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volume 2 August 12, 1999 number 11 IN THIS NEWSLETTER: GOLFING IN LARAMORE, NORTH DAKOTA
Pictures to go with all of these stories are in the August issue of What's New
GOLFING IN LARAMORE, NORTH DAKOTA We stayed in Laramore one more day making it a total of four days instead of the one night stop we had originally planned. Even when we did leave we really weren't ready to go. It was so quiet and peaceful there that we just enjoyed that and not touring. Playing golf has been something that we haven't been doing in a long time. But since we weren't busy touring and had time to just have fun, we went the links. What a beautiful course it was and at only $10 for 9 holes ($7 for the second 9) it was a bargain. We only played 9 because it was so hot, but our scores looked more like 18 hole scores. It was fun and Ron promised that we would play more golf. That evening, we decided to go out for dinner. I can't tell you the name of the place, but it was on main street and had a lot of cars in front so it looked like the place to go. It was a friendly bar/restaurant and we ordered hamburgs. Mmmmm they were good. We discovered that the reason the place was so full was it was bingo time. Every night at six and eight they play two paper games of bingo. I learned that the VFW hall has the seven o'clock bingo game so people come to the bar, go to the VFW then back to the bar. Gambling is legal in North Dakota and they even had a blackjack table in the bar. As we were leaving we saw this sign:
ON TO MINOT We stayed on US Route 2 as we headed west from Laramore. The wheat and corn looked so beautiful and it just happened that the CD that was playing (some instrumental) made me feel like we were in a travel video about this great country. It was the golden wheat fields gently bending in the breeze and that fact that we travel in the comfort of our living room. Then the colors changed and became light green fields. Then it changed to bright yellow which we learned later was canola. That song was still playing. I could see a big grain elevator on the right indicating a small town way up ahead and the railroad tracks were running right to it. Then off to the left, I could see a crop duster flying over the fields which had changed to a greenish yellow. Oh what a glorious memory. Neither one of us knew how agricultural North Dakota was and we wish we knew our crops. So many times we wondered what it was that was growing and if we had seen someone we would have asked, but honestly it was like we were all alone out there. We ran into just a little construction at Lacota where US 2 became dirt, but it was just for a few miles. Normally in the morning of our travel days, I fill our coffee carafe with coffee left over from breakfast. Once we are on the main road, we each enjoy a cup of coffee and a little later (about 10:30) we enjoy another one with a cookie or two. I was out of cookies that morning. I remembered that I had a package of slice and bake cookies in the refrigerator (always keep some for emergencies). I sliced six onto an aluminum pizza pan, put them in the convection oven for 11 minutes on slow mix/bake at 350 degrees. A few minutes after I took them out of the oven, we had freshly baked cookies and coffee and all while rolling west on U.S. Route 2 in North Dakota. What a life!! We got to Minot but the campgrounds were full. We didn't know that that
was the week of the State Fair. So we we simply got out our Trailer Life
Campground directory and looked at what was available on down the road.
Because
we only plan for 200 mile days, we can always keep going and go a little
further. We see so many who come into a campground late in the day, and
if there was "no room at the inn," they would be in trouble. It just made
for a little longer day, but we were in Williston by three in the afternoon.
WILLISTON, NORTH DAKOTA Continuing on U.S. 2 from Minot, we noticed that there were few trees and gently rolling hills. As before, the land was fully planted and growing beautifully. It seemed lonesome, but was a nice relief from the crowds we had experienced in Michigan and Minnesota. There was plenty of room at the Buffalo Trails campground when we arrived and our hosts were very friendly. Williston looks like a very nice town. The University of North Dakota at Williston is there and the houses are all very nice. The streets are neat and it just looked inviting. There is no mall so the down town is still alive, complete with a J.C. Penny store. There was a Wal-Mart, KMart, large Albertsons store, nice looking restaurants and so on. It would have been a nice town to "live in" for a while. The 20 page magazine about Williston that we were handed as we checked into the campground had lots of information about this community. For example there are 16 campgrounds, 8 golf courses, lots of good fishing in the Missouri River and nearby lakes, concerts in the park on Thursday evenings and 10 Lutheran churches. There were other churches too (17), but because we are Lutheran, we were surprised at the number. While driving around town, I noticed a rather large newspaper office and a nice printer. Suddenly I remembered that this was exactly the kind of town I used to look for when it was time to do our old paper newsletter. First I would get my film developed, then I would talk to the people at the newspaper office to see if they would make the half tones (put a dot pattern in the photos so they would copy better). Next I would negotiate with the printer to see if they could get our job done while we were in town (usually two weeks) then we would write, edit, rewrite, edit, etc., and rush to meet the printer's deadline. It would usually take a week for the printer to do their work so during that time, we would tour the area. Once the newsletter was printed, Ron and I would spend one grueling day folding, stapling and stamping the newsletters and only after they were in the mail were we finally free to move on. Oh and all the while we were working on the newsletter, we would still get mail and that meant 40-75 letters each week with checks that needed posting, addresses that needed changing and questions that needed answering. I can't tell you how glad I am that I no longer do that paper newsletter. The electronic one is much easier. Thank you to all of you who let me close the old one down. While we were in Williston, we learned (quite by accident) that soon
(August 9-15) there would be a large motorcycle rally in the Rapid City
area. We were also told that there wouldn't be a campsite available for
a 100 mile radius. At the rate we were going we would be right in the middle
of that so we decided not to stop at the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt
National Park. We needed to beat the bikers to South Dakota.
