PIERRE, SD - THAT'S PIER, NEVER PEE-AIR!

September 19 – 21, 2010

After leaving Hart Ranch we stopped at a Flying J station on I-90 for fuel and to take advantage of their low price on propane. With the extremely cold weather we are burning more propane in the furnaces, so “fill-‘er-up.” This is an exceptional station, neat and clean and easy to maneuver around, we give it four stars!

Continuing east on I-90 we left the interstate just past Wall (of Wall Drug fame) and continued on US14, one of the “blue roads”, two lanes of asphalt pavement in the rolling hills of South Dakota where we could easily maintain our 60 to 65 mph speed. There was virtually no traffic, better pavement and interesting things to see on the way. There are a few small towns to slow down for but most were closed down for Sunday. How can they have towns with only 12 people? The signs alone would be too expensive.


Griffin Park Campground



Although the weather was overcast, it was dry and comfortable so we were soon entering our destination of Pierre, SD. Now you do not call it Pee-air, that’s French; it is Pier or better yet Peer! Thanks to the website, RV Reviews, we found the Griffin Park City Campground at about 750 Washington St. for an easier access for motorhomes. It is a very nice park with 16 neatly laid out graveled sites overlooking the Missouri River; there were no other coaches at all; so we had the place to ourselves.

Monday we made it to the Visitors Center to get some information on how we should spend our one day in Pierre. First on our list was the Corps of Engineers Oahe Dam just a few miles upstream from the city. This is an earthfill dam, and is the 14th largest dam of its type with a reservoir that backs up over 250 miles, well into North Dakota; quite impressive.

The Power Plant and Surge Towers

Unfortunately, the tour of the power house was not available after Labor Day so we missed out on that.

Back in the city, we went to the beautiful State Capitol Building that was completely restored to new or better than new condition in the 1980’s in preparation for the 1989 Centennial Celebration of the State of South Dakota and now the 2010 - 100 year anniversary of this impressive State Capitol building.

The South Dakota Capitol Building

The main floor features a rotunda with domed ceiling and with a beautiful white marble grand staircase to the second floor. The third floor is dominated by the Senate and House Chambers which were closed to the public but we were able to see them from the 4th floor galleries.

The white marble Grand Staircase







All in all, it is a most impressive capitol, and especially for a rather small state.











Looking up at the Dome



To the East of the building is Capitol Lake featuring three war memorials, one each for veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

Many featured bronze statues of the brave soldiers, sailors and airmen from South Dakota who died in these campaigns.

One of the reasons that Pierre appealed to me goes back over 30 years when we bought a beautiful Beechcraft Model 33 (that’s a straight tailed Bonanza) N615V from a group in Skaneateles, NY.


Our beautiful Beechcraft

After a short indoctrination flight I was thrilled to get into this high performance and very fast aircraft that was not only quick but gorgeous as well. The first thing in the morning I was off heading west toward home and planned my first fuel stop at Grand Rapids, MI. Arriving at Grand Rapids I called the tower and was cleared to enter downwind for landing. But, as I flipped the switch to lower the landing gear nothing happened, nothing at all! I called the tower back and explained my predicament as I pulled out of the pattern. The controller had a colleague who was familiar with the Beechcrafts and suggested that there was a hand crank behind the seat that would lower the gear. I found the hand crank and leaning backwards over the seat started cranking away, flying the plane with my other hand. After what seemed like a million cranks the “gear down and locked” lights came on although I didn’t know whether to trust them or not. Back in the pattern I set the plane down very gingerly and the gear held ------- whew! Refueled, and running a bit late, I took off on the next leg of my journey crossing Lake Michigan which is a lot wider than it looks on charts. Soon I was on top of a cloud layer and figured my next stop would have to be Pierre, SD, but first I had to get below the cloud layer, I checked my charts and selected an area that had flat land and no indicated obstructions. Letting down on instruments without benefit of a formal approach or clearance I was soon under the cloud layer in murky skies with rain, still on course to Pierre. As I approached Pierre the sun broke out and I was in severe clear skies and after cranking the gear down again I was able to make an excellent landing. I then found a nearby motel and after eating (I was starving, having had nothing to eat the whole day, not even breakfast!), I called Frannie to report my situation, and went to bed after a harrowing day.



