Bismarck

Time to move on.  We have a reservation in a national park with three days before we need to be there so we stopped in Bismarck, the capital of ND.

Of course, when you are in a capital you must stop to visit the state capital building. North Dakota joined the Union in 1889.  The current building was constructed in 1934 after the original building burned down.  Due to financial constraints they opted to build an Art-Deco style skyscraper of 20 stories.  We could see this building from almost anywhere in the city! 

Local and other marble are used in the decor of the main floor and second floor.  The Tower elevator doors are decorated with bronze  sculptures.  The first floor hallway was a tribute to famous North Dakotans and the second flood held the legislative chambers and Supreme Court.  From the 18th floor we had a 360* view of the city.

Next door to the capitol building is the ND Heritage Center and State Museum where they have a collection of dinosaur bones, a gallery dedicated to the earliest peoples of ND, some from over 13,000 years ago. Elsewhere in the museum was the more recent history of ND. 

In downtown we walked around a 1909 Northern Pacific steam locomotive and the Church of the Bread of Life built in 1880. This Episcopal Church held the first non-catholic service in the city.  The site also held a building which served as officers quarters for Camp Hancock infantry post from 1872 -1877.  Both buildings were moved here from other sites.

We also took an afternoon tour of Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park located on the west side of The Missouri River.  The most interesting feature of the park are the earth lodges once used by the Mandan Native Americans.  Using the rings on the tree trunks used in making the mud lodges, it has been determined that On-the-Slant Village was occupied from1650-1750.  When Lewis and Clark expedition came through in 1804 the village was already in ruins and the Mandan had move about 60 miles up river.  It is thought that over 75 lodges made up the village.

In another part of the park is the house, barracks and horse barn used by the American Army under the command of George R.Custer circa 1875.  We got there too late to tour the home but we could peek in the windows.

Now on to the national park.

St. Cloud

We left Garfield nine days ago and drove a whopping 60 miles to St. Cloud. We already need work done on the coach.  One job was installing tire sensors on the towed pickup truck that will be monitored in the RV, this we knew would happen. The other was checking the alignment and balancing the front wheels.  This need was discovered on our 60 mile drive.

Due to some medical issues, Amazon deliveries and mail delivery we stayed in St. Cloud longer than anticipated.  But we made good use of the time by riding our bikes on a couple of Rails-to-Trails (one was the Lake Wobegone Trail) and some nice walks along the river and in a prairie. We also found some nice places to dine including an authentic Irish pub.

Garfield and Alexandria

For the past week we have been moving into our new coach while also trying to learn how everything works.  The really hard part of the move is trying to figure out where to put everything as the drawers, cabinets and compartments are all so different from our old rig. John had to puzzle out how to load the storage compartments and I am trying to organize my kitchen.

But we are also struggling to learn how to run the control panel which  turns everything off and on and I mean EVERYTHING!  Not only is there a main panel, each ‘room’ has its own panel too.

There must be a hundred lights to turn off and on, day and night shades for all the windows, water systems, heating and A/C, power from solar to generator, floor heat, vent fans, and  TV. I have to relearn how to use the microwave & dishwasher, John has to relearn how to use the coach’s driving and computer system.

But it wasn’t all work.  We also checked out the museum in Alexandria and a winery and brewery. A Mendards trip was necessary several times and of course stocking up the frig and pantry.

Summer Travels Begin

We are off on a new adventure but first we will pick up our new RV in Garfield, MN.

On June 1st John opted to take US Hwy 65 as far north as we could then we joined up with I-35.  We spent one night on the road in a small campground near the Iowa border then drove on into Garfield which is north and west of the Twin Cities, near Alexandria. We ordered our new coach through Steinbring Motorcoach and that is a story for another day.

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This is the first time we have personally seen our new RV, a Newmar New Aire.  Isn’t she pretty?

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