MEDORA, NORTH DAKOTA At Williston we had turned south on U.S. 85 which was still a good road. Just after we crossed the Missouri River it became hilly and there were lots of big trees. I thought we were going to see some different scenery, but it didn't last long. The big fields lush with what ever grain was growing returned. The fields are so large that it appears there is nothing else as far as one can see. One field was broken with a tiny church right in the middle of the field. Roseland Lutheran Church was so small that I couldn't imagine it holding more than 30 people. There wasn't another building around that could be seen in any direction. I wished that I had had my camera ready. Why was it there and where do the people come from to attend services were my silent questions. As we drove by the north unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park the scenery was starkly different from the farmlands we had been seeing. There were sharp hills with red, gold and brown horizontal stripes and with little vegetation. It was an indescribable beauty and I wished we could have spent a little time there. Five miles later, we were back to farms. At I-94 we jumped on and headed west exiting at Medora. Medora is a small town full of history, charm and the home of the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We had planned to camp in the national park but two things made us change our mind and make a reservation at the Red Trail campground in town. First of all, we were scared by tales of hundreds of thousand motorcycles gobbling up campgrounds and it was hot. In national parks there are no hookups and we worried that it would be too uncomfortable with out being able to run our air; we do not run our generator in the national parks because we don't like to ruin the peace and quiet. Even when we made the reservation at Red Trail, they made it sound like we were getting the last spot available. We were wrong on both counts and although we were comfortable in town, it would have been fun to be in the national park campground and there were plenty of spaces that we could easily fit into. As soon as we were settled in the campground we drove around town to see what was there and we were pleasantly surprised at the nice shops with moderate prices. Although geared toward the tourist it did not seem extremely busy and everyone was friendly. In 1883 Medora was a frontier town founded by a French nobleman who wanted to get rich. His idea of having a meat packing plant rather than shipping live cattle seemed good and he prospered for several years. The harsh winter of 1887-88 wiped out the cattle business and the ranching business never recovered. The town became a ghost town. In 1947 Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established, but the town did not begin to come to life until 1958 when the Burning Hills Amphitheater was constructed and the drama "Old Four Eyes" was presented to mark the 100th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt's birthday. Meeting Theodore Roosevelt On our first afternoon we visited the Harold Schafer Heritage Center to learn about the man who brought the town back to life in 1962. Then we walked over to the Rough Riders Hotel, where Ray Anderson, appeared on the balcony as President Theodore Roosevelt and gave a speech that the president actually gave from that same balcony. From there we walked over to the Community Center where Mr. Anderson was the sole actor in the one act play, "Bully" which gave us an insight into the life of Theodore Roosevelt as President, father, husband and hunter in the North Dakota Badlands. We were excited at all the history we were learning. Theodore Roosevelt National Park Our day in the national park started at the visitor center. Besides exhibits about the nature of the area, they have the Maltise Cross cabin which was Roosevelt's main house on his first ranch near Medora. The park has tours of the cabin at regular intervals, but we happened to be lucky enough to be there at one of only three special tours in which a young Theodore Roosevelt talks with the group. We had already gotten some idea of what kind of a man Theodore Roosevelt was from the play, but this young Roosevelt was amazing. We were mesmerized as he told about coming to "Dakota territory" after the death of his wife and mother and how he found life and love in the land. When his 20 minute presentation (which seemed to transport us back in time) was over, no one wanted it to end. We learned that this same man (Mark Klemetsrud, a teacher of drama at the university in Lincoln, Nebraska) would be presenting an hour-long program at the campground that evening. We could hardly wait. We arrived at the campground fire circle early wanting a front row seat. It was a pleasant evening and we again were mesmerized as Mark became Theodore for one whole hour. We learned about Theodore as a child and how he used to keep insects and other animals hidden in corners