Sunday 5-7 Happy Sunday

Hope everyone had a Happy Sunday.

Larry started out the day by treating for wasps. He found seven nests under the eaves and porch railing. While he was doing this he noticed a lot of grass and weeds poking out from around the bulbs of the floodlights on the back of the house, the back of the house is quite high but with the new ladder he was able to get up there and remove the bulbs, some kind of flying bug had built nests in between the bulbs and the housings surrounding them, we seldom use those lights but the heat from the bulbs could have caused a fire.

Last spring Larry replaced the brake master cylinder on the boat trailer, the brakes worked fine for part of the summer and then they quit, we only haul the boat a short distance and the truck stops fine even without brakes on the trailer but Larry wants everything to work correctly. This morning he removed one of the brake calipers to check it out. He took it apart, cleaned everything up and reassembled it. He put it back on the trailer and filled the master cylinder with brake fluid to bleed out the air and discovered a leak in the brake line. The brake line runs inside the frame of the trailer and it was badly corroded in a couple of places. He went online and ordered new line, it should arrive tomorrow. When Larry does a project he hates to not finish it but sometimes he doesn't have a choice.

While Larry was doing these projects I did some Sudoku. When he finished I barbecued hamburgers on the charcoal grill. They came out great.

Barbecuing Hamburgers

The finished project

Flo sunning in the back yard

After lunch I worked on my jig saw puzzle Kim Norlien Country Music. I tried to finish the puzzle before our trip but I didn't succeed so I started back on it today.

In the evening we watched YouTube videos and a couple of Amazon movies. The first movie was a 2015 movie Hello, My Name Is Doris starred Sally Fields. It was a comedy about a sixty something woman who took a self-help seminar that inspired her to romantically pursue her young co-worker. It was a cute movie. The second movie was a 1994 movie A Man Of No Importance starring Albert Finney, it wasn't a very good movie..  

Saturday 5-6 Beautiful Saturday

Be Happy!!!!

We woke up to a cool breeze and gorgeous sunshine. When I got up Flo was outside enjoying the weather. She had been outside three times already. Last night before I went to bed I took a loaf of bread out of the freeze to let it rise over night, I was surprised how much it rose, the last time I did this it was not near as high, it had risen so much that it was overflowing the pan. I heated the oven to 350 and then baked the bread for 30 minutes. It came out perfect. We had fresh baked bread for breakfast and snacked on it all day.

The finished loaf of bread

The loaf of bread before it was baked

When we finished breakfast Larry decided to wash the Minnie. During the trip we had rain and snow and killed a lot of bugs. Flo and I went outside and kept him company. Larry washed the Minnie and its tires. I helped him by drying it. It took us a couple of hours.

In the afternoon I laid down for a couple of hours. While I was doing this Larry ordered hubcaps and some lens covers for the Minnie, we lost a hubcap and a lens cover during the trip. Over the years we seem to lose a hubcap every couple of years.

When I woke up we watched a few GizWiz episodes. After dinner we watched YouTube videos and finished watching Home Fires. Now we're caught up on the YouTube videos we follow and Home Fires. We still have a few more GizWiz episodes to be caught up. We had a super day.

Watching television

Friday 5-5 We’re Home

 

After 40 days on the road and 4552 miles we are home. We had a super time.

This morning we went to town to start the mail back up and go grocery shopping. When Larry went inside the post office to pick up our mail he was surprised how little mail we had, of course almost all of our mail goes to the UPS Store, before returning to the car he went through the mail and found out it was all junk mail, he was going to throw it all away in the trash when a lady told him they had a recycling bin for paper so he put it in the bin.

The next stop was HEB. Everytime we return from a trip our refrigerator and freezer are bare. Today we didn’t have to get as much as usual. During the trip we would occasionally stop at a Walmart to pickup what we needed. When I emptied out the Minnie we were able to partially restock the house refrigerator.

The last stop was the UPS Store for our mail. The lady working there was very happy to see Larry and gave him a hug. Most of our mail gets delivered there so Larry had mail to sort when we got home.

