tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37779103659032616372024-02-07T07:11:51.648-05:00On The RoadYodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-38762044522639771212015-09-22T16:10:00.000-04:002015-09-22T20:14:48.606-04:009-1-2015 Soldier Stone Memorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In the remote and lonely high-country of Colorado, an amazing tribute stands at an elevation of 11,460 feet to soldiers of all nationalities who fought in the Vietnam conflict, through it's three long decades. It's creation has an equally amazing story, though the creator of the memorial wanted it's existence kept quiet and low key, and many vets of the war support that wish. We'll tell a short version of how it came about, and although you can find it's location on the internet (and we're finding this to be to the dismay of many, as we research the history of it), we'll respect it's quietude and leave out any location references and internet links. At this point, Kath would <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">like to dedicate this blog: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">"To all the veterans of New England Healing Sports (NEHSA) that I have had the honor to have been associated with.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I thank each and every one of them for their service to our country.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">If anyone who sees this who would like to forward it to any veteran, NEHSA affiliated or not, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">please feel free to.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">There are many out there that I know would love to see this."</span></span></div>
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The memorial was inspired and designed by a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel from Texas named Stuart Allen Beckley. He spent 11 years in Vietnam, and he wanted to erect a tribute from American soldiers to <b>all</b> the foreign soldiers who fought there in those 30 years of war. He contacted a Colorado stone cutter in 1990 and the work on the monument itself was started. With that underway, Col. Beckley started scouting locations and four years later in 1994, finally found his high altitude spot in a Colorado national forest. Unfortunately, at the same time, he was diagnosed with cancer. But in an ironic twist, it was that same cancer that persuaded the district forest supervisor to give Col. Beckley's project the green light. The project was completed in July of 1995 but unfortunately Col. Beckley, who died on November 5, 1995, was too ill to make the trip to view his amazing tribute.</div>
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It consists of a central pillar surrounded by a triangular stone wall. Scattered around that point are 36 "quotestones", with sayings representing the nationalities of those who fought there. We managed to photograph 25 of them, not knowing how many there actually were. We've decided that this will need to be an annual pilgrimage for us whenever we are in Westcliffe, and will find and post the rest of the stones next year when we return.</div>
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It was one of the most moving experiences either of us has ever had. I don't think we had more that 5 minutes conversation in the hour or so we were there. While photographing the stones, I had to stop twice to get my composure back in check, as I couldn't see through the viewfinder anymore. I thought of the many Vietnam vets I have met and known over the years, 2 of which are good friends. One of them is deceased, and was haunted by the demons of his experience in Vietnam as long as I knew him. Unlike my parents generation who fought in WW-II, 'Nam vets often talk freely about their experiences, and you don't have to hear very many of those stories to know that this war was different. It was about sheer terror, beyond fear and courage, where it was impossible to separate friend from foe, where the countryside you fought in was as dangerous as the enemy you fought, and it was America's first modern-day experience with guerrilla warfare, from what I have read and heard. With that in mind, you can't help but be in awe of Col. Beckley's accomplishment.</div>
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Our thanks to our good friends Judy and Bob from Denver and our neighbors in Westcliffe, who told us of this place. We had planned to make the trip together, but our schedules never jived this summer to make it happen. It will next year. </div>
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There are captions under most of the pictures, and we tried to be as accurate as we could in finding translations of the quotestones. Please feel free to comment with corrections or stories of your own. We found that the comment sections of the sites we researched on were full of fascinating recollections from vets, so hopefully we'll find some here as well over time.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXbaP1Dmki-2RAsmgpJclPkjoex6AGERUVg_ZIx1LHxQwB_sbee-zOQawzcD2tvcXGkYMC5vaPkxbEqI0TRCIvNGrFOVhnPEdUMRF27-E87zHond7Aspkn5zb9HDVNAzN8_GgKL5eXkdSM/s1600/AVVM-%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXbaP1Dmki-2RAsmgpJclPkjoex6AGERUVg_ZIx1LHxQwB_sbee-zOQawzcD2tvcXGkYMC5vaPkxbEqI0TRCIvNGrFOVhnPEdUMRF27-E87zHond7Aspkn5zb9HDVNAzN8_GgKL5eXkdSM/s640/AVVM-%25281%2529.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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View from the parking area-you can see part of the memorial as a square gray block, in the upper center above a group of small trees. It's about a 1/4 mile walk through the grassland from this parking area.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6uo_y67I8cWLW0dv0Yd91viMP_Evql5N8wej7UhPRA44L3LzKG0vI9135uuTd4xQHNWiPlwKdY2WfkuPwE7c9VzKf7FSA-ZTSX_bd_DJeAxIgTCmUOYd5isHVNWQiEQaO5jJP0IO2zO5/s1600/AVVM-%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS6uo_y67I8cWLW0dv0Yd91viMP_Evql5N8wej7UhPRA44L3LzKG0vI9135uuTd4xQHNWiPlwKdY2WfkuPwE7c9VzKf7FSA-ZTSX_bd_DJeAxIgTCmUOYd5isHVNWQiEQaO5jJP0IO2zO5/s640/AVVM-%25282%2529.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsX0PTgktPE3OPnbBXEeUaNdhgvit3cDCihfXhlD16hIuR0hq8ZgduPY_2GkjxhwXIIAScoRzB3GUv_X-Ec7Le-fn6OkRroWs5-0lCSAXjjhD_xHGRzDx9Jc7oFWOq1pwRn69qPJsWI3A/s1600/AVVM-%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsX0PTgktPE3OPnbBXEeUaNdhgvit3cDCihfXhlD16hIuR0hq8ZgduPY_2GkjxhwXIIAScoRzB3GUv_X-Ec7Le-fn6OkRroWs5-0lCSAXjjhD_xHGRzDx9Jc7oFWOq1pwRn69qPJsWI3A/s640/AVVM-%25283%2529.JPG" width="424" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIAJjbpi5TRbWrWfrP89WCcwVcjeUImOg3PwYrQ81qc9OcMX2_v7EbX0IXSoKa2pLii9RrmgfwYedo5DI0HRwqLmiGirHiQxEJ_6J3izvIEfXgf5QDtUzAeH-fNYGC3STrYYXapqoG2mjy/s1600/AVVM-%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIAJjbpi5TRbWrWfrP89WCcwVcjeUImOg3PwYrQ81qc9OcMX2_v7EbX0IXSoKa2pLii9RrmgfwYedo5DI0HRwqLmiGirHiQxEJ_6J3izvIEfXgf5QDtUzAeH-fNYGC3STrYYXapqoG2mjy/s640/AVVM-%25284%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQL14hQMR9EzmtoDuJ-2Ax06Z1-mrGdQQGpYf4pBtyL593UygnRWjeObKxyy0lVULpuiqioAEdzgFJfPuXSmfBEyagtbA4gindveeZE704FuHdBdTQc53lgLNVqICUHYR-mEulpD6BR5d/s1600/AVVM-%25285%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQL14hQMR9EzmtoDuJ-2Ax06Z1-mrGdQQGpYf4pBtyL593UygnRWjeObKxyy0lVULpuiqioAEdzgFJfPuXSmfBEyagtbA4gindveeZE704FuHdBdTQc53lgLNVqICUHYR-mEulpD6BR5d/s640/AVVM-%25285%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWJsshcNmMRCSVxZIUlqDFigSoSJsHgiBRH2Wk1EDV868PMwH1zMHdy6Lk5mX3_HFwwBSzkZYykWFq0YuOTLv7on_N7uzk-EHr2vm435CY7stm78vjT5Q1X3co0zl7xwoARNKjSoe4Woj/s1600/AVVM-%25286%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWJsshcNmMRCSVxZIUlqDFigSoSJsHgiBRH2Wk1EDV868PMwH1zMHdy6Lk5mX3_HFwwBSzkZYykWFq0YuOTLv7on_N7uzk-EHr2vm435CY7stm78vjT5Q1X3co0zl7xwoARNKjSoe4Woj/s640/AVVM-%25286%2529.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwTvdWOYNSTrZrW9s_1pSaVEI8cY3wyZh_nKJED_MPLbKU-DsuTn7_9I0qMPmSHwFLPCr-KsmOsbDgxdqyIDrVvE0PXRQtplXN0AWtEDSWo3JJtIP2-gsKIOuFEvBkJNzkBKC2ZfFdn16/s1600/AVVM-%25287%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwTvdWOYNSTrZrW9s_1pSaVEI8cY3wyZh_nKJED_MPLbKU-DsuTn7_9I0qMPmSHwFLPCr-KsmOsbDgxdqyIDrVvE0PXRQtplXN0AWtEDSWo3JJtIP2-gsKIOuFEvBkJNzkBKC2ZfFdn16/s640/AVVM-%25287%2529.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNgCHPwBqBPBhzg03H4XY76UUqSl-DybAP4HhrwD8cAwexbj66cCxx9MJu0lneVEuOy0vTwZW2ClMuOL1Kn81ddO8M1_NsDpWXJPzk2Zb1fJDbctQJLqKTKTyBvHG77Sx0EIcfwO-Gt1-/s1600/AVVM-%25288%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMNgCHPwBqBPBhzg03H4XY76UUqSl-DybAP4HhrwD8cAwexbj66cCxx9MJu0lneVEuOy0vTwZW2ClMuOL1Kn81ddO8M1_NsDpWXJPzk2Zb1fJDbctQJLqKTKTyBvHG77Sx0EIcfwO-Gt1-/s640/AVVM-%25288%2529.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz8Gz6NjJ4K2Fh5Hyetj3pVLbu7nLUXWBwMaS3CnL6NXXlB94y8CRqPNfuCRyynS85reqLVyOLzJ6cuRl1TI3XmJaSDKB-ssJoJfW3WIF6J6DoG4AG4up3mRQ5NU7oXfFQSa4CuaBy9lPt/s1600/AVVM-%25289%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz8Gz6NjJ4K2Fh5Hyetj3pVLbu7nLUXWBwMaS3CnL6NXXlB94y8CRqPNfuCRyynS85reqLVyOLzJ6cuRl1TI3XmJaSDKB-ssJoJfW3WIF6J6DoG4AG4up3mRQ5NU7oXfFQSa4CuaBy9lPt/s640/AVVM-%25289%2529.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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The monument has numerous tributes left behind by individuals, which can be seen with a closer look at the pics above and the close-ups below.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvt8h0l7ikHSYfgtNAC0RWeiqzgxkF-kGqpjuBRhaWN6UaXchkFbG3X0CTIe5n_TCKuMmSKmooPMV1WQ-AQgbULmm0rCagpAAZjCZF3n5u5_yRA0U8uMXHtjWiBX8ni-lWZAhFrLDqgAI/s1600/AVVM-%25289a%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvt8h0l7ikHSYfgtNAC0RWeiqzgxkF-kGqpjuBRhaWN6UaXchkFbG3X0CTIe5n_TCKuMmSKmooPMV1WQ-AQgbULmm0rCagpAAZjCZF3n5u5_yRA0U8uMXHtjWiBX8ni-lWZAhFrLDqgAI/s640/AVVM-%25289a%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtr8q-_y-1HwV_N7pSdQvfPVDjNwqQx-fwrHllVUDG7bwsEc8TEcFG-cvwCKKXrpzMP8ABUrVQkw7TNheNUHUfA5JN06FZivU2yjEYZEtvrXKKgVOEqq8XWd0ZgN8HzheK0TVRm3LKCzsT/s1600/AVVM-%25289b%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtr8q-_y-1HwV_N7pSdQvfPVDjNwqQx-fwrHllVUDG7bwsEc8TEcFG-cvwCKKXrpzMP8ABUrVQkw7TNheNUHUfA5JN06FZivU2yjEYZEtvrXKKgVOEqq8XWd0ZgN8HzheK0TVRm3LKCzsT/s640/AVVM-%25289b%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Smiley-I wish that you were still here and could have stumbled onto this blogpost, and found this picture. Granted it's about a "Huey" and not a "Hook", but I thought of you nonetheless. Our last phone call some 20 years ago has haunted me ever since, and I'll forever regret not getting in the car and driving to Hampton to be there for you. I hope you have finally found peace in your passing.</div>
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<b><u>The Quotestones</u></b></div>
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French: "They were from Ouaga, Conakry, and Dakar, Nigeria, Mali and the Ivory Coast. They were the soldiers of France of yesteryear. Who can close his door on one of their children?"<br />
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German: "No high mass will they be chanting,</div>
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And no kaddish will they say,</div>
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Nothing will be said or chanted</div>
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On my own memorial day."</div>
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America</div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
French: "French dying</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
So that honor at least may be served".<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
English/German: "Left behind in the Tonkin Delta.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Died for France?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Yes, died for France."<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Arabic: "We come from the Sultan,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
May God forgive our sins."<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
French: (No translation yet)<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Australia</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
German: "My regiment, my home</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My mother I have never known</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My father fell early on in the field</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I am alone in the world."<br />
<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hmong</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjj7PgJKMmKH2GOrm5AQK8M1hB6nvD2FY08sdH8I8QylpGsVsFLgHqNpVS0g-UjfV2hm90U3zGJQWbUmQwlE5pVgdN-m2rnKVY6gEt_UE_4KFnZgd_PBdvP7D0GwO6PX62vgSjqgBCU6Oy/s1600/AVVM-%252820%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjj7PgJKMmKH2GOrm5AQK8M1hB6nvD2FY08sdH8I8QylpGsVsFLgHqNpVS0g-UjfV2hm90U3zGJQWbUmQwlE5pVgdN-m2rnKVY6gEt_UE_4KFnZgd_PBdvP7D0GwO6PX62vgSjqgBCU6Oy/s640/AVVM-%252820%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Chinese: "Sacrifice the plum tree</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
For the peach tree."<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxHSYa15-Jyhz-UMV3e-_jgLtrYgzzrU9DTisHblVPkVzyOTAX02Jqv2uKFoyTPIjV1wUAbVqQFKO2U6ptX8TTPQ11wdYP6rBri2CwSv6ucUjZW6iW3rXJh9TYGHI2bymsD-yB9t-6oxM/s1600/AVVM-%252821%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxHSYa15-Jyhz-UMV3e-_jgLtrYgzzrU9DTisHblVPkVzyOTAX02Jqv2uKFoyTPIjV1wUAbVqQFKO2U6ptX8TTPQ11wdYP6rBri2CwSv6ucUjZW6iW3rXJh9TYGHI2bymsD-yB9t-6oxM/s640/AVVM-%252821%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Operation Brotherhood was a Filipino humanitarian mission to South Vietnam that started in 1953 and continued through the 1960's.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Laos: "The gnat lives as best it can</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
On what nature provides,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But how can a great white elephant</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Be interested in a little bamboo shoot</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
like me?"<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Vietnamese: "When dreams and wishes fail and don't come true,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They turn to stones and just sit there, stock-still,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They weigh so heavy on my brain, my heart-</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I want to shrug them off but often I can't."</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
From the Vietnamese poem "Flowers From Hell."</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2L1f8k4NExQpjGaBKGURbjbrESrLmVlotGvhgxVEsW6iHwfKpL_l-ypcHICkU-18Au1ix1iZQ8c77zSPC2UpbzGoWLYyCbQQ2z-k5i0QZtRxHAIe-dqa_3qg_Qni_2occw4pxytnTAWhT/s1600/AVVM-%252824%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2L1f8k4NExQpjGaBKGURbjbrESrLmVlotGvhgxVEsW6iHwfKpL_l-ypcHICkU-18Au1ix1iZQ8c77zSPC2UpbzGoWLYyCbQQ2z-k5i0QZtRxHAIe-dqa_3qg_Qni_2occw4pxytnTAWhT/s640/AVVM-%252824%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Vietnamese: "Although we have at times been strong, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
At times been weak, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We have at no time lacked heroes."<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hmong: "Sho, hey! You have left for good.<br />
You have come to the mountain in the burning sky,<br />
The mountain wide open to the winds where the<br />
Wild wind howls."<br />
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Arabic; "It is written."<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Nepali: "It's a bullet, a bullet</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hear it ricochet by your ear</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It's beckoning war.<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Arabic: "Every soul will know the taste of Death".<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Vietnamese: "Who could say that Heaven is Blind"<br />
or</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Who says God has no eyes?"<br />
<br /></div>
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Urdu/Hindi: To all who served.<br />
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Moroccan: (No translation yet)<br />
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Possibly means "Bahnar in front the snake behind the tiger".</div>
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Cambodia</div>
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Hmong: "Anguished but not angry,</div>
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I arrive in this country, without brothers or sisters,</div>
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Like a bewildered, lost dog."</div>
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Three of the stones and the the randomness of the quotestones layout.</div>
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<u>Saying Goodbye</u></div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-11155469191431753232015-04-06T12:08:00.000-04:002015-04-06T12:11:33.365-04:004-5-15 Easter Hike through Estes Canyon to Bull Pasture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUtIA_fxa6R35tWiDAamJPG9MQ9fragAWaKmMhHnRqLxgshfqX1gx35H75VkkDVGm4qUAxldRrei7EOjxlZ4qc9AgJd0EsXjfXlWCwFL_oeVayai1fpgCp1sWqq4jqDLvwJDmQBowy2Eb/s1600/DSC_1403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUtIA_fxa6R35tWiDAamJPG9MQ9fragAWaKmMhHnRqLxgshfqX1gx35H75VkkDVGm4qUAxldRrei7EOjxlZ4qc9AgJd0EsXjfXlWCwFL_oeVayai1fpgCp1sWqq4jqDLvwJDmQBowy2Eb/s1600/DSC_1403.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CACTASTHROPHY!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-7498505405559387952014-11-28T10:27:00.003-05:002014-12-01T09:53:10.919-05:00Kofa National Wildlife Refuge<div style="text-align: left;">
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We pulled into our winter volunteer job camp site in the afternoon of October 30. After picking out a spot we thought would work for the next 4 months and spending the night (there's no designated campground), we made the 65 mile trek to Yuma to meet the refuge manager (and our boss) Greg on Friday. After 8 months and 6000 miles of driving from Florida to the west coast and down to Arizona, we got hopelessly lost trying to find the refuge visitor center complex in Yuma, getting there about 45 minutes late! He got a chuckle out of that when we pointed it out to him. He was one of just a few staff in that day, so we spent a few hours talking over what we were going to be doing and getting to know each other. Since no one was there to set us up with what we needed to exist up here, we went back on Monday to get that done, and so had the weekend "off". We spent it hiking, and driving around with the Tracker, but found that most of the roads were just too rough, mainly because of it's ground clearance. Monday we got mostly outfitted, and returned with a 3/4 ton 4wd Ford diesel pickup, a 300 gallon "water buffalo" (water tank on a trailer), and a bunch of equipment ranging from GPS's, radios, hand tools etc. On Wednesday we drove over to Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, a sister refuge along with Cibola NWR, for a day of training. Thursday, we headed back into Yuma for more hands on work, and to tweak out the truck and whatever else we needed for living and working on Kofa, or "The Kofa", as some refer to it.</div>
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A not so quick run-down is we live off Rt. 95, 3 & 1/2 miles from the highway, just inside the refuge boundary-far enough that you never hear a sound-and we've always loved the desert for it's silence. (Rt. 95 runs between Quartzsite and Yuma-you can find Palm Canyon Rd on satellite view on Google maps, about 25 miles south of Quartzsite)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signal Peak and Palm Canyon-the big "V" in the rock from where we're camped-it's about 3 miles away. It's 4900' high-we're at 1600'</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking out back</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left of Signal Peak-Queen of Kofa Mine Canyon road runs left to right behind the lower, jagged rocks (in shadow).</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View off the front "porch".</td></tr>
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Our "job" is to drive the refuge roads (about 365 miles of them!) looking for damage-<span style="background: yellow;">ATV tracks </span>going "off road", trash, illegal campers/campsites (they're required to camp and/or ride within 100' either side of established roads), downed "no vehicle" signs, checking "water attributes" (called "drinkers"), which can be springs, windmills, "tanks" which are depressions in rock ledge that trap water or are filled by a spring etc., reading rain gauges after a rain (none yet), filing reports on all that stuff and a lot more. There are 60 to 80 drinkers scattered over 1200 square miles of mostly roads that are nothing more than tracks through the deserts & mountains, that you can't go more than 2 or 3 miles-an-hour on. About 80% of Kofa is designated wilderness, and a few of these roads travel 80 miles or more across to the east side of the refuge, coming back out to civilization over there, 100+ miles away from our camp here! Those are overnight inspections, as you couldn't possibly drive one in a day at a couple of miles an hour, and nothing we have tackled yet. In addition, there are special jobs that come up from time to time, usually coming from the staff biologist, a doctorate in wildlife biology, who is a hoot to talk to and fascinating in her knowledge of the place. She's also a great source of interesting projects, more than 2 people can handle, so we have to pick and choose. Kath has really hit it off with her, as she seems to have taken Kath under her wing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morning sandstorm 2 weeks ago-we stayed home that day!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at camp (white speck in center) from Palm Canyon Entrance</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palm Trees of Palm Canyon-a very unusual situation, normally found in California</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mountains to the south at Palm Canyon entrance</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhayKL7FLr4mzIkWsQR75wxkV9j0wPqONTY_NfEoOqeFnk1-heFtvRiSlH74XzwQZ1PjANLMly9zv3YhqrlSCs7D5sAo5K4J9A-snGD6WBxbP5KeISvbBCmLINi7rCLkutBE-q7I1h_ODgO/s1600/DSC_0349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhayKL7FLr4mzIkWsQR75wxkV9j0wPqONTY_NfEoOqeFnk1-heFtvRiSlH74XzwQZ1PjANLMly9zv3YhqrlSCs7D5sAo5K4J9A-snGD6WBxbP5KeISvbBCmLINi7rCLkutBE-q7I1h_ODgO/s1600/DSC_0349.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vegetation out back-Ocotillo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LABfmLtUQAHUj3ghoLydqN2tF3oBOqJq4iAkJR_JSEZUWKuvFeDCSn2p3f6bwnp3bHB9WhTs85uuHUQxSbsl5vaNBLmulkblEKcSFTsEfPytkVz_i1LuFN3sFWinr0lM601w8dDp_vGk/s1600/DSC_0350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8LABfmLtUQAHUj3ghoLydqN2tF3oBOqJq4iAkJR_JSEZUWKuvFeDCSn2p3f6bwnp3bHB9WhTs85uuHUQxSbsl5vaNBLmulkblEKcSFTsEfPytkVz_i1LuFN3sFWinr0lM601w8dDp_vGk/s1600/DSC_0350.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vegetation out back-saguaro cactus and creosote bush</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjxw6uVNiugV33ANeRkWn3PIpcj7P8JA0QDECyVB_yXTX6lM6qVxkDucnM2bjm9u4cepIgu3s7TN8tJO1gw6XiNpnwyWe2aJBkRXS0lmOIutsQpHr-zQ8Fydtexy-PQX5PhfWZpfNkkon/s1600/DSC_0388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjxw6uVNiugV33ANeRkWn3PIpcj7P8JA0QDECyVB_yXTX6lM6qVxkDucnM2bjm9u4cepIgu3s7TN8tJO1gw6XiNpnwyWe2aJBkRXS0lmOIutsQpHr-zQ8Fydtexy-PQX5PhfWZpfNkkon/s1600/DSC_0388.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moonrise near Signal Peak</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8CyY5niC0kR-KjFEBQz-R1wcigAIfDiuYX95jI9qD5GoAkPeofeysnPB_fZFHT0RnTg8el8QD_lbsmSR4RvqsuSaOm59HEsLKrJqhSvhCrwyBsd0akGVnxQju0pRJVymISxluseMfVe4/s1600/DSC_0390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8CyY5niC0kR-KjFEBQz-R1wcigAIfDiuYX95jI9qD5GoAkPeofeysnPB_fZFHT0RnTg8el8QD_lbsmSR4RvqsuSaOm59HEsLKrJqhSvhCrwyBsd0akGVnxQju0pRJVymISxluseMfVe4/s1600/DSC_0390.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset on Signal Peak while the moon was coming to it's left in the above pic.</td></tr>