Back at San Carlos Airport



The next morning I was all ready to go but when I opened the door I found the whole world socked in a heavy fog, but the fellows at the airport assured me that it would lift by 10 am. 10am came and went with no improvement in the flying conditions; finally about 1pm it had cleared enough to take off and continue my flight toward my San Carlos, CA, home base which required only one more stop at Elko, NV. Of course I had broken many safety rules that day by flying the aircraft with a known fault and then flying through a cloud deck without a clearance. All legitimate faults but I am older and hopefully wiser now!
Our next destination is Prior Lake, MN, to visit a couple of old friends who are no longer on the road, but we will make a stop first at Brookings, SD. So that will be all for now.


Bye folks!





THE REVCONEER BLACK HILLS RALLY

September 11 – 19, 2010

Rallymaster Nick welcomes the group to the Rally

We arrived at the Hart Ranch for the Revconeers Rally on Saturday and found most of the attendees were already there, The Rallymasters, Nick and Gayle Peterson, with their son Scott and assistants Bob and Donna Joersz were there together with Harris and Melba Benoit, Denny and Carol Filter, Glen and Brenda Styles and soon to arrive, Jay and Connie Gridley. So with us it came to a very disappointing turnout of only seven coaches, 15 people!  Far from the 20+ that we had all anticipated, but these were all the old-timers, well known to each other, and it was nice to see our old friends again.



Scott, Connie, Fran and Carol at the hors d'oerves

 Hart Ranch is a large member ship camp ground and one of the best we have seen, the downside was that they were closing up their facilities after Labor Day, so there was no pool, spa, restaurant or store, oh well! With our close-knit group, the name badges were unnecessary so this was the first rally without them, Sheriff Tibbs would be really unhappy if he were still with us! The first night we had our customary, though informal, happy hour. Sunday was the official start of the rally so for the happy hour we gathered at the Joersz’s coach on a beautiful evening for a wonderful hors d’oerves dinner that the ladies do so well.


Monday after a hearty breakfast of Jeanne Rudolph’s recipe for Sausage and Hard Boiled Egg Casserole with English Muffins and fruit, we went off in small groups to downtown Rapid City, starting at the Visitor’s Center and found that it didn’t open until noon.

Fran holding hands with George Washington

Rapid City is known as the “City of Presidents” with full-sized bronze statues of 40 presidents to date. There were four statues on 10 intersections on the two main streets making for quite a nice walk to see them all and read about each president. Harry Truman is shown holding the famous newspaper with the headline “Dewey Beats Truman” which was a bit premature. FDR is shown standing but leaning heavily on the podium speaking into a number of the old-fashioned microphones with his legs in an awkward position and showing a portion of the leg braces he had to wear.

Ronnie and me!

Ronald Reagan is shown in cowboy garb with his big smile. Jack Kennedy is shown with little John-John. Abe Lincoln is shown seated so we did not know just how tall he was. When the Visitor’s Center finally opened we found small (20”) duplicate statues for sale for about $3500 plus tax (we didn’t buy any!).


Soon we were back to Hart Ranch for the happy hour and a terrific chicken curry dinner by Connie Gridley before we all headed out to the Mt. Rushmore Memorial Evening Ceremony. There is a new four story parking garage with an elevator for those with altitude impairment. A short walk had us at the top of a beautiful new amphitheater which was already half full of visitors, many of whom probably stayed from earlier in the day.


Veterans on the Mt. Rushmore stage

 When the sun went down the program started with a speaker reminding us of what a wonderful country we live in while the lights on the huge Presidents faces gradually built up in intensity. This was followed by a film on their large screen that gave a brief history of each of the four Presidents memorialized in granite.

