Blue Bridges and Horse Trailers

 Location: Lancaster Event Center; Lincoln, Nebraska

I crossed into Nebraska on Saturday. You can tell by the bright blue bridges that span the Missouri River between Nebraska and Iowa on Interstate 680. I like it. I like it a lot. I think I've crossed them before in the past, but am not sure. It is much better than the usual drab silver/grey or putrid green. I don't know why more states haven't done the same thing. You have to paint steel bridges to prevent rusting. Once you're committed to painting, there isn't any additional cost if you want to paint a different color. Wait, I need to revise that since there is a slight cost increase for some colors, but nothing significant. Before I retired, we had a bridge with a upcoming painting project. I received permission from our state headquarters to paint the bridge something other than silver/grey. We got the local media involved and had the public vote on which color to paint the bridge. It turned out Purple was the winning color. Remember, this was in Louisiana, purple and gold are everywhere. But, it was evident I didn't cheat on the poll results because I'm not an LSU fan. My choice was bright Red since the bridge crossed the Red River. Anyway, the project kept getting delayed due to money problems. It was eventually killed after I retired but not because of money. From what I heard, there were some unusual birds roosting under the bridge and the Federal Government stepped in to protect them. I'm not sure of all the details, but that is close enough. The bridge is still rusting away.

Only one travel picture for this post. It was almost perfect driving weather.

The Blue Bridges on I-680 over the Missouri River

As most RV travelers know, holidays in campgrounds ain't fun. They are usually 100% full of weekend campers. They have been preparing for this three day camping trip for months and months and bring enough stuff to stay a month. I think they round up every barking dog from their neighborhood as well as every squeaky bicycle they can find. I asked some parents once if they needed some oil for their child's bicycle that was making a heck of a noise and they said "No". When they saw my puzzled look, they continued, "We like the squeaking because we can tell where in the campground the kids are riding". Yep, everyone in the campground could tell where their little Johnny and Jane were riding. That is, when you could hear the squeaking in between songs blaring from about a dozen boom boxes playing in the campground. Charcoal fires for BBQ'ing, kids laughing, dogs barking, bikes squeaking, songs blaring, etc,,,, yep,,, life in a campground on a holiday weekend. 

If you're an RV traveler, you learn quick to snatch a campground reservation early for a holiday or you may find yourself staying in a Walmart parking lot in 90+ degree temperatures without air conditioning. The problem is that with travelers, we usually don't know where or even which state we will be in for the next holiday so we are sometimes late at making reservations. The State and Federal (COE) parks usually get reserved up first, followed closely by private campgrounds. Over the years, I've found that the last ones to fill up are the State/County fairgrounds. Many fairgrounds have campgrounds that are used by participants and vendors during the events. If there isn't an event going on, the fairground campgrounds rent out their campgrounds which are pretty empty. That is what I thought I was doing for this Labor Day weekend. I couldn't find any COE's with vacancies so I started looking at the fairgrounds. I found one that looked good and was on my southern route. Also, there were a lot of sites to chose from so they must not have an event for that weekend. Or so I thought. I booked a site for the three days of Labor Day weekends and was feeling good about finding a place to hunker down and avoid the regular campground holiday antics. 

When I arrived on Saturday afternoon, just about every site was taken except mine. They were full of RV's and horse trailers. Apparently, there was a horse show scheduled for the weekend and people from across Nebraska had come to the fairgrounds. I squeezed Liberty into my site and hooked up. I was expecting a lot of activity since the campground was full, but to my surprise, it was very quiet. There were a lot of people moving around in the evening, but no BBQ'ing or anything like the typical campground. I had thoughts of visiting the horse show but didn't. I just kept hunkering down until almost everyone left on Monday morning.

Saturday afternoon. Squeezed between a Class A Motorhome and a horse trailer. Neither were any problems.

Monday, about noon. Every horse trailer is gone but a few RV's remain.