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We set our own schedule-no micro management, and have been warned NOT to <span style="background: yellow;">ov</span><span style="background: yellow;">erdo</span> it-many in this job burn themselves out by trying to do too much, but this is what we do ANYWHERE we stop for the night-jump in the car and poke around on every road in an area! Only here, we're in a government supplied truck, almost all expenses paid. We're basically living for free, other than groceries, and driving/hiking around the most remote (and beautiful) country we've ever been in! The refuge headquarters are 65 miles from here down in Yuma, so we end up going there every week or two, when we need supplies for our work, tools, water, or to turn in paperwork etc. which also gives us a chance to do a little of our own shopping.</div>
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One project we got involved with through the biologist is Pronghorn (antelope) reintroduction. On Wednesday, about 10 of us built a 2 acre, temporary pen for 30 Pronghorns that are coming in mid-December from Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, south of here on the Mexican border. They will live in the pen for 2 to 4 weeks getting acclimated, then the fence comes down and they are set free. There is also a separate, square mile pen that contains a breeding herd about 4 miles away from the temporary pen, which they take animals from and release when they're ready to be in the wild. It gets better-Tuesday we meet 2 biology technicians at 6 in the morning, to be trained in feeding them, as backups for them on the main pen for a few days in December. These pens are <i>miles </i>out in the back country, towards the center of Kofa.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFUWdvAXXviHc9o434iLchbdPfBPGwwn0IKuX30Ob7Zw9etrE9Ge2JksnitAFKZS2cUZXK1lCJS7u7TTFbEAZiz_tZisDI0WPnKDOr531P30nm7ho0rJhH1AP9YibWX-gsQlmslUz3Dh-/s1600/DSC_0428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFUWdvAXXviHc9o434iLchbdPfBPGwwn0IKuX30Ob7Zw9etrE9Ge2JksnitAFKZS2cUZXK1lCJS7u7TTFbEAZiz_tZisDI0WPnKDOr531P30nm7ho0rJhH1AP9YibWX-gsQlmslUz3Dh-/s1600/DSC_0428.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUrbWGPYaJ49B8Yzqci1JqcLcsV2wXQsHiHOV9ZMZgPh4iGnsywrD3OtCIjaxAn4kEX2IQe57kH1TZxZWBvGXDiIlUT7epc0MdQi9xGmXHAcYsyPqNP1E_sFsKqt_vUondKcKkgqJKW-W/s1600/DSC_0429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUrbWGPYaJ49B8Yzqci1JqcLcsV2wXQsHiHOV9ZMZgPh4iGnsywrD3OtCIjaxAn4kEX2IQe57kH1TZxZWBvGXDiIlUT7epc0MdQi9xGmXHAcYsyPqNP1E_sFsKqt_vUondKcKkgqJKW-W/s1600/DSC_0429.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVAow9QQI1YJ7qCxCSMr33lboQpuNl457TiY4qUbMJT1-8TZXXgjdvgpgB1M5zaWHUYq7ExL0WhTMrd3LmeUEaDTXozRQInzFOsudFjq9QT_KydMS7YLvSNFX5uRDuaaHDWitgd22ZDsg/s1600/DSC_0430.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVAow9QQI1YJ7qCxCSMr33lboQpuNl457TiY4qUbMJT1-8TZXXgjdvgpgB1M5zaWHUYq7ExL0WhTMrd3LmeUEaDTXozRQInzFOsudFjq9QT_KydMS7YLvSNFX5uRDuaaHDWitgd22ZDsg/s1600/DSC_0430.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbT50znBrdZkM8_C4Pb16W9axwitcdANgenw8iDYWtLPJVlgTCq1c8dQIuS0ekD_id8s7qDXoR__WrNow67uQHOE-bHW1zkz3jZgl50OIBWyrbktMEAHeGlzoVdxEd8Z6HwpM-d4F_0b_9/s1600/DSC_0431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbT50znBrdZkM8_C4Pb16W9axwitcdANgenw8iDYWtLPJVlgTCq1c8dQIuS0ekD_id8s7qDXoR__WrNow67uQHOE-bHW1zkz3jZgl50OIBWyrbktMEAHeGlzoVdxEd8Z6HwpM-d4F_0b_9/s1600/DSC_0431.JPG" height="640" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical road we're driving on all day, only it's never that flat and usually full of rocks!</td></tr>
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To sum it up-we get to live in a desert paradise, drive and hike (actually "patrol") around in it as our job, while working for, and with, wonderful people that are all just as enthused about what they are doing as this pair of "newbies" are. And they all are there to help you succeed, doing what ever it takes and what ever amount of their own time to help you do that.</div>
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One of the biggest problems for Kofa are geriatric 4 wheelers-yup-people our age, out tearing up the desert by leaving established roads and making their own roads, anywhere in Kofa but especially in the wilderness areas. And in the desert, damage lasts for decades and sometimes centuries, unless it's in a wash. As a teenager in NH in the 60's, I hated seeing snowmobiles coming into existence, and Kath & I both have no use for ATVs, dirt bikes, jet skis and all the other noisy junk that has followed over the decades. So, when we come across damage we take pics & GPS readings of the damage, clean up trash if any & brush out ATV tracks that head off the roads, so others don't think they <i>are</i> roads and follow them, put up "no vehicle" signs if necessary, and lay rock barriers across places that have been abused. There are 2 FWS law enforcement officers for Kofa and we file incident reports to them when we find problems. If we actually get to witness something live, we're to try & get pics of vehicles & license plates, and call in the cavalry if we can make a radio contact or have cell reception. So while were out looking for this kind of stuff, we also check the water sources along the way, as mentioned above. Most are loaded into the GPS units everyone carry's, and aren't usually on the road-many you hike into using the GPS to locate them. Mainly, we measure depth of the water & skim off anything found floating around in it, check for tracks and other signs of activity.</div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Kofa has 2 specialties in the wildlife department-the Pronghorns already mentioned, getting them re-established alongside using them for re-establishment in other parts of the state, and a couple of herds of Big Horn Sheep, which had been used as a breeding source for re-establishing them in other parts of Arizona. Unfortunately, that had to be suspended, as the herd had built up to 800 to 900 animals when the mountain lions discovered them about 8 years ago, and the Big Horns are now at around 400 to 500 animals, and the lions are on the increase.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">The current thinking is to reduce the number of water sources, as the sheep can go up to 2 weeks without a drink, even in the 120 degree heat of summer. The lions need water regularly to survive. </span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There are quite a few deer around also. More info on the critters that can be found here:<b> </b></span><a href="http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=22570" style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: black;">http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=22570</span></a></div>
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The refuge is surrounded by the Yuma Proving Ground on the south and halfway up the west boundary, where they are constantly testing large munitions (south end), training parachute troops etc. (west side). When we've worked in the southern areas, there's always rumbles off in the distance that sound like thunder going on, when they blow off guns that shoot shells 16 to 20 miles across the range! We've been told to stay away from the southern border-it's no man's land down there with all the unexploded ordinance, and live firing that sometimes strays over the boundary and explodes in the refuge. When we drove over to Imperial NWF for training, we took a road across the west side of the YPG (as it's known for short), and we were surrounded by parachutes dropping from the sky, as army troops finished a jump! Some were landing just feet away from the road. There appears to be a real cooperative relationship between the two entities, in spite of their very different needs and purposes. The main biologist on the Pronghorn project actually works for YPG and shares some of his time with Kofa when needed.</div>
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Then there's the town of Quartzsite. Another whole story, like something out of a Stephan King novel! Things are just starting to ramp up for snowbird season up there, as more and more campers move in for the winter. There are many RV parks in town, and BLM maintains 3 major long term camping areas on the south side of town, I would guess, after driving through only one of them the other day, that there must be 10 to 20 square miles of desert camping where you find a spot and hunker down for the winter. If that's not enough, THEN it apparently turns into the wild west in December and January, with 9 rock and gem shows, continuous swap meets, and a huge, 2 week RV show everyone calls "the tent", bringing in over a million people in a good year! That had us pretty concerned about what we'd be dealing with here, but the Kofa folks have said it's mostly day use along this road-phew! There's acres of big sales tents going up, and word has it there isn't anything you can't find for sale up there, if you have the patience to find it. And most only deal in cash-imagine that!</div>
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We think this winter's going to go by in a flash.</div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-47079810924359529912014-07-21T18:07:00.000-04:002014-07-22T12:19:32.355-04:00Yankton, South Dakota to Pick City, North Dakota<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m47!1m12!1m3!1d1440039.8949516607!2d-100.55479481293217!3d45.17539633071426!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m32!1i0!3e0!4m5!1s0x878fa108ae6fc351%3A0xee31b3f3b471c413!2sYankton%2C+SD!3m2!1d42.871108799999995!2d-97.39728129999999!4m5!1s0x87800415c839ad6b%3A0xdd881f94b09f55e1!2sFort+Pierre%2C+SD!3m2!1d44.3535933!2d-100.37374469999999!4m5!1s0x52d5daccb434bf39%3A0x8517d37fe7b19743!2sIndian+Memorial+Recreation+Area%2C+Mobridge%2C+SD+57601!3m2!1d45.577905!2d-100.48295999999999!4m5!1s0x52d708e561680fb7%3A0x7c7924358f9d55fc!2sHazelton+Recreation+Area%2C+Hazelton%2C+ND+58544!3m2!1d46.522124999999996!2d-100.544094!4m5!1s0x52d8f5c243862151%3A0x18024e60a97332cf!2sWolf+Creek+Rd%2C+Coleharbor%2C+ND+58531!3m2!1d47.5412579!2d-101.3240702!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1405977631214" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">NOTICE:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">You
are responsible for your own safety.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Recreation</b>
use has inherent risk and you may
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">encounter
a variety of unexpected and/or
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">dangerous
conditions <b>which may lead to serious </b>
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>injury
or death. </b>It is your
responsibility</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">to
be informed and take precautions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(From the back side of a Mississippi SP campground stub </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">we just found buried in the camper. We had NO idea </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">we were in such danger!)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since
our last post about the trip down the Missouri, we've moved a number
of times, through some spectacular and new country for us. We left
Yankton, SD the day after the river trip on Thursday, June 12 and
drove to Ft. Pierre, across the Missouri River from the state
capitol, Pierre. We stayed there until Sunday the 15th, having to do
another repack and run from a large and long line of storms coming
from the southwest, in the middle of the day on Friday. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The radar was
sporting dark purples & the heaviest concentration of them was
coming straight for the campground. Unfortunately, we couldn't run
from this one, as it was far too long of an unbroken line to drive around either end. So, in
the time we did have, we decided to go north on Rt 83, then west on
Rts. 34 & 14, and just drive right into what was the least
threatening area of storms, as best we could tell from radar. As we
drove towards it, we could see really dark clouds, almost like a
wall, coming closer and closer. After a few spats of rain, the road
just disappeared in a howl of wind and rain, and it was time to pull
over on the side of the highway, along with another car that had been
behind us, and wait it out. Kath was behind me in the Tracker, as we
had little warning this was coming, and didn't have time to hook the
vehicles together before we ran for the hills. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Afterward, talking about the experience, she said
all she did was keep her eyes on the floor, as the car was rocking
heavily, and the rain was blowing sideways, looking like snow
swirling around in the air and on the road. I found myself, about
halfway through the storm, with my foot mashed on the brake pedal
even though the transmission was in park, like it was somehow going
to keep the camper from being flipped over. A few of those gusts sure
felt like that could happen! At the height of it, I was thinking to
myself with all the roaring and rain pounding on the camper, that
there could be a tornado nearby coming right at us, and we'd never
know it. In all , it lasted about 15 minutes, and we moved on to a
spot we could turn around and slowly followed the storm back to camp
and re-setup. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing else of note happened there, (as it was mainly a utility
stop to restock, repair and wait out the weekend. Both towns looked
like they'd seen better days, and Pierre had a construction boom
going on 3 miles east of the city, where large housing developments
were going up centered around the usual Walmart Supercenter and a
host of other big box retailers, most likely spelling the end of what
was left of Pierre's already fading downtown.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41a5hPfZMgpLAgDoUsXbU7DDE24_Ejv9_1SW-4xaAv9tpZk4CFyeBZKlAH1HidbIHTfzdWP9vhfpvLyHRcJwIDqL09HFHigPx6FwQqKxm-SyGtSzqRkVwHWLoisnyvIfF-7xg0SQ0X2iN/s1600/IMG_1921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41a5hPfZMgpLAgDoUsXbU7DDE24_Ejv9_1SW-4xaAv9tpZk4CFyeBZKlAH1HidbIHTfzdWP9vhfpvLyHRcJwIDqL09HFHigPx6FwQqKxm-SyGtSzqRkVwHWLoisnyvIfF-7xg0SQ0X2iN/s1600/IMG_1921.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anti-smoking murals in Chamberlain, ND</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On
Sunday the 15th, we took the 1804 road to Indian Memorial R. A., on
the Standing Rock reservation just west of Mobridge, SD. It was being
run by the Sioux (of the reservation), who had been handed the
running of the campground and marina concession by the ACOE. The 2
guys at the check-in booth gave us a pretty funny run down of the
situation, saying yes, they run it and manage the money, but the ACOE
is always looking over their shoulders and telling them what to do. I
thought to myself, ““situation normal-telling the natives
“here-you can have control of this, but you really can't””. It
was a big campground, and some of it was cramped, cord-wood style
sites, and some were big, roomy sites. There were also a number of
natives living there full time, one lady across from us in a tent,
that worked at their casino up the road, and most others in various
types of campers.</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
continued the quest for more kayaking, but the wind keeps defeating
us! By late morning it's always at a stiff breeze that whips up
whitecaps on the river. We did take a drive out into the reservation
on back roads, and managed to NOT get lost-it was spectacular out
there. They are pretty much into crop farming on the same scale that
everyone outside the res does-big equipment, huge fields a thousand
acres or more, cattle etc. You wouldn't know you were in a
reservation. I hope for natures sake the oil companies don't discover
frackable oil beds there, like they have here in North Dakota. More
on that in the next post....</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWinCBy-yNfUaeHwR27mtCfqn8RmBpBjgVdcXfJ3o1QdA25Gjy2oXwmU-6-1OXA73LvhWX3vjdWEhyhoTu7LOW8p2sgXTs1S20G4soeFUj_neAjoXMetzvryLSiHs_MoivxCy3oQitiyd/s1600/IMG_1980+Sacakawea+Monument.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWinCBy-yNfUaeHwR27mtCfqn8RmBpBjgVdcXfJ3o1QdA25Gjy2oXwmU-6-1OXA73LvhWX3vjdWEhyhoTu7LOW8p2sgXTs1S20G4soeFUj_neAjoXMetzvryLSiHs_MoivxCy3oQitiyd/s1600/IMG_1980+Sacakawea+Monument.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sacagawea Monument</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmsUU0sEMZdba4vyNdMetnCs_RNRFLylzHS3QT8ztySqfbnSmkVzbIqSXZ-vq-H0hfMy5XALZcNk3SC6H9-8AJjI4ced9E_a3__G8n88X970k5SWjWlZWGtpH7reWTI8Y-dpmvlMnEjqX/s1600/IMG_1981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmsUU0sEMZdba4vyNdMetnCs_RNRFLylzHS3QT8ztySqfbnSmkVzbIqSXZ-vq-H0hfMy5XALZcNk3SC6H9-8AJjI4ced9E_a3__G8n88X970k5SWjWlZWGtpH7reWTI8Y-dpmvlMnEjqX/s1600/IMG_1981.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sacagawea Monument</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaeXQdNMyL5C0DNHcF92OAQXDCm_99x1sMLj4EveeyL5Fbyhlp7urTWpQ81BNH9kVbZGeKUpldZa3tiSGmwus90_l8zVIoOSi_lo-TSXUrSO0DumnDxc5kivRuQiDKNX8Q81jg3M268bJb/s1600/IMG_1984.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaeXQdNMyL5C0DNHcF92OAQXDCm_99x1sMLj4EveeyL5Fbyhlp7urTWpQ81BNH9kVbZGeKUpldZa3tiSGmwus90_l8zVIoOSi_lo-TSXUrSO0DumnDxc5kivRuQiDKNX8Q81jg3M268bJb/s1600/IMG_1984.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sitting Bull Monument</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiakaVgComzaSyz3JwoHunrCDMcI7dG9ZZiUxAC_NohxmVE05t1jibpwrvPLI63BNyBzjMkYc6BEDPNZXbPGQMBsDhgTkRrHkuX44aNJ5GX7HOy64IE9npl0Qpug-Cogg-L9QPuLMPi72/s1600/IMG_1993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiakaVgComzaSyz3JwoHunrCDMcI7dG9ZZiUxAC_NohxmVE05t1jibpwrvPLI63BNyBzjMkYc6BEDPNZXbPGQMBsDhgTkRrHkuX44aNJ5GX7HOy64IE9npl0Qpug-Cogg-L9QPuLMPi72/s1600/IMG_1993.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sitting Bull Monument</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWhcaweAXi2AS7VZ6fACfCkjYX09c5nhyf-3RXmsge3OYCgPcYA6RSJUxhowBwKgnsjIThyDv41r-8oqZyb-YchtGeZUzVo6dM_0QmsTsc5hg4qEvpXCvDSkF38fVqmj8iY3U9ypBv7Xg/s1600/IMG_2003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWhcaweAXi2AS7VZ6fACfCkjYX09c5nhyf-3RXmsge3OYCgPcYA6RSJUxhowBwKgnsjIThyDv41r-8oqZyb-YchtGeZUzVo6dM_0QmsTsc5hg4qEvpXCvDSkF38fVqmj8iY3U9ypBv7Xg/s1600/IMG_2003.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Camp</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">From
there, we hit the 1804 road again on Wednesday the 18th, and crossed
into North Dakota, headed for Bismarck and General Sibley Municipal
Park for camping. This was another utility stop, this time for
laundry and restocking, but we never got there. About 30 miles short,
we passed an ACOE boat launch on the river, and Kath mentioned it
looked like we had passed a campground before the launch, so we
turned around and sure enough, it was a beautiful CG in a large, flat prairie, completely empty of campers. There was a big, oval road, that
had about 12 campsites along each of the two straight sides, so
we took the end site on the far side, away from the entrance. We were in actual prairie, covered in
tall grass and studded with Scrub Oak and Russian Olive trees-it was
beautiful! And because it was federal, with my “old age” pass, we
paid $5 a night with power, as opposed to the $22 we were going to have to pay
in town. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">It was early, so we decided to make it a work day, did the
complete unpack, threw the laundry in the emptied-out car, and headed
for Bismarck to deal with that and run errands. When we got back
around 4, we saw another line of weather not far away, and a check of
radar showed a line again coming from the southwest heading
northeast. As we were close to the southern end, a run due east would
keep us out of trouble. There was a gravel road 2 miles south of the
CG that ran east to Hazelton, then a state highway that continued on
to Napoleon, about 40 miles away. We packed everything BACK into the car,
hooked it up and left, about 4:30. It was about 10 miles of
good gravel road to Hazelton, but still slow enough driving that it
was raining when we got there and onto pavement. We hoofed it along to Napoleon, and
needed gas when we got to that town. There was considerable lightening going
on when I got to the pump at the tiny general store, and I thought
maybe they would make us wait 'till the storm was past before pumping
the gas, but they were fine with it. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Of course, just as I got
started, the skies opened up and in 10 seconds I was looking like a
drowned rat-and a bald one at that! Once that was done, we moved out
of the way and kept watch the radar. After a bit, we saw that the CG
was just getting showers and the back line & clear weather was
already approaching it. BUT, in between us and there, our road had
deep red to purple storms showing on both sides of it, and a healthy
line of the same had popped up and was coming at Napoleon. Decision
time-we went for it, and really had no problem getting back, until we
saw what kind of shape we were in the next morning. The 10 miles of
gravel, which was wet with some sloppy spots on the way back but not
bad driving in spite of torrential rain coming down, was actually a
loose slurry of gravely cement, that had covered, and gotten into,
everywhere and everything. The Tracker, being dragged along behind,
looked like it was made of mud, the tow hitch was packed with it, as
were the electrical connections between it and the camper. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">So the next morning, I took the
car to the boat ramp and just drove the it into the river, got out
with a 5 gallon bucket and threw bucket load after bucket load of water over it,
scrubbing the heavy stuff with a sponge to get it off, including the
windows. We spent the rest of the day getting things repacked,
cleaned up etc. and grumbling about the fact that some goon in a
giant 5th wheel had come in to the empty campground with 30+ sites to
pick from, and sets himself up right across from us-I was livid &
even Kath, who usually rolls with the punches, was unhappy. Left the
next day, Friday, instead of spending the weekend as we had planned. </span>