The Presidents at night

Of course the Presidents were George Washington “First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his country men”, then Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln. At the end of the movie the Ranger called for all armed service veterans to come to the stage for striking of the colors (Lowering of the flag). I’m afraid many of the Veterans were too old to make the walk back up the many stairs. (Yes, that included yours truly) but it was a truly impressive ceremony that we all enjoyed very much.



Jay & Connie, Fran, Donna & Bob, and Gayle

Tuesday we had a breakfast of pancakes and sausages before Fran and I went off to the Urgent Care facility (Doc in a box, as Susan Salit put it) to check out a cough that I had been putting up with for many weeks. After x-rays and blood tests, she diagnosed the problem and prescribed a medication that they were sure would take care of the problem. (Good luck!) Soon we met the Benoits, Filters and Styles at the Firehouse Brewery Restaurant in downtown Rapid City.

Glen, Fran, Brenda, Carol, Denny, Melba and Harris
at the Firehouse Brewery Company

Aside from serving fantastic food, the Restaurant was housed in a 105 year old fire house that had been converted, but without the brass pole! Fran and I split an order of fish tacos – delicious! After lunch we went to the local Wally World to fill my prescription and pick up some food. It took 90 minutes to fill that prescription! That evening after our happy hour we all attended the Fort Hays Chuckwagon Supper and Cowboy Show that had many old-time merchants in a square with a Tinsmith, Blacksmith, Rope Maker, Sheriff’s Office and displays for the movie “Dances with Wolves” which was filmed in the area.

Glen, Denny, Carol (peeking), Brenda, Nick, Scott,
 Connie, Jay and Fran at the Ft. Hays Chuckwagon  

 The dinner theater seated almost 500 people and a chuck wagon dinner was served to everyone in only 29 minutes! (Thanks to Jay Gridley who timed them). After dinner we were entertained by a country and western group with singers and a comedian who provided us with many chuckles. It was a pleasant evening that we enjoyed very much.


Wednesday was the last official Rally day and we started with a breakfast of scrambled egg casserole after which we went to our separate destinations for the day, Fran and I took Jay and Connie back to the Firehouse Brewery for a luncheon of Gorgonzola Beer Soup, and a half Reuben sandwich. Mmm-mmm-good!



George, Scott, Donna, Bob, Nick and Gayle

 That evening after happy hour we all went to Lintz Brothers Pizza a few miles down the road which had been highly recommended by a lady parked across the way from us. And she was right; this was pizza to die for, really good.

Jay, Connie, Carol, Harris, Melba, Denny,
 Glen and Brenda attack their Pizza

As the only other Revconeer Board member present, Fran presented the Petersons and Joerszes with certificates of appreciation for their hard work in putting together a very enjoyable rally – their first one!

Bob & Donna, Gayle and Nick and Fran

Thursday morning saw everyone, except yours truly and his BW taking a quick breakfast and saying goodbyes till we meet again somewhere “down the road.” Fran and I are members of Resort Parks International and had sponsored the group’s rally at the membership park so we opted to spend an additional few days right there just relaxing in the sun. Thursday was a beautiful sunny day and we basked in the sun resting up after so many days of activity. It was strange to see our whole area almost vacant; there was nobody left in our area. Fran made a big pot of chicken and vegetable soup for dinner. Already my meds were kicking in and I felt a whole lot better, but chicken soup never hurts, right?


Friday dawned overcast and breezy, and we drove into town to have lunch at Culver’s, a national chain, who make wonderful hamburgers (about 15 different kinds) and ice cream treats. We had waited until Friday because their special flavor of the day, Cherry Chocolate Chip, is Fran’s favorite. We found a little Asian food store, so Fran picked up some supplies.


Then it happened; Saturday morning dawned with the temperature down to 36 degrees, with overcast skies and wind to drop the wind chill even further. Not the kind of weather for lying out in the sun. We spent the day inside the coach reading and watching TV and doing laundry. Not very exciting, and we could only look forward to Sunday, which turned out to be more of the same with only a slight increase in temperature. We would be off to Pierre, SD, the Capitol City of South Dakota and one that brought back memories.






