby Roskilde Cathedral - paid the entrance fee, and proceeded to be gobsmacked by what we saw inside.






Neither of us will forget the ornate coffins/memorials of the Danish Monarchs that have been buried there since the 15th Century. There are renovations going on at the moment working on a crypt and memorial for the current Queen of Denmark and her husband HRH Prince Henrik. They have designed their own crypt, and a fitting memorial to be put to use when the time comes. See the picture below for just one example of an ornate crypt (note ceiling frescos) and some of the lesser ornate coffins that we saw in the Cathedral. Did you know that the Danish monarchy is one of the oldest in the world?

Our week in Copenhagen would have not gone so smoothly if Kim hadn't taken care of us so well. She was our interpreter, and sorted out our train/bus tickets so that our transport worked out very efficiently. When you are in a foreign country where English subtitles are not usually provided (except in the airport and main train station) and the accent and language are undecipherable, you really appreciate having a local to interpret for you. Thanks very much Kim. Our accommodation was great too - very grateful that her apartment block had a lift - getting up and down to/from the 5th floor may have been a bit taxing without it!