Today is moving day and I'll be heading about 200 miles south to a Corps of Engineers campground on Pomona Lake which is a little south of Topeka, Kansas. The route I'm taking is a U.S. highway instead of interstate. Taking the interstate increases the travel distance by 50 plus miles. I thought long and hard about just doing the extra mileage for the sake of getting paved shoulders and four lanes. But, for some reason, I've decide to take the U.S. highway and break another one of my silly rules suggestions. That suggestion is "tow on the Interstates, explore on the Blue Highways." We will see if breaking my ____, comes back to bite me.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.  

The Falls of Sioux Falls and Battleship X

Location: W.H. Lyons Fairground Campground; Sioux Falls, South Dakota

There weren't any Corps of Engineers Campgrounds near Sioux Falls, so my second choice was a State Fairground. Many state/county fairgrounds have campgrounds attached and rent out sites throughout the year. They are usually pretty basic, which is fine with me. This one is located very near to the things I wanted to see in Sioux Falls. 

Our campsite for 4 days. It rained before arriving so they parked us parallel. That way we could stay on pavement instead of the grass. Behind me, while taking this picture, are about 20 or so RV's of people who are staying long term.

The main reason for coming here was to see the Falls of Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls is the largest city in South Dakota and as with most towns in this part of the country, a river runs through it. In this case, it's the Big Sioux River. At a large area inside the city limits, the river passes through outcroppings of Sioux Quartzite which creates several waterfalls. The quartzite is a very hard stone and can be seen in several buildings around the area. The city has done an excellent job in building a city park that encompasses the entire falls. Pictures with captions will be easier to explain some of the history.

The Big Sioux River with quartzite everywhere.

One of the falls up close

A little farther downstream

The last cut through the quartzite before flattening out for a while.

In the late 1800's a grinding mill was built next to the falls so they could use the river for power. Instead of the usual large waterwheel, they built a penstock pipe that dumped water onto a turbine that spun a shaft that powered the mill. The mill had an attached, multi floor warehouse for storage. Sadly, there wasn't enough quality wheat grown in the area to make the mill profitable so it went bankrupt after just a couple of years. Remnants of the mill is still around. 

The structure in the upper right is what's left of the mill/warehouse. Top center is where the hydro turbine was housed. The circle in the bottom of the turbine house is where the penstock pipe entered. The penstock was laying on the circular cradles in the lower center. Behind me, while I took this picture, is where the river would have been damed up creating the water pool.

This is inline where the penstock pipe would have been laying on those cradles. This is looking back to where I was standing when I took the previous picture.

A closer view where the penstock would have entered the turbine house. The current location of the river and falls is to the left in this picture.

This is looking up at the turbine house from the river. The circular opening at the bottom of the house is where the water would leave the building after spinning the turbine. 

This is a nice overall view of the entire park. It is taken from the observation tower attached to the visitor's center/gift shop. There were two really nice ladies that worked in the gift shop that gave me directions to places to see downtown. They commented that they liked my southern accent, so I may have thickened it up a little bit and overused, "ya'll" and "yonder". Oh well, it was a nice visit.

The last thing I wanted to see in Sioux Falls was the Battleship X memorial. Some people may know it as The U.S.S. South Dakota (BB 57). During the war it was sometimes referred to as battleship X because the Japanese reported they had sank her several times. They made this mistake because she had lots and lots of anti-aircraft guns in addition to her big 16 inch guns. When all of the anti-aircraft guns let go at the same time, they produced so much smoke and flames that it looked like the entire ship was on fire. This is what confused some of the Japanese into reporting that she was sinking. To let the Japanese continue to believe she had been sunk, the U.S. military and press referred to her as Battleship X. This also allowed many top secret pieces of equipment to be installed and tried out without tipping off the enemy as to which ship they on. This is some of the Navy history taught to us in bootcamp during the 1970's. 

Since a battleship couldn't make the trip up the Mississippi, Missouri and Big Sioux rivers, the ship isn't here. Besides, she was scrapped in 1962. However, parts of her were saved and sent to Sioux Falls. Once there, the locals built a nice memorial using the parts that were saved. They made a outline of the ship, to the exact size, and placed the saved pieces in their proper location. This type of memorial gave a different feel than the feelings I had when I visited some of the other battleships in Texas and Alabama. It is almost like a ghost ship.