So that’s all for now ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bye folks!













ON THE WAY TO DEVILS TOWER!

September 7 – 10, 2010


With an extra day to play with, we decided to stay in the Coeur d’Alene area and went to the Elks Lodge, Coeur d’Alene, only a half hour from StoneRidge. We were then off to Spokane for another shot at our favorite hamburger joint, Wingers, where we loaded up on more of their outstanding and very big wings and a few bottles of their great sauce. With a bit of time on our hands we went to a movie and saw the very stupid “The Other Guys.” Actually, it did have a few funny moments so it wasn’t all that bad.


Back at the Elks Lodge, we met up again with Danny and Marcie Quarisa, who drove down from StoneRidge for the evening, and fellow CAT RV Club friends Earl and Marie McPeak, who had arrived at the Elks earlier in the day. The Elks were having a big burger shindig so we stopped in for a few drinks and we decided to go to the Tomato Street Italian restaurant which had been recommended by Jay Gridley.

Danny, Geo, Earl, Marie, Fran and Marcie

The restaurant turned out to be crowded and noisy but with our waiter Jason, it was a lot of fun; and, oh, yes, the food was not bad either!


On Wednesday, we were back on the road again heading for Butte, MT, and a friendly Wal-Mart. We didn’t feel too bad staying in their parking area overnight as Fran did some grocery-shopping and generously contributed to their sales figures for the day. After a fairly long drive, we had dinner in the coach and were ready to call it a day. Our destination on Thursday was the Wal-Mart in Sheridan, WY, another long driving day, accompanied by a few rainstorms along the way. We woke early on Friday morning to dark skies, and as soon as we hit the road, it started to rain and didn’t let up until we arrived at the Devils Tower National Monument, WY. So, that's it for now folks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bye!

STONERIDGE AT LAST!

August 31 – September 7, 2010



If the dates of this blog seem a little out of place with the previous one, the reason is because we were so taken with the Devil’s Tower that we couldn’t wait to post the blog and photos of it. So, hope you don’t mind if we backtrack a few days.

It was a short trip from Little Diamond to StoneRidge but our GPS made a very unusual error, probably the worst we have ever encountered with the Garman. We usually trust our GPS and try to give it every opportunity to guide us, but this was too far out so we relied on our good sense and it soon was back on track to get us to StoneRidge.

The first impressions of StoneRidge were outstanding, with a combination of houses, time-shares, condos, a golf course, tennis courts, pool, spa and a lake all in a beautifully landscaped valley in the mountains of Northern Idaho. But we were more interested in the RV campground which turned out to be an excellent facility as well, with full utilities (only 50 amp electric service, not even offering 30 amps!) full concrete pads and asphalt streets. No place to even get dirty!

Overlooking StoneRidge

Joe, our contact, guided us to our site and helped us get parked; we are certainly not used to such service. Since it was still early we tried out the Grill for lunch, and found that they also have an excellent dinner menu.


On Wednesday we decided to do some exploring and headed to Athol, ID, and Silverwood, the “largest theme park in the Northwest.” Some thirty years ago when Fran and I were flying our airplanes, we read about a WWI aerodrome at Athol and flew in to check it out. The aerodrome was just like an old WWI combat base with ramshackle hangers housing a few dozen WWI aircraft from Fokkers to SPADS to SE5’s and to top them off a red Fokker DR-1 Triplane as flown by Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the legendary Red Baron. We visited on a weekend and were treated to an air show as well as a lunch of Sausages and Beer, a throwback to the old days. It had been a wonderful day but unfortunately the aerodrome and those wonderful old airplanes are no longer there. All that is left is a monstrous theme park with roller coasters and a water park and whatever else comprises a theme park. Quite a disappointment but perhaps it was the dismal rainy day, who knows.