of his room and under pillows for later stuffing and about the staff who would threaten to quit if that little boy didn't quit surprising them with dead animals. We learned that this young man suffered terribly from Asthma until he arrived in the Dakotas. As he described the buffalo hunt, we were with him and could almost see the whole thing. He put so much energy into his performance that we felt tired with him when he was through. We really felt that we met Theodore Roosevelt that night and I will never forget it. Our national parks are the best bargain anywhere and they have such talent. Every ranger presentation we have ever heard was as good if not better than commercial talks or tours. Next time we will camp in the campground so we can attend every campfire program without having to drive in six miles. It is magical. Theodore Roosevelt is a beautiful park and holds lots of history. The Musical We purchased our tickets for the musical on our first day and included tickets for the Pitchfork Fondue which several had raved about. Purchasing the Fondue tickets enabled us to have preferred seating for the musical. The dinner tickets were $18 each and so were the musical tickets. The amphitheater is way up on a hill overlooking town and when we arrived a little after 6 o'clock for the fondue dinner, we were amazed at the number of people and the number of steaks arranged on each of dozens and dozens of pitchforks. The pitchforks were leaning up against a railing near four huge (at least 4 feet tall and nearly that big around) kettles of hot oil. At precisely 6:30 they rang the dinner bell and 500 people got in one of four lines and the chuck wagon cooks stuck four or five of those pitchforks full of steaks (11 ounce rib eye) into each kettle of oil. By the time the first people had filled up their plates with salad, veggies, beans and potato,they went to the steak station and were handed a perfectly cooked steak. Except for the plastic silverware and plates, it was a fun dinner and we met some nice people. The musical started at 8:30 and we had terrific seats in the fifth row and near the center. With the natural background of the hills and the stars, it made for a fun evening of singing, dancing and laughing. Every night at the Red Trail campground from 5:45 to 9:45, for the past 16 years, Vern and Rita Davis present a free show in front of the campground office. Everyone brings a lawn chair to sit and listen to "champaign country music." We were amazed that he knows just about every country song ever written by heart. His show was basically just requests and folks came and went as they felt like it. One young man who was here with his family said he remembered coming to this place as a little boy and hearing the same couple sing. We enjoyed four wonderful days in Medora.
FROM MEDORA TO RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA When we left Medora, we headed east on I-94 until we found U.S. 85 again. We were back to big farms but by now we were longing for something really interesting. Instead we tried to picture life there. First of all we knew people must live there, but where? The hundreds and hundreds of uninterrupted acres of crops needed to be harvested. But we saw few if any mail boxes on that highway. So we wondered where they get their mail or who delivers it. Imagine the UPS delivery route or Fed-X. When we saw a Frito Lay delivery truck, we also wondered how long he/she has to travel between stops. When one lives in those areas there is no jumping in the car to run to the store. While in Medora, we drove 25 miles to the town of Beach looking for a good grocery store and were disappointed in the only grocery store in that town of over 1,000 people. We must be spoiled by the large chains. That little store just didn't have a big variety. We finally guessed that much of what is needed in the way of groceries is probably grown on the farms. No need for canned or frozen green beans when you can grow your own. We went for miles and miles on U.S. 85 when we didn't see any utility poles along the highway. A sign at a driveway said "Struder Ranch" and I looked hard but only saw a long straight dirt road which went for at least five miles and I still didn't see the house. I wondered how much further it went. We speculated some more. There would be no door-to-door salesmen in this lonesome area and one could not easily go to the neighbors to borrow a cup of sugar. From 16 miles north of Bowman to South Dakota, U.S. 85 deteriorated and in fact was terrible. And 85 didn't improve in South Dakota either. The farms were replaced with grazing land once we reached South Dakota. We really got excited when we saw three honest to goodness cowboys who were moving with a nice tight group of cattle. And we were a zillion miles from any other sign of human habitation. South of Belle Fourche the road got hillier and there were more trees
and nine miles later we were on I-90 heading east to Rapid City.