This is the outline of the ship while standing amidship looking to the stern. You can see the propeller and one barrel of her big guns as well as her mast with crows nest. 

Looking towards the bow you can see her anchor and chains. Also the breaches of her big guns. 

A picture of the actual battleship. 

 Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be heading about 200 miles south to another State Fairgrounds. This time it will be in Lincoln, Nebraska. It will be Labor Day weekend so I'll be hunkering (dang, I should have used that word at the gift shop) down until the holiday is over. I've briefly looked for things to see and do around Lincoln, but haven't found anything. Oh well, maybe I'll use it to give Liberty a good cleaning. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.

Lake Oahe and Pierre, South Dakota

 Location: Farm Island Recreation Area; Pierre, South Dakota

This campground may be an old Corps of Engineers campground that was turned over to the State of South Dakota about 20 years ago. I know the ones up by the dam were transferred because I asked about it from someone in charge. I didn't specifically ask about this campground but it seems to be laid out the same way as many other Corps of Engineer campgrounds. They are being maintained really good. The bad news is the state charges about 4 times what the Corps would be charging, with the senior pass. It also charges a "daily entrance fee" like so many other states do in their state parks. Oh well, there weren't any other decent campgrounds near Pierre so I'll pay the premium price.

My campsite at Farm Island Recreation Area. That is a little cove off the Missouri River in the background. The campground was full on the weekend but around noon Sunday, it emptied quickly. It is less than 10% full now.

A travel picture in the Dakotas. I'm not sure if it is North or South Dakota. It is on a lonely stretch of US 83 somewhere between Linton, North Dakota and Pierre, South Dakota. After not seeing another vehicle for miles and miles, I began to wonder about how far away was a person that I knew. The answer was something greater than 1,000 miles. At that point, I laughed a little and thought, Heck, if it's greater than 1,000 miles, the exact answer isn't important. I guess I was just feeling "small" due to the emptiness. There are only a few places in the country where I can get that feeling. 

A part of the past. They need to leave the house as a memorial to homesteaders, but clean up the other junk.

My campsite is about 30 yards from the Missouri River. The campground was full until Sunday morning when it emptied pretty quick. It seems the locals come here a lot. After the campground emptied, several people showed up to enjoy the river without camping. A group of four ladies, spent Sunday afternoon rotating between sitting in lounge chairs on the bank and floating on inflatables in the river. Since this part of the river is in a little cove, there isn't a strong current. They seemed to have enjoyed their afternoon very much and it wouldn't be surprising if it is a regular activity for them. Pierre and the surrounding area is lucky to have such a clean river and recreation area.

This is the area where the ladies spent their Sunday afternoon after the campground started emptying out. They were there when I left to go exploring and there when I came back several hours later. Even from a distance, I got a good vibe about their time together.

 

Oahe Dam is the main reason I wanted to come to this area. I had heard about this massive hydro-electric dam over the years. The lake created by the dam is the fourth largest man-made reservoir in America. In comparison, it is about 6 times bigger than Toledo Bend Reservoir which sits on the border of Texas and Louisiana. Since the 1960's, this dam has prevented flooding, produced electricity to light up a lot of the mid-west, provided recreation to both North and South Dakota and irrigation waters for farming/ranching. Now this is what I think of as an example of a "publicly funded infrastructure project", not some of the stuff Congress is trying to call "infrastructure". Some of that stuff may be good and worthwhile, but don't get it confused with infrastructure. I won't bore the readers with more information about the dam/lake. Maybe some picture though wouldn't be too boring. :)

The structure in the water is in the intake structure that feeds water to the hydroelectric plant on the other side of the dam. The important part about this picture is the five benches. They are "memorial benches" that were placed there by family members of a person who passed away but had ties to the dam/lake. They are very personalized. I've never seen anything like this before at a Corps of Engineers project. I was told by the nice lady in the Visitor's Center that there were plans for only one additional one in the future. (by the way, good luck on your future travel plans).