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mHzZmE_luuLeXH7XTv1siYmdVLrkrHNtQKm2E4NUmjRvNqPkF4yWh1empy1F-KhQ0Sj-B6NXNh08GZtr2pu614FtuiQ8VsYEohnJjsY2iJQ9HoFZOcEWae2KNU0BqdSbv7DZn-sjwj9-/s1600/IMG_2011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mHzZmE_luuLeXH7XTv1siYmdVLrkrHNtQKm2E4NUmjRvNqPkF4yWh1empy1F-KhQ0Sj-B6NXNh08GZtr2pu614FtuiQ8VsYEohnJjsY2iJQ9HoFZOcEWae2KNU0BqdSbv7DZn-sjwj9-/s1600/IMG_2011.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From Indian Memorial to Hazelton RA</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1_Ut_w9433pfKVK9btDX3_LkNteO1IXMEcHqA4nZ-s2du54nu4y-HMrwwZRR3Z1KQeu7TAXa31QqMl7Th4YD9FnI-cf8eF0aHHc5xPGVwYhCFipBZieoV1VRv_JKP8csT7mG7g29GvxN/s1600/IMG_2014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1_Ut_w9433pfKVK9btDX3_LkNteO1IXMEcHqA4nZ-s2du54nu4y-HMrwwZRR3Z1KQeu7TAXa31QqMl7Th4YD9FnI-cf8eF0aHHc5xPGVwYhCFipBZieoV1VRv_JKP8csT7mG7g29GvxN/s1600/IMG_2014.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From Indian Memorial to Hazelton RA</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFA-ZSgYFh53iYS5Z05vQbfRnsFHPiuERnh0NEUx9zH-Oh4K-7qG6x_pt0tLIsPwMRftdzgkIDpIvX09S9aahk3zhjDdaIgheEpNEAOajOczqDa6Gs1sT5gS_vYk2lgSwsUezkB7yHexnR/s1600/IMG_2016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFA-ZSgYFh53iYS5Z05vQbfRnsFHPiuERnh0NEUx9zH-Oh4K-7qG6x_pt0tLIsPwMRftdzgkIDpIvX09S9aahk3zhjDdaIgheEpNEAOajOczqDa6Gs1sT5gS_vYk2lgSwsUezkB7yHexnR/s1600/IMG_2016.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From Indian Memorial to Hazelton RA</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiApJ_N-nUGRQWkw1xbpVAFBmtLPhUYDOIP2cGpG7dMJmHppMFvm0kZUICI5Vp-7jn5YmoucOy2fGQUPne7Pq6wOkRI99UvOBBTXVCYPHvA6lAiUtQ15kbDfMEPpal9ge6YuYFbn-idw-Ds/s1600/IMG_2019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiApJ_N-nUGRQWkw1xbpVAFBmtLPhUYDOIP2cGpG7dMJmHppMFvm0kZUICI5Vp-7jn5YmoucOy2fGQUPne7Pq6wOkRI99UvOBBTXVCYPHvA6lAiUtQ15kbDfMEPpal9ge6YuYFbn-idw-Ds/s1600/IMG_2019.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From Indian Memorial to Hazelton RA</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPrR1VzfvYtm71hbJtKY8V40VC_JxQVZD_g0YBFoVxe1TxqAh2DQeY8EVtgX7hE2wAdI4VL4mvluAmKY-8QvD0Y1wdIzDQGAn80Zyo5bR-H5Kgf0waVX6t7t10AYFieXXYlf2vzgME_wY/s1600/IMG_2036-Post+flee+pics+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCPrR1VzfvYtm71hbJtKY8V40VC_JxQVZD_g0YBFoVxe1TxqAh2DQeY8EVtgX7hE2wAdI4VL4mvluAmKY-8QvD0Y1wdIzDQGAn80Zyo5bR-H5Kgf0waVX6t7t10AYFieXXYlf2vzgME_wY/s1600/IMG_2036-Post+flee+pics+%25286%2529.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hazelton CG</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhgRQHObXDx4pg1J-A_95ZeFNz8nNn4gimHdkVLiM_RXaA6DuMiDznNdvcCoa4ArX2feNRqZGR8qLjOfJq8k8u5of0QLQt2WYqLHgISCj9QIyneaW_GCUuZlfAHFZSBoJ0aGHq3EGNDTP/s1600/IMG_2038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhgRQHObXDx4pg1J-A_95ZeFNz8nNn4gimHdkVLiM_RXaA6DuMiDznNdvcCoa4ArX2feNRqZGR8qLjOfJq8k8u5of0QLQt2WYqLHgISCj9QIyneaW_GCUuZlfAHFZSBoJ0aGHq3EGNDTP/s1600/IMG_2038.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hazelton CG</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUIRGXBXvDxg4iQE7O10Hmlqv2QBlMww4W71uR6zn0lYRQ5Z43cu181xn6zvT392xVMzcpbPSiON1_wtwNGVVlJYzeNOxcYEayDpdI-vS4UKuY39tzZH0SMfg-Xb4Qb9-Ydu5hcu_9WGr/s1600/IMG_2044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtUIRGXBXvDxg4iQE7O10Hmlqv2QBlMww4W71uR6zn0lYRQ5Z43cu181xn6zvT392xVMzcpbPSiON1_wtwNGVVlJYzeNOxcYEayDpdI-vS4UKuY39tzZH0SMfg-Xb4Qb9-Ydu5hcu_9WGr/s1600/IMG_2044.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr. Happy cooking chicken at </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hazelton CG</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Went
into Bismarck, spent half the day running the errands we didn't get
to 2 days before, and struck off for Wolf Creek R.A., up on Lake
Sakakawea, via...you guessed it-1804 road. It is a spectacular ride,
and, even if a little bumpy in spots, beats the interstate! Wolf
Creek R.A. was also an ACOE run R.A., similar to Hazelton, $5 a
night, and we we ended up with a single site on a point looking out
at the lake and at a 6 mile wide island about a half mile offshore from us. The
dam that creates Lake Sakakawea, Garrison Dam, is about 6 miles from
there & we hoped to try & get a tour of it. We discovered
that they only do tours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, so that
was Saturday afternoon for us. Fascinating-the scale of everything
there is massive, yet every part of the operation is spotlessly
clean, in spite of being built in the 1950's. It took them 7 years to
complete, and puts out enough power to run 300,000 homes. The lake is
also massive-178 miles long, and the main channel is over 170 feet
deep. It impounds so much water, and has such an excess capacity,
that they have only had to open the spillway once since it
opened-just what runs through the power plant alone is enough to
maintain the lake level.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xzM1FdxHaMSWNxdt6ya9zxgPVZyLaEAMklU0IUn9VSDeyKsAOXSqqkIHyPF3196j8GRsYLWGEDJYNjdh7u4QuDqNwjQKaNhbD33UWBawUIPQhGC7ZoiKLaYcPDH_lEnLg_DoGZkIO_JD/s1600/IMG_2053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7xzM1FdxHaMSWNxdt6ya9zxgPVZyLaEAMklU0IUn9VSDeyKsAOXSqqkIHyPF3196j8GRsYLWGEDJYNjdh7u4QuDqNwjQKaNhbD33UWBawUIPQhGC7ZoiKLaYcPDH_lEnLg_DoGZkIO_JD/s1600/IMG_2053.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Camp spot at Wolf Point RA</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxJt2pBoPBmdibLuQt70BWyFgxjtqq08V_WyBEyBn0f2MjX9gUxKCedg_J6-32u6DYzAiZBXgoovdTX-aecW2DsV-ptVeAat7_h304t7mrU570BA5FUm90EaY3kaoTOL7cclTxA0JI84w/s1600/IMG_2055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMxJt2pBoPBmdibLuQt70BWyFgxjtqq08V_WyBEyBn0f2MjX9gUxKCedg_J6-32u6DYzAiZBXgoovdTX-aecW2DsV-ptVeAat7_h304t7mrU570BA5FUm90EaY3kaoTOL7cclTxA0JI84w/s1600/IMG_2055.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Camp spot at Wolf Point RA</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbOHt56i9Dtm09dFRZZzDM8CKlbiaUkLyuiM9hhxazFAeeUPznVvDh_bF26qkdQJyGZfg1kbVD23Yza6VMogYxcuKksbAv0aKNcxw3P__DTOxh7FJDWTDlxquQxwvdbsA7_mJ5yhbOeZp/s1600/IMG_2110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbOHt56i9Dtm09dFRZZzDM8CKlbiaUkLyuiM9hhxazFAeeUPznVvDh_bF26qkdQJyGZfg1kbVD23Yza6VMogYxcuKksbAv0aKNcxw3P__DTOxh7FJDWTDlxquQxwvdbsA7_mJ5yhbOeZp/s1600/IMG_2110.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All that driving just wears her out!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
next day, Sunday, we did a historical ride around the block, checking
out some L & C sites. First, we backtracked down Rt. 83 to
Washburn, to the L & C interpretive center and the reconstructed
Fort Mandan. The center was an L & C museum, which would be a
rehash of the many we'd already been to, so we passed on that &
it's $7.50 admittance fee. Unfortunately, the fort was also part of
it, so we probably should have paid it but didn't, settling for
taking pics of the 12' tall metal statues of L & C at “council”
with a Sioux chief, and another of the girls with a sculpture of
Captain Lewis's dog, Seaman.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBUvo9X7QI_F-IDM8GHAJ1eKbkxAKJ4VWhnNC1e7WyqhXOLteJHenuUuTWJG9AsyNmGXt7MbmpO0fbR62XYFWaeyv3BjJPbev8WcHpuGtQU50SaUy-Z_a_TtwT-YcQ_1JHuYuFBjlQSy3/s1600/IMG_2065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBUvo9X7QI_F-IDM8GHAJ1eKbkxAKJ4VWhnNC1e7WyqhXOLteJHenuUuTWJG9AsyNmGXt7MbmpO0fbR62XYFWaeyv3BjJPbev8WcHpuGtQU50SaUy-Z_a_TtwT-YcQ_1JHuYuFBjlQSy3/s1600/IMG_2065.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP57S2mdWdErNhwDf70h8Xj5s4LV07kd1-j-n-8yNL_bd-6CUGc9dufgtBkfnsh5GYQLEO9yFyj0_ajcY6lRXKH8G7oGCFVWL73ehKTI1cME9QmaAdcj5GoKLOxJng7L7QqoZDpoI-pU0g/s1600/IMG_2078.JPG-Seaman+%2540+Ft.+Mandan+%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP57S2mdWdErNhwDf70h8Xj5s4LV07kd1-j-n-8yNL_bd-6CUGc9dufgtBkfnsh5GYQLEO9yFyj0_ajcY6lRXKH8G7oGCFVWL73ehKTI1cME9QmaAdcj5GoKLOxJng7L7QqoZDpoI-pU0g/s1600/IMG_2078.JPG-Seaman+%2540+Ft.+Mandan+%25281%2529.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzcaFmJCEIMeYGZ2p2bBFOoppQBI8UAESK5kV_YkVR-OvCzJ4pzcxlEJjLkhef4srvOP-W9EPpzAiqqG3M2W1Jj8Fvu3uoqZQflOknWgqRlvXctGaiRSevhTknfMLzuXgemDuQoRokHLY/s1600/IMG_2078.JPG-Seaman+%2540+Ft.+Mandan+%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzcaFmJCEIMeYGZ2p2bBFOoppQBI8UAESK5kV_YkVR-OvCzJ4pzcxlEJjLkhef4srvOP-W9EPpzAiqqG3M2W1Jj8Fvu3uoqZQflOknWgqRlvXctGaiRSevhTknfMLzuXgemDuQoRokHLY/s1600/IMG_2078.JPG-Seaman+%2540+Ft.+Mandan+%25284%2529.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ate
lunch there and drove west on Rt. 200A to the Fort Clark Historic
Site. This area had mowed pathways to many placards on open prairie,
describing what was at each site-you had to use your imagination, as
there were no remnants or reconstructions. Our last stop was the
Knife River Indian Villages N.H.S. This was great! Very interesting
museum on how these tribes lived, and a reconstructed earth lodge,
fully set up as it would have been back then. It is similar to the lodges that L & C over-wintered in that first year with the Mandans.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jOUkw3Mo4NXyOFxrewxgSlOoxJ_tehJQGiMR901Q9irCNHLJu9dpV8u1MjruhGsH8-esBAX6YCq8EgcH_f-A03NgljGPpN6a0gcQnlIOtDaDJflySDrzCmmO2io6TSJ7cIKC2m4xC-yK/s1600/IMG_2102.JPG-Knife+River+Indian+Village+%252813%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jOUkw3Mo4NXyOFxrewxgSlOoxJ_tehJQGiMR901Q9irCNHLJu9dpV8u1MjruhGsH8-esBAX6YCq8EgcH_f-A03NgljGPpN6a0gcQnlIOtDaDJflySDrzCmmO2io6TSJ7cIKC2m4xC-yK/s1600/IMG_2102.JPG-Knife+River+Indian+Village+%252813%2529.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdyQqcaOwtmaNqn4ecqOtG90W1Eq4_VkDqZJl6wqY1Y6IFfUR485GgkjxnoeYcHU_z466cCzKhSMDBAK_lYFO4Lp-tCBUWHOxkxrkpLhySD2jImj5OUUWFY89g82qdUK7cyqRib4Iz8gC/s1600/IMG_2102.JPG-Knife+River+Indian+Village+%25286%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisdyQqcaOwtmaNqn4ecqOtG90W1Eq4_VkDqZJl6wqY1Y6IFfUR485GgkjxnoeYcHU_z466cCzKhSMDBAK_lYFO4Lp-tCBUWHOxkxrkpLhySD2jImj5OUUWFY89g82qdUK7cyqRib4Iz8gC/s1600/IMG_2102.JPG-Knife+River+Indian+Village+%25286%2529.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kind of looks like the inside of our camper right about now!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From
the earth lodge, we followed a short trail through prairie &
woods to the Knife River-beautiful country! After that, we found a
back road that followed the river west into more farm country to
Hazen, then north back to Rt 1806, and east back over Garrison dam
and the CG. Great time!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
were there from Friday the 20th to Monday the 23rd, when we left for
Theodore Roosevelt N.P's north unit, where we still are today, Sunday
the 29th. We leave tomorrow for the south unit.</span></div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-46943847190169206842014-06-14T16:24:00.001-04:002014-06-14T16:58:45.943-04:00June 11th Missouri River Paddle<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m25!1m12!1m3!1d93624.67280210636!2d-97.3002099445346!3d42.83545035734662!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m10!1i0!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d42.7732418!2d-97.1212315!4m3!3m2!1d42.8487049!2d-97.46863409999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1402694131750" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We finally got to paddle a section of the river-WOO-HOO!!!! Ignore the road line on the map above-the circles at the start (left side) and end (right side) show where we started and ended. You can change the view to satellite and zoom in to check the river out if you want.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We did this 22 mile section of the river on Wednesday, June 11th. The day before, we moved the kayaks up to the boat ramp and locked them to a sign post, then packed the camper up and drove it and the car to the takeout point, left the car and returned to the campground. As we were leaving for Fort Pierre (locals pronounce it "pier") the day after the paddle, it worked out great.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were up at 4:30 and on the river at 6, as strong winds were predicted (and are the norm in the Dakotas), and we wanted to have plenty of time, having never kayaked on a river this size. By 6:55 we had covered the 4 & 1/4 miles to the Yankton/Rt. 81 bridge, and in another mile, left civilization mostly behind. Where we started, the river was maybe 600 feet wide, but now was the size of a good-sized lake-you could barely make out the shoreline looking downstream at the far side. For all you New Hampshirites-Lake Sunapee wide-it was an overwhelming sight! Throw in islands of varying sizes and numerous channels, and it was difficult to know just where you were at times. And in the middle of all that are sandbars where you least expect them, and snags everywhere-most visible, some only noticeable because of the eddy they're causing on the river's surface. We DID know that the river in the area of the take out was narrow, and will have just turned a sharp left and will be flowing due east, so that was easy to find.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The river itself had a 4 & 1/2 mph current, so paddling early on was usually very easy. We ate lunch early, and by 11:30 or so, that wind had appeared, blowing straight at us, and making keeping the boats pointing downstream a full time job! It worked itself up to about a 20 mph headwind, blowing directly into us <i>and </i>the current, making for quite a chop that was going in multiple directions. The last couple of hours were steady, hard paddling, and we finished up at the takeout around 1:30-just right, as were we getting a bit tired with fighting the winds. Saw some bald eagles, possibly cormorants, numerous other birds, but no wildlife. There is a link below to a 9 minute video of the trip (good shot of Kirk paddling right at me and going sideways!) and a bunch of pictures below that</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cJvkW0abOo"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cJvkW0abOo</span></a></div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-63827203087227045482014-06-13T10:00:00.000-04:002014-06-13T13:33:26.157-04:00A Ride Around the Block in South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m75!1m12!1m3!1d375568.4418080866!2d-97.18799816915696!3d42.65863328282597!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m60!1i0!3e0!4m5!1s0x878f98b865f8b08b%3A0xcd9a1945b6a9ee81!2s898+Rd%2C+Crofton%2C+NE+68730!3m2!1d42.845358999999995!2d-97.45844389999999!4m5!1s0x878fa108ae6fc351%3A0xee31b3f3b471c413!2sYankton%2C+SD!3m2!1d42.871108799999995!2d-97.39728129999999!4m3!3m2!1d42.7734403!2d-97.12115059999999!4m5!1s0x878e50d99d482c13%3A0xf0606af4f8cc432a!2sSpirit+Mound%2C+Vermillion%2C+SD+57069!3m2!1d42.873601!2d-96.96117699999999!4m5!1s0x878e6b3f3b35f3af%3A0x98f5459c081b0b1a!2sElk+Point%2C+SD!3m2!1d42.6833303!2d-96.68364749999999!4m5!1s0x878dfdc536c4ec73%3A0xdef1773c4766b006!2sSergeant+Floyd+Monument+Historical+Marker!3m2!1d42.4625!2d-96.37790799999999!4m5!1s0x878dfe60d9f25c9d%3A0xd409109e59006b87!2sDays+Inn+Sioux+City!3m2!1d42.43472!2d-96.36869999999999!4m5!1s0x878fb33a43b857f5%3A0x245e4f443205f851!2sWynot%2C+NE!3m2!1d42.7402759!2d-97.16921699999999!4m5!1s0x878f84b7135acbb5%3A0xbd4670631236e8ff!2sSt+Helena%2C+NE!3m2!1d42.8097196!2d-97.2489418!4m5!1s0x878f98b865f8b08b%3A0xcd9a1945b6a9ee81!2s898+Rd%2C+Crofton%2C+NE+68730!3m2!1d42.845358999999995!2d-97.45844389999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1402411309909" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">While fleeing from Decatur to Yankton, we passed a lot of area we had
intended to check out if we'd had a normal driving day, and probably
would have spent a night or two along the way doing that before getting to Yankton.
So, we did a ride around the block to make up for it on Saturday,
June 7th. </span></span>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We
left the campground around 9 o'clock and headed over the bridge to
Yankton to pick up Rt 50 east. We drove out Rt 50 to CR-454 and drove
south on it 7 miles to the river. We wanted to check out a takeout
point on the Missouri, Myron Grove Landing, for a paddle we're planning for
Wednesday the 11th, from the campground to there, about 22 miles.
We'll run the car down the afternoon before, come back to the campground with the
camper for the night and leave early the next morning. Some pics at the take out point:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From there we back tracked about a mile, then continued east on back roads to Vermillion. After finding some lunch-to-go, we drove up Rt 19 north to Spirit Mound, which is a pointy rise in the land that Lewis & Clark saw from the river, 9 miles away. The local natives told them that the place was inhabited by “little people” (or “Deavels”, “about 18 inches tall with large heads”, as L & C's describe them in their </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">journal</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">), who shot anyone with arrows if they trespassed on the sacred mound. L & C took 11 men and Seaman (Lewis's dog) and hiked the 9 miles northeast to the mound. It was a tough enough hike that they had to send Seaman back to the boat, being late August, very hot</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, and Seaman being a big, shaggy Newfoundland</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. The boat was being watched by 2 more troops of the expedition. They saw a lot of firsts from the top of the mound. Since this was their first trip away from the river since they'd entered the plains, they took in a view of the surrounding prairie, hundreds of buffalo, some badger or coyote dens, numerous species of birds, and found a lot of various kinds of ripe fruit back down on the plains around the mound.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">They were thirsty when they left, so they made a 3 mile detour northeast to the Vermillion River, and followed it back to the Missouri, and back to their boat. A mere 25 miles as the crow flies, and half of that river miles, which can be a WAY longer and more difficult path, all in one day! I've said it to K many times since the St. Louis museum-they had to have been some very, very tough men and woman.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We, on the other hand, got there in 15 minutes-it was an exhausting drive! Had lunch and grabbed the girls and hiked the mile up to the top. It was a cool, cloudy day. We met a couple of women at the start, one of whom was a local South Dakotan. She gave us a bunch of tips on what to see and where to go on the rest of our drive north through South Dakota, when we told her what we were doing. A fun conversation with them. Great hike up there and back too!</span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Spirit Mound</u></span></div>
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<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spirit Mound</u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Up the back to the top</u></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpmmfZT9Av6iq3gzNqsFcYYVvH6Ng96I59oyUN-ImaiPz6wA8IqoPKUChXTccbWLBYxtIEnANxeCgMOoNMvmTUzZZbrvnT8fImGNF3OBj-9NBHxZHo2Usx2_RXkTJsSNoZDpYk81-cgIk/s1600/IMG_1844-Spirit+Mound+(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpmmfZT9Av6iq3gzNqsFcYYVvH6Ng96I59oyUN-ImaiPz6wA8IqoPKUChXTccbWLBYxtIEnANxeCgMOoNMvmTUzZZbrvnT8fImGNF3OBj-9NBHxZHo2Usx2_RXkTJsSNoZDpYk81-cgIk/s1600/IMG_1844-Spirit+Mound+(6).JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>View from the top</u></span></div>
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<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">View from the top</u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>A "Deavel" we saw at the top!</u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From
there we backtracked down Rt 19 straight south through town to
Burbank road, and took that to Elk Point, a funky little place that
was still thriving (so many small towns are not) and continued on
into the big city (Sioux City) and the Sargent Floyd memorial.
Sargent Floyd was the only expedition member to die on the trek, of
what they think today was appendicitis. L & C expressed a lot of
sorrow at his loss in their journals, as he sounded like, in their
words, a great companion and very talented man. They buried him on a
bluff overlooking, but back away from the Missouri. In all, he wound
up being exhumed 4 times over the years, and now lies on a bluff
above the river again, BUT with Interstate 29 right underneath him,
poor fellow, in between him and the river. No restfulness there, for
sure!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">From
there, we were trying to pick our way through the city and across the
river and return home through Nebraska, but got waylaid by a road
rage incident. We were following a Toyota Prius when a black,
low-rider Honda with an obnoxious muffler roared past us, whipped in
front of the Prius and jammed on his brakes-that was just the
start-the driving got really rough with him flipping the Prius driver
off, weaving in and out, jamming on his brakes, swearing out the window, so we dropped way back. K was driving and I got out the cell
phone and fired it up, in case there was an accident. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Just before our
turnoff, we passed the Prius and saw it was a very young woman driving, so K pulled over behind some construction cones and stopped
& we called 911-this guy clearly wasn't going to let it go. They
eventually pulled into a Day's Inn motel parking lot, cross lots from us at a
major intersection about a quarter mile away, so we were able to
watch them. We stayed with 911 (at the dispatcher's request) until the
cops showed up, which took about 20 minutes-we left when we saw the
police car pull up behind them. By then, it appeared that they knew
each other and the whole thing may have been a lovers quarrel, but it was clear this
boy had a temper & she could have been in serious trouble.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Finally,
we got into Nebraska, and retraced the route we had taken when we
left Decatur. One thing we passed that night was this windmill museum on the south side of the road (one camera has both a shutter <i>and</i> a focus malfunction, so some pics are a little off):</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We've seen hundreds of windmills in our travels, but none like most of these! Most of the rare ones were made of wood, and wouldn't still be standing without a lot of maintenance on the part of the rancher/farmer-time they don't have to spare for something like that, so we've only seen steel windmills still standing. Even a few of these, that were moving in the wind, needed maintenance from all the squeaks and squeals going on around us!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For any windmill nerds, Long Pants, here's a link to a short video:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/ngGC6fgHYm0" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #1b7fcc; cursor: pointer; line-height: 14.300000190734863px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://youtu.be/ngGC6fgHYm0</span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">We continued up Rt 12 as far as the turnoff for Wynot (love that name!)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">After all, Why Not?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">where we left pavement
for the back roads, and followed them to St Helena and on back home.