By the time we got home it was time for lunch. After being gone almost six weeks we had cob webs and bugs hanging from the eaves and porches so when we finished our lunch Larry went outside and worked on getting rid of them. He started off using the blower, that got most of them off but he ended up washing some of the eaves, garage doors and the porches. When he finished doing this he washed the back porch railing, scrubbed the back porch, and the gas grill. While Larry was doing all this I worked on cleaning the Minnie. Yesterday when we got home I unloaded the Minnie and starting doing laundry. So today I wiped down the inside of the Minnie, vacuumed it out and washed the floors. 

            Cleaning the garage doors                                                    Washing the back porch

Flo enjoying the sun while Larry and I were working

Doing laundry

Larry and I worked on doing our cleaning until it was time for dinner. While we were on our trip a couple of shows that we watch on PBS started their new seasons. After dinner we watched the first available episode of Call the Midwife. Call the Midwife already had five episodes this season but only the fourth and fifth are available, we watched the fourth episode. Next we watched Home Fires. They have shown five episodes and all of them are available, we watched the first two episodes.     

Wednesday 5-3 Windstar Casino

 

It rained all night and stopped shortly before Larry got up. He fed Flo and then took her for her morning walk. I usually don’t get up until later but today I got up at 7:00. I made breakfast and then we got the Minnie ready to leave.

Today was another long day for Larry, it took nine hours to cover 420 miles. He normally tries to keep the distance down to 300 miles or less. We decided to drive this far so it would make tomorrow an easier drive. We left Concordia, Ks and travelled almost through the entire state of Oklahoma before finally stopping at the WinStar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma for the night.

We had visited the WinStar Casino in fall of 2014 and I really enjoyed playing the slots here. It a big casino and if you’re not careful you could get lost. It has eight sections (London, Beijing, Paris, Vienna, Rome, New York, Madrid and Cairo). Each section has landmarks from the cities. It has a non smoking area which is located in the bingo and poker area. I spent a few hours playing the slot and had a great time.

 

Tuesday 5-2 Homeward Bound

We woke up this morning to 27 degrees and sunshine. The wind was down and it was time to get ready to head towards home. It’s over 1000 miles to get home.
It was a long day of traveling. We went through four states (South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas). Larry drove 360 miles and it took about eight and a half hours. We stopped a few times to stretch our legs and once to have lunch. When we were in Iowa we stopped at a a Welcome Center, Larry talked with the lady working there and asked if she had a Nebraska map. She gave him one and suggested a route to take. Larry looked at the route and decided  her suggestion was excellent. While looking at the map and checking online he decided we would stop for the night in Concordia Kansas.

               South Dakota welcome sign                                                     Iowa welcome sign

               Nebraska welcome sign                                                         Kansas welcome signs

Concordia has a city park that has free camping with power. They ask for you to fill out a form and to give a donation. You can walk to Taco John’s or Pizza Hut to eat. If you need a courtesy car just call a number and a car will pick you up. Too cool.
We arrived at Concordia City Park at 5:00 and found a site. After setting up we walked down the street to Taco John’s for dinner. When we were walking back we stopped by Walmart and picked up dessert. While walking through the park I took pictures of things that caught my eye.

A tank in front of the Kansas National Guard

Statue of a flying plane

             

Chain Saw Carving

Chain Saw Carving

Concordia City Park is beautiful, it has a dog park, disc golf course, playground, dump station and restrooms. The sites are very nice with barbecue grills and trash cans. Kansas National Guard is right next door to the park. There is also a small airport. The park is being used by the locals playing disc golf and taking their dogs to the dog park.

Playground

Dog Park

Monday 5-1 Big Sioux Recreation Area

 

Camping

We woke up to snow on the ground. It started to snow last night around 11 and continued until noon.  The weather man had predicted snow but we didn’t expect it to stick. Larry took Flo out for her morning walk in the snow, she didn’t mind the snow at all. Larry said that the snow was a wet snow. I stayed in bed. By the time the snow finished the total amount of snow they got in town was 3.5 inches. They hadn’t had that much snow in May since 1944. While the snow was coming down we stayed inside trying to keep warm. The only time we went outside was to take Flo for a walk and to take a shower. When we did take Flo for a walk she didn’t want to come back inside so I put her on the chain and she was happy laying in the snow.

 

 

                Snow at Big Sioux Park                                    Camp host clearing the snow off the sidewalks

The snow started to melt around 2:00 but it was messy. By dinnertime the sun came out and the snow was gone so Larry and I went for a walk on the hiking trail. We walked for an hour and a half and walked about 4 miles. A lot of other people had the same idea considering the snow was gone. Larry was tried of being inside for the last couple of days.