Meanwhile, our friends from the CAT RV Club, Danny and Marcie Quarisa arrived at StoneRidge and parked their motorhome near us.

The super mini-golf course

Thursday we had our obligatory sales pitch with Joe, whom we rather liked; he gave us a complete history of the development and took us on a tour of the entire facility but always very low key. Actually we enjoyed our tour and learned that StoneRidge was started in the late 1960’s as a time-share development. It languished for a number of years until the present owners bought the facility in 2001 and made massive changes to the place, adding homes, condos, an expanded golf course and what interested us most: the RV “Village”.



The Motorcoach Village



But since we do not play golf and are not ready for a fixed facility we really had no interest in buying into the place ------ sorry, Joe.

That night Danny, Marcie and Fran cooked up dinner which we ate in the coach as it was too cold outside to be comfortable.



Lake Pend Oreille at Sandpoint

 On Friday, the Internet weather forecast promised a nice day so we all headed for Sandpoint, a quaint small town on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille that has attracted a large art community.

Danny, George, Fran and Marcie

After a stop at the Visitor’s Center, we found a nice restaurant overlooking the lake and the City Park where we had lunch and then boarded the Shawnodese cruise ship for a tour around the lake.

The weather forecast was right-on and we had a lovely day for a sail around the northern portion of this immense lake.


The Shawnodese Cruise Ship

 Our tour guide gave us a half hour history lesson about the origins of the lake dating back millions of years when ice dams formed and then burst, gouging out the huge lakebed. This happened time and time again until finally the ice ages ended and we are left with this immense lake with beautiful homes lining the shores and an occasional boat cruising the azure blue waters.


Fran and George on the Cruise

 We were then off to cruise the main street and see the many tourist shops as well as the flagship store of the Coldwater Creek mail order clothing company. Then off to the Litehouse Bleu Cheese Factory who make some really delicious bleu cheese which, of course, we bought to take back to the coach. Then we were back to StoneRidge for dinner.


Saturday was the beginning of the Labor Day Holiday but was so rainy and miserable that we just stayed in the coach and took the day off. Fran invited Danny and Marcie to come over for dinner; she cooked a couple racks of barbecued baby back ribs, using her favorite Winger’s sweet and spicy sauce, and coleslaw. Marcie brought beans and dessert and we had another great meal.


Fran at the Coeur d'Alene Resort



On Sunday we were invited to have dinner with Jay and Connie Gridley and tour their new home at Fernan Lake Village (a suburb of Coeur d’Alene), so we were off to Coeur d’Alene. Fran was in the mood for sushi for lunch, so in searching on the Internet for restaurants, Fran found a highly-rated one in downtown CdA called Bonsai Bistro.

The Bonsai Bistro Restaurant

We found it across the street from the huge CdA Resort overlooking the City Park and beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene. Interestingly, the restaurant started out as a bank building although along the way it had been converted to this beautiful restaurant with three levels for dining, the lower level outdoor patio had a stream running around it which then went through the lower level dining area. Then a large mid-level area, but we chose the upper level with cantilevered windows giving an exciting view of the main street, the park and the lake. Oh, yes, the food was very good also. After some shopping we made our way to Fernan Lake Village and found the Gridley home; couldn’t miss it with their Revcon motorhome parked in the driveway. Jay and Connie are old friends who spend their winters in Casa Grande, AZ, so they are just like neighbors. They had bought this corner house in Fernan Lake, an area they liked, and proceeded to tear out all the walls and rebuild it to their liking, even the landscaping and garden are all new. Now, for many folks this would be a multi-year project but we have seen how they work on their motorhomes and their park model home in Casa Grande so we were not too surprised at the speed that this home was completely and beautifully renovated. The basement has an antique wood parlor room that the former owner had removed from a hundred year old house that was being torn down and had it installed here. This is a real feature of the house even though it is hidden away in the basement.