All in all, a great day!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMuFOD9v-YKzzM01IerA9J-KVUkgy_b_hFViKRUsU8tzIZtgfroM-NeqMuyRQ0PjkIoiRT8POl8yum1k6vd-obgE_O5lnpXMKb5YBwsu7jQRCjuKk7uhgGdtUiHTy49ZkNgnpD7Nfjh0M/s1600/IMG_1870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMuFOD9v-YKzzM01IerA9J-KVUkgy_b_hFViKRUsU8tzIZtgfroM-NeqMuyRQ0PjkIoiRT8POl8yum1k6vd-obgE_O5lnpXMKb5YBwsu7jQRCjuKk7uhgGdtUiHTy49ZkNgnpD7Nfjh0M/s1600/IMG_1870.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEryjJkLBuWBReGLQt4H-ACi2SMAq7Y0GSWEfLgS-In78yANzCYhy9GeR5uo5qXkbLayacIF54AcaAikkyqujeojsG2HAxCS7t8ruXlYQYUWE7041TW-LznuI8vX5pfLS6GiDcuZRwJlj/s1600/IMG_1871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEryjJkLBuWBReGLQt4H-ACi2SMAq7Y0GSWEfLgS-In78yANzCYhy9GeR5uo5qXkbLayacIF54AcaAikkyqujeojsG2HAxCS7t8ruXlYQYUWE7041TW-LznuI8vX5pfLS6GiDcuZRwJlj/s1600/IMG_1871.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><u>Mad Cows-their in white coats!</u></span></span></div>
Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-52570771568120140942014-06-06T13:40:00.000-04:002014-06-06T13:40:35.734-04:006-3-14 An Unplanned Move!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m45!1m12!1m3!1d754577.4747023946!2d-96.95362731989844!3d42.373039500324886!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m30!1i0!3e0!4m5!1s0x8792234f27d1e31d%3A0x315942584c10545e!2sBeck+Memorial+Park%2C+Decatur%2C+NE+68020!3m2!1d42.001776!2d-96.246224!4m5!1s0x8791f995bcae1e3b%3A0xc810979bc8510fea!2sWinnebago%2C+NE!3m2!1d42.237648199999995!2d-96.4723119!4m5!1s0x878e01751073c8c9%3A0xfe2cd7da2be79212!2sDakota+City%2C+NE!3m2!1d42.4155496!2d-96.4183637!4m5!1s0x878e4bca934ed421%3A0x1a071c70bd807c5d!2sObert%2C+NE!3m2!1d42.6897205!2d-97.0281016!4m3!3m2!1d42.7650411!2d-97.1100108!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1402067188605" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Route to where we landed for the night</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m31!1m12!1m3!1d374412.945003682!2d-97.46665574821051!3d42.849597693846825!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m16!1i0!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d42.7647798!2d-97.10930599999999!4m5!1s0x878f84b7135acbb5%3A0xbd4670631236e8ff!2sSt+Helena%2C+NE!3m2!1d42.8097196!2d-97.2489418!4m3!3m2!1d42.848355999999995!2d-97.4671091!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1402070815347" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Route the next morning</u></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">We </span><span style="color: #222222;">were
</span><span style="color: #222222;">in
the town park in Decatur, Nebraska, mentioned in the last post, until
Tuesday 6-3, and were planning to spend Tuesday night as well, them
move 6 miles over the river to the State Park in Iowa. When we got to Decatur Sunday
night, a line of storms had us packing up once again 2 hours after we
got there, and we just moved the camper to an open area away from trees to
wait it out. The heavy stuff went around us, so all we saw was some heavy
rain & a little wind, then we were able to move back to our site around 9 that night.
The next day we explored around a bit, checked out the lake camping, then
discovered more bad weather was in store for Tuesday night. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Some Decatur park and area pics:</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrXjeT2vAlw7z9ovPkvqFsL93UArOec5kKfp3zFh3y-5ogvfERXD-dII9GdEkLFD3y2VV21rA4Dk77XDyjV3m0-95eNJfcPv5sJ0QT129oDCsdnpLHTkssLX5mugkNmvvt9b_9yrsII_C/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrXjeT2vAlw7z9ovPkvqFsL93UArOec5kKfp3zFh3y-5ogvfERXD-dII9GdEkLFD3y2VV21rA4Dk77XDyjV3m0-95eNJfcPv5sJ0QT129oDCsdnpLHTkssLX5mugkNmvvt9b_9yrsII_C/s1600/IMG_0395.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Looking up river from our site</u></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3skMV4paS2slcunjjxYGH96aBkUmWZFH_iSxF7p-JKojrhL2blXNBjXAJvw1YTBIZxWRKZ0AX5B8k6nOCJqdQIUYiLBVkXok_b1W8ayvSP-KJK1pKd9AExbwzdzQSy-l8TVB7TI1uxTq/s1600/IMG_0396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3skMV4paS2slcunjjxYGH96aBkUmWZFH_iSxF7p-JKojrhL2blXNBjXAJvw1YTBIZxWRKZ0AX5B8k6nOCJqdQIUYiLBVkXok_b1W8ayvSP-KJK1pKd9AExbwzdzQSy-l8TVB7TI1uxTq/s1600/IMG_0396.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking down river from our site</u></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx7LBB9Qb3jYIEoLbXMHveb-lF5seazK6qwp9ZLwlRpyBxBaCRZaJecXfbFG9YaD926zad8_sQPVt0cmFM8jYfqC0AC-aB_iSYzj8taGbCJIOxyj4Ucd2VTotMfftemZN6fvxMeIdnPs7/s1600/IMG_0398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx7LBB9Qb3jYIEoLbXMHveb-lF5seazK6qwp9ZLwlRpyBxBaCRZaJecXfbFG9YaD926zad8_sQPVt0cmFM8jYfqC0AC-aB_iSYzj8taGbCJIOxyj4Ucd2VTotMfftemZN6fvxMeIdnPs7/s1600/IMG_0398.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Cooking suppa-AGAIN! She never lifts a finger!</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
the lake CG was heavily treed, we re-upped at Decatur for Tuesday
night, since we had the bridge over to Iowa to put the camper under for protection,
and now knew the town hall was open for a shelter if we needed it.
And we would! But back to Monday-it was a beautiful Nebraska day and
when we got done driving around, we cooked out then sat on a bench
by the river across from our site as old farts do, yacked and watched the river go by
until dark. But Tuesday was another story. In the morning, the
forecasts were ominous, though nothing was on radar at that point. By
1 in the afternoon though, that had changed too, so we did another
pack up, this time packing essentials to get up and running again if
the camper was destroyed, and emptying everything out of the car and
into the camper so the dogs would be with us. I went to the town
hall, to talk to the clerk about access to the basement, and while I
was there, the town cop came through the park and told Kath that we
had to go, because radar was looking really bad. (He had stopped to
warn us on Sunday night also). First time we had EVER seen purple on
weather radar, the worst color for thunderstorms! And this system was different-usually they come through in a line, with clear weather following behind the front. This one was like a bubbling stew pot-stuff would clear out in one area and bubble up very quickly in another, all the while slowly moving east.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, we moved the
camper under the overpass mentioned above, </span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38lF5GObsptdpsw9OkYxMzziJgC_mKvhxWT6fdRSGJ5WiSAYv3ejOUe9hpQbXc59xyB6Cm8w0oWUaOlkAwPNmnkfX7Pi4GTBN0vygXAZ85RmirsA4uQsZl46GhmeMnMRl6ojDzLRaRw-W/s1600/IMG_1804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38lF5GObsptdpsw9OkYxMzziJgC_mKvhxWT6fdRSGJ5WiSAYv3ejOUe9hpQbXc59xyB6Cm8w0oWUaOlkAwPNmnkfX7Pi4GTBN0vygXAZ85RmirsA4uQsZl46GhmeMnMRl6ojDzLRaRw-W/s1600/IMG_1804.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">then hung out in the
basement of the town hall,</span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZrKDvyyNJY1VFLETnayA3_kpMZZAq-32ODZxMy7dcX1pwBQXHS3yp0nKbEwHafhEsK75fLBSIpFcPUWOhzYDuugs2b5rTSu0Jgm9KhjpsIgXIMvIESp5jld6hCj9xOoSSmlrw3WKcQpe/s1600/IMG_0400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZrKDvyyNJY1VFLETnayA3_kpMZZAq-32ODZxMy7dcX1pwBQXHS3yp0nKbEwHafhEsK75fLBSIpFcPUWOhzYDuugs2b5rTSu0Jgm9KhjpsIgXIMvIESp5jld6hCj9xOoSSmlrw3WKcQpe/s1600/IMG_0400.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and waited out the first wave, which was a
LOT or rain and some pea-sized hail. By 5:30, that was over, but purple storms were stretched out in a long line to the west of Decatur and coming straight at us, one after the other, if nothing changed. As there was a large area clear of storms about 80 miles north, we took everything BACK out of the camper
and into car, fed the dogs, made sandwiches, and bolted for safety in that direction.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before I go any further, to give an idea of how serious this was, here's a link to a 2 minute news report on what happened 30 miles down the road in Blair, where we stayed 3 nights ago before coming to Decatur-it's worth the time! </span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.wmur.com/news/town-shredded-by-hail/26323860" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank" title="http://www.wmur.com/news/town-shredded-by-hail/26323860">http://www.wmur.com/news/town-<wbr></wbr>shredded-by-hail/26323860</a></div>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
drove up Rt 75 to it's intersection with Rt. 77 at the town of
Winnebago, the main town of the Winnebago reservation. The
reservation appeared to be very healthy and prosperous, all too often missing from many reservations, unfortunately. They had a brand new,
very intricate set of school buildings, and every business (and the
schools) were all decked out in some sort of Indian motif. Really
nice looking town.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">We
continued north to Dakota City, where we checked out a town park to
spend the night, but it was a “stacked in like cord-wood”
campground and $20 a night. Town parks aren't the bargain they used
to be! In years past, they would run from free to a high of $10. But
the bigger factor was that we were not in the clear yet with the weather, and so
kept on driving north. At South Sioux City we changed to Rt 20 west,
drove a short ways, then got on Rt 12, the Nebraska “Outlaw Trail
Scenic Byway”, and that's what it turned out to be, with the state of Nebraska playing the outlaw!! If you've ever been anywhere in
rural Nebraska, it is an enchanting state, almost like driving
through a farmland terrarium, with rolling hills, huge fields of
crops, or equally huge pastures with grazing cattle, all interrupted by scattered
woodlots. We went quite a ways on 12, out past Ponca, and were hoping
that the Delorme Atlas was correct that there was a little campground
in the town of Obert, but that was not to be. By now, it was
around 8 o'clock, and starting to get dark, but at least we were clear of the
T-storms now well to the south of us. We continued west, and in another 10
or 15 miles, saw a state sign for camping on the Missouri River in a
state RA, pointing to the right and 4 miles down a dirt
road. Pass up a chance to camp on the river? Never! Off we went. (And
that was the last state sign for camping we saw, until we staggered back out the next morning and saw THAT one again.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">We took the right and after 4 & ½
miles the road dead-ended at a locked gate, in a large pool of thick, gravelly mud, which had already covered the camper and the car. Since you can't back up a towed car, we got out and unhooked the
tow hitch, me in my stupid shoes and Kath in flip-flops, getting ourselves covered with mud in the process. Kath put the car in 4wd, got it
turned around and drove down the road a ways and waited in case I
needed a pull, while I tried to turn the camper around. At 14,000 pounds, it don't do so good in mud-or anything else soft for that matter! It eventually
happened, but by the skin of my teeth-this was some really nasty
stuff. Kath then found a little clearing in the woods back the way we had come on the right (farms fields and the river on our left), so we stuffed the camper in
it, pulled the car in after, and went to bed. It was already dark.
Haven't had one of those episodes in </span><span style="color: #222222;"><i>years</i></span><span style="color: #222222;">!!!</span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHdthvFC-Zrqon_p_gUSIxbEsA8-Rjv9KJ9icZFVEnoCoch5bDlbhab4No2trulaSCAN5q9d21eS22AS9cDi_-bulLjFra5ec6VnJYLC5xmKFKV8l2DcC45qrCFU72WREYWaZJ7A8k7HK/s1600/IMG_1805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHdthvFC-Zrqon_p_gUSIxbEsA8-Rjv9KJ9icZFVEnoCoch5bDlbhab4No2trulaSCAN5q9d21eS22AS9cDi_-bulLjFra5ec6VnJYLC5xmKFKV8l2DcC45qrCFU72WREYWaZJ7A8k7HK/s1600/IMG_1805.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Where we spent the night</u></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr09KJT0TltVcqcQ2O-r2HhCSUVdsfeWZb9z6pOS8EKFDFfHeBWz1YA1Bwi9LRW1pWePlBI-yeLqInnsgU86ff30D3-pr8Ml7sFiv1NNKBhx0yBcwkmkU7cMdByglle4g7ym5wyDUc9GXl/s1600/IMG_1806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr09KJT0TltVcqcQ2O-r2HhCSUVdsfeWZb9z6pOS8EKFDFfHeBWz1YA1Bwi9LRW1pWePlBI-yeLqInnsgU86ff30D3-pr8Ml7sFiv1NNKBhx0yBcwkmkU7cMdByglle4g7ym5wyDUc9GXl/s1600/IMG_1806.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Looking towards the dead end, @ 1/4 mile away</u></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXGcE9cGGc_roOMpBOWpo8B2F4zrNNz1TAIBD_1OYiRMhNyLEVGZmsfz8JhhtPjjzRMmVWHCiX7L-8Kct0HmQObtwAWhkoJx9Cdg7zkInHf3hyphenhyphen4Rmz0V1JQdFff3_PaVqbJW44vIy0ilN/s1600/IMG_1807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdXGcE9cGGc_roOMpBOWpo8B2F4zrNNz1TAIBD_1OYiRMhNyLEVGZmsfz8JhhtPjjzRMmVWHCiX7L-8Kct0HmQObtwAWhkoJx9Cdg7zkInHf3hyphenhyphen4Rmz0V1JQdFff3_PaVqbJW44vIy0ilN/s1600/IMG_1807.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Driving out</u></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGweyKk2Io1lJPJ7-n1D2CKRJVJRdbzQKJIKE4PneJ44MTMIfkjnG20IvaUO9YtVjsSi_NR3NzPwbzV3yHLj0d8VM2DbRZfeqJKeetTWgIyLi34iNiN3tA7eX0nGK1F5lQNtmcWeryYHy/s1600/IMG_1808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGweyKk2Io1lJPJ7-n1D2CKRJVJRdbzQKJIKE4PneJ44MTMIfkjnG20IvaUO9YtVjsSi_NR3NzPwbzV3yHLj0d8VM2DbRZfeqJKeetTWgIyLi34iNiN3tA7eX0nGK1F5lQNtmcWeryYHy/s1600/IMG_1808.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driving out</u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDbKToWGN9p62he3FYzkmMn5l99WI_iKtieg4z83wPp-54rqemiNbygedstyC55uPT-O9oHqBJj0_tIgaEnlwvWsudu2cLLVLiWn_xVnABtjhHrpTmqFXMe8x1ySsaTg_5YsWD6Nv_j39/s1600/IMG_1809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDbKToWGN9p62he3FYzkmMn5l99WI_iKtieg4z83wPp-54rqemiNbygedstyC55uPT-O9oHqBJj0_tIgaEnlwvWsudu2cLLVLiWn_xVnABtjhHrpTmqFXMe8x1ySsaTg_5YsWD6Nv_j39/s1600/IMG_1809.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still driving out</u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
next morning, it was clear and sunny, so we drove back out (after
washing off the windows on the Tracker, which you couldn't see out
of), hooked the car back up and continued west on Rt 12. I spied a side
road, Rt 14H, that went north to a little town named St. Helena, then
west to Rt 81 and Yankton, and the ACOE Gavin Point Dam campgrounds
just south of Yankton on the Missouri. It was a spectacular road, coming up over
a crest with St Helena down below in a little valley, even if it did
change to DIRT right after town! No problems-it may have even shaken
some of the mud off! We went into Yankton, hit a grocery store, then
found a dump station that also had potable water with great pressure, and tried to blast
some of the mud off the rigs-we were only partly successful, and will
need to give them each a real bath when we can. We're now in Yankton
'till Monday, maybe longer-there's a lot to do around here! We asked
the volunteer at the ACOE visitor center if anyone did shuttles to
people paddling the Missouri, as below the dam is a 60 stretch that
is still as it was in L & C's days, or as close as possible. She
didn't know anyone that did that for a living, then offered herself
and her truck for the task! So, next post will be about Yankton, and
we'll let you know how that paddle/shuttle worked out.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzd5y4wrHFlI2Ah5a3Umc7QMe1oau0lV_xkzZa5Uu1JlkmMQYwsJajvN2W-Tb55CZXeo5S2yAy7cVUK4qRuosvkEEU-Yg7eXu2yI9Ps68TE_dwSGlI_n1exvcK2GBOymHm590TPNUUeOEA/s1600/IMG_1810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzd5y4wrHFlI2Ah5a3Umc7QMe1oau0lV_xkzZa5Uu1JlkmMQYwsJajvN2W-Tb55CZXeo5S2yAy7cVUK4qRuosvkEEU-Yg7eXu2yI9Ps68TE_dwSGlI_n1exvcK2GBOymHm590TPNUUeOEA/s1600/IMG_1810.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Views along Rt 12</u></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05qvaEpMqaQzKhoe631Y9UytH7mpzz6_b2jpvrgdgSt1PJGcVVfgNaNyF58HtMlPIpXUUA25SLk-qYomSKF8nLHoTKmQ8bkEJ12XDTQGWXGY1JWZtw0mUrd5MOzgIZp2EDWokOQwEwfkp/s1600/IMG_1811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi05qvaEpMqaQzKhoe631Y9UytH7mpzz6_b2jpvrgdgSt1PJGcVVfgNaNyF58HtMlPIpXUUA25SLk-qYomSKF8nLHoTKmQ8bkEJ12XDTQGWXGY1JWZtw0mUrd5MOzgIZp2EDWokOQwEwfkp/s1600/IMG_1811.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Views along Rt 12</u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigqHBO6kZaP-EHIf_Ht_fd5dq1pUxyIn2g6rFHoQ8I7C1Ydb81cE8m73h2SHEyv2jBbsyTrpUPUMffsnJmCqKrp6ibxlfR2If9I69VYGi7yAuW4NAfK-tq06qWGkH6hReH1q8CP-r0zc0E/s1600/IMG_1812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigqHBO6kZaP-EHIf_Ht_fd5dq1pUxyIn2g6rFHoQ8I7C1Ydb81cE8m73h2SHEyv2jBbsyTrpUPUMffsnJmCqKrp6ibxlfR2If9I69VYGi7yAuW4NAfK-tq06qWGkH6hReH1q8CP-r0zc0E/s1600/IMG_1812.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Views along Rt 12</u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JwUvnphoRquaox5-taTnG8XscR1qFzmksgI-jGujWal4F9sineEUoH9h2hOOkJieLQ-2N70slZ3WV4v5ZIt_pSrwtNzaFrzhZEexmSOa2-XpeNAQtJPQcDrxf_c_zOKbSVEYvTsv9IYQ/s1600/IMG_1813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JwUvnphoRquaox5-taTnG8XscR1qFzmksgI-jGujWal4F9sineEUoH9h2hOOkJieLQ-2N70slZ3WV4v5ZIt_pSrwtNzaFrzhZEexmSOa2-XpeNAQtJPQcDrxf_c_zOKbSVEYvTsv9IYQ/s1600/IMG_1813.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Views along Rt 12</u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dWGDradpSQyykGqH3ZFy146U6yFymLvpdaycOtyMRQeid8BAYuALDujnRBYu_ZwsMFtgMPuralcrkGJqxe9MJvth1sXdYQr78Dz_uAe1MBtVB_oIXRnvQdPMCylP-ad85im3P4v4KBkX/s1600/IMG_1814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dWGDradpSQyykGqH3ZFy146U6yFymLvpdaycOtyMRQeid8BAYuALDujnRBYu_ZwsMFtgMPuralcrkGJqxe9MJvth1sXdYQr78Dz_uAe1MBtVB_oIXRnvQdPMCylP-ad85im3P4v4KBkX/s1600/IMG_1814.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">View of St Helena just cresting the hill-huge, beautiful church there</u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzSZGryK9KsIDKdGY8QOLwGmjDcypIQ225IPjFn4fhHBZ96GNg2F1ban26-xFx_OIG5l3GFldDlKvXNzOfakl4EFLDFf4-Y6vGE5K7XjcOFmDHJuROlPfGfySMdaW6Y-c7QSnEeL-aD-T/s1600/IMG_1815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzSZGryK9KsIDKdGY8QOLwGmjDcypIQ225IPjFn4fhHBZ96GNg2F1ban26-xFx_OIG5l3GFldDlKvXNzOfakl4EFLDFf4-Y6vGE5K7XjcOFmDHJuROlPfGfySMdaW6Y-c7QSnEeL-aD-T/s1600/IMG_1815.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Horses on top of the same hill!</u></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNyB72yr2HtXMi0bXgYP4IRT-sYMQ_c4uwLRkslSRbZivThHUhw5pCOhzDjiThLd64FSY8lAVxrzG_TvKqmfi3mVXt2jjSXTsqPi5YWlPo-UvqJHeOQHVrbbaOnU1RqXWRcNOfAyBMVPJ/s1600/IMG_1818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNyB72yr2HtXMi0bXgYP4IRT-sYMQ_c4uwLRkslSRbZivThHUhw5pCOhzDjiThLd64FSY8lAVxrzG_TvKqmfi3mVXt2jjSXTsqPi5YWlPo-UvqJHeOQHVrbbaOnU1RqXWRcNOfAyBMVPJ/s1600/IMG_1818.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQuuOqwByJfOT42yxOMnFvupJMdYy4-S0azU1K6KlOnZfeI-Uwy01x6lHx2Qt9gl8_oT2fBK6gdXECmd0URUUZLAXeU2FhClXJ7Xgn-9MAX0BxRhBECa1iWIuVUMGzJOo8X15dtck3EeC/s1600/IMG_1821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQuuOqwByJfOT42yxOMnFvupJMdYy4-S0azU1K6KlOnZfeI-Uwy01x6lHx2Qt9gl8_oT2fBK6gdXECmd0URUUZLAXeU2FhClXJ7Xgn-9MAX0BxRhBECa1iWIuVUMGzJOo8X15dtck3EeC/s1600/IMG_1821.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Yankton's stockyard mascot</u></span></span></div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-73262204732133460462014-06-03T14:17:00.000-04:002014-06-03T15:27:35.859-04:005-23 to 6-1-2014 Atchison Lake Kansas, to Decatur, Nebraska<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m65!1m12!1m3!1d1556066.412153464!2d-96.66313873447702!3d40.3824324047648!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m50!1i0!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d39.6329527!2d-95.17544869999999!4m5!1s0x87c00419bec0db8f%3A0x6f717a41e0d85f4c!2sWathena%2C+KS!3m2!1d39.7591606!2d-94.94969069999999!4m5!1s0x8795685703758d77%3A0x42de22b4e10d1883!2sRulo%2C+NE!3m2!1d40.0524616!2d-95.42927639999999!4m3!3m2!1d40.3595605!2d-95.5715278!4m5!1s0x879506bdd5b0bd5b%3A0xb654ffcda533db94!2sBrownville%2C+NE!3m2!1d40.397779299999996!2d-95.6580455!4m5!1s0x8795ae8d5f2ce115%3A0xb8124739287d25e3!2sAuburn%2C+NE!3m2!1d40.3947236!2d-95.83221909999999!4m5!1s0x87945af720931ccf%3A0x1970ce0549e11af1!2sNebraska+City%2C+NE!3m2!1d40.6765745!2d-95.8593616!4m3!3m2!1d40.7693157!2d-96.178862!4m5!1s0x8794780699d8d51b%3A0x6f6d54e1e4112475!2sHaworth+Park%2C+2502+Payne+Dr%2C+Bellevue%2C+NE+68005!3m2!1d41.13513!2d-95.886175!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1401816796421" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
decided to spend Memorial weekend at a Kansas state fishing lake, in
Atchison Kansas. Kansas fishing lakes are wonderful places, usually
set in beautiful country, and usually deserted. But not this one-the setting was beautiful, but the lake and the people camping there were not. As
we don't have much good to say about the place, we won't say much. It
was a <i>really
</i>scummy
lake, covered with algae and full of water snakes-we paddled on it
the last day we were there, and you could see their heads sticking up
everywhere. We also saw two large black snakes, one swimming right towards the shore where we were camped, but couldn't tell if
they were rat snakes or cottonmouths. The place was full to the gills
with people, mainly 25 to 35 year olds, with families, fishing, all
while bellowing at their kids, wives and each other, & dropping the
F-bomb every third word-some of the crudest people we've ever
experienced in 30 years of campgrounds. Initially, we were stuck right in the middle of them, but Sunday got to move across the lake into quieter surroundings. Soooo glad to see it in the “rear
view”. We got there Friday, and couldn't leave 'till Tuesday, as we
had to pick up mail in Hiawatha.