This is the electric power plant that is being feed water from that structure in the previous picture. Those seven tall structures are surge tanks to control the pressure of the water. Due to the drought in the area, the only water passing through the dam is coming through the power plant. This water downstream of the plant is a popular place for fishermen in boats. They would motor up as close to the power plant as they could get and then kill their motors and float downstream while fishing. After floating about a mile away, they would repeat the process. There was also a guy with a speargun and snorkel gear working near the banks.

This is the stilling basin on the downstream side of the dam. When they are releasing excess water (not emergency spillway), this is where it comes out. Since the drought, the gates that control the release here are closed. It gave a different meaning to the term "stilling basin". 

This is the emergency spillway for the dam. It is located about one mile upstream of the dam and those emergency gates have never been opened in an emergency. Notice the special sign on the right. You don't see that very often, if ever. 

Pierre, is the state capitol of South Dakota. It is the second smallest capitol city in the America with a population of about 14,000 people. It is also a "good vibe" city for me. As a solo traveler, I always get a good or bad vibe about places. I learned years ago to trust that vibe. There have been gas stations, restaurants and campgrounds that I've passed up due to catching a bad vibe. I'll be adding Pierre to my list of "good vibe" cities. Also, I think the Governor had it correct, from the beginning, about the balance between public health and personal liberty. Paraphrasing her, she said, she would continually give the citizens all the information she had about Covid and also the recommendations as to what to do and not do. She would then trust each individual as to how they protected themselves and their families. "Personal responsibility" balanced with personal liberty at its finest.

The veterans memorial near the capitol.

Looking back at the same memorial

Same memorial with the Capitol Building in the background. The U.S. flag is flying at half mast due to the recent service members who died in Afghanistan. 

Words to remember and hold true, written on a bench

Near the Veterans Memorial is this nice memorial to Police, Firefighters and Emergency Response Teams. 

I'm writing this post on the morning of moving day. I'll be heading to a State Fairground Campground is Sioux Falls, South Dakota in a couple of hours. Strong storms passed through this area last night. There were warnings popping up all around me talking about wind, rain and hail. Luckily, for me, it was just strong winds with very little rain and no hail. 

Liberty rocked me to sleep last night.  

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.

Goodbye North Dakota

Location: Beaver Creek Recreation Area (Corp of Engineers Campground) near Linton, North Dakota

This campground is on the banks of Lake Oahe which was created by daming the Missouri River at Pierre, South Dakota. I’ll be there tomorrow to check it out. I have no cell signal, internet connection or over-the-air TV stations at this campground. I’m glad I’m only here for two days. I should have stocked up on DVD’s in preparation for a place like this. I have some books, somewhere, but don’t feel like unpacking for just two days.

Hay fields are everywhere up here. I've never seen so many. It is like corn in Iowa and Kansas, except it's hay. I didn't find a farmer to find out if it is for their own use or if they export it to other states. 

Nice drive-thru campsite. That is Lake Oahe in the background. As I was walking around the campground, I waved at a guy sitting by his RV. He hollered back, "Do I know you or are you just being strangely nice?" I stopped and we talked for about 30 minutes. He lived about 15 miles away and comes to the campground often. Awww, the life in a campground. :)

Although this is an isolated location with the nearest city about 15 miles away, there is a great café about a mile from the campground. I read the reviews online before getting here and saw they served a Reuben sandwich. Well, you know me, I have to try it. It was excellent and will be placed in the top five of Reubens from around the country. This one, however, will need an asterisk beside it. Unlike other Reubens that have sliced corned beef and sauerkraut, this one had the corned beef and kraut chopped up and combined with each other. It was different, but very tasty. Whenever I attempt to make a Rueben in the future, I’ll try this method. By the way, a celebrity was at the cafe. I'm not sure if she worked there or owned the place. Anyway, her claim to fame which is really neat, is that she road a companion pony at the Kentucky Derby. They are next to the racehorse and are there to keep them calm before the race. She knew of and had been to several horse tracks in Louisiana. Pretty neat the people you meet.  