George, Fran, Connie,Jay and Carrie 

But we had really come for dinner and Connie is a great cook so we proceeded to dinner where their daughter Carrie joined us. Dinner with the Gridleys is always a treat and we enjoyed the marvelous food and good company.

Monday was Labor Day and dawned somewhat overcast and chilly but at least there was no rain. All week the local folks had been very friendly, stopping by to chat, and all invited us to “Mike’s” lot for a Beer and Sausage feast that he puts on each year. So, after giving both the motorhome and the car a much-needed bath, we made our way to “Mike’s” with Danny and Marcie; and sure enough, Mike had built a large lanai adjourning his coach with plenty of beer, wine and assorted sausages. In a nearby site, folks played a very animated Bocce Ball tournament.

We weren’t into Bocce Ball, but the hosts had dug out a large seating area in the embankment lined with granite boulders, flowering plants and lights. In the center was a large stone table with a cutout in the center in the shape of the state of Idaho. The cutout was filled with glass cubes of various colors and had flames rising through the cubes; it was truly impressive and did give off some warmth as well. We joined the conversation and it soon turned to cars which appealed to all the “guys” but maybe not so much for the “girls.”

With Labor Day over we would say goodbye to all our new friends at StoneRidge. It has been a wonderful week that ended all too soon, but we have things to do and places to see so we were off to our next stop. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bye, all!





DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT, WYOMING

September 10 – 11, 2010

At the entrance station

From Sheridan, WY, to Devils Tower, WY, was only a three-hour drive but it rained all the way, three hours straight until, just as we arrived at our destination, it finally started to clear. At the entrance to the National Monument was a large KOA Campground but we decided to try the campground in the park. With our Golden Age Passport we entered the park free and enjoyed a 50% discount at the campground. The campground did not have utilities but was neat and clean with pull-through sites along the paved roadway and we had our satellite and cell phone service as well. Furthermore, most of the sites had a beautiful view of the tower.

Fran listens to the Ranger

As soon as we were set up we drove the car the two miles up to the Visitor’s Center where we arrived just in time for one of the Ranger Talks. The Tower is close to 1000 feet tall above the surrounding countryside and the relatively flat area on top is about the size of a football field. It consists of igneous (molten) rock that was thrust up some millions of years ago and the surrounding softer soils and rock weathered away leaving the tower as we see it today. As the rock cooled it cracked into the vertical shapes so visible on close inspection. All quite amazing.

View from the Visitor Center

There is a lot of climbing on the tower, but not when the weather threatens as it did today. Climbers must register with the Ranger and then check in when they return safely. A climber in 1984 scaled the tower without ropes or pitons, using only his bare hands and rubber sandals; his time to climb was an astounding 18 minutes, ------- phenomenal!

Devils Tower on a sunny Saturday

Another daredevil in the early 30’s parachuted from an airplane to demonstrate his accuracy and actually landed on top of the tower. The only problem was it took another six days by an expert rescue team to get him safely down. There is a hiking trail around the base that is only 1.3 miles and would probably be an interesting hike but with the altitude and cold wet weather we just did not feel up to it; too bad.  We learned that some of the visitors were on a Big Sky RV Tour by Fantasy Caravans with 22 coaches parked at the KOA Campground.

Prairie Dog Town

 Returning to our coach we passed the Prairie Dog Town with thousands of little Prairie Dogs popping up out of their holes and feeding on local grasses. The Town is probably 30 to 40 acres and there are caves connecting all the caverns where these very communal animals have their own communities. Some of these little critters would come right out onto the roadway but a danger signal from one of them would have them all diving for a tunnel mound.

"Circle of Sacred Smoke"

The weather report on the internet called for “abundant” sunshine on Saturday 9/11 and for once they were correct so we went back to the Visitor’s Center in the bright sunshine on Saturday morning for more photos. Since we were heading to the Revconeer Rally at the Hart Ranch near Rapid City, SD, we had to be on our way and unlike the previous week, it was a terrific day for traveling.

That’s all for now ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bye!