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-MAZS2NQDZvMAYvpG6IVtY6YmNA8-5HU8T_kmWNVuzjiOZdF1WC547YvVuhr6Td9fD85QYT9Le2_MOHDA96wPWP14V4VQDBuyWVGVfyrSjcMUVbK6DbKommhRq0s2T5oV_yovRBJKXxn/s1600/IMG_0368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-MAZS2NQDZvMAYvpG6IVtY6YmNA8-5HU8T_kmWNVuzjiOZdF1WC547YvVuhr6Td9fD85QYT9Le2_MOHDA96wPWP14V4VQDBuyWVGVfyrSjcMUVbK6DbKommhRq0s2T5oV_yovRBJKXxn/s1600/IMG_0368.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZSQZ5N9frtfh8GdEaoBdSeTLo7m_dxMNYbsmBYq7XBdfHxHmphjxHBmUEG32C2LhQApwAeI_mdIc2ELXFYh1WreG5p4LfYS6s-QL8Mhz-HT3Vm8NZyw6-5DWmQGmaiOdyb8O1swAlxlyf/s1600/IMG_0365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZSQZ5N9frtfh8GdEaoBdSeTLo7m_dxMNYbsmBYq7XBdfHxHmphjxHBmUEG32C2LhQApwAeI_mdIc2ELXFYh1WreG5p4LfYS6s-QL8Mhz-HT3Vm8NZyw6-5DWmQGmaiOdyb8O1swAlxlyf/s1600/IMG_0365.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>The second site</u></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2G9lNB97DlTRzr1eySJcksrso8kr2XPo9ZJbnhdWJOgt87C2SHkBHLRpNXUcfwfmRdv0Yw4g2jRZ9vPli_UL2stjQbamWcN6vQbxOE6tHKNxir93jmYjjx8oP3Fv6NBe0cia-8FOirhDA/s1600/IMG_0366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2G9lNB97DlTRzr1eySJcksrso8kr2XPo9ZJbnhdWJOgt87C2SHkBHLRpNXUcfwfmRdv0Yw4g2jRZ9vPli_UL2stjQbamWcN6vQbxOE6tHKNxir93jmYjjx8oP3Fv6NBe0cia-8FOirhDA/s1600/IMG_0366.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Some local critters</u></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjivKXmasn4eaHSf3_MYeZcN7v-J1gs1_etzuEipU0enR_0EXDo16ZBx7tQIXDdwFhdgM7llERx173UAjgu7WiArKKlgjjatU2lzHx9jgNALA84Eta1YWrcz5kHRHIKHqTC6ZN8ktL3k2PE/s1600/IMG_1694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjivKXmasn4eaHSf3_MYeZcN7v-J1gs1_etzuEipU0enR_0EXDo16ZBx7tQIXDdwFhdgM7llERx173UAjgu7WiArKKlgjjatU2lzHx9jgNALA84Eta1YWrcz5kHRHIKHqTC6ZN8ktL3k2PE/s1600/IMG_1694.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Taken on a ride around the block-some incredible stone buildings in the Kansas toolies!</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
you can see on the map, it was a crazy drive that day, chasing mail
and hitting detours, so we decided to go to Omaha non-stop, staying
in a town park in Bellevue, just south of there. Great spot to work
out of, with the Omaha zoo and “Johnny's Cafe” right up the road.
It too is on the river, and we ended up in one of the few sites that
had shade, under some huge cottonwoods. The park, Haworth Park, had
about 100 sites-it's big-and was once all shaded with them, but a
flood in 2011, put it under 10' of water for 5 months, and most of
the big trees were destroyed. They spent $600,000 to rebuild it, and
are still working on it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
Omaha zoo has always been a stop for us if we're traveling through
Nebraska, first going there about 29 years ago, when Kirky read an
article about a rainforest exhibit they had created. I call it an
exhibit, but it's really an entire building devoted to 3 rainforest
types-African, Asian, and Amazon. You walk through the different
jungles, at different levels (even underwater, with windows looking
in at the marine life swimming around). Animals that are not
threatening are loose, or just behind a fence or a moat, others are
behind screens you can barely make out, to look as though they are
loose. It's an amazing place to take in!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They
went on the create a desert building a few years later that is
equally amazing, and most recently built an aquarium building, that
you walk <i>underwater</i>
through a glass tunnel, with sea creatures swimming all around you.
We spent an entire day there, mainly in those three buildings, but
did manage a quick hike around to the outdoor exhibits as well-the
rhino's were really interesting, and we got some good video there.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0LNo_AWLqUM_BarcJwYx2RRTfGhLshdiptm5YnfgntrnWhkYyV7LsFqKitTdp4FSCkC_nqmCSpzuaWf7HX_Dej0f0DXVmNNpkRAFslOLoA1QnDDH8ptYVJiDNV3qwmIvy-23kuu_Uln4/s1600/IMG_1730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0LNo_AWLqUM_BarcJwYx2RRTfGhLshdiptm5YnfgntrnWhkYyV7LsFqKitTdp4FSCkC_nqmCSpzuaWf7HX_Dej0f0DXVmNNpkRAFslOLoA1QnDDH8ptYVJiDNV3qwmIvy-23kuu_Uln4/s1600/IMG_1730.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A great video of walking through the tunnel is on the link below:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Right click and select "open link in new tab" if you don't want to leave the site)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/QkS4tv35oeQ">http://youtu.be/QkS4tv35oeQ</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Two videos of very endangered Rhinos can be seen here:</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/gQDogtGQGWU">http://youtu.be/gQDogtGQGWU</a></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/vHbi2mSwK8k" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #1b7fcc; cursor: pointer; line-height: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://youtu.be/vHbi2mSwK8k</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Johnny's
Cafe is a 90 year old steakhouse in Omaha, straight out of the 50's, and is
great fun. This was our second time there, and we'll be back, if we
come this way again!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.johnnyscafe.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.johnnyscafe.com/</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
left Omaha on the 30th (Friday) and got as far as B<span style="color: black;">lair
NE, spending the night at a tiny town park. </span><span style="color: black;">next
to a pair of VERY busy railroad tracks, maybe 75' away. There must of
been a crossing just past the CG, as they laid into the whistle hard
and long, every time they passed the place (which was about every 20
minutes!)-levitates you right off the sheets in the middle of the
night! To make matters even worse, the trains were really long,
probably a quarter to a half mile each, and the tracks were up on an
embankment @ 30' above us, along the length of the CG-if one
derailed, the CG would be obliterated!</span><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Got
a few projects done there, and moved on the next morning, before we
ended up underneath a train.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">That
day (Sunday) we drove out to a remote, tiny recreation area called
Pelican Point, about 8 miles off the highway northeast of Tekamah NE, half of the drive on gravel. It got it's name from The Corps, as about 3 miles down stream from here, they encountered the river covered solid in white feathers, and couldn't for the life of them, figure out what was going on! They rounded a bend and came upon a sandbar with thousands of white pelicans in </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">molt</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. We had seen them up to about mid-Mississippi, but didn't know they get this far north.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">It
is, of course, on the Missouri, and we were the only ones there
camping, but a number of boaters ca</span><span style="color: black;">me
& went throughout the afternoon. By days end, everyone had left.
It was a very peaceful night! </span>
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOf2yTRuyZm4gBDSLmjLPzOucJzeNJ87pM_Y0MjCKLT6IBjNQNUIbeW_ZcY2O0bP8T7di5tFCByr8V1I2gSd2s3yGBhViY9I98JxqLx7HnXMl9pz-kyIRk7VHsJvyiwCUPcrUtp-XFCCAT/s1600/IMG_0383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOf2yTRuyZm4gBDSLmjLPzOucJzeNJ87pM_Y0MjCKLT6IBjNQNUIbeW_ZcY2O0bP8T7di5tFCByr8V1I2gSd2s3yGBhViY9I98JxqLx7HnXMl9pz-kyIRk7VHsJvyiwCUPcrUtp-XFCCAT/s1600/IMG_0383.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Chef No Tell and his outdoor kitchen</u></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaTyF2Fk3zfh6xifXoh8Qe16sRYrMJ2pnt0ro7EEtHTxnMmfBBHXjpuFfvN1yX6WI0QQISXOA_jat7K8HlOJ8_S_UcBKSD2zKDwH9QyEcmTL3hXktKLTbTp6T5DOBg-9NWpUQgxrnl6ege/s1600/IMG_0386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaTyF2Fk3zfh6xifXoh8Qe16sRYrMJ2pnt0ro7EEtHTxnMmfBBHXjpuFfvN1yX6WI0QQISXOA_jat7K8HlOJ8_S_UcBKSD2zKDwH9QyEcmTL3hXktKLTbTp6T5DOBg-9NWpUQgxrnl6ege/s1600/IMG_0386.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>View up the Missouri</u></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeVrGFL5eE3X1AdnL_v3IXvHWLH_pbYrCXYIqntw7gptFHqSpwDJcbnzK7PLsWCGFbZWPyqTtZE1PjXQUwaYc0LPhy6DbczgED47pAo3iujaFmzVvnF_O4CeboC0QV76MjnOeVOiq3hzv/s1600/IMG_0390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeVrGFL5eE3X1AdnL_v3IXvHWLH_pbYrCXYIqntw7gptFHqSpwDJcbnzK7PLsWCGFbZWPyqTtZE1PjXQUwaYc0LPhy6DbczgED47pAo3iujaFmzVvnF_O4CeboC0QV76MjnOeVOiq3hzv/s1600/IMG_0390.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Taking the girls on a long walk off a short pier</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">On
the way there, w</span><span style="color: black;">e
stopped to check out Fort Atkinson, a state park near the town Fort
Calhoun, Nebraska. It was the only spot on the entire route that L &
C suggested would make a good site for a fort, so one was built
some years later. It was pretty amazing-the state & the town
(Fort Calhoun) spent 22 </span><span style="color: black;"><i>years</i></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">recreating
the fort, which is huge in size. The park has grassy walkways, that
you follow around</span><span style="color: black;">
to different buildings and a set of life sized bronzes, depicting a
meeting of the Corps with the Oto-Missouria Indians, including one of
Captain Clark's dog, Seaman. As you can see, Gus the Brave was in
full attack mode, protecting Mrs. B!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMkpHjmcWg7vgn8d8TYnAsg3T2S1DVaKJzdO4u_CFzG3B_ZDunjoZr3r9Vh7e5i4iZHRQjXz7jNmlkqzx6Hl2K1FOnAp6XIFkcAAMKBxID0noPBFo1fvPDFeo6EKEnH7cf2_dyGlifUC6F/s1600/Atkinson+State+Historic+ParkIMG_1778+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMkpHjmcWg7vgn8d8TYnAsg3T2S1DVaKJzdO4u_CFzG3B_ZDunjoZr3r9Vh7e5i4iZHRQjXz7jNmlkqzx6Hl2K1FOnAp6XIFkcAAMKBxID0noPBFo1fvPDFeo6EKEnH7cf2_dyGlifUC6F/s1600/Atkinson+State+Historic+ParkIMG_1778+(2).JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-U4Yi8zbSp3AzSPCMLWWXW0LBqGyyiJFH2omsmqv_g-Pxo-VPbHIOeemNp41vBisKuLXrWCupbBUrGX_NRhf_j3iWuj1l1zm25aQWaxYdbfg4EFztdud88dIkr2TLHV2PKyJKGlIaG2-/s1600/Atkinson+State+Historic+ParkIMG_1778+(10).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-U4Yi8zbSp3AzSPCMLWWXW0LBqGyyiJFH2omsmqv_g-Pxo-VPbHIOeemNp41vBisKuLXrWCupbBUrGX_NRhf_j3iWuj1l1zm25aQWaxYdbfg4EFztdud88dIkr2TLHV2PKyJKGlIaG2-/s1600/Atkinson+State+Historic+ParkIMG_1778+(10).JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJCFKFwU8YPKp2-3h9gQ1yuGPbNAv5jgdpFGboxS8IZ90OWTI97isVFGfJ7SSGAZbQcEdQsknxMBrU4NpiqmCmCc4EBsSkyuXbt9QRTK2IYCC3fiuFk30qKUEFsl52G2zPhSDpPCqRnhi/s1600/George+ClooneyIMG_1779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSJCFKFwU8YPKp2-3h9gQ1yuGPbNAv5jgdpFGboxS8IZ90OWTI97isVFGfJ7SSGAZbQcEdQsknxMBrU4NpiqmCmCc4EBsSkyuXbt9QRTK2IYCC3fiuFk30qKUEFsl52G2zPhSDpPCqRnhi/s1600/George+ClooneyIMG_1779.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Well, post Fort Atkinson's days, I suppose...</u></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the way out of Tekamah the next morning, we spied this beautiful mural of the Corps of Discovery on the side of a building:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These last two pics are one on the way to where we are today (Tuesday, June3), and where we're camped, in Decatur Nebraska. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That brings us up to date, and we'll work on the month long gap between Natchez Mississippi, and Atchison SFL in Kansas.</span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Rt 75 headed to Decatur-note the anvil cloud at the top right-we sure did!!!</span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Camped in Beck Memorial Park, Decatur NE</span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Across from our campsite</span></u></div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-88270467699096337642014-06-02T16:07:00.002-04:002014-06-02T16:07:23.265-04:002nd Leg on the Mississippi-Three Rivers, Louisiana to Natchez, Mississippi<iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m33!1m12!1m3!1d436258.672279467!2d-91.7862066490902!3d31.323891476950944!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m18!1i0!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d31.0148434!2d-91.67020049999999!4m5!1s0x8626007727401563%3A0x418c8ca782714d5!2sNatchez+State+Park%2C+Natchez%2C+MS+39120!3m2!1d31.606206999999998!2d-91.19599699999999!4m5!1s0x862610b155f70f3b%3A0x9de7b4a32c68dce!2sClear+Springs+Campground%2C+Meadville%2C+MS+39653!3m2!1d31.424999!2d-90.986858!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1401719465800" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
left 3 rivers on the Friday of Easter weekend. We would have stayed
there through the weekend, but the fisherman was winning the staring
contest, and our ACOE “guide” (mentioned in the last post) was giving too much “guidance”,
so we left. Being Easter weekend, and that we're so used to summer
holiday weekend camping can be really difficult to find spots, we got
going early. We headed to Natchez Lake State Park, which actually <i>was</i>
kind of full, but we found a site, albeit reluctantly (sites crammed together like cordwood), at the end of
a run of sites, next to a camping trailer. On the way back to sign up at the
ranger station, my gut was screaming “NO! Don't do this!”, but we
did it anyway, paying to stay 3 nights to Monday. When we got back,
our neighbor had appeared, a tall skinny guy in a black cowboy hat. He was sitting on the front stoop with country & western on the
radio and drinking beer out of a carton sitting next to him. As it was
only noon, that was not a good sign. It was somewhere around then we
also realized he had a Rottweiler and a Pit Bull, each on their own
chains, chained to separate trees. Now I wanted my money back, and to
move on somewhere else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back
to the ranger station we go, only to get into a dispute with the guy
who checked us in, as he explained the state had a “no refund”
policy. I told him not a problem, and that I will throw the charge in dispute
at my credit card company, thinking to myself that, as he did not explain
this when we signed the slip, our dispute claim would be valid. And the
credit card slip was the only paperwork he gave us, which is unusual
in a SP-you usually get a full sheet of regulations. Anyway, with that, he said to hang on a minute, looked
something up, and offered a voucher. As the CG was such a bomb, I
said no thanks, and we left. When we got back the second time, the
radio next door was off, and the guy was playing with his dogs, so we
moved in and got set up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday,
we explored the area a bit, then got the new solar panel permanently
installed on the roof-only the wiring left to go. Went into Natchez
to pick up mail that had been delivered there, but the PO wasn't
open-it closed at 11, unlike most that close at 12. Ahh-the USPS-it is a 50 mile round trip. Went to a Mexican
place called “Fat Mama's Tamales”-good margaritas, really bad
Mexican food. Sunday, we did a kayak on the lake the park is named
after, and found a cool little inlet at the far end that we paddled a
ways up.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>In wet suits?</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
were running out of time and headed back to fix Easter dinner, which
was game hens on the grill with vegetable rice stuffing, and grilled
vegetables. Got started late per usual, and didn't put enough
charcoal in the pan, so I lost the coals before they were done. K
also started late, so by the time we pulled everything and tried to
eat, the veggies were still hard, and the hens only had parts here
and there that were cooked. I gave it up and made a salad-K
stuck it out and picked away at it. But the next night, after we'd
moved to a forest service campground named Clear Springs, we threw it
all in the oven, got it finished, and it was to was die for. As was
the site we had in this CG-it had a deck that went right to the edge
of a 30' drop, down into the little lake below, and was a great spot to just hang out at. Luckily it was, as we
ended up here for 10 days, the last few because of weather. That was
when northern Mississippi got hit with horrible tornadoes, and the
storms producing them were passing us just to the north, within
hearing and seeing distance.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvHFTmfR_UzZyKRdqbQOROowLlEvw_LLUd-79FJmr1YYA40961rOl8LTFLU3AvixjCicxAYl5WINQ8DK6pbnDuK6PKR8hrXzWnBshWOujscsTYKPXIxLeTTL-HqQnDWgbSoLybcc3NvIr/s1600/IMG_1450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvHFTmfR_UzZyKRdqbQOROowLlEvw_LLUd-79FJmr1YYA40961rOl8LTFLU3AvixjCicxAYl5WINQ8DK6pbnDuK6PKR8hrXzWnBshWOujscsTYKPXIxLeTTL-HqQnDWgbSoLybcc3NvIr/s1600/IMG_1450.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>The lake at Clear Springs below our site</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Feel'in quite special at our lake view spot!</u>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJFLy92Xc9OBwqh5VDuH2UaFQbof5yQbsrd0vUYWLkJYNrBN-xUq1hNY82Xs7tRP-hLayH6iJLvCNuSYfkYw9REPKyKb2f7e98gt6cqxbrbisTRFePK81pPvpRlK8SAP9ijvETAyDnMDG/s1600/IMG_0214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJFLy92Xc9OBwqh5VDuH2UaFQbof5yQbsrd0vUYWLkJYNrBN-xUq1hNY82Xs7tRP-hLayH6iJLvCNuSYfkYw9REPKyKb2f7e98gt6cqxbrbisTRFePK81pPvpRlK8SAP9ijvETAyDnMDG/s1600/IMG_0214.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>View from across the lake</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
had a blast here-lots of stories (collective groan from everyone, no
doubt!), but I'll try not to get too long winded, even though I
already have. We did some drives, explored Meadville, just up the road,
and Bude, just up the road from Meadville. In Bude, we got hailed on the
sidewalk by an old fellow with a cane, who asked about the kayaks on
the car, and ended up in a 10 minute conversation with him. He was
drafted into the Army in 1950, and retired from it in 1987. I
thought Vietnam would have been bad enough to experience, but that
<i>and</i>
Korea? I was in awe of him. We had to hit the hardware store, where
another 10 minute conversation took place with the 2 woman working
there, who told us of Lake Okhissa nearby, which we checked out
before we went back to camp and decided we needed to throw the kayaks
in there at some point. We then hit the tiny grocery store in Bude,
Sullivan's, and what do we find? Cheap produce! After seeing red and
yellow peppers running up to 3 to 4 bucks EACH all through the south, here they were a buck
a piece! Same went for their meat prices. Chuck roast was running
$4.99 to $6.99 everywhere up to this point-they had it for $3.99 a
pound-bought one and cooked a “faux” brisket-whoa-hit the jackpot
with THAT one! Jack Danial's BBQ sauce mixed with pureed chipotle and
a little vinegar to cut the sweet and add some tang, then thick onion
slices with the sauce on both sides in foil & on the grill it
went.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
next day we had to deal with Gus, who was scratching her skin off,
had a rash on her chest and was drinking water without let up. Took
her to a vet in Meadville named Melanie Branston. What a pistol!
Straight out of the old days and sharp as a tack, and tells it to you
straight-she never heard of political correctness and it was
refreshing! The place was a jumble of stacks of books, vet tools,
x-ray machine, exam tables, huge birds in cages inside, even bigger
birds in bigger cages outside, goats, dogs, cats-you name it. She
spent two & a half hours going over Gus and Yoda, prescribed
prednisone for Gus, and what to do with Yoda's hot spot, shaved the hot spot, gave us 30
days worth of the drug, set us up with an internet outfit for
refills, and charged $90! That all would have been 5 times that in
NH, if you could GET a vet to spend that much time. And she was a
hoot just to talk to-talk about rough and tumble & full of stories-but I sure as hell wouldn't want to have her mad at me!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Towards
the end of the week, we headed back to Bude to paddle Okhissa, but
stopped for breakfast at the “First and Main Cafe” and almost didn't
leave! You don't go anywhere in a small town in the deep south and
get away with walking by someone-they somehow know your not from
around there and stop you, by saying hello and asking how you are,
and start asking questions. You will almost always wind up in a hilarious back and
forth, and you cannot be in a hurry. You will go 5 feet and it will
happen again, or a crowd gathers 'round and you meet the whole town
(or at least half of it) right then and there. The south is the
friendliest part of the country by far. Black, white or any other
color-they are all friendly want want to know about you. And
extremely funny! Everyone is introduced (or introduce themselves) and
Ms. (first name) or Mr. (first name).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we went in, there was one older fellow there (Mr. Leon, as it turned
out) waiting for his food. Ms. Jenny was the proprietor, cook and
dishwasher, and came out and greeted us while she brought Mr. Leon
his breakfast. She was very good at doing all she had to do with a running commentary going full tilt at the same time! We ordered, and another, younger fellow named Don came
in, and then it started! He kind of looked and sounded like a tall, Tommy Lee Jones-what a character, and we had a really fun time all getting to know each other. He orders his standard breakfast, a BLT, and starts
firing questions, and a conversation started up that had everyone
involved, and us in tears laughing at times. Don's retired, but has
lots of hobbies he says, one of which was learning to run his
I-phone, which he then pulls a chair up next to K and proceeds to
show her what he can do with it. He even brought Mr. Leon into it, once Mr. Leon had
finished eating. Mr Leon told of making a run to San Diego and back with his nephew recently, in 3 DAYS! I'm guessing he was around late 70's early 80's. By the time it was over, we had spent 2 & ½
hours in the cafe, including Don insisting we follow him to his
girlfriends house down the street, because another of his hobbies is
making jelly, and he wanted to give us some! A blueberry and a
blackberry-so far, the blueberry is delicious!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Mr. Don, Miss Jenny and Mr. Leon</u></span><br />
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<u>Ford dealer on main street Bude across from First and Main Cafe-looks like they ran out of cars. Looks like they ran out of roof too!</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>In Bude, everyone is so laid back!</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
kayaking on Okhissa was beautiful, and I'll let the pics tell that
story-great day overall!