This will be the last campground I’ll be staying at in North Dakota and I doubt that I’ll be back in the state. It is a very sparsely populated state. Once you leave the big cities, homes are scattered randomly along the highways. I have seen this in other states as well, but the difference here is the distance between homes. It is much greater here. I traveled about 18 miles on a gravel road yesterday and there were maybe three or four houses within that distance. Except for school and church, the children around here must lead a very isolated life. This highlights the difference in childhood environments at different places around the country. Imagine a child moving from the North Dakota countryside to a population center like Chicago or New York City and also in reverse. It could have harmful effects on the child.

This was the beginning of the long gravel road. This is looking to the west and Lake Oahe in the background. The road department did a good job of grading the road and there were only a few isolated locations of washboarding. They could have chosen a better gravel though. This one was all the same size and spherical. In places it was like driving on ice.

Wouldn't you know it,,,, a school bus. The driver was flying too. I came to a complete stop to let them come by.

One of the few farmhouses along the long stretch of gravel road. By the way, the road didn't have a name. It was 90th Street. About a mile south was 91st street, etc. 

Intersecting roads are Avenues,,,usually with a letter. Such as Ave B

There is another one of those flat top hills. I think they are following me. They are everywhere. The aliens must have gotten a lot of stuff from the Dakotas.

I took the gravel road to see where Lawrence Welk was born and raised. You know Lawrence Welk,,,, “a one a and a two a”. I never was a fan of Welk but back in the day if your parents watched it, you watched it. The man did well for himself coming from such humble beginnings. I like seeing places like this and try to imagine a child running around doing chores and playing. Then as an adult being on TV leading an orchestra. Wow.

Homeplace of Lawrence Welk

The Weld homestead. Can you imagine a young Lawrence running around this place back around 1910.

This part of the state is suffering from a drought that's going on one year. This part of the lake is down about 25 to 30 feet. There are farmers that are concerned about their crops catching fire like a wildfire if it doesn't break soon.

Looking out over the lake from the boat ramp area.

The water is 25 to 30 feet low. It is normally up to those rocks below that RV on the right. The dock on the boat ramp is high and dry.

The thing I’ll remember most about North Dakota is the endless miles and miles of hay fields.

Ya’ll take care of each other. I’ll Cya down the road.

The Other Roosevelt N.P. (South)

 Location: Patterson Lake Recreation Area (Bureau of Reclamation Campground); Dickinson, North Dakota

As I'm making this post, I have two ceramic heaters trying to take the chill out of Liberty. The temperature dropped down to 48 last night.

When I was planning this trip, I could not decide which campground to stay at while exploring the National Park. I finally decided on this one although I had to wait a couple days to get a 50 amp site. I didn't realize it was a Bureau of Reclamation campground until I arrived. Before that, I thought it was a city park. I guess I was half right. Come to find out, the Bureau owns it, but the city manages it. I think so. Well, I'm about 75% confident that I'm right about that. Anyway, it's been a good one, quiet and secure. Half price with my Senior Pass makes the rate $14.00 per night with electric and water. It is close enough to the park to make for a short drive but near enough to a decent sized city (Dickinson). As usual, I go by the vibes I get about things and Dickinson is a "good vibe" city as opposed to Bismarck which was a "bad vibe" city. I've said it before but haven't done it yet, I need to post a list of the "good/bad vibe" cities and states. Oh well, maybe add it to the list of things I need to do when I get back to Louisiana. 

I mentioned in the last post that the National Park is divided into three areas with two of them being the main ones. The last post was about the Northern One and this post is about the Southern One. If I was to recommend one over the other, it would be the North one is better than the South one. The entrance to the South unit is in the tourist trap city of Medora, North Dakota. Here's a tip on how to tell if you're in a tourist trap city. If there are shops selling fudge and tee shirts, then you're in a tourist trap. I'm not knocking them, I'm just saying. I looked at a campground in Medora and am glad I decided against staying there.