Hart Ranch We weren't sure where we were going to stay in or near Rapid City. We had gotten angry at ourselves when we skipped the national park campground in Medora and promised never to worry about campground space again. We had heard that friends, Dante and Claudia, had reservations for the Hart Ranch (Coast to Coast campground) and we had heard that that park is hard to get into. But we thought if they didn't have room for us, we would go somewhere else. We knew Wal-Mart could be a choice if nothing else. As we pulled up to the gate, we were greeted warmly and were given a site for three days. When those days were up we were given two more days in another site, and finally our last two nights in our third spot. It was not a problem to move and all sites are perfect there (full hook-ups and level). We had heard about this campground before; everyone has said that it is the best one in the whole Coast to Coast system. We found that to be true. And the people were wonderful. Hart Ranch is huge and includes a beautiful golf course, theater, pools, restaurant and even their own gas pumps. And they were selling gas cheaper than any station around. We had to laugh when our friends arrived because they were put in the overflow area for a while the day they arrived. By 6 p.m. they were told they could have a space with full hook ups but they declined saying they liked the little stream behind them. They even stayed by the stream for a couple of days by choice then finally gave up and went to a regular site. We had fully expected to be put in the overflow area when we arrived and wouldn't have minded because they do try hard to get everyone to a site as soon as possible. Chief Crazy Horse We arrived on August 3 and the big bike thing was scheduled to begin on August 9 so our plan was to do some touring quickly then depart Rapid City before the bikers arrived. The first day of touring we drove to see the Chief Crazy Horse sculpture which was started by Korczak Ziolkowski over 50 years ago. Even though he died less than one year ago, his family is continuing the work on the statue which dwarfs the presidents faces on Mount Rushmore. Korczak accepted the invitation of Chief Standing Bear in 1939 which was shortly before work was finished on Mount Rushmore. The chief wrote, "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes too." Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore was everything we expected and more. It was very crowded, but we escaped the crowds a bit by taking the Presidential Trail which got us to several spots where we could see the faces clearly then we continued down to the Sculptor's Studio and arrived just in time to hear a ranger's talk on how the faces were made. She cleverly included children in her presentation and tried to impress on everyone how difficult the task had been. For example she positioned a young boy next to the type of jackhammer which would have been used. She asked him if it would be hard to hold that all day and he agreed, but then she said that they wouldn't have held the jackhammer upright; they would have held it perpendicular to the mountain. She asked the boy to hold the hammer out straight and of course he could hardly do that. The ranger went into each step of the carving and added many little stories that we would have never known. As we left Mount Rushmore our route took us through the town of Keystone which is closest to the park. It reminded us of Gatlingberg or Pigeon Forge; it was full of what we call junk fun --- go carts, water parks, miniature golf, eating places and so on and it was busy. The city The bikers were arriving, but we decided that there was so much more to see that we had to stay. Rapid City is a nice sized city with everything one could want plus the natural beauty of the Black Hills. The downtown area has some wonderful shops and we enjoyed a morning there. Our first stop was a bagel shop on main street (I think it was called B & J Bagels). They had peanut butter bagels as well as the standard kinds so we had to buy a dozen. From the visitor magazine, we followed the historical tour of the town for a little while then settled on just seeing what was in the shops. We got a kick out of a speed limit sign in town. It was a regular 35 mph sign but underneath was a small rectangular sign which said. "30's okay." A little further down the road was another sign which read, "but not 45" and still further down another sign read "Drive safely." I needed a hair cut so I was also looking for a beauty shop. When we came to Yoyi's Hair Designs and went in, I was not sure this was where I should be. There was only one chair and the gal at the desk was not busy. I inquired about the price which was reasonable then asked if she had time to do me. She wasn't busy so I sat down. This bubbly, beautiful, Spanish woman was exciting. Right away she started telling me (in broken English) about her talented daughter and son; she showed me her daughter's picture and the CD she had recently recorded. Then she went on to tell about her singing and awards she had won. She was born in Spain, and lived in Mexico for some years and recently (after a divorce) moved from Colorado to Rapid City and opened her barber business. When I was through, she said, "Now I sing you a song," and for accompaniment she put a tape in the tape player then grabbed the microphone. What a wonderful voice she had. She was awesome and we were left nearly speechless. I wanted to stay and hear her sing more, but another customer had come in so she went back to work cutting hair. Under her picture on her business card, it reads, "The Singing Barber." Ron said that while she was cutting my hair, he read some of the PR about her which was available. She had been invited to be on the Late Show with Dave Letterman, but turned it down because she was afraid that he would make fun of her. Deadwood I had seen lots of publicity about the town of Deadwood and was sure that the streets were dirt like in the old days and that Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock would be there. It was terribly disappointing only because it wasn't what I expected. It was an old gold mining town which now mines gold from our pockets in the form of gambling. After comparing this town to Central City or Blackhawk in Colorado, it just didn't have the same personality. We did see Wild Bill Hickock wandering around and I had the feeling that I had seen him before. Comparing the Colorado towns to Deadwood, I asked him if he had been in either one of those cities. He hadn't. Then I remembered where I had seen him. I found him again and asked if he had been in Cody, Wyoming, last summer and he had. We didn't stay for the shoot out although Deadwood is the actual place where he was shot in the back while at the poker table. Sturgis and Bikers Well, we had seen the bikers. They were arriving from everywhere and the day we were in Deadwood, that town was quite full with motorcycles. At lunch in Deadwood, we chatted for quite a while with a couple from Illinois and their daughter and son-in-law who where in the area because of the Sturgis Rally. The guys had ridden the bikes out while the girls drove their truck. They filled us in on what would be going on in Sturgis and it sounded interesting. In fact it sounded quite exciting; last year Dennis Rodman arrived with chaps and nothing underneath which is really quite common. Women bare their chests at the slightest request. And men show their stuff too. These four were renting a house from a local woman. They explained that places rent one year in advance and the locals generally move out while renting their house to the rally attendees. As a reporter, I needed to see what goes on in town, so on that evening (Saturday, August 7) we drove the twenty some miles (west) to Sturgis. Because the rally hadn't officially started, it wasn't as busy as normal, and we were lucky to find a parking spot about three blocks from main street. There were motorcycles everywhere. Both sides of the street were lined with them and there was a parade of sorts going on through town. There was a steady stream of riders going from one end of the street to the other, then they would turn around and do it again. We stood and watched for quite a while. What an assortment of people and bikes. We were most surprised at the white haired, bearded gentlemen with their far from young partners. There were a few scantily dressed women riding and they seemed to delight in showing off their nice bodies. One gal rode both directions on the street by standing up behind her driver so all could get a good look at her; she was wearing a g string and that was all. After a while we decided to walk the crowded sidewalks. It was wall to wall people, and there was a lot of excitement in the air. All of the normal shops in town had been converted to stores which would interest the bikers. We had heard about that on TV. Shops rent their shop to someone who will be selling tee shirts for example. The original shop keeper moves their stock and equipment to a back room or somewhere else for the duration of the rally. When we were downtown on Saturday, even though the rally hadn't officially started, all the shops had been converted. Some places were in business to do tattoos, others were selling beer in cans while people were dancing on the carpeted floor of the former dress shop. There was so much leather for sale that the whole town smelled of it. Of course most of the participants were wearing leather too. We didn't see anyone bare themselves, but we hear that that will come as the rally gets going. Ron bought a tee shirt which says. "Feel the Thunder" and we could. A drive to the Badlands We headed out early on Sunday so we could drive 60 miles west to visit Badlands National Park. Heading west on I-90 was a steady stream of motorcycles. Some were being ridden while others were being trailered. There were many motorhomes pulling big Harley Davisdon trailers. We couldn't believe what we were seeing; eighty five percent of the vehicles heading west were motorcycle related. The gas stations were so full of bikes that no car could possibly fit in. At Badlands, the park was so busy that we didn't do a good job of touring it; each pull off spot was again full of bikes so we didn't bother to stop. But we got to see what the badlands look like and tried to imagine the pioneers trying to cross them. On our way home from Badlands National Park that afternoon we were on the road with the motorcycles --- going in the same direction. That wasn't bad, but it was really fun when we stopped at Wall Drug. Everyone has to witness the famous Wall drug store which is like a tourist mall. We had gotten a little bit of a scoop on the beginnings of this place from Carol Vind who went to school with the son (and present owner) of Wall drug. It might have been more fun, if we could have moved through the place. But at least we can say we have been there. Custer State Park and Wind Cave There was one more thing we wanted to see in the Rapid City area and that was Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park. We saved these trips for Monday figuring that all the motorcycles would be busy in Sturgis. Wrong. The ride to Wind Cave wasn't bad but on our way back through the State Park those hairpin mountain roads were something the motorcycles seemed to like. We did see a lot of wild life in Custer especially Buffalo. On our way back to Hart Ranch we had to go through that little town of Keystone (that busy town near Mount Rushmore) and traffic was backed up for over 4 miles. We were glad we were going the opposite way and were home in no time. In spite of the crowds, it was a good visit to that beautiful part of
the country. We especially enjoyed being at Hart Ranch. We also enjoyed
visiting with Claudia and Dante several evenings. We heard from Bob and
Carole Kenney who were camped nearby and we were able to visit with them
one evening then Bob and Gerrie Wall, who live in Rapid City, heard
we were at the park and stopped in for a short visit.