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On
Friday of that week, the storms that caused so much damage in
northern Mississippi started. We packed up, and stayed that way, in
case we had to bolt. The CG host let us know that the church down the
road was unlocked and open to anyone that needed shelter, as they had
a basement, not very common down there. Fortunately, we didn't need
to use their hospitality! Saturday, we had another funny adventure,
in no small part due to my wife's expertise with nickel slot machines
(they're the ones that squeak when the wheels turn, because the
people playing them are so cheap). We went into Natchez for a blues
festival on Saturday, that was being held in a park on a bluff
overlooking the Mississippi. A group of 50 somethings was playing
stuff that sounded more like a high school garage band-really, really
bad! So, we decided to walk down the road that left the park and went
down to the river. Low and behold, what was down there but a casino!
It was early afternoon and hot-mid to high 80's, so we decided to hit
the bar and have a beer. We also had a phone call to make at 2
o'clock, so time-wise it was perfect-or so we thought! We talked to
the receptionist, who directed us to the bar. We ordered our beers,
and tried to pay, but the bartender explained that they don't sell
drinks-they are free for people playing in the casino. She also told us
that if we were first timers at the place, we could each get a $10
complementary card to play the slots, which also would take care of
of the beer issue. SO, what does Mrs. B do with 2, $10 complimentary
cards? Proceeds to make numerous $2 to $4 wins, cashing out each one
as she goes, for a total of $17 cash-in-hand, plus the 2 free
beers!!! And if we hadn't had to make that 2 O'CLOCK PHONE CALL, Mr &
Mrs LONGPANTS, we would have been able to spend more time with the
free beer! You two owe us! :>) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some pics of Natchez and the Mississippi:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Looking north from the park on the bluff</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Tow full of coal coming south</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>A local pooper scooper model</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>I WANT THAT TRUCK!!!!</u></span></div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-28033039186235489202014-05-19T15:28:00.000-04:002015-09-10T04:52:47.195-04:00Starting Up the Mississippi-Baton Rouge to Simmesport/Three Rivers RA<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m35!1m12!1m3!1d54881.62124214438!2d-91.52506009063787!3d30.715551689114307!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m20!1i0!3e0!4m5!1s0x86235d40478658bf%3A0xca065e9d0abb12fb!2sAbbeville+Rv+Park+Rd%2C+Abbeville%2C+LA+70510!3m2!1d29.9785096!2d-92.16309729999999!4m3!3m2!1d30.2403503!2d-92.2101794!4m3!3m2!1d30.739061999999997!2d-91.3701664!4m3!3m2!1d31.0092836!2d-91.6672133!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1400524748164" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe></div>
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May 1, 2014-Greenville, Miss.-K-<br />
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All is well with us. We have finally started our trip up the Mississippi, and this is the first days drive. We are so excited to be starting something we have never done and something we have always wanted to do, which is to be following the spring north. It will be really interesting to watch the changes in foliage as we head north. For some reason, we set the map up on the route we actually took, and when we preview the embedded version, Google has changed it to what Google Maps thinks it should be when you paste it into the blog-frustrating! There's two large loops north of I-10 that we actually did follow, at times on the levee top, where the map shows us further west of the river.<br />
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We left Abbeville, LA on April 15th and headed east and north and in order to avoid Baton Rouge. It wasn't too long when we came upon the Mississippi levee that we would follow all day. Unfortunately the views of the river are nil because of that. Mostly they are used for grazing cows and horses. But the grass is lush. There are huge fields of winter wheat that will be harvested around the end of May after which they will plant soybeans. The wheat adds nitrogen to the soil for the soybeans. Corn has just been planted and is about 3" high.<br />
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Cows grazing on the levee.</div>
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We really wanted to get up on the levees, but most of the access roads are posted, so it wasn't an option. However, we finally found a way to get over it and on the water for a short spell.<br />
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Watch that first step of the deck!</div>
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The water was a bit high from all the snows up north.</div>
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Yippee we made it to the river!!!</div>
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Winter wheat field on Bean Field Road, near Simmesport, LA</div>
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Ladybugs</div>
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Lone church and cemetery carved out of a soon to be planted field.</div>
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We ended our first day at Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area. VERY interesting area, mainly run by the Army Corps of Engineers. We had a free camp spot to ourselves for most of our stay. (We did get invaded by a cranky fisherman and his wife, but then, I'm cranky most of the time too, so we just sat and glared at each other-well, I sat-he leaned on the tailgate of his truck). The kayaking there would have been great, but for the wind, so we did some driving around and checking things out, as well as finishing the installation of a fourth solar panel on the roof. The road past the campground (Bean Field Road) continued on into the gigantic winter wheat field in the pics above-the wheat was almost above the car and was a beautiful spring green color. There was an ACOE worker that visited us every day, and we learned a lot from him about the whole Three Rivers system he worked in. It turns out that 3 rivers all almost come together there-The Mississippi, the Atchafalaya and the Red. This is where it got interesting-back in the 1800's, Captain Shreve, a riverboat captain and whom Shreveport is named after, decided to cut a channel to eliminate a long switchback in the Mississippi and make a straighter riverbed. Then, in the early 1900's, the ACOE built levees and lock systems all along the Mississippi, and the combination of the two started caused the Mississippi to start using the Atchafalaya drainage and begin to abandon it's existing course from there down through Baton Rouge and on to New Orleans. The ramifications of that change were enormous if it were allowed to continue, between the petroleum industry that had built up along the lower river that used it for water in manufacturing and for shipping, the major cities that relied on it for drinking water, and the huge amount of agriculture down here.</div>
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In the early 1950's they built most of what exists today-some channels to let the Red river into the Atchafalaya as it always did, and some other dams and channels to insure the Mississippi stays in it's existing bed, along with a lock for barge tows to move back and forth between the Atchafalaya/Red and the Mississippi. Later flooding, I believe in the 70's, cause them to construct more flow control dams beyond where we were staying, which we checked out on a drive, and again when we left, as they were on our route.</div>
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Camp at Three Rivers. The lock (below) is on our left, about 1/4 mile away</div>
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Adding panel #4, which gives us about 25 amps of recharging power on sunny days & about 4 to 5 on the cloudy ones. </div>
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The lock on the Atchafalaya side-they lower the tows down to the Mississippi, and bring the empty barges back through the same way.</div>
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A tow moving into the lock. </div>
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Gottcha!</div>
Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-66140010456176253232014-05-04T16:58:00.000-04:002014-05-05T09:13:03.906-04:004-7-14 A Ride Around the Block in Louisiana <iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m49!1m12!1m3!1d376235.9757887439!2d-93.0454016421332!3d29.950905266112642!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m34!1i0!3e0!4m3!3m2!1d29.8591338!2d-92.14575219999999!4m3!3m2!1d29.5419868!2d-92.30882109999999!4m3!3m2!1d29.7065357!2d-92.8314346!4m5!1s0x863c67d2b004d81b%3A0x76c4178638c40e2f!2sEarl+Rd%2C+Cameron%2C+LA+70631!3m2!1d29.799829!2d-93.248409!4m3!3m2!1d29.764687!2d-93.342467!4m3!3m2!1d30.1256682!2d-93.0802064!4m5!1s0x862341fc31b83373%3A0xa5a5fb2d06f8c270!2sCypress+Knee%2C+Abbeville%2C+LA+70510!3m2!1d29.8565342!2d-92.14823009999999!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1397231360243" style="border: 0;" width="600"></iframe><br />
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Friends that know us well, know of our love of "rides around the block" and looking for "blank spots on the map", and going there to see just how blank the area really is! In Westcliffe, we have an around the block ride that's @ 20 to 25 miles, and takes 2 & 1/2 hours. We have taken our neighbor (whose name shall remain nameless to protect his privacy-that okay there "longpants"?) around on it twice, once while he drove, and he still can't do it solo!<br />
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On Monday, April 7th, we combined both approaches and took a drive over a road we had driven on when we came into Abbeville from Texas in 2010. Rt. 82 originates near Port Arthur, Texas, which is where we left from in 2010 and headed east to Cameron, Louisiana and on to Abbeville. We always wanted to go back and explore the country along that lonely road, which we did on this drive. As the saying goes, "It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there"!<br />
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That southwest corner of Louisiana, an area about 100 miles long and 50 miles deep, is all marshland-there is no shore, and no beaches. It's also full of lakes, both large and small, and is a lot like a map of northern Canada, with few roads and lots of lonely country. People do live there, in the few places high enough to be out of the water, but recent hurricanes in the last 10 years have destroyed a lot of property, and many people have left, not bothering to rebuild. Quite a few places are/were weekend getaways and hunting/fishing camps. Other than the 2 state highways that traverse it (82 and 27), every side road dead ends, either at a pier, an oil installation or at a locked gate. There are also a bunch of wildlife refuges-some accessible by car, but most only accessible by boat. We poked around 2 of them, Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge and Cameron Prairie NWR.<br />
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The road out of the campground (Palmetto Island State Park) ends at Rt 82, so from there to Forked Island you are still in farmland, but at that town you cross the intracoastal waterway on a very tall bridge, and down on the other side, the marsh begins and you are surrounded by marsh grass off and on for the next 60 miles.<br />
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We had spotted a road on Google Maps, Freshwater City Road, that left Rt. 82 at Pecan Island, and headed south down to the Gulf, so we did too. What a crazy drive! It was about 12 miles long, and continued on in even taller marsh grass. The pavement soon quit and we were on gravel. Don't ask me where they got it-there is none in southern LA, and no rocks you could crush to make it with either. After a bit, we came to some houses, one of which was a really funky house that had a pair of rowboat planters out front. The place was manicured to "T", something you just don't see in these parts, and whoever was living in it was doing a beautiful job. We didn't get the greatest pictures here, as it's a little weird to be standing out on a road taking pics of someone's house. Especially in southern Louisiana-it could be detrimental to one's lead-free health.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu0gHUVlUKD4k3lKvVShChaKXYUgDiZVT_bhLqFzM6EbpilkMu1ZT4vO40tzlURq4UZqOHSo4HqPsRTnbXqvGexIqp4GLaeV4z4mkxKz1lUeHkdHNk6cp4iWxEO4oWRCLie5bYyYUAnrb4/s1600/IMG_1331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu0gHUVlUKD4k3lKvVShChaKXYUgDiZVT_bhLqFzM6EbpilkMu1ZT4vO40tzlURq4UZqOHSo4HqPsRTnbXqvGexIqp4GLaeV4z4mkxKz1lUeHkdHNk6cp4iWxEO4oWRCLie5bYyYUAnrb4/s1600/IMG_1331.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Across and down the road from that place was...grazing CATTLE! And the pavement also restarted, after a 5 mile hiatus. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQIZIVzfgoPOMRV0JZwtl4yWNX3XBNasfnsyHmJGEd2N7rQYbsV81tNTlAgeTQMGSkRuDlGgvIIAR4ggeNxh4ACFJ74ygG0pnH8Sab5anffnduSJ4Arry3Gpx3XOmog0Yx_fqo0VKoNcx/s1600/IMG_1323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJQIZIVzfgoPOMRV0JZwtl4yWNX3XBNasfnsyHmJGEd2N7rQYbsV81tNTlAgeTQMGSkRuDlGgvIIAR4ggeNxh4ACFJ74ygG0pnH8Sab5anffnduSJ4Arry3Gpx3XOmog0Yx_fqo0VKoNcx/s1600/IMG_1323.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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This road did not have any curves-every turn was a right angle change in direction, and when we whipped around a corner on one of them, we got a little surprise...we weren't sure who had the right of way, but at least the boat was in the proper lane.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuhNsDtlct8yipmjSBj-UW6UbsasF5EGn_knrUJHmsY5QL4Ef4_OrErztiLSBhxi3uOsMEBNnZJNZG-m2MTWeQNzg01V1UAy3rJ1a7TpDH5X-icTHrcpn-NLamAIQEWpHR0iSWjLj284H8/s1600/IMG_1325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuhNsDtlct8yipmjSBj-UW6UbsasF5EGn_knrUJHmsY5QL4Ef4_OrErztiLSBhxi3uOsMEBNnZJNZG-m2MTWeQNzg01V1UAy3rJ1a7TpDH5X-icTHrcpn-NLamAIQEWpHR0iSWjLj284H8/s1600/IMG_1325.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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A couple more turns & we saw what was going on-shrimpers, and that we were at the end of the road. The picnic bench is a tiny Fish and Wildlife picnicking & fishing area. Nearby were docks for oil service companies as well as the fishermen, all on a channel that took them into the Gulf of Mexico.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRvsdm1SNZTbSFJOWE8UVh6JzBKDrVDyzQHi5-I6-1HDGgf9Yex1gJbXwutBLeax85A030tUxtueq92sHAhJPk3QE9NiXKZvoKBqplUCfyGJLBwptwq-ec_RGGWPmObk3RjRwNSVKurTp/s1600/IMG_1326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwRvsdm1SNZTbSFJOWE8UVh6JzBKDrVDyzQHi5-I6-1HDGgf9Yex1gJbXwutBLeax85A030tUxtueq92sHAhJPk3QE9NiXKZvoKBqplUCfyGJLBwptwq-ec_RGGWPmObk3RjRwNSVKurTp/s1600/IMG_1326.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The fellow in the blue coat out at the end was fishing, and hobbled all the way over to us to ask for a light-we didn't have a thing with us to light a smoke-we felt bad, as he struggled so to walk. We also have NO idea how he got there, as there was no car, and there were no houses for miles. His "tackle box" was a plastic grocery bag.</div>
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All in all, it was a great side trip-here's some other sights we saw along the way:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillTrpgcMjXdvSbnxvx51cJxh5HsZtGinn3j_HG05EH27uXZh5L9prZbG0tMDGCD6cF7SHNYEwU5G_R6H_S-OMVC4UE1ktRZHdqpUKVkitpYzlGuCXF5hyphenhyphenvXo8ZnHOnRaLR-9Dqpoo_OLM/s1600/IMG_1324.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillTrpgcMjXdvSbnxvx51cJxh5HsZtGinn3j_HG05EH27uXZh5L9prZbG0tMDGCD6cF7SHNYEwU5G_R6H_S-OMVC4UE1ktRZHdqpUKVkitpYzlGuCXF5hyphenhyphenvXo8ZnHOnRaLR-9Dqpoo_OLM/s1600/IMG_1324.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2EvmWOiTe72d_t4bED99QhwiWMCEWmPFFSVfuJ-HXAvdC2ZF978yb079gHT0wVWtLaeEXfi4Cj1Xi_JtdQ6xv-hURaLhjSxwBVJra7JKyyc_5CzrZXA6sMoCkAl1LJD8qPhIxMdlzgcx-/s1600/IMG_1329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2EvmWOiTe72d_t4bED99QhwiWMCEWmPFFSVfuJ-HXAvdC2ZF978yb079gHT0wVWtLaeEXfi4Cj1Xi_JtdQ6xv-hURaLhjSxwBVJra7JKyyc_5CzrZXA6sMoCkAl1LJD8qPhIxMdlzgcx-/s1600/IMG_1329.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Glad they replaced the bridge!!!</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgshsy6W3kn1Br4dSRDJ0PwCV6Ku1fpVeKBGJbIqJBUySqyKaGONLct4sTD_PMrLjw-DAxl-_S25K_Rf4J30om8DpBArWIM_8zmmSFOSDqC0pgBwlGSo5v9XgSIZHfUVq_67K4jUbu0IuS/s1600/IMG_1333.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgshsy6W3kn1Br4dSRDJ0PwCV6Ku1fpVeKBGJbIqJBUySqyKaGONLct4sTD_PMrLjw-DAxl-_S25K_Rf4J30om8DpBArWIM_8zmmSFOSDqC0pgBwlGSo5v9XgSIZHfUVq_67K4jUbu0IuS/s1600/IMG_1333.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">We continued west when we got to Rt. 82, stopping somewhere alongside it to eat the lunch we brought along. There's not much of anything but marshland on the 30 miles between Freshwater City Road and the Rockefeller National Wildlife Refuge's west end, where the only road into the Refuge (Price Lake Road), heads south for 3 miles before dead-ending at a dock and an observation tower. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8X-3w7QRcyk6IwNTEDrXelGEJ-rBrckodR8-nECkRXIAwmGJBeOFWKpEt2ZP4FFetK1K9MmcPtxDgFHftupwaeyIHLSEdr-hgW-P-VWxwEtNS6P54p7KnBV4hQMuJ1BQZnKFrHdjOUZ_/s1600/IMG_1345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8X-3w7QRcyk6IwNTEDrXelGEJ-rBrckodR8-nECkRXIAwmGJBeOFWKpEt2ZP4FFetK1K9MmcPtxDgFHftupwaeyIHLSEdr-hgW-P-VWxwEtNS6P54p7KnBV4hQMuJ1BQZnKFrHdjOUZ_/s1600/IMG_1345.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-Nec6kTbQqbsQD0OFL4viou5hjMO9uTQ0xXnj2KirK7hQQLVO4SBJPTEuaE26g82j2OBLqn4-tvZyUCeRGBtC5k98JD8Eu4qzNwsOSm13ub-uP6BuEMh_cgVgNqi-wXwIcD6QNm3PtOW/s1600/IMG_1347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO-Nec6kTbQqbsQD0OFL4viou5hjMO9uTQ0xXnj2KirK7hQQLVO4SBJPTEuaE26g82j2OBLqn4-tvZyUCeRGBtC5k98JD8Eu4qzNwsOSm13ub-uP6BuEMh_cgVgNqi-wXwIcD6QNm3PtOW/s1600/IMG_1347.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwod2UqMOIbGgxOzY5ethK5dmei5PD0Fb0YIa9NRMStGQ1a14jKbLJl9r-hxjEr7zcpCEdgB3MXsQJGvtFcpizKx8hoHnko2rPmpiepzOR0l4FSc2hqD12QnMPf5vB3jj7c1BQ_P9KhyIO/s1600/IMG_1350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwod2UqMOIbGgxOzY5ethK5dmei5PD0Fb0YIa9NRMStGQ1a14jKbLJl9r-hxjEr7zcpCEdgB3MXsQJGvtFcpizKx8hoHnko2rPmpiepzOR0l4FSc2hqD12QnMPf5vB3jj7c1BQ_P9KhyIO/s1600/IMG_1350.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMN41jDwDsKa-uXztcDFeKQr-22vbI-gUJDbdThOyDZ2Elayp02YUFr0TAQQxwdrBDOw3gBRRrtOtoSyJh9XJv0SDtuV-28P4DM-xt3z9yUghb6ZmzHBgQf3VAyweudXcE9Rt66RA0dpn/s1600/IMG_1354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMN41jDwDsKa-uXztcDFeKQr-22vbI-gUJDbdThOyDZ2Elayp02YUFr0TAQQxwdrBDOw3gBRRrtOtoSyJh9XJv0SDtuV-28P4DM-xt3z9yUghb6ZmzHBgQf3VAyweudXcE9Rt66RA0dpn/s1600/IMG_1354.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvgK66VJgrSjpEb8BSW-lhL6Pyfine1Zrlp9IyMAKmqGFh_fRoXv9D-6dpsSSoggVlW5kTfEUStmuH8chIb8u1cDpM7q4g6kV5-jo4Hc7UxuXGy6fyLkNm-L0KkjRs1BnHQtdcbY02Fzf/s1600/IMG_1355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvgK66VJgrSjpEb8BSW-lhL6Pyfine1Zrlp9IyMAKmqGFh_fRoXv9D-6dpsSSoggVlW5kTfEUStmuH8chIb8u1cDpM7q4g6kV5-jo4Hc7UxuXGy6fyLkNm-L0KkjRs1BnHQtdcbY02Fzf/s1600/IMG_1355.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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We took a few pics there, but discovered the first flight of stairs was missing off the observation tower! You could get on it if you were nimble enough to jump up and grab the last stair tread and pull yourself up, but those days are long over for me! I asked K to do her wifely duty and let me stand on her shoulders, but she just laughed and tried to push me off the dock and into the alligator infested waters. Cheesh-I've lost enough hair without one of them chewing the rest off! Somehow, we forgot to get a pic of the tower on top of it all, but here's a Heron fishing off the dock. Big "L's" on our foreheads!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4l_HZD8PLUQdQ8CjfNK-Q9hL5sxf5xNDAyw96rIkwXwtVIc5PeI0KlJXDZG31Cx_3breztKUaDg2FukUHtJeoV8au7gwX9WLU6hIsAt-28pCcUxWWudX43c8mFYw1K92sIiWdHn4lGyk3/s1600/IMG_1334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4l_HZD8PLUQdQ8CjfNK-Q9hL5sxf5xNDAyw96rIkwXwtVIc5PeI0KlJXDZG31Cx_3breztKUaDg2FukUHtJeoV8au7gwX9WLU6hIsAt-28pCcUxWWudX43c8mFYw1K92sIiWdHn4lGyk3/s1600/IMG_1334.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Another 32 miles took us through Grand Chenier, one of the towns struggling to survive, with less and less structures remaining after each hurricane that comes through, and into Cameron. Along the way, we tried to take Earl Road, which, had we been successful, ran <i>deep</i> into the marshlands to the north, and by a couple of remote Refuges, and wound back down into the back side of Cameron. Alas, we started up Earl Road, waved at the two old guys sitting on their front porch, went 2 miles north, around a 90 degree left and ran smack into a locked, steel gate. HATE it when that happens! We got turned around and retreated back to Rt.82, waved at the two guys again, and headed west into Cameron. Which we ALSO neglected to take any pictures of! So, here instead are some pics from 2010, coming east on Rt. 82 from Texas. Rt 82 starts and ends at Cameron, and to continue on it or get to Cameron from Texas, you have to board a free ferry across the outlet of Calcasieu Lake.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrOWcuSCH2S5jXFSJFOebXj7YZhTcucfpWOPGS17_8eEzOrRWzdFtU5vFhEp-yU5LNeqn7I1hISQZNT8c4zCaAAtfQfbY7_aFJhTy5n6wI0v0oyoM0W27YW12PxN6U9df9NBvqcheIvqn/s1600/IMG_2770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrOWcuSCH2S5jXFSJFOebXj7YZhTcucfpWOPGS17_8eEzOrRWzdFtU5vFhEp-yU5LNeqn7I1hISQZNT8c4zCaAAtfQfbY7_aFJhTy5n6wI0v0oyoM0W27YW12PxN6U9df9NBvqcheIvqn/s1600/IMG_2770.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Approaching the bridge over Sabine Pass, which is the Texas-Louisiana border, from the Texas side.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp5RpR-V_vHE6eI8-U9CsWGEgFvmKwSHlKaUbT28P7ZsIEgGMoWIjLVaLaM_zaYsDT6ET5aiovyfDYhBBD2w_RYXdue23_wifdYLN-laeh2dmnDaN3x4GKz1afuyU5_05WZygJ9J9y6GTq/s1600/IMG_2776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp5RpR-V_vHE6eI8-U9CsWGEgFvmKwSHlKaUbT28P7ZsIEgGMoWIjLVaLaM_zaYsDT6ET5aiovyfDYhBBD2w_RYXdue23_wifdYLN-laeh2dmnDaN3x4GKz1afuyU5_05WZygJ9J9y6GTq/s1600/IMG_2776.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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View off the top of the bridge, looking south at a jacked up oil rig under repair. We had taken a drive down through there a few days before and the thing was huge. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJQwz1rre6wW16P9Xw6-bZUpetnMNZL6oztPtsnsqYuVaruHiXmQSvzM0Znj7Qvv6kLOF0rc4MyE5n6JPFi8CzWMNtMRhrcQj0Ok3fvTqNRapPft8ejP8KTEGNo4gGY3E4EsmsxWOCIa_B/s1600/IMG_4273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJQwz1rre6wW16P9Xw6-bZUpetnMNZL6oztPtsnsqYuVaruHiXmQSvzM0Znj7Qvv6kLOF0rc4MyE5n6JPFi8CzWMNtMRhrcQj0Ok3fvTqNRapPft8ejP8KTEGNo4gGY3E4EsmsxWOCIa_B/s1600/IMG_4273.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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We also visited a non-existent Texas State Park on that same drive, that was literally blown away in a hurricane, leaving only a few stretches of asphalt, and that was it. All the buildings were gone.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUgEIiS7Z2itP4j1yELPXks7PsCpSJ9yqtrMYDUP1rgRzuIxVzgNJ2LXxsdE0S0yHu6Vhk2cM_TB1ROWtRhLcYvZ7_2VNVQ4SgFaWN4NvO8R-0KVMJ-z7en7hAEPNX7hJnWdnb5bLMz91/s1600/IMG_2780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUgEIiS7Z2itP4j1yELPXks7PsCpSJ9yqtrMYDUP1rgRzuIxVzgNJ2LXxsdE0S0yHu6Vhk2cM_TB1ROWtRhLcYvZ7_2VNVQ4SgFaWN4NvO8R-0KVMJ-z7en7hAEPNX7hJnWdnb5bLMz91/s1600/IMG_2780.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Along Rt. 82 heading to the Cameron ferry through Johnsons Bayou and Holly Beach.</div>
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Along Rt. 82 heading to the Cameron ferry</div>
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End of the road, and waiting for the boat.</div>
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Random ferry passenger from that red car next to me.</div>
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Another random ferry passenger!</div>
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No idea what this boat was for, but it sure was impressive! And I used to think the hose reels on the airports fuel trucks were big!</div>
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A local fix-it guy....couldn't cure my hair loss though.</div>
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So from Cameron now (in 2014) we back-tracked on Rt. 82 to to Rt. 27, and headed north towards Lake Charles. The last stop was along this road out of the great marsh, at Cameron Prairie NWF. Lots to see here, with a 1/2 mile boardwalk through a section of open swamp, and a drive around a bigger section of the Refuge, with a lot of alligators around.</div>
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Couple of boardwalk pics above</div>
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You gotta wonder who's crazy enough to try and take a bite out of an alligator, much less two! So THIS what they mean by "gator bites" on the restaurant menus...</div>
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Hunting from his man blind. I wonder if he has a Labrador Retriever to bring the bodies back to him....</div>
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From there we scooted along up to Rt 14 and followed it east back to Abbeville, a spectacular 235 mile ride around the block. Would love to get hold of a boat and see some of the interior some day.</div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-85092143828700168682014-05-03T16:24:00.002-04:002014-05-03T17:24:48.648-04:00Wed. April, 9, 2014-K- Abbeville, LA<br />
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We have moved a lot since the last post, and the map above shows where we camped and how we got to each place-after Conecuh CG in the last post, we moved to Isaac Creek CG, Alabama (Army Corps of Engineers-it's the next stop in Alabama but has no name displayed on the map), then to Cypress Landing, Mississippi (DeSoto National Forest), where we spent a week totally alone in the deep woods, by a beautiful, small river, then on to Palmetto Island, Louisiana (State Park) and up to Abbeville RV Park (Municipal). Bogalusa and St Francisville, LA, are towns I had to add in to make the map display the route that we drove. Hopefully we will get something posted about those places someday, as they each had their own funky stuff going on. Such as Cypress Landing, where I scared up an Armadillo at one o'clock in the morning heading to the outhouse, which was some distance from where we were camped. The Mississippi woods is the darkest place on the planet at that time of night-I can swear to it! Anyway:</div>
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We have been in Louisiana for about a week now. This is our 3rd visit to Abbeville. It is a wonderful town and it is in the heart of Cajun country. The food and music are incredible. No veggies here, just meat and seafood. TK would love it.</div>
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Our first stop was Palmetto Island State Park, south of town about 8 miles. It is a new park that has only been open for a few years. Which seems unusual that they are building new ones when other parts of the country are barely able to maintain what they have due to cutbacks. We had stumbled on it and checked it out before it was open, back in 2010. <br />
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Nice place and very quiet. Almost 100 sites and not a soul in there, not even on the weekend. Not sure if the season hasn't started, but I hope it is working for them. The bonus for us was it had FREE laundry in the bath houses! Yippee. <br />
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We certainly had our share of tornado warnings while we were there. We have learned that we need to be proactive when it comes to the weather, as we can't have anything happen to the camper, it being the ONLY roof we have over our heads. So when we heard that is was going to be 3 or 4 days of "stuff", we found a parking area that was fairly tree free and that would be "our go" to spot if things got stupid. It wouldn't be protect anything if we had hail, but at least a tree wouldn't fall on us! (And we had a place to take shelter in a tornado in the bathhouse). As a matter of fact, we did pack once and sit in the parking area for a couple hours!<br />
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The bird life in the CG was incredible. I wish I was more up on different calls, as I heard things I had never heard before. We also had an armadillo that drove Gus crazy every afternoon while we would be playing cards and practicing our organizational skills.<br />