The National Park is also called the North Dakota Badlands which is not to be confused with The Badlands National Park in South Dakota. There are also parts of Montana that are considered Badlands. The general explanation on how they were all formed is "erosion". That means wind, water, freezing, thawing, snow, ice etc. combined with a very long time in erodible soil gives you Badlands. There are deposits of lignite coal scattered around the park which means it was underwater at some time in the past. To make things easier until we can all take a geology course, let's just lump it all together and call it erosion. Don't get me started on why some of these hills/mountains are flat topped like mesas and buttes in the southwest. I'm still wondering about how erosion makes them flat-topped. Some people claim ancient aliens cut them off to get whatever good stuff was to be mined. Who knows. I haven't heard a real good explanation yet. It will remain a mystery. Just like the mystery of where to find the perfect Reuban Sandwich and Cinnamon Roll. (still looking)

This is the landscape about 15 miles or so from the National Park. It is strange how it will change so quickly. The brownish area on the left is a hay field. There are thousands on them in North Dakota. 

This is at the Painted Canyon visitor center. Big change from the first picture, uh? The temperature was in the low 60's with a strong wind blowing. It was cold. 

This is also from the visitor's center

The entire park isn't all Badlands. I guess you could call these areas Pre-Badlands. 

See those flat-top hills/mountains,,,,see, see. 

The place is lots of scrub brush but the green area is mostly Cottonwood trees growing along the banks of the Little Missouri River. Pssst,,,,see the shape of the hills?

I liked this picture because of the tree and RV. It just spoke to me. Yeah, yeah I know I'm getting a little goofier the longer this trip lasts. 

These are a couple of the wild horses that roam around the park. I'm not sure about the name of the colors for horses but I'm guessing Buckskin and Steel. The picture doesn't do justice to what they looked like in real life.

Tomorrow is moving day and I will headed to a very small Corps of Engineers Campground on the Missouri River near Linton, North Dakota. I'll only be there for two day to catch my breath after exploring the National Park. Nothing super special to explore around there, but chances are I'll stumble onto something. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.   

Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North)

 Location: Patterson Lake Recreation Area (Bureau of Reclamation Campground); Dickinson, North Dakota

Teddy Roosevelt NP is broken into three parts. I'll be exploring only two of them. Today's exploration (driving, not walking) was in the North section. It is a lot like a combination of the Badlands of South Dakota and the desert sections of the Southwestern U.S. This area is in the midst of a drought so everything is pretty dry. The north section is the farthest away from my campsite which is why I chose to see it today. I was afraid if I was too disappointed in exploring the southern section then I might blow off seeing the north section. And since I came all this way, I might as well see the whole enchilada. 

This post will be mostly pictures. So here goes,,,,,,,,

This is a stretch of U.S. 85. The north section is about 50 miles north of I-94. Looks a little like the southwest, uh?

Another stretch of U.S. 85.

This was the welcoming committee. He was grazing along the edge of the road just a 1/2 mile inside the park.

This is the same guy. He let me take his picture as I drove by him. 

Another buffalo that was grazing alone. There are about 200 of them in the park. The rutting season just ended. That is the time of year they gather up to,,,,,, well, you know. Afterwards, they spread out around the park until next year. 

These two were on the side of a hill like a couple of mountain sheep. 

One of the views as you drive through the park. That is the Little Missouri River on the left.

Another view

Strati of different layers of material. So strati are tilted because that piece was "up-lifted" sometime in the distant past.

A nice tree on the side of the road. There was a large patch of cottonwoods growing but I didn't take a picture.

A view looking down in the Little Missouri River Valley

A nice view from the rock building.

Another view into the Little Missouri River Valley

Last picture of the valley

I packed a lunch for today's exploration which I rarely do. This was my second choice to eat it, but still nice and cool in the shade. The wind was still blowing pretty good today. For the one who will be wondering, it was a semi-healthy lunch. There was some turkey on the not-wheat bread, which gave it a healthy taste. 

Tomorrow I'll be going to the south section which I've been told is the better section. We will see. I'm not sure if I'll pack a lunch or not. It depends on how I feel in the morning. Tonight's low temperature is forecasted to be 58 degrees and tomorrow night, a chilly 47. I'm not sleeping with the heaters on, but instead turn them on when I get up to take the chill out of Liberty so I can get a shower without shivering. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.