We had a great time at Big Sioux Recreation Area. 

Saturday 4-29 Visiting Sioux Falls

 

It’s freezing

Friday 4-28

We woke up to 27 degrees and the north wind was still blowing.

Larry took Flo for her morning walk and when he got back he told me it was freezing so don’t be in any hurry to get out of bed. I crawled out of bed an hour later. The temperature had risen from 27 to 31. I got dressed and then made breakfast. We decided to wait until it warmed up a little before we went to tour Sioux Falls. By lunchtime it was only 41 degrees.

After lunch we decided to go to town even though it was cold. We put stuff down and headed to Sioux Falls. There were a few things we wanted to do. The first thing we did was go see the falls in Falls Park. They were unbelievable. The wind had come up and it was freezing so we didn’t walk around the park too long but I did take a few pictures. We walked to the visitor center to pick up some information. Larry had read that Sioux Falls had a map showing where sculptures from different artist are located all around town. They gave him the map and we picked up the map of the park. The visitor center has a tower where you can climb up the stairs or take an elevator to the observation deck to see the falls and the downtown area. I took the stairs and Larry took the elevator, on the way down we both took the stairs. Once on top the view was super. Falls Park is a big park with sculptures, historical markers and buildings. 

Sioux Falls

                           Visitor Center                                                         United We Stand sculpture

 

Next we headed to a nearby U-Haul to fill up our propane tank and then we did a self guided tour of the Cathedral of St. Joseph. The Cathedral started being built in late 1915 and held its first mass on December 8, 1918. It is the Mother Church of the diocese and the home of the bishop. You enter the cathedral through huge wooden doors to a spectacular view of the alter. They have a pamphlet that takes you through and explains each section of the church. It has a lot of marble, stained glass windows and wood. It was one of the most impressive cathedrals we have been to. As we were walking back to the Minnie we said hi to a couple of nuns. We were surprised they were still wearing habits. It was a great tour.

 

Cathedral of St. Joseph

             Getting ready to enter                                                   The alter                 

 

We were going to walk the sculptures trail but it was simply too cold. The rain is suppose to come back Sunday and we wanted a place to hole up for a few days so we thought maybe we would move over to Palisades State Park. Larry had read that it was a very nice park. We already paid for a year long day use pass so it didn’t cost anything for us to drive through and take a look. As we were driving through we stopped and looked at the canyon. It was a beautiful canyon. There was a sign about the canyon and that there was a mill there years ago. After checking it out we decided we would stay where we were.

 

                                                           The canyon in Palisades State Park

We had a great day of site seeing. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!   

  

Saturday 4-29

This morning it was 34 degrees and the wind was down. So we decided to revisit Sioux Falls.

The first thing we did in Sioux Fall was find a laundromat to do laundry. It had been almost three weeks. The laundromat was busy and very well taken care of. After doing four loads of clothes and putting the clothes away we headed to the downtown area.

We parked the Minnie in a parking lot by the main street of the sculpture walk. We walked around downtown for a couple of hours looking for the sculptures. We saw quite a few but many of them were gone. It was a very nice walk. The downtown was booming with people shopping, walking around and dining. We were going to eat at a deli but they were only serving breakfast. So we left and walked back to the Minnie.

              When Pigs Fly Helicopter                                                                 Soaring Eagle

Federal Courthouse in Sioux Falls

Before going back to the campground we went back to Falls Park considering yesterday was so cold. Before walking around the park we had a sandwich for lunch. We spent about an hour in the park. We walked a paved trail that went under a main street and through the park. As we walked we stopped occasionally to read and look at different points of interest and sculptures. The trail took us very close to the falls. There were a lot of people walking around the park. There were people riding bikes on the trail. The trail takes you to the downtown. It was brisk but not as bad as yesterday. We had a great walk.

 

Larry checking out the remains of the Queen Bee Mill

                              The Falls                                                                    Standing in front of the Falls

A Farmer sculpture in the park

There is a Smithfield meat packaging plant very near the park and if the wind is blowing from the wrong direction the whole downtown smells terrible. Depending on the wind you can actually smell it from miles away. Sioux Falls is a nice town with over 200.000 people. We enjoyed our visit very much. We’re having fun!!!!