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There is no shortage of things to do in this area. It seems like every weekend there is some sort of food and music driven festival. I think they feel they need to have an excuse to eat food and listen to music and dance the day away! This past weekend we went to a Boudin festival in Scott. Boudin is a staple around here. It is seasoned pork or beef mixed with rice and put in sausage casing. Every convenience store, grocery or meat market sell these by the link. There is great competition as to whom has the best. They aren't overly spicy, but they leave just a bit of a glow in your mouth. I enjoy the smoked ones the best and at this festival one vendor had wrapped the boudin in an egg roll wrapper with some pepper jack cheese and deep fried it. Was it delicious especially washed down with some beer! T doubled up on his Lipitor that night.</div>
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We did a great kayak here. It started right near the campground. It was a series of ponds that were connected by a canal out to the Vermilion river. Right where we put in were 3 alligators, but they just casually drift off in a different direction when they see you coming. </div>
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Tom saw this snake on the bank. I think it was a garter snake.</div>
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So I decided to stay in the center of the canal. It wasn't too much after that he saw another one and this one he thought was a cottonmouth. No picture though, as he was too close to it, but we both got creeped out!<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"> <br /> A gator enjoying the afternoon sun.</span><br />
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Out on the Vermilion River the Cyprus trees were huge! They were really leafing out. We kayaked around an island. Not much river traffic. The river has quite a bit of barge activity on it. We had just got off the river and back into the canal when we heard one heading upriver.</div>
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When we got back to where we had put in, we saw 2 wild pigs. A woman we talked to who was fishing on one of the ponds told us a couple years ago they had a terrible problem with them and had to close the CG for a week to take care of it. Apparently they were all throughout the camping area and had become a huge nuisance. Not a critter you want to have attack you-they are very dangerous if you can't protect yourself. Since this was the first pond and where we had to take out, we kept an eye on them while we loaded the Kayaks back up.</div>
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After a few days here, we moved up to Abbeville RV Park, a place we have stayed at in the past, and know the managers at, Gene and Cindy. And no wild pigs, at least the four-legged kind!</div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-26078644495793757962014-04-13T17:49:00.000-04:002014-04-13T17:49:05.086-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: left;"><u>Sunday March 23, 2014-K- Open Pond CG. Conecuh National Forest, NW of Florala, AL.</u></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">You'll notice a little diversion on the map, out of Florala and up Rts. 9/331. That was to a rest area to empty holding tanks, as the rest area had a dump station, and supposedly, Open Pond CG did not. Supposedly. At 7 mpg, it was an expensive side trip we didn't need to make, but short-cutting it over some pretty farm country back roads to Rt. 55</span> and on to the campground,<span style="text-align: left;"> made up for it We discovered they had a dump station there too. Beautiful state, Alabama-kind of like Vermont, with flatter, rolling hills and farms of all types-dairy, cattle, hay and cotton on the eastern side, along the Georgia border. The back roads are all red dirt/gravel.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">This will be a </span><span style="text-align: left;">quick post. We had been here in 2007 on our first trip to Florida. Just a little pond that apparently has great fishing. We remembered it for the dire warning signs posted at the bathrooms about alligators. "WARNING: Alligators present! If someone from your party or a pet is missing, contact the authorities immediately", or something to that effect. They were quite startling, and in hind-sight, pretty funny. We were looking forward to getting a picture of one for the collection, but they were gone this time. Could the Feds, in a rare moment of regulation sanity, have actually caught themselves going overboard?</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The CG was quite busy as the whole month of March is spring break time for everyone in the state, not just college kids! Since we aren't on the coast, these campgrounds are all families on vacation. Mostly local's, where mom stays here during the week and dad comes at night after work. </span></div>
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Everyone has their sites lit up like Christmas trees that they leave on all night, so the camping "experience" isn't quite the way we typically like it. We need to get away from places on water, but that is where most of the CG's are, so until we are done with spring break, things will be a tad busy.</div>
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On the way to the CG we passed a sign on the Florida/Alabama boarder showing the way to the highest point in Florida, Britton Hill. Well, we just had to go there! It was just a little swell in the landscape just south of Florala, AL. We had a hard time catching our breaths from the altitude!!!</div>
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You have to go 50 miles due north from the Gulf just to gain 345 feet of elevation!</div>
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Oops-made her bald like me, and don't the girls look excited? All 3 of the them!</div>
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Looking out over the view. It was a really pretty area.</div>
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The trees are just thinking about putting out leaves. In some places you could see that bit of lime-green tint that always starts getting you excited that spring is going to happen this year! </div>
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That was kind of the high point of 5 days there (no pun intended), as we really didn't do that much. Worked on the camper, did a trail around the pond about 2 to 3 miles, tried out a catfish joint in Andalusia that had good reviews-okay but nothing we'd go back to-lots of cornbread breading with a thin layer of catfish in the middle. No chance for a grease overload! </div>
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That's about it-sorry for a boring post that took place almost 4 weeks ago! More interesting stuff in the works....</div>
<br />Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-64657302598954853422014-03-27T10:24:00.000-04:002014-03-27T10:36:04.527-04:00<div class="MsoNormal">
Tues. March 18, 2014-K-Camel Lake, Apalachicola NF, and Basin Bayou, Freeport, FL<br />
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We very much enjoyed our time at Camel Lake. Very pretty place, but a few too many
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the water, a hawk (maybe a Marsh hawk?) hanging out in a tree, a couple ducks, 2 American Coots, and a swim noodle in the bushes that I rescued.<br />
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Our campsite at Camel Lake.</div>
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Tom pretending he can read a book.....</div>
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A VW bug that came in. We have never seen a set-up like this in all of our years of traveling. It was pretty cool! Keeps one out of the snakes, I guess? I wonder what happens when you forget to take it down and just drive off...believe me-some of the things we've pulled on this trip? WE could do it!</div>
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Just don't leave the ladder home! (And don't forget where you are when you wake up!)</div>
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Our site from the water.</div>
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The hawk.<br />
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One night I was getting dinner ready and had asked Tom if he could bring out a metal mixing bowl. He asked "where do you want it"? I told him, "On a hard surface." He follows instructions well, don't you think? Fruit salad, anyone?</div>
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We got an enormous amount of rain while we were there
(almost 6”) along with tornado warnings!
Ugh, those really scare the daylights out of me, but the local folk just
take them in stride. I think they hear
them all the time, so “No big deal!” they like to say. The day we left though, Tom drove out in the Tracker to see how much water was across the road. It was under water in 7 places, some a couple of hundred feet across and 10" to 12" deep. Luckily, we'd been driving in and out and knew the base was solid and gravelly, so we left without a problem. Tom said, <i>afterwards</i> of course, that all he could think of while driving a 14,000 pound camper through them was of Florida's infamous sinkholes! <o:p></o:p><br />
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We did a short, 4 mile hike on a Nature Conservancy property to an overlook of the Apalachicola River. It was classic Florida ravine terrain, where spring fed seeps become sandy creeks that flow in very deep (200' to 300' deep) ravines to the river. The trail wound down into and back up out of 2 of them-great workout! The Apalachicola River is the major drainage into Apalachicola bay, which harvests about 90% of the oysters in Florida. The mix of fresh water, and rich sediment from the river and a very shallow, salt water bay it is emptying into, which keeps the salt water warm, makes the oyster beds extremely productive. They are extremely delicious cooked in the shell directly on hot coals.</div>
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On Tuesday, March 18, 2014 we headed out. It was sort of poignant leaving as we are driving out of the eastern time zone for who knows how long, and we are finally heading
west, which is always a very exciting thing for us. It always feels good to be driving. Our feet get a bit too itchy if we stay in one place for too long!</div>
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We found a really neat spot just west of Freeport, FL, called Basin Bayou. It is has undeveloped camping on a little 2-track road about 1/2 mile in from Rte. 20. We were the only ones there for the night, and fortunately the weather behaved, as there was a huge dead tree hanging over the camper, we of course realized after we had set up. We have finally got it in our heads to check for that kind of thing, after a piece of dead tree came down through the awning in the middle of the night, at Okefenokee back in November. </div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-86520326465131126642014-03-19T11:14:00.000-04:002014-03-26T15:53:57.266-04:00Sunday, March 9, 2014-K- Dead Lakes Recreation Area, Wewahitchka, FL<br />
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Wow, can't believe it is March. I don't know where the time went, but it seemed to fly by! We got here a week ago after finishing up our volunteering at the state park. We would have completed our last project of putting a new roof on the ranger station, but we had some bad weather so that brought things to a screeching halt. But we probably got it about 80% done. <br />
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Our time there ended on a high note when they let us take out the "mule" which is an ATV of sorts, that has a golf cart looking front and pickup truck type bed in the back. We went on trash patrol up the beach almost to the end of the peninsula. We had a beautiful crystal clear day and the bay was dead calm and also crystal clear. We had a great time. Once we got away from the campground a couple miles or so, we felt like we were the only inhabitants on a tropical island! We couldn't quite get to the end of the peninsula because we had to cross a flow of water and we didn't want to get the mule in the salt water, also the area looked like it was blocked off by the state biologist at the park, due to the nesting of Plovers. <br />
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We saw the usual assortment of birds, but the interesting thing is we saw loons out in the Gulf. According to Ken, the host in our CG, who is quite knowledgeable about Loons habits, they winter down here and the young ones stay here for about 3 years before they head back up north. Shortly after we got to St. Joe St.Park, I heard a loon and couldn't believe my ears. Then Ken told me they are here for the winter. <br />
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And yes we did pick up trash-filled the back of the mule to overflowing! Didn't find anything that would make us millionaires, but lots of shoes and coconuts and of course lots of plastic bottles. Most of it comes in during storms, a good portion of it from across the Atlantic, as the assistant park manager Danny explained to us before we left on the run. Many people take fishing poles instead of trash bags, which Mark (the park manager) informed us was okay as long as you come back with more trash than fish! It's a necessary job, but also a bit of a perk, so we we're thrilled to be able to do it once.<br />
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You can watch a video of why seniors should not drive a mule here : >)</div>
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I found some sea beans. The one on the right is called a hamburger bean! These are seed pods that come all the way from Africa! The smaller on is about the diameter of quarter.<br />
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Heading out on the beach with the "mule".</div>
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Palmettos on the beach. We felt like we were on a tropical island.</div>
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The water was crystal clear and the calmest we had seen it in a long time.</div>
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Animal tracks. Not what they were, possibly raccoons.</div>
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Fresh water pond at the northern end of the peninsula.</div>
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Just to prove we did get trash!</div>
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A picture of our campsite at Dead Lakes.</div>
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Quite a difference in the weather 60 miles north. Quite a bit warmer, much less humidity and NO BUGS AND NO SAND!!!! Our co-volunteers, Dianne, Bill, Ken and Patti came up yesterday for a cook-out. We had a beautiful afternoon just hanging out by the fire.<br />
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We also got the news a couple days ago that we will be the hosts at KOFA wildlife refuge in SW Arizona for next winter. Here is a couple of links, the first is on to what to do there, and the second takes you to some spectacular images posted on Google:<br />
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<u><a href="http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Kofa/visit/visitor_activities.html"><span style="color: #274e13;">http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Kofa/visit/visitor_activities.html</span></a></u><br />
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<u><a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=kofa+NWF+images&nord=1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=JFsvU-C2II2tkAfP_ICQBQ&ved=0CCQQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=653">http://www.google.com/search?q=kofa+NWF+images&nord=1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=JFsvU-C2II2tkAfP_ICQBQ&ved=0CCQQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=653</a></u></span></div>
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We will be there from late Oct. through March 2015. We are about 20 miles south of Quartzite and about 60 miles north of Yuma. We will be dry camping, no electricity, they supply a water tank, propane and a 4wd truck. We will be checking on places people have camped and clean-up if necessary. We have the option of leading short guided hikes to an area that has palm trees, we also could be monitoring old mines for bat population at night. They supply us with night vision goggles. They also are reintroducing pronghorns into the area that we may have a hand in helping with. There is a full time wildlife biologist with a PhD on staff, so we hope to get some good education from her on desert life there, and in general. It is still Sonoran desert, which is what surrounds the Tucson area, and our favorite of the 3 desert types we've been in over the years.<br />
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Definitely a much different gig than what we did this winter! 660,000 acres of mostly desert wilderness, and more nature driven, which will be a lot of fun and educational. <br />
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We will be here for a few more days and then head east to the National Forest of place called Camel Lakes. A nice little CG on a small pond. <br />
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Hopefully we can get the blog caught up!<br />
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<br />Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com1Dead Lakes, FL, USA30.148332529539228 -85.17712565273433330.093404029539229 -85.257806652734331 30.203261029539227 -85.096444652734334tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-19813859987865204152014-03-07T16:19:00.003-05:002014-03-07T17:09:18.609-05:00Feb. 16, 2014-Port St. Joe, FL-K-<br />
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Has been pretty quiet since the last post. We have been getting projects done here in the campground. We put 3 new roofs on various buildings. Our next project is the entrance station. This one will be a little harder as we will be working around traffic and is more in the public eye! It isn't a big building, just has a lot of different angles and valleys that we haven't had to deal with in the other buildings. Keep your fingers crossed.<br />
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So, I am going to show a my nerdy side. Tom had given me a portable weather station for Christmas as I couldn't bring the one we had at the house. I am going to torture all with the monthly statistics for January. Tom is used to this.<br />
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High temp:72<br />
Low temp:22<br />
High Wind:18<br />
Wind Chill:18<br />
Avg. High Temp:57.35<br />
Avg. Low Temp:41.70<br />
Avg. Temp:50<br />
Precipitation for the month:5.09<br />
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(Thank God she left out sunrise, moonrise, sunset, moonset, and high and low tides....:>)<br />
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When we had the cold snap with the sleet in January, they had to rescue turtles again from the bay. A couple weeks ago we were told they were going to release them out on the beach. A group of us went down to watch. They had about 130 to be let go. It was really neat. They were pretty happy to get back out in the water. <br />
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Here is a couple of videos I took, one of one of the larger ones getting released</div>
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. They put all the big ones in kiddie pools!<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFHdjdI0rgk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFHdjdI0rgk</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtiiJ7cyfm8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtiiJ7cyfm8</a></div>
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Last Sunday on the 9th, we headed north of Port St. Joe, to Wewahitchka (Wewa for short) and kayaked the Dead Lakes Recreation Area. Very interesting place. All Cypress trees. There were a few fisherman out. The water was like glass. The lighting was really neat. Big puffy clouds, a little blue sky against the grey of the trees and dark water. I hope one of my pictures captured it.</div>
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We were anticipating seeing a lot of birds. But it was dead quiet. We came upon a bunch of ravens squawking in the trees and I saw a large nest on top of a dead tree, a couple turtles sunning themselves, but that was it. Not sure if that is normal or just the time of year. <br />
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Here's a link to a 30 sec. video of the paddle:</div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/ckcod9Wm0jw">http://youtu.be/ckcod9Wm0jw</a></div>
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<br />Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-53205127077429804702014-03-03T14:59:00.000-05:002014-03-03T14:59:45.511-05:00January 29, 2014-Thurs-P.St. Joe, FL-K-<br />
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They said it would happen and it did. The ground is covered with sleet!! They were predicting snow, but I think that was for the northern panhandle. It has been between 30 and 32 degrees all day. Yesterday most of the counties here closed their schools. Some major bridges were closed due to ice on the roads. Who woulda thunk!<br />
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It wouldn't be too much of a problem, but my good cold weather gear is home and we had to work in the bad weather today. Granted we were undercover, but it was a 3 sided building so it was cold. But it worked out fine. </div>
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We worked on a dump truck that the bed is all rusted as a result of the salt air. It is unreal how much havoc it does to vehicles down here. In the north we have salted roads, down here the salt air. Tom cut the rusted floor off of it while I sanded the body with a power sander. </div>
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There are a few tenters here and I don't know how they are getting through this cold weather. I would be looking for the nearest hotel with a hot, hot, shower!</div>
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The Campground host Ken, has been giving me all sorts of extra clothes to wear! I have my Bean boots, but they are just rubber and no insulation, and being on a cement floor all morning, I couldn't feel my toes. Just like having plastic ski boots on! He dropped of a pair of warmer looking boots for me this afternoon as we will be working outside tomorrow along with a pair of heavier socks. I feel like such a wuss. (not sure how to spell that word!)<br />
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The pictures should tell a better story.<br />
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This post is LONG over due as our internet has been almost worse than dial-up and getting anything to happen is like watching paint dry. <br />
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Here are some pictures.<br />
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We are surprised our screen house survived!</div>
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They closed the ramps to the beach it was so icy.</div>
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I never thought I would see ice on the sea oats!</div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-14409650537618611072014-01-19T10:49:00.001-05:002014-01-19T11:03:27.949-05:002010 Crestone Needle Hike<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Since we are now hunkered down for two months as volunteers at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, and also hunkered down with the weather, we thought we'd put up some posts from past trips & past hikes. In late August of 2010, we were at our land in Colorado. We hiked up to South Colony Lake, which is at the base of Crestone Needle, one of Colorado's 53, 14,000 foot high peaks-this one is 14,203 feet to be exact, and the lake is at 12,000 feet. We hadn't done this climb in years, and it's kind of rugged, the trail starting at 9000 feet in elevation, and climbing steadily for about 4 miles to the lake at 12,000 feet. Crestone Needle itself is a technical climb, and some say the most difficult of the 14,000 footers. On average, 2 to 4 people are killed up there each year, and we always know when there's trouble, as a rescue helicopter from Fort Carson Army Base will come thundering over our property when we're there, and we can often watch it all the way to the peak.</blockquote>
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This hike is sort of near our land in Westcliffe, Colorado, the trailhead being about 8 miles south of the town of Westcliffe, and about an hours drive from "camp". You can see the peak in the picture below, taken from the deck on our property:</blockquote>
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If you go straight up and slightly right from "Long Pants Bob's" telephone pole, out thar in the trees, you'll see a big flat topped mountain, Humboldt Peak. The next peak to the right of it is Crestone Needle, with the distinctly pointed top and South Colony Lake is at at the base of Crestone Needle. (Don't forget you can click on any picture and it will bring up all of them in an enlarged slideshow-much better way to see them. Keep clicking each pic to move to the next one, and click anywhere off the pictures to return to the story).</div>
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When you turn off Rt. 69 south of town, you start out on a good county road, which turns kind of gnarly when you cross the line into the National Forest and county road maintenance stops. The road stops at a parking area in thick woods, and the trail starts at a foot bridge crossing a creek there, and actually continues on in the bed of the discontinued part of the road (You used to be able to drive further on a good part of the way, in a high centered 4wd, but the Forest Service banned motorized travel years back when the entire top of the Sangre range was designated a wilderness area-above a certain elevation is the delineator, I believe.) </div>
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You hike about a mile to a mile and a half in the old roadbed, where you come to a choice-continue on the road and a longer but less steep climb, or go right and up a trail that is a more direct route that is a workout! We went thataway. To be honest, it had been SO long-about 10 years maybe?, and my knee had gotten trashed in a rafting trip about a month & a half before, I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish it or not! Not too far along this trail, you start hiking in and out of the treeline, and the views start to open up.<br />
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Along the way, we ran into some four legged company, who, as you can see, were not real concerned about us showing up in their territory. (The first pic is the Needle).</div>
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At this point, we were completely above treeline, and it is probably the most spectacular place we've ever hiked to in the mountains. Humboldt is towering over you on your right, straight ahead is a very high wall that connects Crestone Needle with Crestone Peak, and slightly left and the end of that wall is Crestone Needle itself, rising straight up out of South Colony Lake for 2200', almost a half mile.</div>
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For you skeptics, that <i>is</i> an altimeter on the watch! We were lucky that day, as it was dead calm and warm. Often you get there just in time for a thunderstorm to blow up over the ridge, so it cold, windy and wet, and has you scurrying for cover. The weather there is treacherous, where you are at 12,000' and the storm is directly over your head, and often times still growing in size. The Sangre De Cristo's are a narrow range, and on the backside of that wall connecting the peaks is a 60 mile wide valley, the San Luis Valley, that's at 5000' and very hot in summer. The winds blow across it and get hoisted up and over the 12 to 14,000' elevations, causing afternoon storms almost daily, that soak the Wet Mountain Valley where Westcliffe & Silvercliff are located, and our property is, 11 miles further away on the east side of that same valley. </div>
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This last pic above is an aerial, looking north at Crestone Needle's peak, and down to South Colony Lake. The hike out goes fast, and you certainly have earned a cold one or two, when you get back to camp and collapse in a chair!</div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-61258463955853913462014-01-18T17:19:00.002-05:002014-03-07T17:11:34.101-05:00January 11, 2014-Sat.-K-We are back! Sorry for the lack of posting again. We have actually been quite busy. We ended up getting volunteer positions here at Port St. Joe St. Park. Some other volunteers didn't show up so we filled their slots. We have the positions until the end of February, but it could extend into March, but we don't know about that at this time. Also our internet has not been good so it is really now Jan. 18th, not the 11th!!!<br />
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Our duties consist of filling in for the CG hosts on Monday and Tuesday so they have 2 days off. We have 2 bathhouses to clean and about 60 campsites to make sure are tidy for the next campers and general maintenance of the campground. On Wed., Thurs., Fri., we are out in the field doing whatever needs doing around the whole park. <br />