BEYOND THE DAKOTAS We had originally planned to go to Nebraska then Colorado after our visit in South Dakota, (following U.S. 385 south) but it was still hot so I asked Ron if we could go to the mountains somewhere. He picked Buffalo, Wyoming, and that is where we are. It meant driving the entire way on I-90 but it was okay. We love it here. We will be here for a week or more then we will head south. We have doctor appointments early in September so when next I write, I expect we will be back at Valle del Oro in Mesa. Arizona. We plan to take lots of drives and see as much of this area as we can after I get this sent off and it will all be in the next report.
LAZY DAYS SCHEDULE FOR JANUARY The following dates and times are for our seminars on full-timing which will be held at Lazy Days RV (Tampa, Florida) in January 2000. The seminars are all free and you do not need a reservation. In the next newsletter I hope to have more information about their rallies planned for the same month. They are a lot of fun and include camping, seminars and plentuof good food and entertainment. You will need to reserve if you are attending a rally. If you just can't wait until our next newsletter call Lazy Days at 1-800-626-7800 Jan. 7th @ 9 am
LETTERS Because a lot of you don't get to read the letters on the web, I thought I would include a few in each issue kind of like I used to do in the paper newsletter. Our readers have a lot to say. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ken and Jan Herman
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Have fun in the Dakotas.
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3 years, 7 months and 1 day till fulltiming!!
RON'S POTPOURRI It may be a national trend but fuel prices are higher---especially here in the Dakotas. The highest we have paid for diesel has been $1.139 (last fill-up in North Dakota). We have averaged about $1.099 and diesel has been about ten cents lower than gasoline. They tell me that a lot of the modern motorcyclists are now doctors and lawyers, but they didn't look like doctors and lawyers to me. Well maybe some could be lawyers. It's probably true though because those things aren't cheap. As Barb says, our evening in Sturgis was fun. The stereotype of Hell's Angel type people didn't fit the crowd jamming the streets. Everyone was very courteous and simply having fun. Just once I would like to get on one of those hogs (see, I know the lingo) and gun it for all it's worth. Yes Barb did bug me about a tattoo. Can you just see the old conservative accountant with a tattoo? True to form our friends look out for me as they know that I am not too mechanical. Good friend Dante flushed out our hot water tank and I was surprised to see all the gunk that came out of it. He used a long copper tube like thing (available at Camping World for $6) that attaches to the water hose. I think I can handle the job now;every six months is recommended. I laughed when Barb bought one of those little California dusters several
years ago at a rally. Now I have to admit that they really work and in
spite of a lot of traveling our motorhome still looks pretty good.
BARB'S THIS N THAT I have just posted a new article in Ron's view from the Drivers Seat.
See it at
Did I ever tell you that I used to ride a motorcycle? Oh, it was at least one hundred years ago when I was real young. I was in the service and fell in love with this guy that had one. I felt like a bad girl riding it and when we were in Sturgis I had the urge to be "bad" again. I wanted a tattoo. But I restrained myself. But a little rose somewhere special wouldn't hurt would it? Remember me telling you about my long divorced parents who are only one mile apart in separate assisted living homes? Well now they are in the same one. I will be anxious to know how they do. You might remember that they really don't know one another because of slipping memories and that is good because they used to fight like cats and dogs. There is a nice golf course here in Buffalo, Wyoming, and I hope to get the ole boy out there. He doesn't like to play much anymore because he keeps losing his ball. I think we will start out at the driving range and just shoot a couple of buckets. Once more I must say how pleased I am that every campground we have been in has gone to the trouble of installing a phone jack for internet access. It has been a piece of cake to send and receive email.
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