Sunday Aug 29

Nothin' much to write about. We are not too far from Green Bay Wisc. Tomorrow night will see us close to our destination The House on the Rock and more details will follow after that visit. As we understand it, it's a house built into a solid rock and houses some interesting collections. The weather has been hot...in the high 80's. It is 8:30 pm now and it's 83 F., with more promised for tomorrow.

Here we are again !! 8-26-10

Yup, we're still alive a kickin (?) ! Back on the 22nd we were in Oshkosh and from there travelled up to Rapid River Mich. and stayed in a small but pretty private campground. The 24th had us arrive back in Canada ( insurance politics) and stayed in a nicely wooded campsite in Sault Ste. Marie. The rain came and the temperature dropped yesterday (25th) to about 43 overnight . Yesterday we had a great visit first with my aunt. She is the last living member of my dad's siblings. At soon to be 92, she can still hold her own being a very determined lady. After enjoying lunch with her ( Wendy's at her request), we went back to the campground to be joined later in the afternoon by her son Rick and his wife Mary. Our visit with them lasted 'til supper time, so it was off to Swiss Chalet to complete the visit. By the way....the leaves are changing colour up in the Soo. We are now back in the USA, back tracking to Wisconsin to see an attraction we missed on the way through. Nothing in the tour books about this House on the Rocks, but Mary and Rick mentioned it. As we have 12 days to put time in with before the get together with the Troy Alabama group we thought we'd do the trip.

Oshkosh by gosh

We crossed the Mississippi about 15 minutes after leaving the campground in Iowa this morning, thus entering Wisconsin. It didn't take long for the landscape to change from essentially flat, to more rolling hills. About 1/2 way to Oshkosh, we came upon these two Model A trucks driving along Hwy 151 at a pretty fair rate of speed.....nice to see 'em out. Speaking of which, we have found a 1929 Sport Coupe, the same colour and general condition of the one we parted with ( under sad conditions ). Before it can be purchased, ours must be sold. Anyone with a fast and firm 10K can be the proud owner of a 1930 Fordor. Please buy it and make Sue happy
again with the Sport Coupe. We are camping tonight outside Oshkosh, on the shore of Lake Winnebago

Corn and beans

Yup, if weren't for corn and soybeans, Iowa would just be dirt. We are enjoying our second day/night at a State Park outside Dubuque, which is the border between Iowa and Wisconsin, which is where we'll be tomorrow ( Sunday ) night. The trip int town allowed us to visit the Shot Tower which is the only such structure West of the Mississippi. These were used to produce steel shot in the late 1800's for use as bullets as well as industrial use. We also took a ride up and down the Fenlon Place 4th Street Elevator. This is a funicular railway that is claimed to be the world's shortest and steepest such device. It is 296 feet in length and raises you up ( or down ) 189 feet from Fourth Street to Fenelon Place. We also went into a park overlooking the Mississippi River where two guys were fishing...a black and a white...very Southern looking in the Mid-West.

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A

Oh yes

We are movin' right along. Last posting had us leaving S.D., which we did and moved into Nebraska. We have rain today in Iowa ( after saying we hadn't had any for a long time) They've had too much here. A number of corn fields are flooded and we saw one road closed today because of flooding. We spent last night ( Monday ) at the Ponca State Park in Nebraska. A very nice place indeed. We are now in Jewell Iowa at a community park at the edge of a lake ( hope the rain stops). I'll try to post pics later, although the reception on the air card is weak here...again. The map on the side of the trailer is getting full. After Mich., we hope to hit the East Coast, New Hampshire, Maine etc., then head South along the coast ending up in Alabama sometime likely in November or early December. We'll likely leave the trailer there for the month of January and drive back to Ontario, then return to Alabama for the month of February.

Very interesting

Our two days/nights in Mitchell SD have been really neat. There really isn't too much to see, other than the Corn Palace. This building is used for concerts etc. but what makes it unique is the exterior covering. It is all corn or corn by products (stalk etc). Even more amazing is the fact they change it every year at an annual cost of over $100,000.00 and each year is a different design.
We move on tomorrow to Nebraska for one night then into Iowa. The weather of late has been warm, with two days of 100 + temps and the past couple of days more moderate at 75-80. We have not experienced rain for well over a month although SD has been soaked before we arrived.

August 13, 2010

We stayed in Interior SD last night ( Thur) which is just outside Badlands National Park. On the way to the Park, we stopped off at a 1909 Homestead which consisted of a sod house, cave ( which was actually a cold or root cellar built into the side of a hill )and a barn and shed. These are all original and except for maintenance are as they were in 1909. After setting up we did a tour of part of the Badlands. Quite an unusual place. To us it looked much like Scarborough Bluffs would appear from the water.
That evening we met the people next site over, from Florida and they introduced us to a card/board game called Sequence....kinda neat.
Tonite we changed time zones and now on central time, an hour behind Ontario. We are in a State Park just outside Platte SD. Tomorrow and the following night we will be in Mitchell SD, the home of the Corn Palace ( Google it ).

http://picasaweb.google.com/192950A