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This has been an interesting week to start volunteering. On Monday our first day filling in for the hosts, the high temp. was in the mid 30's and a wind chill of 27! It was howling a gale here. We were FREEZING! We got those bathrooms cleaned in record time. There aren't too many people here this time of year so it there wasn't too much to do. I headed into town and went to the Goodwill store and found some winter gloves and hats for us to wear!! The store had some new hats they were selling for $3.00 and they are not the most attractive, but fashion was not a priority!<br />
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That afternoon, we went around and turned on all the taps to drip so they wouldn't freeze overnight. It got down to 22 that night. They rent cabins on St. Joe Bay and they had some minor freeze ups that Tom helped them fix on Tuesday. (All the plumbing runs outside underneath the cabins, which are up on stilts because of hurricanes). No big problems, but things they seldom see down here. <br />
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One of the park employees has hooked onto Tom for vehicle maintenance so he has changed the oil in all of the vehicles. I have, with some other volunteers, taken trucks out to pick up the never ending palm fronds that are continuously coming down off the Palmetto trees with all the wind we have been having. <br />
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With all of this cold weather they have been having problems with the turtles that live in the bay. They can go into shock and they can drown. On Wednesday local volunteers had pulled about 60 turtles out of the water. The turtles then get sent to Panama City to a facility there where they get rehabbed and then released back near where they were found. <br />
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Thursday was a rainy and drizzly day and there wasn't much for us to do except for Tom who was working on the vehicles. Just down the beach a few miles we were told that a Beaked whale had beached itself and they needed help. So I went down along with 2 other volunteers, Bill and Diane, to see how we could help.<br />
They had plenty of help but the woman that was heading things up there said they needed help with locating distressed turtles. I found out later, they had to put the whale down. It was in very bad shape. They think he/she was quite old and probably would not have lived if they got it back out in the ocean.<br />
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We found the woman who was in charge of it and to make a long story short, the 3 of us ended up going out and rescuing some turtles. Bill and Diane were in a canoe and I was in a borrowed kayak. We ended up with 6 turtles! I had one on my lap and thank goodness they had a canoe because one of the turtles we pulled out was probably 80 pounds! There was one that we were all worried about. It just lay there with it's head down and never moved. The other ones were perking up a bit the longer the they were out of the water. <br />
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Diane got some video on her phone and a news crew was at the docks when we got back. I posted links to both videos below. Our internet the last week has not been good so getting some of this stuff downloaded has been a bit tough. <br />
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We were all pretty elated when all was said and done!<br />
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Here is the link to the TV story:<br />
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<a href="http://www.wmbb.com/story/24411452/experts-help-sea-turtles-during-cold-stun-event">http://www.wmbb.com/story/24411452/experts-help-sea-turtles-during-cold-stun-event</a><br />
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And the link to the video:<br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/aUY7JBdRHo0" style="border: 0px; color: #2793e6; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 11px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://youtu.be/aUY7JBdRHo0</span></a><br />
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Hope all is well with everyone and they are surviving the tough weather up north.<br />
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<br />Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-76529798593446661632014-01-03T08:38:00.001-05:002014-01-03T08:38:54.836-05:00Jan.3, 2014-Friday-K- Happy belated New Year!!!!! We hope everyone had a wonderful New Years.<br />
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Sorry for the lack of reporting but we haven't had much to report. It has been cool (mid 50's) and still windy. We had a typical quiet New Years and in bed at our normal times, although I did end up staying up until midnight reading stuff on the computer!!<br />
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Tom and I are avid cribbage players and before dinner (now that we can't play pool anymore!) we play a couple of hands. Most of our playing is either on vacation or on our porch in the summer. We have been keeping track of our wins since 1988. So the grand total up through 2013 is Tom with 753 wins and myself with 751. At the start of 2013 I was 15 games behind and I still couldn't catch up!<br />
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Yesterday while all you people up north were getting hit with a major snowstorm, we had 3/4" of rain and a cold front blew through with major winds and we woke up to 32 degrees with a wind chill of 24!<br />
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There could be a chance that we may end up volunteering here. We had put in applications when we got here. The volunteer co-ordinator said they were full as this is the prime time for volunteers. We had told him we would be at the campground until the 3rd and in the area until April, so if they do need anything we would be around. They stopped in yesterday and gave us more paperwork to fill out, so we will know today what is going on. It would be nice to stay here. If we get a position, we get free camping in exchange, we work 20 hours a week. It is hard to get your foot in the door, but is seems like once you are in it is good.<br />
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That is all for now. Tom may be posting some things later on.Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-28722543795977011892013-12-27T09:38:00.000-05:002013-12-27T10:42:05.050-05:00Port St Joe Peninsula 12/25/13-Wed,.-K-<b><u>MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!</u></b><br />
We finally made it to one of our favorite campgrounds, St. Joseph Peninsula State Park in Florida right near Port St. Joe. We arrived on Friday the 20th and will be here until Jan. 2, our Christmas present to each other. We are in a great site #13 (I always keep track of that for future reference!). It is very private and has a wonderful view of an estuary that has lots of egrets and some sort of very small duck like bird, along with herons and kingfishers.<br />
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The weather up until Monday has been pretty warm but quite windy. Kayaking has been out of the question because of that. Pretty good whitecaps on the bay where we would be going. We have been able to walk the beach in shorts and bare feet. The water was not nearly as cool as I thought it would be. I wouldn't want to swim in it, but it's not bone chillin'! Gus saw the ocean for the first time on Saturday and she was so scared of it all. She continually acts like she is the big (little) tough dog, but when push comes to shove, she is a bit of a chicken. Every time a wave came to her she would run in the other direction. We got a pretty funny video of it. Yoda, the old seasoned wise one, was pretty excited to see the ocean once again. <br />
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Link to "Girls on the Beach"</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 11px; text-align: start;"> </span><a href="http://youtu.be/U2_GR_BIIGg" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2793e6; cursor: pointer; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 11px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/U2_GR_BIIGg</a><br />
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Sunday night and most of Monday was quite rainy. We had to go to Panama City (30 miles west of here) to get a part for the camper and we decided we should do a little holiday shopping for each other. Well not the brightest thing on our part, as we weren't paying attention to the fact it was 2 days before Christmas (duh) and how do you shop together in the same stores and hide stuff in the car, when where you shopped (Sam's club) doesn't give you shopping bags to put your purchases in?? But anyway, it was pretty comical and we got it done. Have never seen traffic like they have there. Tyndall Air Force Base abuts the town so that adds to the population. The city is about the size of Albany/Troy, NY.<br />
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Things have cooled off significantly and still windy. This morning it was probably in the high 30's (oh my!) However the wind has died down a lot and we got a nice walk in. Hopefully the wind will stay calm and tomorrow we can take the boats out. <br />
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We opened a few presents last night and still have some to do. </div>
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My friend Betsey whom I skied with at NEHSA gave me a gumbo recipe and that is what we are going to do for dinner tonight. The fresh caught seafood down here is great. Got some really nice shrimp, scallops, oysters, white fish and some bbq'd chicken and andouille sausage to put in the gumbo. <br />
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Tom and I hope everyone has had a great holiday and we miss all you very much. <br />
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<br />Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com4Calhoun, FL, USA29.802009288227904 -85.41378800937502529.361326288227904 -86.05923500937503 30.242692288227904 -84.768341009375021tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-88021728490863800902013-12-14T14:53:00.002-05:002013-12-14T15:09:36.668-05:00<span style="font-family: inherit;">12/12/13-Thurs.-K-It's hard to believe that Christmas is a little less than 2 weeks away. Where does the time go. It seems like we just did Thanksgiving, but I say this every year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today we leave Paynes Prairie and head over to Sopchoppy, Fl. It is due south and a little west of Tallahassee. We had stayed there for a couple nights a few years ago. It is a campground run by the town on creek that looks like the kayaking could be really good. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is very different camping this time of year. We are so used to camping in the spring and summer and it being lighter later into evening. Now it is just the opposite. Once we hit the winter solstice, it will get better! But what is more interesting is because of how far south we are it isn't getting dark until a little after 5pm. What a bonus! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We ended up with a change of plans. The place that can fix the awning can fix it tomorrow and it is in Midway, right next to Tallahassee. We found a campground a few minutes away from the camper place. So we will go to Sopchoppy tomorrow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Well this campground is a interesting. It is full of bow hunters and they all have their generators going full tilt (no hook-ups here), so a bit noisy and smelly! Oh well-it is just for one night. It is on Lake Tallquin. Real pretty spot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What neither of us were paying attention to is hunters get up early to go out. So at 4 a.m. the generators all start up again (we had one right next to us!) and at 5 a.m. they were all out of the campground and the place was quiet again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Awning is fixed and we are in Sopchoppy in the town park that has a campground along the Sopchoppy River. People have asked how the town got it's name so this was Wikepedia's answer. <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">The town's name is a corruption of "Lockchoppe." Derived from the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskogean_languages" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.1875px; text-decoration: none;" title="Muskogean languages">Muskogee</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"> </span><i style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">lokchapi</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"> (</span><i style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">lokcha</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"> (acorn) / </span><i style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">api</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"> (stem)), this was the old name of the nearby river.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopchoppy,_Florida#cite_note-5" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[5]</a></sup></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1em; vertical-align: super;">The population of the town is around 500. Just a sleepy little town with some interesting old architecture.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lots of bungalow style houses.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><sup class="reference" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><br /></sup>
<sup class="reference" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">From what we have heard, manatees have come up here. The gentleman that runs the place said he had seen them about 8 months ago. He saw two hanging out for awhile. </span></sup></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today (Saturday) we are having our first rainy day. The town was doing an outdoor craft market, but it got rained out. There were a few people, but who were left were packing it in by the time we got there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Apparently you Northerners are going to get a lot of snow tonight. Can't believe how cold it is up there at this time of year. Like January temps.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Nothing more going on. The dogs are having a sleepy day. hmmmm that sounds kinda nice!!!</span><br />
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<br />Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-76000867786543907632013-12-11T10:51:00.000-05:002013-12-25T15:46:35.597-05:00Payne's Prairie<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12-10-13 T-Did a hike at Payne's Prairie today, out onto Cone's Dike. It was an 8 & 1/4 mile round trip on a broad berm that rose about 2 to 3 feet above the marsh/pastureland on either side. As you are entering a wilderness area, you actually have to pass through an animal barrier, which is a u-shaped chute with 2 square turns, just wide enough for one person at a time to get through. The area we were hiking in is where the buffalo and horse herds are, and the usual swamp critters, such as alligators also live. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love the one about passing large alligators (much less the other two)-I said to Kath about three miles into it, "what happens if your on the way out and <i>do</i> run into a large alligator across the path?" The horses and buffalo almost always clear out when they see you coming, usually at a distance, but gators often do not budge. Not a standoff I'd want to be in while watching the sun go down!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was flat, and when the sun was out, pretty toasty! We did see one buffalo right after we started:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were surprised as it was jet black, unlike any we've seen out west, which are brown or reddish brown. As it is a dike used to control water flow, the trail was in long, half to three quarter mile, dead straight stretches. There were tons of sign, lots of buffalo and gator wallows, and horse tracks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About 2 miles out, we stopped to eat lunch, and heard something high stepping it out in the swamp, which most of the time was thick brush, without much visibility. We figured it must have been a horse, as a buffalo wouldn't have made individual "ker-splunks" by picking each foot up high, like a horse can. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We did see some Sandhill Cranes:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much of the time you could see off across the plain-swamp-prairie, and the further out we got, the more treed it became, and the trees taller as we went along. The last mile, the berm was much higher than the land on either side, which was now swamp. We saw a few gators out in this area.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given the time of year, the wildlife was scarce, so when we got to the end, we hoofed it back, as it was kind of a dull hike, though a good exercise walk, if nothing else! Thinking we were really dragging, we were surprised when we ended up back at the car at 1:30 (we didn't bring a watch), and, having left at 10:15, so we we're pretty happy with that. Not bad time for a couple of old farts. </span></div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com3Paynes Prairie, Florida 32608, USA29.5835796 -82.3331587999999784.0615451 -123.64175279999998 55.1056141 -41.024564799999979tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-30536481641431723662013-12-07T15:08:00.000-05:002013-12-25T15:50:29.627-05:00Mike Roess Gold Head State Park<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">T 12-6-13 Finally we are "over the hump" and back to life, after being chased down the coast by frosty temps., swamp speed Internet, and this week, residence and insurance chores, so it's play time and finally get writing on "da blog". We're at Mike Roess Gold Head State Park. Today we took a walk around it, and it sports a ravine with a classic Florida, sand bottom, crystal clear stream running down through it. Here's a few pics of the trail and Gus grabbing a drink: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The weather has been great-@ 80 during the day, low 60's at night & windows open (which helps with the dead mouse in the A/C box under the dashboard :>), and no bugs! Tomorrow we're thinking we may go find a place to put the boats in. There are a lot of lakes in this area, but due to years of drought, most are close to dried up. We remembered being here in 2009, but on the gulf side, and seeing where people who had waterfront houses with docks in their back yards, are surrounded by grass and not a drop of water in sight! Not so great for property values. We'll probably head over to the St. John river, east of here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday, we go to Payne's Prairie, south of Gainesville and west of here, another place we discovered while driving around in 2009. It looks just like Kansas, with wild horse and buffalo herds. There's a lot of hiking trails there, and we've always wanted to go back and stay a few days and check it out. As a piece of dead tree fell through the awning in the middle of the night at Okefenokee, we will stay there until we get the awning replacement scheduled at a camper shop in Tallahassee, then move to Sopchoppy (home of the world's only "worm gruntin" festival), when that's done. K discovered they are holding a Christmas festival there a week from today, which should be fun-it's a funky little town! </span></div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com3Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park, 6239 Florida 21, Keystone Heights, FL 32656, USA29.8477577 -81.961864829.7926602 -82.0425458 29.902855199999998 -81.8811838tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3777910365903261637.post-16591722340560933722013-12-07T15:07:00.000-05:002013-12-25T15:52:26.856-05:00Okefenokee Swamp<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;"><u><b>K-Mon Dec.2, 2013-Okefenokee</b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">Sunday was fairly nice and sort of warm. We got kayaking around 10:30. The canal you take to get to the main water was loaded with robins. I have never seen such flock of them as I saw today. Must be the the hot spot for the winter! I also heard a lot of peewees. In the area and through our our paddle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">The water was like glass. I don’t think we had ever paddled on such beautiful water. Not a ripple except from fish jumping, and bubbles here and there from turtles. I am really working at not looking “at” the scenery, but into the scenery. A dear friend of ours, Joe, says he doesn’t look at the woods but into the woods. I started doing that and you really start noticing so much more. Even when I am in the car I practice doing that. It is what I have been trying to do when we kayak, not look at the water, but study it and you can see the nose of a turtle coming up for air. Okay, enough of my droning along!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">We headed up to Minnie Lake which is a really nice paddle through the cypress trees. It is a small canal, but unfortunately, the motor boats (small Jon boats) can make there way up to it also. Some are very respectful and slow down, while others just sort of motor through, not looking at anything but to see how fast and how far they can go. This one older couple in motor boat was so sheepish about being in one that every time we saw them going up and coming back, they would cut the motor and paddle! Not a whole lot of wildlife in this area. Not enough sun for the gators to warm up in, a few egrets and we did see a Wood Stork just hanging out in a branch over the water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">Partway up this part of the swamp was a “rest area” with a picnic table, pit toilet and good place to get out stretch. There was another couple there who were from Western Mass., Amherst area. If I got the story correct, he is a writer and had written a play based on the book “Project Not Spoken”. The book is by Merton, and it is about the cover ups of the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X. And how they were all connected. We never introduced ourselves to this couple so I have no idea what his name was. I was poking around the internet this morning to see if I could find anything, but the connections is so slow I will try later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">The gentleman we were talking to wrote a documentary play(?) based on this book, is having readings all around the country to create an awareness about the cover ups. We had a fascinating time talking to him and his wife or girlfriend. They were really nice and we shared numerous stories. I will try and research it some more and try a figure out who he is. He said he had just done an interview on NPR for the show “All Things Considered”, so I will check that out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">Today we had to hang out and wait to for the insurance adjuster to call about the awning. We will meet up with them tomorrow in the town of Fargo and then head out to Florida and work on our residency stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;"><u><b>K-Friday, Nov. 29, 2013-Okefenoke</b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">Sorry for the lack of writing. Our Internet here is really slow, so I am writing on a word document and then will copy/paste into the blog when things speed up. I can’t even open our blog page. Things got a little squirrelley after we got here. Tuesday rained pretty hard for most of the day so we took the opportunity to do some repacking after the bad, midnight packing we had done. When the rain did stop it was so nice and warm out that we were able to play cards outside and took the dogs for a walk. After dinner we sat outside and enjoyed the warm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">After we went to bed, around 3a.m. the wind started to pick up. No rain, it just got windy. All the trees around here are real skinny (not red pin but something similar), just real tall and the skinny things started whipping around. All of sudden there was a huge crash and a branch had fallen and smashed through the camper awning. Stuff was coming down everywhere. Thank goodness we were able to get the awning put away and the car and camper to parking lot in the visitor center, and parked in the middle where there weren’t any trees. We left a bunch of stuff in the campsite and spent the rest of the night in the visitor center parking lot. While we were scrambling around in the dark, a ranger came by and asked if we were okay and said a tree was down right near where he lives in the CG.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">In the morning we got moved to a different site and the ranger who talked to us in the middle of the night thought we were having a tornado and ran for a closet! Where the tree fell down near his place, was right in line with our campsite, about 150' away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">Wednesday we had to shop for Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) so we did a 130 mile round trip to Valdosta for shopping, the most boring drive of our lives! Just through pine woods that are continually getting logged and replanted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">However, the grocery store we found, Harvey’s, was wonderful. The place was hopping. Not your big chain store. All the staff was happy and helpful and really funny. I was able to find game hens (which being in smaller store, not sure if they would have them). The young man at the checkout was really funny. I asked him how late he was working till and he was only there until 4 pm, but he was excited about lunch because the store made Thanksgiving dinner for the staff! Everyone had to bring a side dish to share. How many places do that anymore? Every grocery store (once you leave the NE) has their “store card” and he asked me if I had one and told him “no”, he was so upset. I told him we were just passing through, and he said “I had to get one and it would just take 2 seconds to fill out!” So needless to say this makes about 20 cards! AND do I remember to bring them into the store with me? I know all of you can answer that question!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">Thanksgiving was beautiful and sunny and cool. We took the dogs for a long walk down the park road, probably about 4 miles. Very flat but felt good to get moving after sitting for so long.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">I talked to a couple who were just getting out of their kayaks and they had seen a bear in a tree, a buck, some gators, and a bald eagle. We can’t wait to get out the boats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">It is a bit strange not being home at TG. I am so used to cooking for 2 days with our wood cook stove going and just being snuggled in that this year, we shop the day before and don’t start cooking until 3 in the afternoon! I called an “old” friend and got nostalgic after hanging up. (Not sure if that is the right term or not)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">Lot’s of people with deep fryers going. One site was doing a deep fried ham! Another site had a croquet game going through 3 different sites. They were having a blast. Our neighbors next to us have enough firewood to last for the next week!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">Our TG dinner was quite yummy. I stuffed game hens with homemade rice pilaf, spinach, mushrooms and pine nuts and Tom grilled them. We also had mashed squash, mashed potatoes and rolls I had made a couple days ago. We had a New Zealand “unoaked” chardonnay. Now we have lots of leftovers that will hopefully last until we leave here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">We finally did get out in the boats for a couple hours. Tons of ibis and egrets, alligators trying to get some sun, turtles and a lot of boat traffic. The park rents motor boats, canoes and kayaks. We forgot about the fact that it was a holiday, so it was fairly busy and a tad noisy. But it was really nice and the weather was warm. There are still quite a few leaves on the more shrubby vegetation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;"><u><b>K-Monday,11/26/13 Okefenoke State Park near Edith and Fargo,GA.</b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">We decided to book it out of S. Carolina in search of warmer weather. We spent Sunday night at Huntington State Park just south of Myrtle Beach. Ugh. Too much noise, traffic and people. But it is a hot spot for tourism. Just not our kind of tourism!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">We haven’t done much camping in the east and especially this time of year. We are so used to lots of Forest Service Camping that there isn’t that much here for that and because of the cold, we need hook-ups for running the heater. So that adds a different dimension to how we camp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">We really wanted to spend some time in Charleston and Savannah, but that will have to wait for another time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">We are now in Okefenokee. We had been here several years ago and really liked it and the best part is it is 70 and we have all the windows open. We plan on kayaking here if the gators don’t get us while we are on the water.</span></div>
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Yodagirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16641043025603527799noreply@blogger.com0